Honor and Reputation

The Theme in the Work

The wrath of Achilles is born of a question of honor, not of love for a girl. In Book I, Agamemnon agrees to return Chryseis to save the army, but demands another prize on the spot, so as not to be the only one left without a reward, and the prize he chooses is Achilles', the public sign of the worth of the best warrior. Achilles knows he will live little, and he sees in honor the only payment that short life leaves him.

Honor, in the poem, is measured in two ways that meet and miss each other. It is what one receives in things, the prize, the seat at the table, the meat, the cup, and it is what one leaves in the mouths of others, what will be said. In Book III, Hector rebukes Paris for what the Achaeans see: they took him for a champion because of his beauty, and now they laugh. In Book VI, Hector tells Andromache that he is ashamed before the Trojan men and the Trojan women, and that he has learned to fight among the foremost to win glory for his father and for himself; Glaucus explains to Diomedes that his father sent him to Troy to always be the best. In Book VIII, Diomedes agrees to withdraw before Zeus, but fears that Hector will one day say among the Trojans that he fled, and Nestor answers him with the widows of the Trojans he killed. In Book XII, Sarpedon measures the honor of Lycia in things and turns it into duty, and Glaucus, wounded, leaps from the wall in secret so that no Achaean will see him and boast.

Book IX is where the two measures come apart. Agamemnon offers compensation in objects, and Achilles replies that the same prize and the same death await the one who fights and the one who stays, that life is worth more than all the wealth of Ilion, and that he has a double fate: glory without return or long life without glory. Odysseus appeals to glory, Phoenix brings the example of Meleager, who yielded late and without gifts, and Ajax recalls the custom of ransom. Achilles says that he holds himself honored by the decision of Zeus. In Book XVI, when he yields, he tells Patroclus that the mission is to win great honor and glory before the Danaans and the return of the girl, and forbids him to advance beyond the ships, because that would leave him less honored.

Compensation comes late and changes form. In Book XIX, Agamemnon swears that he did not touch Briseis, offers gifts without measure, and blames the quarrel on Zeus, Moira, and Ate, and Achilles ends his wrath before the army without asking for forgiveness. In Book XXII, Hector, without his spear and deceived, chooses how to die: with fighting and with glory, doing something that those to come will know of. In Book XXIII, the games show honor without war: Antilochus yields his mare to Menelaus so as not to lose his esteem, Menelaus returns it, and Achilles gives Agamemnon the prize for the spear without dispute. In Book XXIV, the gods look after Hector's honor, and Priam measures his own by the gesture of kissing the hand of the slayer of his sons.

Honor in the Iliad works like a coin that the characters trade without being able to check its value. Agamemnon wants the prize so as not to be the exception, and he takes it from the man who deserved it more; Achilles wants to be compensated and refuses compensation in things; Diomedes fears a phrase; Glaucus hides a wound. Book IX holds two readings of Achilles' refusal: a real doubt about the honor system he lives in, or the grievance of one who was wronged by that system and speaks of it in general because the loss is personal. His speech mixes the two, and Book XXIII shows the other side, in which the same system, without war, calms down through the generosity of the one who yields.

Where It Appears

• Book I: Agamemnon agrees to return Chryseis, but demands another prize on the spot so as not to be the only one without reward, and it is this public sign of value that he takes from Achilles.
• Book II: Odysseus and Agamemnon use the same word, shame, for opposing theses: the king says it is shameful to wage a useless war, and Odysseus says it is shameful to return empty-handed.
• Book III: Hector rebukes Paris before the Trojans, because the Achaeans laugh to see that the champion they took for his beauty has neither strength nor courage.
• Book VI: Hector tells Andromache that he is ashamed before the Trojan men and the Trojan women, and that he has learned to fight among the foremost to win glory for his father and for himself.
• Book VI: Glaucus explains to Diomedes that his father sent him to Troy to always be the best and not to shame the lineage, and the two exchange armor as guest-friends by inheritance.
• Book VIII: Diomedes agrees to withdraw before Zeus, but fears that Hector will one day say among the Trojans that he fled, and Nestor answers him with the widows of the Trojans he killed.
• Book IX: Achilles refuses Agamemnon's gifts and says that the same honor belongs to the one who fights and to the one who stays, and that no wealth is worth as much as life.
• Book XII: Sarpedon tells Glaucus that the honors of Lycia, the seat, the meats, and the cup, are advance payment on a duty: to stand among the foremost in combat.
• Book XII: Glaucus, wounded by Teucer, leaps from the wall in secret so that no Achaean sees him wounded and boasts with words.
• Book XVI: Achilles sends Patroclus into the battle to win great honor and glory before all the Danaans and the return of the girl, and forbids him to advance beyond the ships so as not to diminish his honor.
• Book XVIII: Achilles accepts a near death in exchange for good fame, and wants the Trojan women, wiping away their tears, to know that he stayed away from the war for a long time.
• Book XIX: Agamemnon swears that he did not touch Briseis and offers gifts without measure, and Achilles ends his wrath before the army without asking for forgiveness.
• Book XXII: Hector, deceived by Athena and without a spear, decides not to die without fighting and without glory, but by doing something great that those to come will know.
• Book XXIII: Antilochus yields his mare to Menelaus so as not to lose his esteem or be blamed before the gods, and Menelaus, appeased, returns it.
• Book XXIII: Achilles gives Agamemnon the prize for the spear without dispute, saying that everyone knows how far the king surpasses all others in strength and in casts.
• Book XXIV: Zeus says that Hector was the dearest to the gods among the mortals of Ilion, because he never failed the altar with feast, libation, and the smoke of fat.

Passages

Agamemnon agrees to return the girl, but cannot bear to be left without a prize.

Achilles reads the offense through the short life that remains to him.

Hector tells Andromache why he cannot stay behind the wall.

Diomedes fears the phrase that Hector will say about him in assembly.

Achilles replies that the same honor belongs to the one who fights and to the one who stays.

Sarpedon measures honor in things that can be seen and turns it into duty.

Without a spear and without an ally, Hector chooses fame as the way to die.

At the games, Achilles gives the prize to Agamemnon without dispute.