Agamemnon’s rage stems from not being respected as a warrior after being told his “prize of war” would be taken from him. His rage drives him throughout the work to engage in arguments with Achilles, despite his better judgement that the two should get along. Achilles’ own rage is most evident after the death of his best friend, Patroclus, when his grief drives him to kill Hector for revenge. The only characters not swayed by rage are the gods, and the highest of all gods, Zeus, exemplifies this with his stoicism in the face of the brutal Trojan War. Priam, an old, wise father, is the only character to truly master a split between the rage of mortals and removed attitude of the gods, possibly due to his own age and life experience, and his calmness is shocking to Achilles in contrast to the behavior of other mortals around
Agamemnon’s rage stems from not being respected as a warrior after being told his “prize of war” would be taken from him. His rage drives him throughout the work to engage in arguments with Achilles, despite his better judgement that the two should get along. Achilles’ own rage is most evident after the death of his best friend, Patroclus, when his grief drives him to kill Hector for revenge. The only characters not swayed by rage are the gods, and the highest of all gods, Zeus, exemplifies this with his stoicism in the face of the brutal Trojan War. Priam, an old, wise father, is the only character to truly master a split between the rage of mortals and removed attitude of the gods, possibly due to his own age and life experience, and his calmness is shocking to Achilles in contrast to the behavior of other mortals around