The Iliad 1.352–356 — Achilles speaking to Thetis | The Lexicon

The Iliad 1.352–356

has dishonoured me: for he has taken and keeps my prize through his own arrogant act.

μῆτερ ἐπεί μʼ ἔτεκές γε μινυνθάδιόν περ ἐόντα, τιμήν πέρ μοι ὄφελλεν Ὀλύμπιος ἐγγυαλίξαι Ζεὺς ὑψιβρεμέτης· νῦν δʼ οὐδέ με τυτθὸν ἔτισεν· ἦ γάρ μʼ Ἀτρεΐδης εὐρὺ κρείων Ἀγαμέμνων ἠτίμησεν· ἑλὼν γὰρ ἔχει γέρας αὐτὸς ἀπούρας.

Lattimore commentary

Achilleus seems to think that a connection with divinity (through his goddess mother) should ensure being honored by Zeus (the sort of honor Agamemnon claims at 1.175). If emphasis is placed on the adjective “with a short life,” his logic is different: since he is fated to die Jung, he should have god-given honor. In the latter case, he alludes to the prophecy once given him by Thetis and referred to explicitly only at 9.410–16 (that he can choose a short life with glory or a long life without it).

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