The Wrath of Achilles - The Fight between Agamemnon and the Great Warrior - The Trojan War Saga Ep16

For nearly ten years, the Greeks besieged the glorious city of Troy and could not bring down the remarkable walls erected by the gods Poseidon and Apollo. But, on the beaches of Ilion, a dispute between the Greeks changed the course of the war. In the millennia that followed, the Muses would inspire iados, bards, and minstrels who sang the story of how Agamemnon aroused Achilles' wrath, driving the souls of thousands of Greeks straight into the realm of Hades. Agamemnon was relaxing in his tent, in the care of Crises. She was his war prey, for whom he had developed some affection, displaying her like a trophy due to her remarkable beauty. Suddenly, one of the soldiers warned him that a priest of Apollo demanded an At the gates of the camp was a priest allied to Troy, named Crises. He intended to free his daughter, who had been captured as a slave, precisely Agamemnon's favorite. He was willing to pay a large ransom for his beloved daughter. But after hearing Crises' request, the great leader quickly refused the chance to release her. He threatened and insulted the priest, demanding that he not return to the Greeks' camp. He said that Crises would be taken to his palace in Mycenae until Thanatos took her in her old age. Fearing the threats of such a powerful man, the priest of Apollo withdrew with his head down. But he knew he had a powerful ally who would not abandon him in a complicated moment. In front of the waves of the sea, Crises began a fervent prayer addressed to the god Apollo, son of Zeus with Leto. He asked the luminous god to pour his vengeance on the Achaeans, for they had treated their priest, who had the sacred insignia, with arrogance, disrespecting the god himself. At night, the god of the silver bow began to punish the Greeks. At first he attacked their animals, but quickly advanced against targeting men. These men did not notice the terrible arrows shot by Apollo and fell slaughtered by a terrible plague. For nine days, the Greeks suffered from Apollo's punishment. Warriors, one after another, died an unworthy death. The funeral pyres were constantly burning, and the Achaeans did not understand the reason for that heavy punishment imposed by the gods. Calchas, the seer who had Apollo's gifts, already knew the reason for the god's immense fury, but he feared revealing the information without having a guarantee of protection. So he turned to Achilles, asking him to protect him from Agamemnon's fury, since he always punished excessively the weak who went against him. Achilles promised that he would protect his life. At a meeting among the chief leaders of the Achaeans, Calchas revealed the whole truth. He claimed that the plague was because Agamemnon had offended and refused to return the daughter of Apollo's priest. To reconcile with the god, the great leader should return his war prey and offer a hecatomb to the god Apollo. Furious, Agamemnon vociferated against the seer, saying that he only prophesied misfortune and that he had never made an optimistic prediction. He said he would return his slave Crises, for he wished only good for his men, but he did not think it fair that he be the only one to go without a prize. He thought it fair to receive a reward of equal value. Achilles said that there were no other cities to be plundered on the Trojan coast, so it would be impossible to find such a prize. But when Troy fell, he would be rewarded. Agamemnon said that Achilles couldn't fool him, making him wait while he himself enjoyed the beautiful Brises. Achilles said he would return to Greece, along with his Myrmidons, if Agamemnon disregarded the right to his prizes. But the king of Mycenae did not bow to the threat. He said Achilles could leave, for he would not be missed. But before that, he would go to Achilles' tent to steal the beautiful Brises. Achilles was consumed by fury, grabbed his sword and decided to advance against Agamemnon. But someone held him by the hair. He turned even more wrathfully, but found the image of the goddess Athena, whom only he could see. The goddess asked Achilles to calm his heart and not to worry, for his true prize would soon be repaid to him in glories. Achilles put away his sword and told Atreia that he and the Greeks should not reckon with the son of Peleus and his Myrmidons. He also said that the Greeks would cry out for Achilles, but he would not appear to deliver them from the deadly blade of the magnificent Hector. Thus, they all regretted that they had allowed such an injury. After heated exchanges of insults, Achilles left Agamemnon's tent, full of anger in his heart. Odysseus decided to deliver Crises back to her father, along with the animals that would be sacrificed in the magnificent Hecatomb. Agamemnon's men went to Achilles' tent and searched for the beautiful Briseis, who refused to leave. In the evening Achilles went to the seaside, where he knelt and wept. Thetis, his divine mother, approached her son to hear those laments. Achilles could not understand why he was so wronged, even with such a short life. He wished the Greeks would pay for their injuries. Thetis knelt before Zeus' throne and begged him to help the Trojans during the war. After all, he was indebted to the goddess, for she had been responsible for saving him when the Olympian gods rebelled against Zeus and put him in chains. Zeus promised that he would assist the Trojans until Achilles' glory was repaired. Achilles retreated to meet with Agamemnon. The division between Greeks was all the Trojans desired. A Trojan spy reported to Hector, head of the Trojan army, all the events in the camp of the Achaeans. Weakened by the plague, and already without their champions, the Achaeans were deteriorated. Hector seized the opportunity to try to push the Greeks back toward the sea. The decisive battles of the Trojan War were about to take place.