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Zeus’ Authoritative Determination - School Papers

Zeus’ Authoritative Determination

When one is dishonored, there are certain expected reactions. These reactions between Agamemnon and Achilles in Homer’s Iliad cause the primary conflict. Each man reacts similarly. They become bitterly angry toward each other. Achilles’ anger goes far beyond any average person’s rage, “which put pains thousandfold upon the Achains,” a wrath that only gods are capable of (1. 2-3). The only way to understand this wrathful reaction of Achillaes is to view it as an essential piece to Zeus’s broad master plan that includes suppressing human pride, sealing Achilles’ fate, and deciding the outcome of the war with the Achian victory.
From the moment the story begins a conflict of power ...

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punish Achilles, Agamemnon takes away his prize, Briseis, and makes an example of Achilles so that, “another man may shrink back/ from likening himself to me and contending against me” ( 1. 186-7). At this point Achilles’ heart is filled with menis (divine anger or wrath), and he vows to punish all of the Achains. This total anger is part of Zeus’ plan to balance out the pride and power between these two men, and puts them in their appropriate places, far beneath the gods.
Another purpose for Achilles’ menis is to fulfill the prophecy that his “life must be brief and bitter beyond all men’s,” indirectly leading to the Achian victory (1. 417-18). Achilles knows that he is fated to die in battle but willingly chooses a glorious death. He freely chooses to fight with Agamemnon and volunteer his army. This certainly is a reason why his dander is up when the Achians do not honor him as the greatest warrior. Thus, when his sole wish, to be glorified by the Achians, is rejected, he ...

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Zeus’ Authoritative Determination. (2005, December 4). Retrieved June 19, 2025, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Zeus-Authoritative-Determination/37443

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 12/4/2005 12:22:27 AM
Category: English
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 620
Pages: 3

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