Why must we battle Trojans,
men of Argas? Why did he muster an army, lead us here,
that son of Atreus? Why, why in the world if not
for Helen with her loose and lustrous hair?
Are they the only men alive who love their wives,
those sons of Atreus? Never! Any decent man,
a man with sense, loves his own, cares for his own
as deeply as I, I loved that woman with all my heart,
though I won her like a trophy with my spear…
But now that he’s torn my honor from my hands,
robbed me, lied to me – don’t let him try me now.
I know him too well – he’ll never win me over!
– Homer
The Iliad, Book 9, lines 409-420. Achilles questions the motives for the Trojan war, as Odysseus attempts to bring him back to the fighting. If the war is for Helen, are Agamemnon and Menelaus the only men alive who love their wives, Achilles asks Odysseus? Any decent man loves his own, he says, accusing Agamemnon of robbing him of his honor and the woman he loves with all his heart, Briseis.