>>3569427>Agamemnon isn't painted in a flattering wayThat's sort of the point of the Illiad. Big A is in charge, but it isn't because he's braver or stronger or better. He's just the boss, and he's a shitty boss.
Achilles, on the other hand, is the greatest of the greeks, and he responds to this by pitching a fit and abandoning people who fought with him, people he called friend, and playing the lyre while people who were counting on him died. He's the best, and he's also a self-centered piece of shit who doesn't give a shit about anybody else on the team.
People assume that because Homer calls him the Greatest of the Greeks it means that Homer is endorsing everything he does. I think they're missing the point. Sometimes the best guy on the team is also a prima-donna grade S fuckhead who doesn't give a damn about anybody else. Sometimes the boss is also a prima-donna grade SS fuckhead who not only doesn't give a damn about the team, but isn't competent enough to back it up.
Hector is a good man and Priam is a good king, and everything they care about is destroyed because Paris couldn't keep his fucking dick in his pants. That's the same story as King Arthur, in a way.
The major theme of the Illiad is selfish men making things worse than they have to be because they don't care about other people.
