"Sing, goddess, of the wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, and his devastation, which caused a thousand sufferings to the Achaeans... and the will of Zeus was fulfilled from that moment in which he first appeared he was in the division of the conflict son of Atreus, lord of men and brilliant Achilleus." - (1. 1-7) Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay So begins Homer's Iliad, a narrative, on some levels, of the anger of Peleus' son, Achilleus. This anger, the divine wrath, of Achilleus is at the center of the epic, an element that drives the action forward. Already from the first lines of the poem it can be distinguished that Homer's attention was paid to human emotions, to the consequences of Achilles' anger, caused by the conflict between him and the son of Atreus, Agamemnon. Only towards the end of the Iliad does the anger finally dissolve and a necessary transformation take place to provide a comfortable (if not entirely comfortable) closure to an otherwise difficult story. To examine this transformation more closely, we will focus on the first and last books of the Iliad, Book One and Book Twenty-Four, in the hope that the similarities and, more importantly, the differences will reveal much about the transformation of the hero Achilleus. . First, the similarities are striking, even at the most basic level. In both books a desperate plea takes place to beg for the return of the supplicant's son. In the first book, Chryses, bringing gifts and friendly wishes ("to you the gods grant... that the city of Priam be sacked and then a beautiful homecoming" (1. 18-19)) to beg Agamemnon to return his daughter: "...may you return my daughter to me and take the ransom, honoring the son of Zeus who strikes from afar, Apollo." (1. 20-21) In the last book, the grieving Priam, once again the bearer of gifts, falls at the feet of Achilles, begging for the return of the body of his son Hector: "I have one left who guarded my city and my people , that one whom you killed a few days ago while fighting in defense of his homeland, Hector; for whose sake I now come to the ships of the Achaeans to win him back from you, and bring you innumerable gifts." (24. 499-502) Another similarity is the recurring motif of the feast, usually to celebrate reconciliation. In the first book, after returning Chryseis to her father, the Achaeans make a sacrifice to Apollo and Apollo stops the plague he had brought upon them. Afterwards, the men feast on the meat of the sacrifice. In book twenty-four, Achilleus invites Priam to feast after reaching an understanding, after Achilleus agrees to return Hector's body to Troy. The role of the gods in the two books is also comparable. Divine intervention is necessary in both books to curb the effects of Achilles' great anger. In book one, Athena came down to dissuade Achilleus from killing Agamemnon: "I have come down to restrain your anger, but you will obey me" (1. 207) In book twenty-four, Achilleus abuses Hector's body and drags him around the tomb of Patroclus, and only the intervention of Apollo prevents the corpse from being damaged: "...he guarded the body from all ugliness, and hid it entirely under the golden aegis, so that it would not be torn to pieces when Achilleus dragged it." ( 24. 19-21) In book one, the goddess Thetis begs Zeus to help her unfortunate son, while in book twenty-four Zeus asks Thetis to speak to her son "make sure that Achilleus receives gifts from Priam and returns the body of Hector." (24. 75-76) An argument or grudge between the gods is common in both books. In the first book, Hera is furious with Zeus for deciding to help the Trojans punish Agamemnon. Book twenty-four tells the cause of the Trojan War, the storyhow Paris offered the golden apple to Aphrodite, instead of Hera or Athena, infuriating the latter two goddesses. Helen was later kidnapped by Menelaus as a reward for Paris. The last similarity mentioned raises a question regarding the glory/meanness of war. Throughout the book, the noble characters are the ones who are valiant in battle, while the cowardly ones (like Paris) receive no respect. Although Homer seems to glorify war, both Books One and Twenty-Four hint at the pettiness of it all. In book one, Achilles' wrath brings untold suffering to the Achaeans, and in book twenty-four, Homer mentions the seemingly small conflict (the abduction of Helen) that incites the Trojan War, which caused bloodshed and the eventual fall of Troy. In the first book we learn the origin of Achilles' anger. Agamemnon, considering whether to return Chryseis to her father, demands compensation for her loss: "What do you want? To keep your prize and make me sit here without one?" (1. 133-134) Agamemnon takes Briseis, Achilleus' prize, thus depriving him of honor and setting in motion their bitter conflict. Both sides stubbornly defend their pride. Achilleus retreats from the battle to his ships and promises suffering to the Achaeans: "... one day Achilles' desire will come to the sons of the Achaeans, to all of them. Then, no matter how much you are struck in the heart, you will be able to do nothing, when in many of them fall and die before Hector who massacres men. And then you will eat your heart out with pain, for not having honored the best of the Achaeans (1. 240-244) Achilleus' decision substantially detaches him from humanity , as his unwavering pride and anger enable him to stand by, doing nothing, while his friends die in agony and nearly defeat the Achaeans in the eighth book, and Agamemnon tries to persuade Achilleus to return to battle. , offering riches in exchange for Achilleus' loyalty, but he is still too proud to apologize, despite all the appeals of his friends, he refuses to return, remembering the injustice he has suffered: "...still the heart within me swells with anger, when I remember the ignominy he did me before the Argives, the sons of Atreus, as if I were a dishonored vagabond." (9. 645-648), further insulted by the fact that Agamemnon sent delegates to present the supplication, instead of presenting himself: "...he, brave as he was, would no longer dare look me in the face. I will not join him in any advice and in no action." (9. 372-374) Only after the death of Patroclus does Achilles return to battle, his anger multiplied by pain. Achilleus' attack on the Trojans is inhumane and needlessly brutal, as is his treatment of Hector's corpse after Hector's defeat. Achilles finally transcends his anger in Book Twenty-Four. King Priam kneels before Achilleus and begs him to think of his father Peleus and how happy he will be when he knows that his son is alive. But Achilleus remembers that he is destined never to return to Phthia, and understands that Peleus will suffer the same anguish that Priam suffers for the loss of a son, and is moved to tears: "No generation of strong sons was born to him" . in his great house he had but one premature child, and I care not for him when he grows old, for far from the land of my fathers I sit here in Troy and bring nothing but sorrow to you and your children. " (24. 537-542) Achilleus understands the suffering he has caused and is overwhelmed by grief and compassion. Achilleus' grief in this final chapter is not as selfish as it was in the first book, when he cried over the loss of Briseis: "grieved in his heart for the love of the woman with the beautiful girdle, whom they were carrying away by force against his will." (1. 429) and the loss of his.