Only the most cruel and unusual mind could so callously dishonor the body of a man the likes of Hector, and particularly after Hector had explicitly entreated Achilles to treat his body with respect in the case that he dies. What accounts for Achilles’ perversity? No doubt the culprit remains the very anger which assisted Achilles in defeating Hector. Anger has caused Achilles to become depraved to the point where he cannot discern a difference in how one ought to treat an individual in death as opposed to in life. Yet again we bear witness to anger’s capacity to neuter man’s sensitivity as well as his moral-decision making processes. What emerges, then, from an in-depth analysis of anger’s role in motivating human action in the Iliad, conclusively points towards a rejection of anger as a useful or legitimate implement to motivate heroic action. Though capable of inspiring daring and courageous behavior, anger’s tendency to totally consume an individual, robbing him of his rational and moral faculties, militates against its overall worth as a beneficial human emotion. Anger is a bitter pill to swallow, too bitter for even the most sickly of patients—it is best left
Only the most cruel and unusual mind could so callously dishonor the body of a man the likes of Hector, and particularly after Hector had explicitly entreated Achilles to treat his body with respect in the case that he dies. What accounts for Achilles’ perversity? No doubt the culprit remains the very anger which assisted Achilles in defeating Hector. Anger has caused Achilles to become depraved to the point where he cannot discern a difference in how one ought to treat an individual in death as opposed to in life. Yet again we bear witness to anger’s capacity to neuter man’s sensitivity as well as his moral-decision making processes. What emerges, then, from an in-depth analysis of anger’s role in motivating human action in the Iliad, conclusively points towards a rejection of anger as a useful or legitimate implement to motivate heroic action. Though capable of inspiring daring and courageous behavior, anger’s tendency to totally consume an individual, robbing him of his rational and moral faculties, militates against its overall worth as a beneficial human emotion. Anger is a bitter pill to swallow, too bitter for even the most sickly of patients—it is best left