The Warrior Achilles

Blood-lust, cunning and Ferocious, That is Achilles. He is one of the best fighters Greece had ever had.He sacked many cities with his monstrous strength. A brave warrior indeed but even though some thinks he has no weaknesses, well I say he has. He showed grief and sadness for the loss of his prize, Briseis. He so loved the woman that he sulked in his tent while the battle rages on just to show Agamemnon that it is wrong to mess with Achilles.

Achilles succeeded in showing Agamemnon his fault. The battle then showed signs that with just a little push harder the Trojans would successfully win the battle and destroy the Achaean army. If that day didn’t end it would be the end of the voyage of the Achaeans. Luckily the sun did go down and Hector had no choice but to withdraw for the night.

Agamemnon then realized his fault and lowered his pride. He offered Achilles many gifts. He even willingly offered Briseis back. He swore on solemn oath that he did not touch Briseis. Even though the gifts that Agamemnon is tempting still Achilles resisted the offer. For me Achilles is not acting like a King anymore. He acts like selfish man who does not care for the welfare of his fellow comrades. He is like a robbed man that refused to receive the goods taken from him when the robber repented and returned what is not rightfully his. This arrogance of his will be the reason for the defeat of Achaeans from the Trojans. Such a dreadful fate the Achaeans have. It will turn out that the lives of those men, who died in that battle, will be wasted.If only Achilles helped, if only Agamemnon did not anger Achilles and if only the Gods did not intervene in the battle the tables should not turn around like what it did and Helen would be in Menelaus arms that would result to the end of the war.

Achilles is such a strong man but as they say brains beats brawns. No man who entered a forest would survive if he knows nothing of basic survival techniques. Wit is what Achilles lacks and that makes him just a normal warrior for me.

Hera's judgement

Hera is the Goddess of Marriage. A young beautiful woman, said to be the most beautiful of all goddesses, even beating out Aphrodite. She was very vindictive and never forgot an injury that she felt. Hera aided the Achaeans in the Trojan War.


I agree that Hera values equality in battle. It is stated in the book 2 of Iliad that she scolded Zeus for deceiving Thetis. She also tried to stop Zeus from intervening in the fight between The Great Achilles and King Agamemnon. Even though she tried her best, she failed because if she continued to argue with Zeus she knows that Zeus would hurt her as Zeus stated that:” Silence please and sit down, and do what I tell you. All the gods in Olympos will not help you if I come near and lay my heavy hands upon you."



Another instance of her being fair is stated in book 5 where she sent Athena to help Diomedes. She sent help to Diomedes because Ares, the God of War, has taken the side of the Trojans. Ares was looking for Diomedes to end his life because Diomedes has wounded Aphrodite. With the help of Athena, Diomedes wounded Ares that made him leave the battlefield among the Trojans and Achaeans. With these events in mind, I think of Hera as a fair and an unbiased goddess.


However, as anyone could/may doubt about her fairness, I had a doubt about it, too which led me to disagree with the statement about her fairness. An incident in book four where Hera ordered Zeus to send Athena down to the battlefield to make the Trojans break the oath and attack the Achaeans. Athena was glad to do what was asked. Athena took form of the doughty warrior Laodocos Antenor’s son and persuaded Pandaros, an archer. Pandaros was a fool to forget the oath. He then attacked Menelaus using a bow and arrow. The arrow had hit Menelaus but Athena had helped him by sweeping it away. Hera knew this would all happen. This shows that she wanted trouble for the Trojans thus I conclude that she is unfair.