Narrate how King Agamemnon shows stubbornness of heart in books 1-5.
· Cite modern day examples/people who display the same stubbornness of heart.
ANSWER:
Book 1..
The narrative begins nine years after the start of the war, as the Achaeans sack a Trojan-allied town and capture two beautiful maidens, Chryseis and Briseis. Agamemnon, commander-in-chief of the Achaean army, takes Chryseis as his prize. Achilles, one of the Achaeans’ most valuable warriors, claims Briseis. Chryseis’s father, a man named Chryses who serves as a priest of the god Apollo, begs Agamemnon to return his daughter and offers to pay an enormous ransom. When Agamemnon refuses, Chryses prays to Apollo for help.
Agamemnon’s demand humiliates and infuriates the proud Achilles. The men argue, and Achilles threatens to withdraw from battle and take his people, the Myrmidons, back home to Phthia. Agamemnon threatens to go to Achilles’ tent in the army’s camp and take Briseis himself. Achilles stands poised to draw his sword and kill the Achaean commander when the goddess Athena, sent by Hera, the queen of the gods, appears to him and checks his anger. Athena’s guidance, along with a speech by the wise advisor Nestor, finally succeeds in preventing the duel.
But the end of the plague on the Achaeans only marks the beginning of worse suffering. Ever since his quarrel with Agamemnon, Achilles has refused to participate in battle, and, after twelve days, Thetis makes her appeal to Zeus, as promised. Zeus is reluctant to help the Trojans, for his wife, Hera, favors the Greeks, but he finally agrees. Hera becomes livid when she discovers that Zeus is helping the Trojans, but her son Hephaestus persuades her not to plunge the gods into conflict over the mortals.
Book 2:
Agamemnon gathers his troops for attack, but, to test their courage, he lies and tells them that he has decided to give up the war and return to Greece. To his dismay, they eagerly run to their ships.
When Hera sees the Achaeans fleeing, she alerts Athena, who inspires Odysseus, the most eloquent of the Achaeans, to call the men back. He shouts words of encouragement and insult to goad their pride and restore their confidence. He reminds them of the prophecy that the soothsayer Calchas gave when the Achaeans were first mustering their soldiers back in Greece: a water snake had slithered to shore and devoured a nest of nine sparrows, and Calchas interpreted the sign to mean that nine years would pass before the Achaeans would finally take Troy. As Odysseus reminds them, they vowed at that time that they would not abandon their struggle until the city fell.
Nestor now encourages Agamemnon to arrange his troops by city and clan so that they can fight side by side with their friends and kin.
Book 3,4,5
Agamemnon now rallies the Achaean ranks. He meets Nestor, Odysseus, and Diomedes, among others, and spurs them on by challenging their pride or recounting the great deeds of their fathers. Battle breaks out, and the blood flows freely. None of the major characters is killed or wounded, but Odysseus and Great Ajax kill a number of minor Trojan figures. The gods also become involved, with Athena helping the Achaeans and Apollo helping the Trojans. The efforts toward a truce have failed utterly...Athena, disguised like a Trojan, finds the archer Pandarus to shoot an arrow at Menelaus. Pandarus shoots his arrow at Menelaus and hits. This arrow pierces Menelaus' clothing but does not wound him fatally, even though the blood comes gushing out. Agamemnon swears that Priam and the Trojans must die because they have broken an oath. Menelaus speaks to his brother and tries to calm him, pointing out that the wound is not fatal Agamemnon calls the healer Machaon to tend to Menelaus.
Cite modern day examples/people who display the same stubbornness of heart. Agamemnon can be compared to the modern day people like ;
North Korean President Kim Il - Sung whom despite the fall of communism and the clamor of their South Korean brother and sisters for reconciliation, it's people are still in the lowest poverty level due to the fact that the president itself is so selfish and in spite of hunger among his people..the president lives in a very glamorous lifestyle. He is more willing to sacrifice the life of his countrymen by using them as experimental subject for their military purpose. As we all know North Korea is being condemned by the United Nation for inhumane treatment of their own countrymen.