(Achilleus:)
Now, since I am not going back to the beloved land of my fathers,
since I was no light of safety to Patroklos, nor to my other
companions, who in their numbers went down before glorious Hektor,
but sit here beside my ships, a useless weight on the good land, […]
why, I wish that strife would vanish away from among gods and mortals,
and gall, which makes a man grow angry for all his great mind,
that gall of anger that swarms like smoke inside of a man's heart
and becomes a thing sweeter to him by far than the dripping of honey. (18.101-104, 107-110)
Like so many passages in the Iliad, this one looks simple on the surface, but can provide more than enough food for thought. First of all, we think it is worth considering that part of Achilleus's hate is directed towards himself, as these lines show. (Also remember that, earlier in this book, at lines 33-34, Antilochos had to hold Achilleus's hands to make sure he didn't kill himself.)
Second, what do you think about his closing words, which suggest that there is something about anger or hate that makes it taste sweet to those who experience it?
