Agamemnon in “Iliad” – Tragic Figure and Symbol

Abstract

In this article I will attempt a reading on the Iliad, focused on the hero Agamemnon and on the following elements: a) the depiction of the burdened leader in the Trojan War, who manages to triumph over the battle field, and b) the display of the hero characterized by profound personal insecurity. We consider that these two characteristics compose the image of a tragic hero, who in Homer's epic poem gradually acquires self-knowledge, especially after the scene of his conflict with Achilles. We are concerned to see how Agamemnon's myth is activated by Homer, and at the same time to look at the hero as a contradictory person and a tragic figure. We consider interesting to trace any symbolism that Homer gives to his character (character as a "symbol"). With no disagreement
on the characteristic trait attributed to Agamemnon by several critics - his inability to analyze the situations in a state of sobriety, his misjudgment that apparently leads to underestimated situations and false decisions, after a close analysis and thought - I will try to point out his personal insecurities and his tragic dilemmas, which, in our opinion, gradually form a distinctive psychological makeup of a full-fledged individual, who seems to be developed from the beginning of the Iliad and grows up to be mature and wise at the end of the epic poem.