The Iliad Achilles Quotes

"Welcome! Look, dear friends have come our way –
I must be sorely needed now – my dearest friends
in all the Achaean armies, even in my anger."
So Prince Achilles hailed and led them in,
sat them down on settles with purple carpets.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 9, lines 237-241. Achilles welcomes the embassy of Odysseus, Great Ajax and Phoenix to his tent. They are there on behalf of Agamemnon to try to heal the quarrel between him and Achilles and to offer him gifts. Despite his anger at Agamemnon, Achilles is still on friendly terms with the king’s ambassadors.

Like a mother bird hurrying morsels back
to her unfledged young – whatever she can catch –
but it’s all starvation wages for herself.
So for me.
Many a sleepless night I’ve bivouacked in harness,
day after bloody day I’ve hacked my passage through,
fighting other soldiers to win their wives as prizes.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 9, lines 392-397. Achilles is complaining that he has not received enough recognition for his efforts in the war against the Trojans. In an epic simile he compares himself to the mother bird rushing back with morsels to her young, but starving herself.

Twelve cities of men I’ve stormed and sacked from shipboard,
eleven I claim by land, on the fertile earth of Troy.
And from all I dragged off piles of splendid plunder,
hauled it away and always gave the lot to Agamemnon,
that son of Atreus – always skulking behind the lines,
safe in his fast ships – and he would take it all,
he’d parcel out some scraps but keep the lion’s share.
Some he’d hand to the lords and kings – prizes of honor –
and they, they hold them still. From me alone, Achilles
of all Achaeans, he seizes, he keeps the bride I love.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 9, lines 398-407. Achilles angrily tells Agamemnon’s ambassadors that in all the cities he stormed and plundered, Agamemnon kept the lion’s share (metaphor) of the plunder for himself. Agamemnon would hand out prizes of honor to some leaders, but from Achilles alone he seizes his prize – the woman he loves, Briseis.

Why must we battle Trojans,
men of Argas? Why did he muster an army, lead us here,
that son of Atreus? Why, why in the world if not
for Helen with her loose and lustrous hair?
Are they the only men alive who love their wives,
those sons of Atreus? Never! Any decent man,
a man with sense, loves his own, cares for his own
as deeply as I, I loved that woman with all my heart,
though I won her like a trophy with my spear…
But now that he’s torn my honor from my hands,
robbed me, lied to me – don’t let him try me now.
I know him too well – he’ll never win me over!

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 9, lines 409-420. Achilles questions the motives for the Trojan war, as Odysseus attempts to bring him back to the fighting. If the war is for Helen, are Agamemnon and Menelaus the only men alive who love their wives, Achilles asks Odysseus? Any decent man loves his own, he says, accusing Agamemnon of robbing him of his honor and the woman he loves with all his heart, Briseis.

Go back and tell him all,
all I say – out in the open too – so other Achaeans
can wheel on him in anger
…He cheated me, did me damage, wrong! But never again,
he’ll never rob me blind with his twisting words again!
Once is enough for him. Die and be damned for all I care!
Zeus who rules the world has ripped his wits away.
His gifts, I loathe his gifts…
I wouldn’t give you a splinter for that man!
Not if he gave me ten times as much, twenty times over, all
he possesses now, and all that could pour in from the world’s end –
not if his gifts outnumbered all the grains of sand
…and dust in the earth – no, not even then could Agamemnon
bring my fighting spirit round until he pays me back,
pays full measure for all his heartbreaking outrage!
His daughter…I will marry no daughter of Agamemnon.
Not if she rivaled Aphrodite in all her golden glory,
not if she matched the crafts of dear-eyed Athena,
not even then would I make her my wife! No.
let her father pitch on some other Argive.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 9, lines 450-478. Despite the best efforts of Odysseus to lure Achilles back to the battle, the Greek warrior is still seething with anger at Agamemnon and refuses to budge. He point black refuses the king’s offer of gifts and a daughter in marriage – not if she rivaled goddesses Aphrodite or Athena would he wed her. He says that Zeus has ripped Agamemnon’s wits away.

Mother tells me,
the immortal goddess Thetis with her glistening feet,
that two fates bear me on to the day of death.
If I hold out here and I lay siege to Troy,
my journey home is gone, but my glory never dies.
If I voyage back to the fatherland I love,
my pride, my glory dies…
true, but the life that’s left me will be long,
the stroke of death will not come on me quickly.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 9, lines 497-505. Achilles has rejected the embassy of Achaean commanders come to persuade him back to the war effort, with promises of Agamemnon’s gifts and plunder. In this passage he talks about his fate. His mother and sea goddess Thetis has told him that if he returns home he will live a long life without glory or pride. If he joins in the siege of Troy he faces death but his glory never dies.

But now, Achilles, beat down your mounting fury!
It’s wrong to have such an iron, ruthless heart.
Even the gods themselves can bend and change,
and theirs is the greater power, honor, strength.
Even the gods, I say, with incense, soothing vows,
with full cups poured and the deep smoky savor
men can bring them round, begging for pardon
when one oversteps the mark, does something wrong.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 9, lines 601-608. Phoenix, a member of the embassy send by Agamemnon to persuade Achilles to return to battle, tells the Greek warrior to temper his rage. He accuses him of having an iron and ruthless heart, pointing out that even the gods when they do wrong can bend and change.

We do have Prayers, you know, Prayers for forgiveness,
daughters of mighty Zeus…and they limp and halt,
they’re all wrinkled, drawn, they squint to the side,
can’t look you in the eyes, and always bent on duty,
trudging after Ruin, maddening, blinding Ruin.
But Ruin is strong and swift –
She outstrips them all by far, stealing a march,
leaping over the whole wide earth to bring mankind to grief.
And the Prayers trail after, trying to heal the wounds.
And then, if a man reveres these daughters of Zeus
as they draw near him, they will help him greatly
and listen to his appeals. But if one denies them,
turns them away, stiff-necked and harsh – off they go
to the son of Cronus, Zeus, and pray that Ruin
will strike the man down, crazed and blinded
until he’s paid the price.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 9, lines 609-624. The charioteer Phoenix pleads with Achilles to relent on his vow not to fight for the Achaeans against the Trojans until Agamemnon has assuaged his honor. He asks him not to dishonor Prayers for forgiveness when they come to his door, warning him that Prayers are the daughters of Zeus. If a man denies those daughters, they will go to Zeus and ask him to send Ruin to that man to punish him, he tells Achilles.

How his spirit leapt when he heard those horrors –
and buckling his gleaming armor round his body,
out he rushed to war.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 9, lines 723-725. The Myrmidon warrior Phoenix tells Achilles the story of the great Aetolian warrior prince Meleager, that foreshadows Achilles’s return to battle. During the Aetolians war with the Curetes, Meleager left the battle to stay in bed with his wife Cleopatra. Eventually Cleopatra prevailed on him to rush back to war by "recounting all the griefs that fall to people whose city’s seized and plundered – the men slaughtered, citadel burned to rubble, enemies dragging the children, raping the sashed and lovely women." Achilles will also rush back to war when the grief falls close to home with the killing of his closest friend Patroclus by Hector.

Why, any man will accept the blood-price paid
for a brother murdered, a child done to death.
And the murderer lives on in his own country –
the man has paid enough, and the injured kinsman
curbs his pride, his smoldering, vengeful spirit,
once he takes the price.
You – the gods have planted
a cruel, relentless fury in your chest! All for a girl.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 9, lines 771-777. Great Ajax cannot fathom why Achilles is so full of rage and refuses to forgive and end the quarrel with Agamemnon. He points out that people put aside their differences and curb their pride when they accept blood money for a murdered brother or child. But not Achilles, in whose heart the gods have put a relentless fury – all over the girl Briseis.

Ajax, royal son of Telamon, captain of armies,
all well said, after my own heart, or mostly so.
But my heart still heaves with rage
whenever I call to mind that arrogance of his –
how he mortified me, right in front of the Argives –
that son of Atreus treating me like some vagabond,
like some outcast stripped of all my rights!

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 9, lines 787-793. In his parting remarks to Great Ajax and the emissaries from Agamemnon, Achilles makes it clear that he is still full of rage over the king’s treatment of him in front of his fellow Greeks. His great pride won’t allow the unforgiving Achilles reconcile with Agamemnon, despite Ajax’s plea to put their differences aside.

Great marshal Atrides, lord of men Agamemnon –
if only you’d never begged the dauntless son of Peleus,
holding out to Achilles trove on trove of gifts!
He’s a proud man at the best of times, and now
you’ve only plunged him deeper in his pride.
I say have done with the man –
whether he sails for home or stays on here.
He’ll fight again – in his own good time – whenever
the courage in him flares and a god fires his blood.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 9, lines 850-858. Diomedes tells Agamemnon that he has only offended Achilles’s pride even more by offering him a trove of gifts to return to the war. He advises Agamemnon to ignore Achilles, that he will fight again in his own good time.

Is that an order? Pick my own comrade?
Then how could I pass up royal Odysseus here?
His heart’s so game, his fighting edge so keen,
the best of us all in every combat mission –
Athena loves the man. With him at my side
we’d go through fire and make it back alive –
no one excels the mastermind of battle.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 10, lines 283-289. This is Achaean warrior Diomedes speaking when Agamemnon asks him to choose his comrade to join the battle with him. He immediately opts for Odysseus. As well as Odysseus being a great fighter, Diomedes knows that goddess Athena loves him and is likely to protect them both.

He called at once to his friend-in-arms Patroclus,
shouting down from the decks. Hearing Achilles,
forth he came from his shelter,
striding up like the deathless god of war
but from that moment on his doom was sealed.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 11, lines 710-714. Achilles shouts out to his friend Patroclus, to ask him to go to the Achaean camp to find out about the casualties, thinking they must be desperate for his help. When Patroclus strides out of his hut he is compared in a simile to god of war Ares. From that moment his fate and doom are sealed, Homer says, forshadowing the death of Achilles’s friend.

And let Apollo drive Prince Hector back to battle,
breathe power back in his lungs, make him forget
the pains that rack his heart. Let him whip the Achaeans
in headlong panic rout and roll them back once more,
tumbling back on the oar-swept ships of Peleus’ son Achilles.
And he, he will launch his comrade Patroclus into action
and glorious Hector will cut him down with a spear
in front of Troy, once Patroclus has slaughtered
whole battalions of strong young fighting men
and among them all, my shining son Sarpedon.
But then – enraged for Patroclus –
brilliant Achilles will bring Prince Hector down.
And then, from that day on, I’ll turn the tide of war:
back the fighting goes, no stopping it, ever, all the way.
till Achaean armies seize the beetling heights of Troy
through Athena’s grand design.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 15, lines 75-90. Zeus is speaking to his wife Hera, laying out the plan for the events to come. There is not much room for free will here, with each character’s fate predetermined and controlled by the gods. Apollo will drive Hector back to battle, this will launch Patroclus into action, Hector will slay him with a spear, an enraged Achilles will take Hector down, Zeus will turn the tide of war and the Greeks will seize Troy through Athena’s grand plan. A great deal of things are foreshadowed here.

Why in tears, Patroclus?
Like a girl, a baby running after her mother,
begging to be picked up, and she tugs her skirts,
holding her back as she tries to hurry off – all tears,
fawning up at her she takes her in her arms…
That’s how you look, Patroclus, streaming live tears.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 16, lines 7-12. When Patroclus returns to Achilles’s camp, crying with pity over the Achaean losses, Achilles says this to him. Patroclus is likened in an epic simile to a baby girl running after her mother tugging her skirts, all tears.

And give me your own fine armor to buckle on my back,
so the Trojans might take me for you, Achilles, yes,
hold off from attack, and Achaea’s fighting sons
get second wind, exhausted as they are…
Breathing room in war is all too brief.
We’re fresh, unbroken. The enemy’s battle-weary –
we could roll those broken Trojans back to Troy,
clear of the ships and shelters!

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 16, lines 46-53. Patroclus asks Achilles to give him his armor to wear in battle. He hopes to demoralize the Trojans by getting them to think that Achilles had returned to the fight.

Even so, Patroclus, fight disaster off the ships,
fling yourself at the Trojans full force –
before they gut our hulls with leaping fire
and tear away the beloved day of our return.
But take this command to heart – obey it to the end.
So you can win great honor, great glory for me
in the eyes of all the Argive ranks, and they,
they’ll send her back, my lithe and lovely girl,
and top it off with troves of glittering gifts.
Once you have whipped the enemy from the fleet
you must come back, Patroclus. Even if Zeus
the thundering lord of Hera lets you seize your glory,
you must not burn for war against these Trojans,
madmen lusting for battle – not without me –
you will only make my glory that much less.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 16, lines 92-106. When Achilles lends his armor to Patroclus, he tells tells him that Patroclus can win great honor and glory for him and he will get back his "lithe and lovely girl" Briseis. But Achilles warns him that when he drives the Trojans away from the Greek ships, he must come back, even if Zeus allows him seize this glory. If Patroclus goes on to pursue battle against the Trojans without Achilles, that would make lessen Achilles’s glory, he tells Patrocles. The fact that Achilles is more interested in his own glory than his friend’s safety only serves to demonstrate Achilles’s major character flaw, excessive pride.

Prince Achilles, ranging his ranks of Myrmidons,
arrayed them along the shelters, all in armor.
Hungry as wolves that rend and bolt raw flesh,
hearts filled with battle-frenzy that never dies –
off on the cliffs, ripping apart some big antlered stag
they gorge on the kill till all their jaws drip red with blood,
then down in a pack they lope to a pooling, dark spring,
their lean sharp tongues lapping the water’s surface,
belching bloody meat, but the fury, never shaken,
builds inside their chests though their glutted bellies burst –
so wild the Myrmidon captains, Myrmidon field commanders
swarming round Achilles’ dauntless friend-in-arms.
And there in the midst Achilles stood like the god of war,
urging his charioteers and fighters bracing shields.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 16, lines 185-198. Achilles prepares his Myrmidons, the soldiers he commands, for battle. They are said in an epic simile to be hungry as flesh-eating wolves that kill and gorge on a great antlered stag. Achilles himself is compared to god of war Ares standing in their midst, urging them on.

Patroclus never saw him coming,
moving across the deadly rout, shrouded in thick mist
and on he came against him and looming up behind him now –
slammed his broad shoulders and back with the god’s flat hand
and his eyes spun as Apollo knocked the helmet off his head
and under his horses’ hoofs it tumbled, clattering on
with its four forged horns and its hollow blank eyes
and its plumes were all smeared in the bloody dust.
Forbidden before this to defile its crest in dust,
it guarded the head and handsome brow of a god,
a man like a god, Achilles. But now the Father
gave it over to Hector to guard his head in war
since Hector’s death was closing on him quickly.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 16, lines 917-929. Apollo knocks Achilles’s helmet off Patroclus and Zeus gives it to Hector to protect his head, as Hector’s death is said to be closing on him quickly. This foreshadows that Hector has not long to live, for while he escapes immediate death at the hands of Patroclus, he will soon be killed by Achilles in revenge for his friend’s slaying.

But standing clear of the fray Achilles’ horses wept
from the time they first had sensed their driver’s death,
brought down in the dust by man-killing Hector.
…But both balked at returning now to the ships
moored at the Hellespont’s far-reaching shore
or galloping back to fight beside the Argives.
Staunch as a pillar planted tall above a barrow,
standing sentry over some lord or lady’s grave-site,
so they stood, holding the blazoned chariot stock-still,
their heads trailing along the ground, warm tears flowing
down from their eyes to wet the earth…the horses mourned,
longing now for their driver, their luxurious manes soiled,
streaming down from the yoke-pads, down along the yoke.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 17, lines 494-496, 499-508. Although clear of the fighting, Achilles’ immortal horses sense the death of Patroclus and begin to weep and mourn – Achilles himself has yet to learn of the loss of his friend. The horses’ emotional reaction speaks to the close love bond and friendship bond that binds Achilles and Patroclus.
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