Themes of Anger, Rivalry,
Jealousy, and Revenge

Anger

The poem's first word, μῆνιν-- anger --foretells the author's principal theme: Achilles' rage and its consequences.

Achilles' wrath is aroused during a quarrel with Agamemnon in the first of the Iliad's twenty-four books. The hero rages unabated until book 24, although in book 18 the object of his rage shifts from Agamemnon to Hector, who by then has killed Patroclus.

Until after Patroclus' death, Achilles seethes in his camp by his beached ships and refuses to fight.

As a result, Trojans and Trojan allies battle their way to the Greek ships. They rout the Greek army, wound leading champions, and set one ship ablaze.

Rivalry

In book 15, Zeus sends his messenger Iris to Poseidon, with orders to leave the battlefield, where Poseidon has aided Greece. Poseidon bitterly responds, asserting rank equal to that of Zeus.

This scene (and theme) contrasts with the theme of family devotion.

Jealousy

From early in the poem goddesses Hera and Athena back Greece and deride Aphrodite, who sides with Troy and its prince, Paris.

The origin of this alignment is not explained to the modern reader except for a brief allusion in the final book to the "judgment of Paris," an event which some would say set off the entire Trojan War.

"[Hera and Athena] nursed hatred for sacred Ilium,
Priam's people, too, because of Paris' foolish
affront when the goddesses vied in his courtyard
and he chose the one who stirred hot-blooded lust.
(24.27).

The jealousy and resentment sparked by Paris' choice does not fade.

Revenge

Achilles expounds after he delivers the fatal spear-thrust to Hector: "Fool! Behind Patroclus a fierce avenger was waiting among the hollow ships: I . . . ." (22.333).

Return to the main Themes page and select another theme to explore.

Read summary and reviews of a book devoted to the particular type of anger connoted by the first word in the Iliad.