Achilles A Tragic Hero - 1604 Words

The Iliad is a Greek epic telling not only the story of the last year of the Trojan War, but also the tale of the hero Achilles. In the Iliad, Achilles is a very complex hero who, known for his rage, determines both his own destiny and the fate of a nation and its people. Achilles may be remembered for his anger, but that doesn’t define who he is as a character. Achilles has both good reasons and good intentions as to why he chooses to react in anger. The speaker only elaborates about how Achilles reacts in response to his rage to entertain listeners. Since the tale was told orally in its time, the use of rhetorical and formal techniques allow listeners to understand the epic and to make it memorable. In the passage from Book 1 lines 189†¦show more content†¦At this point, the gods have to intervene, and Athena appears to prevent him from taking further action. The simile that â€Å"Achilles’s words flew from his mouth like winging birds† (1.211) is useful in allowing listeners to understand how fast he switched from his anger to surprise when he found a god in his presence. Within the dialogue between Achilles and Athena, Achilles expresses his fury to the Goddess stating that the best solution for his situation with Agamemnon is â€Å"sudden death for this outrageous behavior† (1.215). This information tells the listener that Achilles’s temper has blocked out all senses, even the ability to use his own common sense. The speaker expresses to Athena’s response stating that her â€Å"eyes glared through the sea’s salt haze† (1.216). Saying that she ‘glared’ has a more powerful effect for the listener to imagine how she feels about the action Achilles wishes to take. Following this, the devices of repetition and epithet are used in the process to create the unforgettable characters in the Iliad by remembering important key details about them in the story. The use of repetition is essential in the epic before it was put into composition. A speaker saying that Athena was sent by â€Å"the white-armed goddess/ Hera, who loves and watches over both of you men† (1.205-206) is important in showing how Hera is