Ok, finished book 1 and it’s not even 2 a.m. yet. Look, life is hard sometimes, ok?
If you want to be uncharitable, you could describe this episode as “Achilles gets his feelings hurt and goes crying to his mom.”
Now I like being uncharitable as much as the next guy, but let’s look a little deeper. I think there are some interesting contrasts being drawn between Achilles and Agamemnon here.
Achilles’ rage is, of course, the opening of the entire work, and this book traces its cause: namely Agamemnon telling off a priest of Apollo for trying to ransom his (the priest’s) daughter.
Agamemnon doesn’t just say no, he loses it and insults and threatens the guy in front of everyone.
(If you recall our last post, Agamemnon had to sacrifice his daughter in order to get this war started in the first place. Does this make his treatment of the priest more or less shocking? Discuss.)
Anyway it turns out that insulting a representative of the god of plagues is not the best idea. Plague ensues.
Achilles calls a meeting, which comes off as very well-planned indeed. He opens by wondering what could possibly have pissed Apollo off, then asks if anyone has any ideas. Chalcas immediately stands up, and the following conversation ensues:
C: well, you know, Achilles, the answer to that might piss off a really powerful king. Will you promise to protect me?
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C: Cool, yeah, it’s totally Agamemnon’s fault.
I’m not a master politician, but I know a power play when I see one. Why is Achilles calling a meeting, and speaking first? Why does the next person to speak address him, and ask for protection from him? Who exactly is in charge here?
Agamemnon’s wondering the same thing, apparently. We’re on page 3 of my edition, and he’s about to lose his cool for the second time.
He starts off by saying that Chalcas has always spoken ill about him, implying that they’ve had past run ins, and reinforcing the idea that Chalcas and Achilles may have scripted this whole exchange in advance.
He and Achilles then get into a verbal game of chicken:
Ag: Fine, so long as I get recompense from someone else.
Ac: You already got your share of the loot. Why should the common soldiers pay for your screw up?
Ag: I’ll take it from whoever I want, punk. Even a king. Maybe even you.
Ac: Are you kidding? I don’t even care about Troy, I’m only here because you asked me to come. Maybe I should go home.
Ag: Maybe you should! But not before I take your favourite slave girl.
Achilles comes very close to killing Agamemnon at this point, but is held back by Athena. We can read this a couple ways - perhaps he’s literally favoured by the gods, or perhaps he’s held back by what Athena symbolizes, wisdom.
Either way, Achilles has something that Agamemnon doesn’t.
Instead of escalating the situation further, he backs off a bit, but in a way that allows him to save face. He blusters a bit more, but says he won’t lower himself to fight with Agamemnon over a girl.
He also swears that he will not help Agamemnon in the future, no matter how badly he is needed. There’s a bit more shouting when Nestor tries to make Agamemnon see reason and pacify Achilles, but that’s basically the end of this scene.
So, yes, Achilles is sulking in his tent. And his next move is indeed to go crying to his mommy.
But honestly, I feel like he comes off pretty well in this whole exchange.
Yes, both men snarl and posture much more than is appealing to the modern eye. And that’s not even mentioning the “human beings as livestock” theme.
But consider:
Agamemnon causes a plague; Achilles calls a meeting to try to end it.
Agamemnon loses his temper and causes a potentially salvageable situation to go completely off the rails, not once but twice; Achilles loses his temper only gradually, in the face of insults and threats, and even then holds himself back from his worst impulses.
Agamemnon references his own strength to threaten people; Achilles references his to offer protection, and to point out what a useful ally he is.
Achilles has at least two allies, Chalcas and Nestor; Agamemnon doesn’t get a word of support through the entire scene. Even if you dismiss this (as Agamemnon does) as political favouritism rather than the rights of the case, it speaks to their relative competence as leaders.
Also striking is Achilles’ behaviour a little later, when Agamemnon sends heralds to take the slave.
The heralds are afraid to decline the job, but also afraid to take anything from an enraged invincible warrior. So they split the difference and go to Achilles’ tent, but stand silently, not knowing what they can say.
But Achilles reassures them, saying he doesn’t hold anything against them, and hands her over without fuss. Contrast that “don’t shoot the messenger” attitude with Agamemnon’s treatment of the priest and Chalcas.
If Achilles has been usurping Agamemnon’s authority, is that power-hunger, or a desperate attempt to keep things together in the face of incompetent leadership?
All right, I think that’s enough for today.
On my first real read of the Iliad, I came away with a little more understanding of Achilles’ idea of honour, but I still viewed him as basically a blustering jock.
Maybe it’s my wistful shipping of him with Iphigenia, or maybe it’s just that I’m seeing more on my second reading, but I feel that I am starting to actually understand him as a hero.
Which makes his later loss of control and decency all the more heartbreaking.
