An Examination of the Character Achilles

In Homer's The Iliad, the reader is introduced to a very famous warrior. He did not achieve this status easily, though. He is known to be barbaric and cruel, especially when he is angry. This warrior's name is Achilles. This essay will demonstrate the depths that his character will sink to just to gain revenge and soothe his injured pride.
The Iliad centers around the Trojan War which was caused by Paris, the most handsome man in all the world, stealing Helen of Troy (initially from Sparta), the most beautiful woman in the world, from her husband Meneläus. Unfortunately for Agamemnon, Achilles refuses to fight because of an earlier scuffle amongst them selves. Achilles had been rewarded a slave-girl from an earlier sacking of a city, but then Agamemnon changed his mind and wanted the slave-girl for himself. …