Briseis was the woman of why the great Achilles retreated from the huge war. She was taken from him by King Agamemnon as a replacement of his own lady. She was the reason why he quit from joining the troops of Greece on the war. She was that mere reason why he stabled himself and refrained from fighting.

Achilles was one of the best fighters Greece ever had. He was almost invulnerable. He was tough and courageous too. It was just too surprising that he grieved for a long time and decided not to join the wars because of what Agamemnon did. It was very unmanly of him, considering that he was a well respected warrior due to his greatness when it comes to warfare.

If he really was a great fighter, he would be very eager to defend his city for that is his purpose as a warrior. He accepted his job, and thus he must be worthy of the trust and glory given to him. If he is a real man, he would not let the world stop just because of a little problem – little compared to the problems the City of Greece is facing – the defeat they are having from the mighty city of Troy.

As a king, he should be showing what a great leader should be like. He should be an example to his people. He should not show obdurateness to his people. As a leader, he should not be easily moved by problems arising. He should always show how flexible he is when it comes to dealing with problems. If he shows an attitude like that, he might lose the respect that the Greeks have for him.

Consider the fact that Agamemnon lowered his pride already. The king offered him lots of things already, including lands and women. Most especially, he decided to give back Briseis, the woman whom Achilles already loved, and promised to swear that she has never laid herself on his bed, not even once. But despite of all these, Achilles stayed to remain hard. He did not accept the offering of Agamemnon. He did not consider Agamemnon’s humbleness and being pride-less.

On the other hand, we cannot blame the Great Achilles for his decision. It might really be hard for him to work and fight with an anger inside. He might just wanted to remove the shame he had. He might just want to have his glory and honor back, which he really worked so hard for. He might just have regretted everything that happened.

Achilles was a great man. He knew in himself what is right for him. He is the only man who knows who he really is.

This also applies to us. It is by oneself that he knows completely. Others are there to talk about us, and to comment on us. There are people who give their opinion for our betterment, or speak about things to make us fall. There are also those who easily criticize us. But no matter what statement we receive, we should not be fully affected by it. They do not know us completely. We should not be down on everything they say, hence, we should be stronger because we learn from them.

This is a beautiful video from http://www.youtube.com/ that I find somewhat related to my realization.

All the unnecessary things that appeared on the person were accepted. After a while, everything that she be in her made her more beautiful. Everything contributed to her becoming.

(photo credits : deviantart.com)

Helen - a face that launched a thousand ships, the lady behind the most famous war in history, the woman who caused the battle between two strong cities – Troy and Achaea. She is just the reason why a great duel happened between the two warring cities.

Paris, having been given the prettiest woman by goddess Aphrodite, took Helen to Troy, his father’s land. On the other side of the story, Menelaus came searching for his wife and planned to get her back. Together with his army, they marched down to Troy. Paris then challenged anyone of them to a duel, and whoever wins will get Helen.

For me, winning the fight will not tell who the mightier or the nobler man but being who he is and living on what he believes makes him a real man. Everything that triggered what happened was planned by neither of the two parties. It was neither their fault if the gods have to choose Helen to be the “prize” for Paris, nor their fault if they fought for one beautiful lady.

Both Paris and Menelaus showed their nobleness in the story (Books 1-5 of Iliad). They have the courage to stand, the strength to talk, and the will to fight. They never lose the guts in maintaining the dignity in their names. Both of them showed their skills not only in fighting for Helen but also in defending their established popularity in strength.

For me, both showed equal honor and nobility. Paris, being a man of great prowess, never let anyone belittle him. His brother, Hector, insults him as to being a coward, and because of that, he showed his strength. He offered a fight to Menelaus. On the other hand, Menelaus had also been very dignified. He never gave up on getting back his Helen. He also accepted the fight offered to him by Paris, and he fought with his great strength. If the fight was just not played by other gods, it would have been better. They would have both showed everything that they have, excluding the help that the gods offered them during the fight.

With the characteristics of the two characters, I saw the image of our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal. Despite the problems in our country and the unlawful acts done by the Spaniards, he still continues to aim for the good. He still chose to go and dream for a better future. He accepted every trial and hardships given to him. And he never stopped believing on the power of his own Filipinos. He never stopped dreaming.

If we could just all be like them, noble and great, we can still uplift our well-loved land. If we could just be like them, our dreams will come into a reality. It is not late to start now to make a big change.