Week 2 Storytelling: At the Table with Achilles

It was evening and the night was stagnant, almost stifling. The faint acrid smell of burning wood hung in the air and off in the distance a cloud of smoke rose from over the water. Achilles was sitting outside his tent, gently plucking at the strings of a harp and singing softly of heroes of old and their valiant adventures. Patroclus, his dearest friend and right hand man, lounged in the grass near him, staring toward the rising cloud of smoke. The sun had just set and darkness was quickly approaching.

 Achilles, lost in his song and the gentle music of the harp, almost failed to hear the approaching foot steps. Patroclus scrambled hastily to his feet, his sudden energy a contrast to the tightly controlled movements of Achilles as he rose from the stool angling himself toward the oncoming figures.

Odysseus and Phoenix approaching Achilles
(Attic red-figure Hydria circa 480 BCE)

As they came closer, Achilles relaxed some as he recognized the figures to be Ulysses, Ajax, and Phoenix. He called out to them, "Brothers, welcome! Though I am angry with King Agamemnon, you are no less my friends."

After brief greetings, Achilles led the group into his tent while Patroclus set about mixing sweet wine and preparing a meal for the group to eat. Patroclus prepared a sacrifice for the gods, tossing it into the fire before serving the men. They sat around the table, eating and drinking, glad to be in each other's company again. The food was hearty, the wine strong, and the mood light.

As the meal went on, the three guests shifted glances at each other, and the energy in the room began to shift. Finally Phoenix cleared his throat. "Achilles, friend, truly this has been a feast, but there is no longer time to delay."

Achilles shifted in his seat, his body tensing as he directed his stare at his friend.

"The Trojans are gaining ground, they set many of our chariots aflame today, and it is doubtful how long we can hold them from our ships. It is apparent that Zeus is on their side. We are afraid, Achilles."

Achilles was silent, his face an impenetrable mask as Phoenix continued. "Rouse yourself Achilles, hold not yourself from battle any longer. Come back with us, fight again. Hector rages against us, screaming claims of Zeus's favor. He vows to destroy us, our men, our horses, our ships. Do not hold to your anger against Agamemnon so tightly that you will allow all of us to come to ruin."

Achilles looked down at the table, tense and silent, his anger at Agamemnon had not lessened. He had dishonored Achilles, stolen from him his rightful due and insulted him. Achilles could not fight for Agamemnon again, he wouldn't. But yet the Greeks, his brothers, friends, and countrymen were there fighting.

Phoenix began again, "Your father, Peleus, did not he warn you on the day you departed Myrmidones to fight for Agamemnon against the Trojans to stifle your pride and turn away from strife? Did not he charge you with this? And have you not abandoned his warning, abandoned the Greeks even, in your haste to prove a point to Agamemnon?"

Achilles kept his head down and stayed silent, but anger swelled in his heart. How dare Phoenix throw his father's words in his face, attempt to guilt him and shame him into fighting alongside Agamemnon! How dare he accuse him of abandoning the Greeks!

But Phoenix wasn't finished. "Come now, Achilles. You may still repent. The King, Agamemnon, has sent you many gifts, in hopes you will forgive his wrongs and take up arms with him again."

Ulysses interjected then, listing off the many wondrous gifts which Agamemnon had promised to Achilles. Horses and chariots, gold and silver, goblets, wine, lush fabrics, and his daughter for a bride. The gifts to which Agamemnon promised Achilles were boundless, but Achilles hardly heard them, so red with anger was he at the insult that he should repent to Agamemnon.

Shaking in rage, Achilles rose from his chair, looking at each of the men around his table. "We are friends, and thus I will speak to you plainly," he said, his words a crisp staccato of tightly controlled energy. "It angers me that each of you should sit at my table and attempt to coax me. To guilt me and shame me with the words of my father. To belittle the dishonor which Agamemnon has done to me."

The men looked down, chastened by Achilles tone, as he continued. "I have fought countless battles. I have been brave and strong. I have put my life in peril time and time again. And what has it profited me? It has been thankless work. For all I have endured, the King has honored me with insults. He has stolen from me all which I have earned. Do not ask me to fight against the Trojans anymore. There are other men, other soldiers, other chiefs whom Agamemnon has not dishonored as he has me. Let him take counsel with them as to how to keep the ships from burning, how to hold themselves strong against Hector. Let him ask them, for I will not fight another day against the Trojans."

Patroclus looked to his dearest friend, his chief, the man whom he had spent much of his life standing alongside. Never had he seen Achilles so impassioned and angry at men he called friends. He had hoped Achilles would join the Greeks again, but it seemed this would not be so.

Achilles spoke again, his hands pushing into the table as he leaned into his words, "Tomorrow I will take my ships, my men, and those things which the king has not stripped me of, and I shall set sail back to Myrmidones. I want nothing of the gifts Agamemnon has promised to me, and as for the himself, friends, I will say this but once, I shall neither take counsel with Agamemnon nor stand by his side in battle again."

Authors Note: This story is based off of the two part episode "The Essembly to Achilles" from Homer's Iliad (Part 1, Part 2). Up to this point the Greeks have been fighting the Trojans just outside the walls of Troy. The Greeks have come to Troy to take back Helen, the wife of King Agamemnon's brother Menelaus, who has run away with Paris, as son to Priam, the king of Troy. Achilles has been gravely insulted by Agamemnon, who has decided to take back all of the spoils which Achilles had earned on their way to Troy. In response Achilles has taken his men and sailed a brief'distance, leaving the fight against Troy.

In this scene, three Greek chiefs, friends of Achilles, have come to beg on behalf of Agamemnon that Achilles return to the fight. In the story available in the UnTextbook, there is no clear main character. In my version, I wanted to focus mainly on Achilles and his reaction to the words of his friends. I have added more detail, and tried to set a more clear scene than is present in the UnTextbook. Very little emotion is expressed in the original story, so I wanted to explore and animate the emotions and energy that I envisioned being present in the scene when I had read the story. Thanks for reading, and hope you enjoyed it! (also by some miracle my story was exactly 1000 words, whew, haha)

Bibliography: The Iliad retold by Alfred J. Church (1907). Web Source: Mythology and Folklore UN-Textbook