Homer's Iliad is an epic poem focused on the anger of the character Achilles. This anger led Achilles to become a great warrior for the Greeks during the Trojan War, but this anger also extended to his relationships with his fellow Greeks and Trojan enemies. The greatest example of the nature of his anger appeared when Achilles was offered on two occasions the ability to respond to demands made by his own Greek king, Agamemnon, and the Trojan king, Priam. Achilles responded quite oppositely to these requests because Agamemnon made several key mistakes that led Achilles to refuse his request, but Priam committed several key acts that allowed him to succeed in transcending Achilles' wrath. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayTo understand the reasons why King Priam was able to fulfill his request to Achilles, it is crucial to examine why Agamemnon was unable to achieve the same success. The most obvious reason Agamemnon failed was because he sent a delegation to make his claim. Instead of going himself, Agamemnon sent Odysseus, Ajax, and Phoenix. Achilles welcomed these representatives into his home and proclaimed: "Even in my anger, of all the Achaeans, you are the closest" (9.240-241). While these were obviously great friends of Achilles and he may not have responded positively to Agamemnon, this showed a lack of respect for Achilles, and Achilles recognized this. "He would not look me in the eye, dog that he is! I will not share with him a single word of advice, nor act with him" (9.455-456). Agamemnon was making a tremendous request to Achilles to fight after being betrayed by his own country, and considering the seriousness of the request and the possible outcome of the war, it was vital that Agamemnon, the commander of the Greeks, personally made this request. Because of this blatant arrogance, Achilles refused to grant Agamemnon's request. Furthermore, Agamemnon's request was rejected because there were selfish motives behind his request. It was only when the Greeks began to lose that Agamemnon considered humiliating himself to get closer to Achilles, and only after persistent advice from his countrymen. They told Agamemnon to "invent a way to make peace with him with friendly gifts and affectionate words" (9.134-135). Agamemnon showed no signs of true remorse and arrogantly believed that Achilles would honor his request simply because he was king. "Let Achilles therefore bow to me, considering that I hold a higher rank and claim the precedence of age" (9.194-196). Agamemnon was not trying to restore the friendship he had lost by selfishly stealing Achilles' war bride; he just wanted to save himself from certain defeat at the hands of the Trojans. He knew that the only way to defeat the Trojans was to have Achilles' unmatched strength and reputation and selfishly demanded that Achilles join the war without admitting to Achilles that his actions were wrong. Due to Agamemnon's selfish motives, it was obvious to Achilles that he could gain nothing by succumbing to Agamemnon's request. Immediately after Achilles' war bride was taken, he proclaimed: "I swear that there will come a day when every Achaean soldier will groan to have Achilles back. That day you will not prevail over me any more than this dry wood flourishes, though you be pushed, and though a thousand men perish before the murderer, Hector" (1.283-289). Achilles would have effectively lost his honor by breaking this emotional vow to never fight for Agamemnon because he knew that going back into the war would only make him appear weak in the eyesof his fellow warriors. Instead, Achilles chose to maintain his honor by not allowing Agamemnon to succeed. Agamemnon was also unsuccessful due to his means of attempting to recapture Achilles as a warrior. Agamemnon had the audacity to bribe a great warrior by offering him things such as gold, horses and women. All of these were items that Achilles could easily have acquired by his own efforts. "I hate his gifts and would not give even a dry package for him" (9.470-471). Agamemnon also foolishly offered one of his daughters in marriage to Achilles. Agamemnon apparently did not think about the consequences of this agreement because if Achilles had accepted such an offer, he would have become his son-in-law. "The daughter of Agamemnon, son of Atreus, I will not take in marriage. Let her be as beautiful as pale gold Aphrodite, as skillful as gray-eyed Athena of the sea. I will not have her at any price" (9.474-478). Achilles would never want to be related to a man who had just severely damaged his pride. Agamemnon, however, did not notice this and offered a multitude of gifts to persuade Achilles to join the war, but this bribery caused him to fail. Furthermore, the nature of the wrong Agamemnon committed against Achilles severely damaged his chances of gaining favor. with Achilles. Agamemnon not only stole Achilles' beloved war bride, but also damaged Achilles' pride by defrauding him of his kleos. Because of this, Achilles had a personal battle with Agamemnon and re-entering the war would represent defeat for Achilles. "Give in to Agamemnon? I think not, neither to him nor to the others" (9.385-386). Achilles was certainly determined to deny Agamemnon the satisfaction of a personal victory over such a great warrior. Although Achilles chose to withdraw from the war, he was forced to do so by Agamemnon because he saw no other way to defend his great pride. Achilles had a certain kleos waiting for him if he fought in the Trojan War, but he felt that this opportunity had been denied him by his own king who was simply saving his own honor after being forced to return Chryseis to her father. Therefore, Agamemnon showed his great pride by stealing Achilles' war bride and, more importantly, his honor and glory. Just as there are distinct reasons for the failure of Agamemnon's request, there are distinct reasons for the success of King Priam's request. Obviously, the fact that Priam personally went to face Achilles allowed him to succeed. “Priam, the great king of Troy, passing by the others, knelt, took the knees of Achilles in his arms, and kissed the hands of the wrath that slew his sons” (24.570-573). With this single act, King Priam showed great respect and the great warrior recognized the greatness of this act. This was a man who mourned his son but still found the strength to kiss the same hands that killed his son. Furthermore, both Achilles and Priam shared the common bond of grief because both of these men were consumed by strong emotions. "Then both were overcome as they remembered; the old king crouched at Achilles' feet wept, and wept for Hector, man-slayer, while great Achilles wept once more for his father as for Patroclus; and sobs filled the room" (24.612 -617). While Achilles mourned Patroclus and remembered his father, Priam mourned Hector, his son. This is very interesting because Achilles killed Hector only because Hector killed Patroclus, Achilles' closest friend. Achilles was finally able to see beyond his anger at his pain and sympathize with the suffering king. Furthermore, Priam was able to take advantage of the fact that he represented a father figure for, 1995. 25-156.