Rage
The rage of Achilles—sing it now, goddess, sing it through me
the deadly rage that caused the Achaeans such grief
and hurled down to Hades the souls of so many fighters,
leaving their naked flesh to be eaten by dogs
and carrion birds, as the will of Zeus was accomplished.
Begin at the time when bitter words first divided
that king of men, Agamemnon, and godlike Achilles.
—Iliad 1.1-7
Achilles glowered at Agamemnon and said,
“Clothed as you are in shameless and deceit,
how can any Achaean follow your orders
to go on a mission or risk his life in this war?
I didn’t come here to Troy because of the Trojans.
I have no quarrel with them; they have done me no harm.
They have never ridden off with my horses or cattle,
nor on the rich plains of Phthia, my native country,
have they cut down and stolen my harvests; to many miles
stretch out between us—high mountains and thundering sea.
We followed you here for your sake, not for our own;
we all came to win back Menelaus’s honor
and yours too, dog-face. You don’t even mention that.
And now you threaten to carry away my prize,
which I worked for so hard and which the whole army gave me.
My prizes are never like yours whenever we take
and plunder one of the Trojans richly stocked towns;
although it is my strong hands that have won the battles,
when it comes to dividing the spoils, you always get
the biggest prize, while the prize that I take to my ships,
having worn myself out in the fighting, is small though precious.
Now I will sail home to Phthia; there is no point
in staying here with my ships. I refuse to keep on
piling up riches for your sake, while I am dishonored.”
–Iliad 1.155-179
translation by Stephen Mitchell
