Ooh- good point. I never thought about Agamemnon in that light, though it makes a lot of sense- it’s not just that he’s arrogant or selfish, most of them are to some degree, but it’s like he’s abdicating a big part of his kingly duties by failing to be generous.
I don’t actually think a lack of generosity is Agamemnon’s problem because he already gave people all sorts of stuff. The problem Agamemnon has is with his pride. Agamemnon demands a replacement for the loss of Chrsyeis and turns down a promise to be repaid four times (or more) over for his sacrifice by Achilles (I think, I don’t have my book handy). Agamemnon demands a substitution for Chryseis because being the only lord without a prize will cause him to lose face. If it were simply a matter of greed then Agamemnon would have agreed to be rewarded multiple times over in the future.
It was Agamemnon’s pride, and perhaps jealousy, that drove Achilles away not his lack of generosity. When he attempts to win Achilles favor back he certainly shows just how generous he can be.
Marc
But doesn’t the fact that he sees being “the only king without a prize” as such a blow say something? If a king can only be generous when he has surplus, but starts grasping for the prizes of others when his is threatened, that shows a distinct lack of the kingly generosity that he should be showing. If he was just another Greek guy acting like this, his king would have stepped in and smoothed things over for the good of the group.
The kingly response to being forced to give up something probably shouldn’t be to alienate one of your best allies by taking his prize, it should be to use the incident to show that such prizes mean far less to you than the glory of the Greeks, and being able to fulfill your original goal of getting your brother’s wife back. I think that Agamemnon’s pride is the root problem, but he could have turned that pride in a more productive direction. Also, generosity can be a source of pride, too- he could have spun a big song about how awesome he is, giving up this perfect woman to lift the plague from the troops- TEAM AGAMEMNON WOOOO!! (which he does, but nobody really buys it because of the little matter of how he got another woman by force from his own guy) By ignoring his duty to be generous to his people, his pride turns poisonous.
Well yeah, it shows something and the something I argue for is that it shows Agamemnon’s failing is his pride not his greed. Agamemnon is the one who is having his prize taken away and he cannot bear the thought of being the only one to not have walked away with a prize as befitting his station.
Nobody in the Iliad is just another Greek guy except for the dude Odysseus beats for bad mouthing Agamemnon early in the story. Agamemnon certainly isn’t just another Greek. He’s the supreme king in command of the Greek forces. He’s right that he doesn’t deserve to have his prize taken, and remember that the Greeks tell him that they will reward him many times over in the future, but his pride gets in the way and he makes a series of short sighted decision that first brings the wrath of Apollo down upon them and ultimately leads to the alienation of his greatest warrior.
Here’s another Greek value for you, justice. The Greeks argue that it would be unfair for Agamemnon to take the hard earned prize of another just because he had to give his up to avoid the wrath of Apollo.
Marc
Hmm. I still think that generosity and greed aren’t necessarily opposites in this case- I also don’t think that Agamemnon’s greed is his major problem, but I’m having trouble articulating it.
But isn’t that what MGibson is saying, that it’s not his greed but his pride? Or rather his face? Agamemnon doesn’t care about the girl, but about losing her. I’ll buy a round of Patron for the bar, but that doesn’t mean you can sneak a bud lite on my tab without asking.
I think part of the reason Agamemnon is so touchy is that he’s in command of greater warriors than him, and he knows it.
Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!
Marc