The Iliad Compassion and Forgiveness Quotes

But as he turned back,
his host spun out the tightest trap of all:
picking the best men from Lycia far and wide
he set an ambush – that never came home again!
Fearless Bellerophon killed them all.
Then, yes,
when the king could see the man’s power at last,
a true son of the gods, he pressed him hard to stay,
he offered his own daughter’s hand in marriage,
he gave him half his royal honors as the king.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 6, lines 220-228. Glaucus recounts the story of his heroic grandfather Bellerophon to Diomedes, when they meet as enemies on the battlefield. Bellerophon was sent by Proetus to Iobates, the king of Lycia, with a message that he was to be slain. A trap was set but Bellerophon killed all those sent to ambush him. When the Lycian king saw his power and heroism, he took him into his household and offered him his daughter’s hand in marriage.

We do have Prayers, you know, Prayers for forgiveness,
daughters of mighty Zeus…and they limp and halt,
they’re all wrinkled, drawn, they squint to the side,
can’t look you in the eyes, and always bent on duty,
trudging after Ruin, maddening, blinding Ruin.
But Ruin is strong and swift –
She outstrips them all by far, stealing a march,
leaping over the whole wide earth to bring mankind to grief.
And the Prayers trail after, trying to heal the wounds.
And then, if a man reveres these daughters of Zeus
as they draw near him, they will help him greatly
and listen to his appeals. But if one denies them,
turns them away, stiff-necked and harsh – off they go
to the son of Cronus, Zeus, and pray that Ruin
will strike the man down, crazed and blinded
until he’s paid the price.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 9, lines 609-624. The charioteer Phoenix pleads with Achilles to relent on his vow not to fight for the Achaeans against the Trojans until Agamemnon has assuaged his honor. He asks him not to dishonor Prayers for forgiveness when they come to his door, warning him that Prayers are the daughters of Zeus. If a man denies those daughters, they will go to Zeus and ask him to send Ruin to that man to punish him, he tells Achilles.

Why, any man will accept the blood-price paid
for a brother murdered, a child done to death.
And the murderer lives on in his own country –
the man has paid enough, and the injured kinsman
curbs his pride, his smoldering, vengeful spirit,
once he takes the price.
You – the gods have planted
a cruel, relentless fury in your chest! All for a girl.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 9, lines 771-777. Great Ajax cannot fathom why Achilles is so full of rage and refuses to forgive and end the quarrel with Agamemnon. He points out that people put aside their differences and curb their pride when they accept blood money for a murdered brother or child. But not Achilles, in whose heart the gods have put a relentless fury – all over the girl Briseis.

Ajax, royal son of Telamon, captain of armies,
all well said, after my own heart, or mostly so.
But my heart still heaves with rage
whenever I call to mind that arrogance of his –
how he mortified me, right in front of the Argives –
that son of Atreus treating me like some vagabond,
like some outcast stripped of all my rights!

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 9, lines 787-793. In his parting remarks to Great Ajax and the emissaries from Agamemnon, Achilles makes it clear that he is still full of rage over the king’s treatment of him in front of his fellow Greeks. His great pride won’t allow the unforgiving Achilles reconcile with Agamemnon, despite Ajax’s plea to put their differences aside.

Enough. Let bygones be bygones. Done is done.
Despite my anguish I will beat it down,
the fury mounting inside me, down by force.
Now, by god, I call a halt to all my anger –
it’s wrong to keep on raging, heart inflamed forever.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 19, lines 74-78. Achilles at last makes his peace with Agamemnon, admitting that it is wrong for him to keep on raging. One has to wonder if he had really forgiven Agamemnon, as his return to battle is being driven by hatred for and the desire for revenge against Hector.

So the illustrious son of Priam begged for life
but only heard a merciless voice in answer: "Fool,
don’t talk to me of ransom. No more speeches.
Before Patroclus met his day of destiny, true,
it warmed my heart a bit to spare some Trojans:
droves I took alive and auctioned off as slaves.
But now not a single Trojan flees his death,
not one the gods hand over to me before your gates,
none of all the Trojans, sons of Priam least of all!"

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 21, lines 110-118. Lycaon, half brother to Hector and son of Priam, pleads with Achilles for his life. But an unforgiving Achilles is full of rage and hatred for the Trojans over the death of his friend Patroclus at the hands of Hector that he has no intention of sparing any son of Priam.

Come, friend, you too must die. Why moan about it so?
Even Patroclus died, a far, far better man than you.
And look, you see how handsome and powerful I am?
The son of a great man, the mother who gave me life
a deathless goddess. But even for me, I tell you,
death and the strong force of fate are waiting.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 21, lines 119-124. In this passage we see Achilles at his most cynical and unforgiving. Consumed with rage and the desire for revenge for Patroclus’s slaying, he believes that all enemies must die as he is fated to die – foreshadowing his own death. He cruelly mocks the plea to be spared from Priam’s son Lycaon, telling him that better men than him have died.

Hector, stop!
You unforgivable, you…don’t talk to me of pacts.
There are no binding oaths between men and lions –
wolves and lambs can enjoy no meeting of the minds –
they are all bent on hating each other to the death.
So with you and me. No love between us. No truce
till one or the other falls and gluts with blood
Ares who hacks at men behind his rawhide shield.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 22, lines 308-315. Achilles rejects Hector’s plea to agree a pact that the victor return the body of the other back to his comrades. The Greek hero says that there is no love between them, and uses an epic simile of there being no meeting of minds between wolves and lambs to illustrate his point. There will be no truce till one of them falls, glutting with blood Ares god of war, he vows. Achilles shows no compassion or forgiveness here.

Beg no more, you fawning dog – begging me by my parents!
Would to god my rage, my fury would drive me now
to hack your flesh away and eat you raw –
such agonies you have caused me! Ransom?
No man alive could keep the dog-packs off you,
not if they haul in ten, twenty times that ransom
and pile it here before me and promise fortunes more –
no, not even if Dardan Priam should offer to weigh out
your bulk in gold! Not even then will your noble mother
lay you on your deathbed, mourn the son she bore…
The clogs and birds will rend you – blood and bone!

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 22, lines 407-417. Achilles’s response to Hector’s plea for his body to be given to friends is so full of rage and hatred and lacking in compassion. He vows that no man or ransom will keep the dog packs from Hector’s body. Even if his father Priam gave him Hector’s weight in gold, not even then would Hector’s mother lay her son out on his deathbed.

Atrides – well we know how far you excel us all:
No one can match your strength at throwing spears,
You are the best by far!
Take first prize and return to your hollow ships
While we award this spear to Meriones.
If that you please your heart. That’s what I propose.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 23, lines 986-991. When the spear throwing competiton begins, Achilles makes this gesture of reconciliation and forgiveness in his quarrel with Agamemnon, saying that the king is the greatest spearman of them all and the contest is already his. So Agamemnon is automatically awarded first prize, which he gives away to his herald.

How can you think of going down to the ships, alone,
and face the glance of the man who killed your sons,
so many fine brave boys? You have a heart of iron!
If he gets you in his clutches, sets his eyes on you –
that savage, treacherous man – he’ll show no mercy,
no respect for your rights!

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 24, lines 241-246. Hecuba tries to convince Priam not to go down to the Achaean ships to ask Achilles for their son Hector’s body back. She believes that Achilles is a savage without compassion and will kill her husband, having already killed his sons.

Remember your own father, great godlike Achilles –
as old as I am, past the threshold of deadly old age!
No doubt the countrymen round about him plague him now,
with no one there to defend him, beat away disaster.
No one – but at least he hears you’re still alive
and his old heart rejoices, hopes rising, day by day,
to see his beloved son come sailing home from Troy.
But I – dear god, my life so cursed by fate…
I fathered hero sons in the wide realm of Troy
and now not a single one is left, I tell you.
…But one, one was left me, to guard my walls, my people –
the one you killed the other day, defending his fatherland,
my Hector!

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 24, lines 570-579, 584-586. Priam pleads with Achilles for the return of Hector’s body for a proper funeral. He attempts to gain the sympathy of Achilles by making a comparison between himself and Achilles’s father Peleus. Appealing to any sense of compassion Achilles might have, Priam speaks of Peleus alone and surrounded by enemies with no one to defend him. But at least he still had the hope of seeing his beloved son returning home from Troy. Priam tells Achilles that he now has no hero son left to protect him since he killed Hector.

"Revere the gods, Achilles! Pity me in my own right,
remember your own father! I deserve more pity…
I have endured what no one on earth has ever done before
I put to my lips the hands of the man who killed my son."
Those words stirred within Achilles a deep desire
to grieve for his own father. Taking the old man’s hand
he gently moved him back. And overpowered by memory
both men gave way to grief. Priam wept freely
for man-killing Hector, throbbing, crouching
before Achilles’ feet as Achilles wept himself,
now for his father, now for Patroclus once again,
and their sobbing rose and fell throughout the house.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 24, lines 588-599. Priam begs Achilles for his son Hector’s body so that he can give it proper funeral rites. When the Trojan king pleads with Achilles to remember his own father, the Achaean hero’s heart is touched and he weeps for his father and his slain friend Patroclus. His mood turns from rage to compassion.

Poor man, how much you’ve borne – pain to break the spirit!
What daring brought you down to the ships all alone,
to face the glance of the man who killed your sons,
so many fine brave boys? You have a heart of iron.
Come please sit down on this chair here…
Let us put our griefs to rest in our own hearts.

– Homer

The Iliad, Book 24, lines 605-610. Achilles says this when Priam comes to beg for the return of his son Hector’s body. The Greek warrior recognizes the humanity in even his enemies and is overcome by compassion at the sadness a father mourning for his son. He admires the bravery of Priam in facing the man who killed his sons. There is certainly a heroism about the Trojan king in his willingness to face Achilles.
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