Week 4 Story: Achilles' Own Path

Before the great war started Achilles was preparing for a long hard fought battle. On the outside one could see how fierce and brave the warrior was, but on the inside Achilles was tired. Tired of the battling with nothing more gained than that of gold and treasures. He was angered by the fact that his name was not the name of the king. He wanted to be seen as a true warrior, a true leader, and the only way for this to be was to be king. King Agamemnon could see the anger of his most prized warrior. He feared that there would be consequences for this anger.

King Agamemnon said to Achilles "What is it that bothers you Achilles?" in a tone not so pleasant to the ears of the warrior. "What more is there to gain from this war? Are you not pleased already with the riches that you have?" asked Achilles. The King was now angered as he was questioned. "Matters that do not concern you shall not be of worry to you" replied Agamemnon. "The fight is not worth the gain, I shall not lose men to this atrocity" said Achilles in anger "Have you not enough?" The king now furious being questioned "Do not forget what has been given to you"

Achilles' blood boiled with hate at this point "You would be so ignorant as to take the earnings of your greatest warrior?" Agamemnon replied "Ha! My greatest warrior would know thou place and not question thy King. I shall take what I have given to thou and none will be returned. I have other warriors fit to lead my army into battle"

Achilles could not bear to listen to this king of his any longer. He said "Do as you will but thou will not like the outcome." As he walked away and went back to his home. He began to gather his belongings, told his wife to do the same as they were leaving that night. His wife was one of many gifts from the king as a show of appreciation for all Achilles had done. He feared the king would take her away from him.

As they began their journey, the moon lit the path for them. After hours of travel a horn could be heard from a distance. Not one, not three, but five blows from this horn. It signified a betrayal of the king. This infuriated Achilles for he had not betrayed anyone. He knew what was coming and hid his wife in the nearest city where they would begin their new life. "I must go away and resolve what has become" Achilles told his wife. She pleaded for him not to leave but knew he would anyway.

Achilles camped out in the middle of the path from one city to another, the King finally came and saw him sitting in the path. The king had brought a handful of men, a handful being 100 warriors. Achilles stood "Brothers, do not give into this mans greed, as he is not seen as a pure being in the eyes of the Gods" before he could finish the king interrupted "Kill him!" but not one man flinched. They respected Achilles for leading them into so many battles before and saving their lives time and time again. "You see king, no matter how powerful you see yourself to be, I am the leader. The true leader of the Greeks. Defy me and I will take what is rightfully mine." as these words were spoken the King trembled, The warriors turned on the king and tied him in binds. Achilles had one of the warriors fetch his wife and bring her. They went back home and Achilles gained his rightful place on the throne after all the people were pleased to see Achilles as the new king. There he ruled and was not a king of greed but brought peace and prosperity to all of his people.

Achilles with Wife and Son after Claiming the Throne

Photo provided by Wikimedia Commons

Authors Note: This Story was created as a different perspective of what it would be like if Achilles left the King and defied him because Achilles wanted to be remembered in history and to get his way he had to do an unimaginable act against the king. The original story was from Homer's Iliad and ideas were brainstormed from the original story of The Quarrel. The original had the king taking back what he had given Achilles and then angering him more so but still proving his point. 

Bibliography: "The Quarrel" by A.J. Church from Homer's Iliad Websource

Reading Notes: Homer's Iliad Part B

For the Part B reading in Homer's Iliad I focused on the style of the story. The style was detail given with a lot of belief. I found it strange that the people would put their belief so much in the Gods that they believed the Gods intervened so much that they controlled the outcome of the war. Given the details though, it made sense to have the Gods intervene. The detail of how everything unfolded in the story was a lot, sometimes it seemed like a lot of it was unnecessary but while I perceived it this way I saw the purpose of it. The purpose was to make sure that there was not any questions as to why the decisions were made, it made more sense to add the detail than to leave it out and confuse the reader/listener. How the story ended was a little abrupt and did not leave much detail on who won the battle of Troy but it did include a text link to more reading and history on the battle which was nice. If there is an abrupt ending to one of my stories I would probably be likely to leave a link to more reading about the information given.

 Achilles and Ajax Strategizing War Plans

Provided by Wikimedia Commons 

Bibliography: "Homer's Iliad" as told by A.J. Church Webtext 

Reading Notes: Homer's Iliad part A

For this reading I found it interesting that the stories reminded me of the movie Troy. I could really see the movie playing out in my head as I read. Besides that side note the reading overall showed some great things to add to the idea of making my project. The dialogue was really intriguing at first because it was a little difficult to understand, but as the stories played out there was more understanding of what was being said. I thought it was pretty cool how the stories all came together to make one big story. One story would end and the other would continue right where the other left off. Although I have read about the Greek mythology before it just seemed like there was more added to these stories, so while I am looking through other stories I will keep in mind that creating more detail is a good way to make a story more interesting. Overall I think there is some good detail to look at in those stories and I especially like the way that Achilles' mother helps him out with talking to Zeus. The way they all come together is the main focus on this reading.

Representing Achilles taking Troy

Photo Provided by Wikimedia Commons

Bibliography: Homer's Iliad retold by A.J. Church Weblink