Leadership in the Iliad Achilles Rage Was Achilles Heel

Marcus Aurelius, one of the last great emperors of Rome, once said How much
more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it. This statement
proves especially true when the one whos angry is in a leadership position. In one
of the oldest literary classics of the western world, the Iliad, Homer shows his
readers what happens when one wielding authority and influence loses his temper
and seeks revenge. Even the opening lines of the epic poem reads, the rage of
Achilles, murderous, doomed, that cost the [Greeks] countless losses. The main
point of the story is to show how the anger of one man affected thousands of
others.

Achilles, was the ultimate soldier who was thought by many to be the greatest
warrior of his day. He had earned that reputation through his spectacular victories
on the field of battle; however, outside of that he was basically a spoiled brat. A brat
with a helicopter mother, Thetis, who had influence with Zeus, the king of the gods.

Early in the war, Achilles had earned a war prize for conquering a Trojan
stronghold. Because of that, and other great victories, he had become quite popular
among the Greeks. He was a living legenda rock star. Agamemnon, the Greek
commander-in-chief, was jealous of Achilles and forced him to give up his prize.
Achilles was ticked off! This would be similar to a US war veteran being awarded the
Medal of Honor, then having it withdrawn. Achilles threw a royal temper tantrum. He
subsequently vowed that he would not fight for the Greeks until this wrong was
made rightwhich put the entire Greek army at a disadvantage.

But Achilles didnt stop there. He went so far as to purposefully endanger his army.
He asked Thetis to persuade Zeus to punish the Greeks as revenge for his dishonor.
Because Thetis had previously saved Zeuss life, he agreed to her request. As a
result, the Trojans began to slaughter the Greeks by the thousands. What did
Achilles say when he heard about this massacre? That the Greeks were being
repaid for their offenses against him. One man offended him, but to him, it was as
if the whole army had done Eventually Achilless best friend, Patroclus, tried to
persuade Achilles to return to the battle, but Achilles refused to fight. After much
pleading Patroclus persuaded his friend to let him wear his battle armor so the
Greeks would be inspired by Achilless supposed return to the battle . . . but with a
few stipulations. One of them was that after Patroclus had beaten the Trojans back,
the great glory of victory would belong to Achilles. Patroclus was to do all the work
while Achilles napped in his tent. Oh, the hypocrisy!

Just because Patroclus looked like Achilles didnt mean he could fight like him.
Patroclus saved the Greeks through his ruse, but eventually Hector engaged him in
battle and killed him. Achilles took his revenge by killing Hector; then he defiled his

corpse. And just as before, Achilles only succeeded in avenging himself by crying to
Thetis and demanding that the gods come to his aid. Eventually, Achilles was killed
by Hectors younger brother, who also sought vengeance.

Now, what can we learn from Achilles? I would draw specific attention to the fact
that Achilles allowed a personal problem to not only prevent him from being the
superb asset he could have been to the Greek army, but to nearly cause its
downfall. His petty decisions and unbridled rage resulted in the death of his best
friend, the death of thousands of others, and in the end cost him his own life.
Achilles may have physically got hit with an arrow to his unprotected heel, but his
inability to keep a proper perspective and set his pride aside was his true weakness.

In leadership positions, all of our actions have consequences that go far beyond
ourselves. It affects those who follow us, partner with us, and depend on us. A
personal grudge negatively affected thousands of people who relied on Achilles for
leadership, inspiration, and their lives. He made his decisions rashly thinking only of
himself, and did not consider the impact on those around him. The bottom line is
when you act out of anger, you are wrong, and the results will show it. I am sure we
have all seen countless examples of this in our lives. Knee-jerk, emotional, angerinduced reactions never result in the best outcome, and almost always perpetuate
negativity.

We will all come in contact with people who offend us, accidentally or intentionally,
both in the workplace and in our personal lives. We must take care not to let such
offenses distract us from our purpose and goals, thus demonstrating the strength of
character necessary for anyone who aspires to lead. As Marcus Aurelius pointed out
to us earlier the consequences of anger were far worse than the action that
initially caused it.