He is their leader, but he breaks daily every rule they have been taught to live by…he is mad.’ (p. It is unconditional.’ But in his obsessive desire to avenge Patroclus’ death by desecrating Hector’s body, he begins to lose his authority ‘…when they look at him these days…They no longer know what authority they are under. His journey to ransom his son represents a change, a break with the traditional idea of what it is to be a king.Īchilles has all the bodily skills to lead his fellow warriors. However, he abandons this aspect of his leadership role when he acts in a new and different way. 43) like Hecuba, he understands a good king to be one who remains aloof and follows the dictates of tradition. Priam’s responsibilities in his role as king are symbolic as well as traditional he ‘is obliged to think of the king’s sacred body… as at once a body like any other and an abstract of the lands he represents, their living map’ (p. The question of what it takes to be an effective and suitable leader is explored through the characters of Achilles and Priam.
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