No matter how the movie Troy
portrays Agamemnon—maybe it is correct that he is greedy about ruling all of
Mediterranean and therefore the Aegean Sea—Agamemnon is still an older brother
to Menelaus and must defend the pact as well as protect Menelaus’ dignity with
the kidnapping of Helen. However, Agamemnon has an issue with his pride and he
cannot stand to have others do anything to even hint at subverting it.
The Ancient Greeks considered Hubris “overbearing pride” to be one of
the greatest and most self-destructive sins. Thus, there are quite a number of
stories about how those guilty of it are punished, either by circumstances or
by the gods (although circumstances are generally also considered caused by the
gods). The Greeks even had a god specifically for the punishment of hubris, the
goddess Nemesis. A righteous infliction of retribution manifested by an
appropriate agent..." The Greeks loved poetic justice; the proud were
always brought down by something....appropriate.
Agamemnon does not make any friends
with his pride. In fact, he not only manages to make Achilles angry (so mad
that he chooses not to fight, giving in to his own pride being slighted) but he
also angers Odysseus, the crafty warrior that one should not make angry at all.
Though Agamemnon’s pride continually subverts his authority as king, he does
support his claim as he chooses to establish his own aristeia in book 11. At this point in time, however, Agamemnon is
about as tactful as a hippo in a room full of china when it comes to his own
words.
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