Never Marry An Angry Man: Achilles is not a Catch

Last updated on: August 22, 2019 at 10:38 pm by John Mark N. Reynolds

Never Marry An Angry Man: Achilles is not a Catch 2019-08-22T22:38:39-04:00 John Mark N. Reynolds

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Now I surely cease my anger; it is not fitting that I be wrathful, unrelenting forever.*

So Achilles says, angry no more, after spending nineteen books dooming his friends because of his wrath. Few things are as dangerous on the Earth as an angry man. Achilles’ anger made men he liked a “feast for dogs and vultures.”

Zeus “willed” it, but Achilles need not have been duped into being the fulfillment of this particular will of God. That’s not good. In fact, feelings are fatal when separated from the intellect and wicked when they deny the laws of Nature and of Nature’s God. Achilles is authentic to himself and ends up being truly Achilles as he is, but not Achilles as he should be. The man is reduced to his natural talent and not what could be made of those talents.

Why?

Achilles’ passions define him. If you asked him, he might say he is the angry young man, but Homer shows there is no future in it. Take his prize, his love, and he will grow anger and he has not learned to say “no” to his anger. Instead, Achilles blames the king, the gods, his fate. We are what we are, obviously, but Achilles learns too late that what we are, what we feel, is not the same as “should.”

”Should” condemns what we are, but frees us as well by giving us possibilities outside self. Anger is, but justice would have kept Achilles from allowing his real anger to destroy those he loved best.

Hope, my lady wife and not merely the virtue, told our daughters: “Never marry an angry man.” She learned from the classics. The angry man has not learned to master his desires: he is upset, so he is true to himself and acts on his anger. As Achilles friend, Patroclus, discovers: the angry man will revenge you, but only after his anger has killed you.

Angry men kill, even when they do “nothing.”

Achilles merely goes to his tent and sits out the war and this kills many of his friends. As the atom bomb of the ancient world, fatal if present, but rarely used, Achilles can change the war by not being there, merely being what he feels: angry. The wiseman stops, thinks about it, and does not do it.. The wiseman builds his house on a rock that is not part of the house, but is necessary for the house to survive.

When Achilles’ friend dies, then the “hero” is sorry he has done or left undone what he had done or left undone. Too late! His “is” had destroyed the “ought” of the world.

By contrast, the earliest Scriptures point past our desires to what is: good, true, and beautiful. The Virgin conceives and bears a son: small beginnings. The child Jesus grows up and becomes King and Lord. We are not as we should be, even without sin. Instead, what? ,

————————————————-

*Homer, The Iliad translated by Caroline Alexander Book 19, 65ff.

On Books

Spiritual Reflections

Previous Post

August 20, 2019

Never Have Paris (Iliad)

Next Post

August 22, 2019 Men Are Human, Women Are Human . . . An Insight from Homer

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Apologetics Art Culture Education On Books On Education Philosophy Politics Pop Culture Spiritual Reflections Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 July 2025 June 2025 September 2024 July 2024 June 2024 December 2023 June 2023 September 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What special power did Joseph have?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Building altars Writing scrolls Interpreting dreams Fighting giants

Books by This Author John Mark Reynolds

See All Titles »