In the Iliad, it is quite obvious that Achilles, Agamemnon, and Hector have the greatest arrogance out of all of the major characters. This arrogance is not only a sense that you are better than someone else but that you can never be wrong and to question your ideas or actions would be dangerous. In the case of Achilles, his arrogance has lead him to believe that he has no reason to be fighting against the Trojans. He believes that he is better than Agamemnon and that he will only fight when Agamemnon has admitted he has made a mistake regarding their relationship. Achilles is only rallied to fight and reconcile with Agamemnon when Patroclus is killed by Hector. Only after this happens is Achilles able to put aside his arrogance and quarrels and fight alongside Agamemnon.
In Agamemnon's case, his arrogance is much like Achilles. He believes that he is never wrong and that his decisions should never be questioned. As we stated in class, a great leader should posses qualities such as honesty/charisma/wisdom, and most importantly, the ability to recognize errors. Because of his arrogance, Agamemnon has a hard time recognizing his selfishness in taking Achilles' prize (Chryseis). His inability to even compromise with Achilles shows a lack of honesty and more importantly, wisdom. How can Agamemnon believe that he is the greatest king while still making such crucial mistakes? The answer is arrogance. It seems that, at least in Agamemnon's case, that in order to be a great leader you must NOT have a sense of honesty or directness or even an ability recognize errors. Although I disagree with this claim, it seems quite valid in terms of the Iliad.
Finally, in Hector's case, his sense of arrogance has been growing as of late. Although, it seems, in order to be a great leader, your greatest attribute must be arrogance, Hector has only displayed it recently. More importantly, he has only displayed it with such intensity after he has killed Patroclus. Although I am not trying to say that Hector was arrogant before killing Patroclus, it has been more evident recently. Killing Patroclus instilled in Hector a sense of arrogance that he will never be able to see past. In the fury of battle, Hector's arrogance grows and is displayed most when he takes responsibility for killing Patroclus. He believes that he did the act alone and cannot reconcile with the fact that Apollo and Zeus played a role in Patroclus' death. Much to the dismay of the Trojans, Hector takes the armor of Achilles off of Patroclus' body and does not follow the agreement of allowing the dead their rights. Fortunately, for Achilles, and for the Achaeans, the armor has only one true bearer, and it eventually turns against Hector and curses him, as if it has a life of its own.
In all three cases, it is important to note arrogance as a defining character trait. Arrogance is the worst trait to posses, and the three most important characters posses a copious amount of it.
8 comments:
As you say, Achilles puts his arrogance aside in the wake of Patroclus' death and decides to go back to battle. In this way, Achilles' arrogance is synonymous with his ego. In my opinion, Achilles' arrogance is simply a direct result of his ego. His massive ego is what causes his selfish and arrogant behavior that has previously kept him out of the war. Only until his closest friend is killed can he put his ego, and subsequently his arrogance, aside and resume his duty as one of Agamemnon's soldiers.
Like you state in your blog, the ego/arrogance is a defining theme of the Iliad. However, is being prideful a bad thing? You end your entry saying that this character trait is in fact a flaw, being the "worst trait to posses." I think its important to distinguish the differences between being confident and being arrogant. While there is a fine line between the two, that difference changes the context of one's character completely. To be a leader, a person cannot be arrogant, as you say. However, a leader has to be confident, because if you don't believe in yourself, who will believe in you? It really is about the balance between the arrogance and confidence that makes good leaders, and Achilles loses some of his arrogance at the story's closing, solidifying him as a great leader.
I think there is some truth to what you say here, but I would like to point out a few faults in your theory. You say Agamemnon is arrogant because he refuses to make amends with Achilles. However, later on in the Iliad in an attempt to get Achilles back on the battlefield, Agamemnon does admit his mistakes and even goes as far as to offer Chryseis back to him, swearing he has not touched her. I believe Agamemnon learns from this mistake. Afterall, doesn't wisdom come from experiencing different situations?
You say arrogance is the worst character trait to have. I agree arrogance is annoying, but until it turns into Hubris is it really devastating. I think there are a few worse: stupidity, tentativeness, and undecisiveness are just a few.
Achilles’ ego causes his down fall throughout the Iliad. Everything he does that has a negative outcome is directly related to his ego. It only took the death of Patroclus to realize that there is more to life than just him. Once he puts the ego behind him he was able to really blossom into the hero that he was made out to be.
This whole book is a testosterone fest with arrogance in excess. (Poetic right?) But seriously, I agree. Arrogance has blinded nearly everyone in this story, and people are dying because of it. Apparently, arrogance kills.
Agamemnon is king and has the right to demand a certain amount of respect and obedience from his soldiers and warriors. Regardless of Achilles' talents as a warrior, he is still a servant of Agamemnon, but fails to realize this hierarchy because of his ego. Achilles' thinks that his skills and talents as a warrior make him the most powerful man in the kingdom and fails to acknowledge his king's role and power.
Achilles is arrogant because he posses the abilities eqivalent to that of a god. He is a great warrior, but fails to use his powers to protect his country and people and instead chooses to let them die, because he is jealous of Agamemnon's power.
Achilles pride blinds his thought as to what is happening in the war. Achilles becomes so detached from the war that he fails to realize the consequences of letting Patroclus use his shield.
I think that for the most part we can say that an ego isn't really flaw. The only time that an ego becomes an issue is when it gets in the way of progress. Achilles and Agamemnon were way too overly egotistical, making them clash with each other rather than reach their goal. I think you nailed that down pretty well. Good read.
Sam: he does offer to make amends with Achilles, but not in the ways that would make Achilles happy. Agamemnon does not even really apologize, he just gives up treasure. Achilles is looking for deeper meaning in what he is fighting for. What ultimately brings him back into the battle is his rage towards Hector which overrides but does not (I don't think) eliminate his contempt towards Agamemnon.
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