Phoinix' personal speech to Ac

A detailed Summary of Phoinix' personal speech to Ac

In the middle of Book 9 of Iliad there are six little epic songs, which are the speeches of the three ambassadors, Odysseus, Phoinix, and Aias, and the reply of Achilleus to each one. Trying to persuade Achilleus to rejoin the fighting, all three ambassadors give their speeches. However, it is Phoinix' speech that contains the most compelling arguments because his speech is very personal to Achilleus.

Odysseus is a spokesman for Agamemnon and therefore speaks first because of his rhetorical skills. In his speech, Odysseus repeats word for word most of Agamemnon's earlier speech, which mostly consists the list of the gifts that Agamemnon is offering to Achilleus but Odysseus purposely, adds a few things from himself. Il9. 244-246 "All this I fear terribly in my heart, lest immortals accomplish all these threats, and lest for us it be destiny to die here in Troy, far away from horse-pasturing Argos." What he says is that if Achilleus won't help them, the Trojans are going to destroy Achaians ships and they won't be able to go back home, and they would die in Troy. Then the counselor counts out all the gifts that Agamemnon offers to him. The last few lines of the Odysseus' speech are his own too. He says to Achill

Achilleus' reply to Odysseus is the most powerful speech in the Iliad. Achilleus' speech is very significant because he says things that the ambassadors never heard before. Up to this point "honor" was the most important thing in his life. He lived for his standing in the eyes of other people. But now, the great warrior comes to a different understanding in life. And since the honor is the center in the culture, Achilleus redefines honor and this is very surprising and significant to his reply. Agamemnon dishonored Achilleus and now he questions whether honor is indeed more valuable than life, since after all his heroic achievements he was treated like this. In his reply he says that even if a person is a brave man or a coward, he is treated the same way and will die anyway. Consequently, he would rather go back to Greece and enjoy his life than go back to fighting. Il9. 318-320 "Fate is the same for the man who holds back, the same if he fights hard. We are all held in a single honour, the brave with the weaklings. A man dies still if he has done nothing, as one who has done much." Achilleus is questioning the whole basis of the heroic code. Achilleus' reply shows that Odysseus' speech doesn't consist the compelling arguments that would persuade Achilleus to rejoin the fighting. Now, the great warrior doesn't think that the honor is the most important thing in man's life so, he won't go back to fighting for exchange to be honored by others.

At the end of Book 9, Achilleus decided not to go back to fighting. Even though the three ambassadors- Odysseus, Phoinix, and Aias weren't successful in persuading Achilleus, they did give good speeches. They all talk about honor, and how it's the most important thing in man's life. But Odysseus and Aias throw the honor on Achilleus without explanations or consequences of not accepting the honor. However, Phoinix put all those explanations and consequences in his speech, and that's why his speech contains the most compelling arguments.

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Approximate Word count = 1577
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

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