Achilles expresses the pain that comes with losing his dear friend as rage. By feeling compassion for Priam's mourning the loss of his son, Achilles was finally able to let out his own emotions about the death of his best friend. Harvard professor Greg Nage thinks this is one of the big psychological insights that Homer gives us in his famous works.
Achilles has anger issues. The great Greek warrior sits out most of the Trojan War because he's angrily sulking. When he finally enters battle, he does so in a fit of rage that causes him to commit atrocities and bring dishonor on himself.
So what can we learn from this angry character in Homer's epic poem, The Iliad? With the help of Harvard classics expert Greg Nagy and anger counsellor Dr Faith Harper, we look at how anger can creep up on us and what we can do to defuse this sometimes explosive emotion.
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