Book 18

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In the beginning of book 18, Antilochos had to deliver a very horrible news to Achilleus that Patroklos had been killed in the battle. When Achilleus found that that Patroklos have been killed, he was devastated. “He cried out terribly, aloud, and the lady his mother heard him as she sat in the depths of the sea at the side of her aged father, and she cried shrill in turn, and the goddesses gathered about her” (Line 34-36). Achilleus’s cry was so profound that his mother, Thetis heard it as she sat in the “depth of the sea”. Achilleus tells her the tragedy and insists that he must avenge himself on Hektor. Although in the past, Achilleus went through a dilemma of whether to enter the battle and saves his comrades or stay in his angry self-pity and let them suffer. But, now Achilleus is so determined to enter the battle himself to get revenge for the sake of Patroklos despite his anger from the past. Even if he end up being killed in the war, he believes that it is because of fate that he is dies young. In addition to Patroklos being killed, Hektor also stole the armour that belongs to Achilleus. Achileus is basically demanding for another amour to be made to return back to the battle to seek his revenge.

Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 2, 2018 at 12:53 PM

    I wrote about the same thing! I think that it was not smart from Hektor's part to remove Petroklos' armor, even though I understand the reason, which is to keep Achilleus away from the battle. But the Gods assisted him with new armor, so the only thing that this action did was increase Achilleus wrath.

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  2. Kenny ChenMarch 2, 2018 at 8:26 PM

    Patroklos's death had a great impact on both sides. The trojans had the upper hand, but with Achilleus back on the battlefield, the situation changes.

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  3. UnknownMarch 4, 2018 at 8:04 PM

    It's interesting to see just how much value Achilles placed on Patroklos' life. At the beginning of the story, it looked like all Achilles cared about was fortune and glory, but after denying Agamemnon's offer, and only rejoining the war after his friend's death, it's clear that there is more to Achilles' desires than just wealth and glory, especially since he knew his life would quickly end if he rejoined the war. Despite knowing this, he still chose to avenge his friend's death, which says a lot about his real desires, aside from just wealth.

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