In Homer's "The Iliad," the author attempts to get his readers to sympathize with Achilles. He does this by showing the readers an inside on Achilles' emotions. Readers see Achilles from his lowest point when he is devastated about Patroclus' death where he is in tears, to his reintegration into battle because Homer wants his readers to see the mental strength of Achilles. Homer also uses characters like Agamemnon and Odysseus to show the audience Achilles' personality. Agamemnon is used to make the readers feel sympathy for Achilles because of the way he is treated by Agamemnon, and Odysseus is used to show the readers that even a character in the epic has sympathy for him. At the end of The Iliad, Achilles gave Hector's body back to Troy, which shows compassion. Homer uses these events in order to create more sympathy for Achilles. .
Homer starts his epic out with Agamemnon humiliating Achilles by forcing Achilles to give up his prize of war Briseis. Achilles feels like he is not being treated as an equal. Achilles is at war helping Agamemnon with his army, so he feels that he should be treated better. Homer makes it clear in The Iliad that Achilles is not only a great fighter, but also the hero in the epic. Agamemnon has too much pride to realize how great of a role Achilles plays in the epic, and being too prideful causes the readers to want to take Achilles' side. At this point, Homer illustrates to the readers how poorly Achilles is treated even though he is very important in the epic. This creates sympathy from the readers towards Achilles. Not only does it construct sympathy for Achilles, but it illustrates the way Homer wants his readers to perceive Achilles; Homer wants his readers to realize how significant the role Achilles plays in the epic.
To compel his audience to feel sympathy for Achilles, Homer has Achilles hide away in his tent due to the deeds of Agamemnon. Some may have a difficult time sympathizing for Achilles because of the way he reacts to Agamemnon by hiding away.
