Finally after nine years of this war, I have finally obtained a worthy spoil of war. After we sacked one of towns allied with Troy, I, Achilles, was able to claim the lovely Briseis as my prize. And yes that oaf of a king Agamemnon claimed a female prize in Chryseis. However she should have never of claimed her. If he just gave her back to her father Chryses and accepted his ransom, we would have never of faced Apollos wrath. But no, he just had to ignore the priest of Apollos warning, and because of HIM, Apollo plagued our camp. I knew Agamemnon was the reason behind the plague, I'm just glad our seer, Calchas, confirmed my suspicion at our assembly. I can't believe Agamemnon had to test my wraith after he had Odysseus return Chryseis to her father, which fortunately ended the plague. The SACK OF WINE had to take my girl away from me in order to replace his. I wanted nothing more than to end that poor excuse of a King's life, but lucky for him, Athena came to me and prevented me from doing so. So, HE ended up taking my Briseis, but in return I swore that neither me, nor my Myrmidons would ever fight alongside Agamemnon again. I can only hope that my mother Thetis will answer my prayers in asking Zeus to punish the Achaeans for what Agamemnon has done. To my surprise, my prayers were answered. From what I was told by Patroklus, Zeus sent Agamemnon a false dream by Nestor saying to him that he can take the city on a full scale assault on the walls. Apparently that SWINE wanted to test the men by saying that we were going home. Well clearly that backfired on him since a lot of the men were heading to the ships. Even I could tell that the morale of the army was weak. If it wasn't for the cunning words of Odysseus, the men would have never of stayed. Nestor suggested something clever but rather obvious. The men were to be arranged by their city so they could fight alongside their friends and family. If only Agamemnon knew that his dream was a lie. Little did he know that the Trojans were already prepared and waiting for the Greeks arrival.
Clearly throughout this rambling, the first book is about my wrath, particular to Agamemnon, *cough* PIG. Yes this story is about this very long war, however, it's mostly about me. The Gods played a big part in our story. They damned us with their punishments, however they also guided us in not doing certain things. Like denying me the pleasure ending that FOOLS life. However, the Gods do know best and I can not question them. If Agamemnon didn't test my honor, I wouldn't have stopped fighting and I wouldn't of asked my mother to ask Zeus to curse my fellow countrymen. The second portion of our story, didn't have me in it because I didn't want partake in anything at the moment, except for being with Patroklus. However it did deal with Odysseus and Nestor, both who can use their words very wisely. If it wasn't for these two, the men wouldn't have stayed to continue the fighting. They may be mere soldiers, but they know how bad the situation is. As long as they can fight side by side with their fellow citymates, then they have something worth fighting for and something to protect, instead of just trying to rescue Helen. It is men like Odysseus and Nestor that our men truely need to keep the spirits alive.
'You wine sack, with a dog's eyes, with a deer's heart. Never
once have you taken courage in your heart to arm with your people
for battle, or go into ambuscade with the best of the Achaians.
No, for in such things you see death. Far better to your mind
is it, all along the widespread host of the Achaians
to take away the gifts of any man who speaks up against you.
King who feed on your people, since you rule nonentities;
otherwise, son of Atreus, this were your last outrage.'
Achilles (1.225-232)
http://www.shmoop.com/iliad/hate-quotes.html
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