In the Iliad, Achilles was the greatest fighter in the Trojan War. In the ninth year of the war, Achilles withdrew because of a quarrel with the leader of the Achians, Agamemnon. Because Achilles left the fight, the Trojans began to win the war and many died because of Achilles" wrath. Achilles" wrath was not justified.
Achilles was recruited into the Greek forces by Agamemnon. The fleet assembled in Aulis, in Borotia and made for Troy. There the Greeks landed after a fight, but were unable to take the city. For nine years they remained before Troy, keeping the Trojans on the defensive (Lattimore, 12).
The Iliad was the story of the wrath of Achilles. With the quarrel with Agamemnon it began, and with the close of the disastrous consequences it ends. The character of Achilles is the cause of all that happens to himself, to the other Achians, to the Trojans, and particularly to Hector (Bowra, 193). Achilles is the reason for all of the destruction in the tenth year whether he was in or out of the war.
The wrath originated in a quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles. Both of these figures were problematic. Agamemnon was king of kings, dominant by virtue of his inheritance of the scepter of Zeus and the greatness of his personal domain (Redfield Essays, 85). Agamemnon was a very weak and unintelligent leader. His role in life was too big for him. Achilles was problematic in a different way. Achilles was a marginal figure, half god, half man, suspended between the worlds (Redfield Essays, 87). Achilles did not seem to belong in the war of mortals. Anytime he was there, or the Trojans think he was there, the Achians won every battle. Achilles was an unfair advantage to the Achians. Therefore, unlike Agamemnon, Achilles had acquired a role in life that was far too small for him. Achilles and Agamemnon confront each other: two men out of place, disaffected with themselves and with the order around them (Redfield Essays, 87).
