Minor Characters In The Iliad

Insert Title here Although The Iliad has major characters who greatly affect the story, there are a plethora of more minor characters that are indispensable to the story. One of these characters is the Achaian king Agamemnon, who is immensely powerful in society, but struggles to sometimes make necessary and correct decisions in the face of vying allegiance to himself and his country. In Homer’s epic The Iliad, the Achaian king Agamemnon is a sometimes petty yet extremely powerful character who struggles to make decisions that will benefit his subject’s needs over his own and as a result makes an immense impact on events in the story despite being a relatively minor character. In the beginning of the story, Agamemnon displays his unfavorable …show more content…
These words from Agamemnon additionally display the great power he holds in Greek society because although the solution Achilleus proposes to the assembly is rational, Agamemnon himself holds the power to say that cannot happen unless he is given a reward that he deems to be equal even though his duty as king should be the immediate protection of his people from the Apollo’s plague. Once hearing Agamemnon’s tirade about requiring Achilleus to give him Briseis, Achilleus is outraged and berates Agamemnon’s for his greediness, saying “Never, when the Achaians sack some well-founded citadel of the Trojans, do I have a prize that is equal to your prize. Always the greater part of the painful fighting is the work of my hands; but when the time comes to distribute the booty yours is the far greater reward” (Homer, Book 1 Lines 163-166.) This passage displays how tired Achilleus is of Agamemnon’s actions and disregard for the people beneath him. Despite being the best warrior in the Greek world, and always bearing the “greater part of the painful fighting” Achilleus is treated like nothing when he is told that …show more content…
After failing behind heavily to the Trojans and suffering significant losses, Nestor talks to Agamemnon and suggests making peace with Achilleus and attempting to get him to return to the war. Agamemnon is readily willing at this point to admit he was wrong, saying, “I was mad, I myself will not deny it. Worth many fighters is that man whom Zeus in his heart loves...I am willing to make all good, and give back gifts in abundance” (Homer, Book 9 Lines 116-120.) This passage displays Agamemnon’s hindsight in realizing that he made a tragic error in pettily allowing Achilleus to withdraw from the war over a maiden. The Greeks have been beaten down and lost many men to the Trojans, most of them almost directly caused by the hole in the army caused by the absence of Achilleus. If Agamemnon had put the betterment of his people in front of his own desires earlier in the story and had the foresight that many great rulers possess to see that losing Achilleus could be detrimental in wartime, the war would have been very different. In addition, Agamemnon fails to recognize what it will really take to reconcile with Achilleus. When Achilleus decides to return home in Book 1, the real motivation for him leaving has less to do with the actual action of losing Briseis as it