It's Not You, It's Me... Actually it's Agamemnon.

Homer’s The Iliad, (as translated by Robert Fagles), begins with a rather trivial confrontation between Agamemnon, lord of men, and Achilles, who glimmers with brilliance. Such a clash over the ownership of their W.O.W., women of war, provides enough energy to ignite Achilles’ rage. As very well known, the Greeks believed in mythology in which gods and goddesses assume roles of unexplained phenomena. The Greeks, as repeatedly enforced in the epic, valued honor above all other virtues. From this, the characters fight to the dark death to earn and maintain honor. With such passion in glorifying their shame culture, the human characters of the epic exercise more agency than expected despite the overwhelming presence of divine forces of determination.

Contrary to popular beliefs that the gods and goddesses use mortals as pawns for their own narrow-minded disputes in the epic, there remain instances in which personal skepticism enables their agency. Early on, Calchas faces Achilles and Agamemnon to deliver the instigating news, to which Agamemnon angrily responded, “‘Seer of misery! Never a word that works to my advantage. Always misery warms your heart, your prophecies—never a word of profit said or brought to pass. Now, again, you divine god’s will for the armies, bruit it about’” (1. 124-128). Here, though selfishly defending himself, Agamemnon expresses great disgust and distrust towards the traditional seer. With such cynicism and disdain towards the great figures of Greek theology, divine intervention would not disturb his free will.

Even with those faithful to the gods and goddesses, their divine presence does not withstand the passion selfishly expressed in the characters’ acts of free will. To begin refuting Calchas and Achilles, Agamemnon asserts his entitlement and rights to keep his share of well-earned prize, Chryseis, “‘I prefer her by far, the girl herself. I want her mine in my own house… You are all witness look—my prize snatched away… godlike Achilles—trying to cheat me… I will take a prize myself’” (1. 131-162). When his honor is threatened, Agamemnon greedily declares his ownerships regardless of the consequences emerging from defying the divine figures. Agamemnon’s antagonization of Achilles provokes him to speak out proclaiming blameworthiness in the lord of men, “‘The Trojans never did me damage not in the least, they never stole my cattle or my horses, never in Phthia where the rich soil breeds strong men did they lay waste my crops… we all followed you to please you, to fight for you, to win your honor back from the Trojans’” (1. 180-188). While Apollo rages over their loved land, the two respected leaders narcissistically defend their honor, mostly in the form of timê or material goods acquired from achieving honor, acting with agency upon their prioritized personal values above the traditional theological values. Both Agamemnon and Achilles are ignorantly stuck in their own bubble of concern, purely directing focus on themselves and their honor, as shown with the repetition (and often times with explicit and visible italicization) of the accusing and possessive words “I,” “my,” “me,” and “you”. Evidently, their agency exists strongly in their souls, unwavered by the demands of obeying the gods and goddesses.

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