Similarities can be made between Achilles and Aeneas as well as Hector and Turnus. However, there are distinct differences as well. Achilles is known for his strength and skill. Achilles is recognized throughout Troy as an unstoppable force. “I dread this murderous man-he’ll burst right through our walls” said one Trojan warrior when describing Achilles (Hom.
going to see Helen Minneola’s’ wife after they made peace with Sparta and then taking her back to Troy). During the scene where Paris Fights Minneolas he gets a cut on his thigh, but rather than stay and fight Paris crawls back to his brother and choses to lose his honour and what respect men had for him just to live. This would have made the audience think if him as a coward rather than a brave man as they perhaps thought at the beginning of the scene. Another good example is with Achilles, for the most part he is made out to be a ruthless, do whatever it takes kind of man that wants only to be remembered by people for years to come. Achilles fights for himself but also fights alongside Agamemnon on the attack of troy to gain the remembrance and glory that he seeks.
This made him very arrogant. In the Trojan War when King Agamemnon insulted him, Achilles sat out the war. This almost caused the Trojans to lose the war. Achilles did not fight for others. He fought for his own personal glory.
Filled with rage Chryses prays to Lord Apollo. This fills the Lord with rage and he punishes the Greek camp. Later in book I Achilles asks Agamemnon to withdraw from the war, but he refuses. This make Achilles feel insulted and dishonored. Later Agamemnon agrees to free Chryses’s daughter for Achilles prize.
Sophocles’(496-406) second most famous play Antigone contains many contrasts. According to G. M. Kirkwood, “A contrast between Antigone and Creon lies at the heart of the drama can be taken for granted” (118). In the story, Antigone wants to bury her brother, who fought bravely and died on the battlefield, but to do so would be to break the law since her brother fought on the side of Argos, the enemy of Thebes. Creon, her uncle, who has become king, represents the law. Although she cares for and respects her brother, her conscience will not let her disrespect her brother.
For instance, in the process of killing Caesar, he could have easily backed out because he knew he might have been punished, but he knew in the long run, that it would help the plebeians most. Another example of his selflessness is in Act 2, Scene 1. Brutus frequently demonstrated many acts of affection toward others, such as Cassius. In Act 1, Scene 2, he is reluctant to join Cassius's conspiracy because he did not want to betray Caesar. He had to weigh his choices and in Act 3, Scene 2, Brutus kills Caesar only because he is afraid of what will happen to Rome if Caesar remains ruler.
He knows death awaits him but he can decide when. Agamemnon has taken the glory from Achilles and with it he no longer sees the value in honor through combat. Achilles believes now that honor is only found in death. “One and the same lot for the man who hangs back and the man who battles hard. The same honor waits for the coward and the brave.
He tries to position himself as equal to the gods, which is obviously impossible. In spite of these phrases and the arrogance that both heroes display, Sophocles and Homer show their main characters as puppets of the gods, revealing the polytheistic thoughts of their eras. Achilles´ actions determine the fate of his nation. He knows his fate and he accepts it, “Everyone dies, whether today or fifty years from now”. The Greek warrior does not try to deceive his
3.Agamemnon is caught between two choices.On one side Artemis demands the sacrifice of his daughter Iphigenia for movement of ships and if he does not sacrifice his daughter then he will have to accept retreat in the war and punishment from Zeus too. So he is entangled between Zeus and Artemis.we as reader or audience do not know that which god is right and which is wrong. 4.The chorus disapproves the decision of Agamemnon to sacrifice his daughter.The sacrifice is not only morally wrong,but futile and the sacrifice becomes the victim. 5.On his return,Agamemnon,is killed by his wife Clytaemnestra.She gives justification of his murder that he killed her innocent daughter Iphigenia and brought another woman Cassandra as his concubine.Now here again is confusion that whether Clytaemnestra is innocent or guilty?So a conflict between male and female gender. 6.The highly ambiguous nature of words of Clytaemnestra.
When the conspirators gather at Brutus’s house at night, Cassius suggests that Mark Anthony should also die with Julius Caesar or he could carry on Caesar’s work. But Brutus disagreed and said “let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius.”(II, i, 166). Brutus believes that Caesar’s death should be a sacrifice with a purpose behind it, not a mindless slaughter. Other characters in the play also realized that Brutus had no bad intentions for killing Caesar. Even though Brutus killed Antony's best friend, Antony still recognized Brutus as "the noblest