achilles
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"What a worthless, burnt-out coward I'd be called If I would submit to you and all your orders, Whatever you blurt out. Fling them at others, Don't give me commands ! Never again, I trust, will Achilles yield to you My hands will never do battle for that girl, Neither with you, King, nor any man Alive."(p 111) With these wrathful words of Achilles to his commander Agamemnon, so begins the sequence of events in The Iliad that ultimately pits Achilles the runner against Hector, breaker of horses. Although these men were already enemies, Achilles being an Achaean and Hector being a Trojan, it is truly Achilles' rage that makes the rivalry personal. These two men, from opposite sides of the battle lines, are both strong, brave, and heroic, but also possess a myriad of conflicting character traits. It is these differences that aid both men in their independent pursuits for honor and the implementation of their separate destinies. Achilles is half-divine because he is the son of the goddess Thetis and a mortal, Peleus. He is by far the greatest warrior in the Trojan war and is considered to be "worth an entire army" (p.134)...