Agamemnon is a brave warrior, since for all the Homeric democracy, he was the permanent commander of the Achaean army throughout the war. It didn't cost anything to remove him. But he was in place, and it was inexpedient to displace him. Nestor calls him the strongest bulwark for the Achaeans in the whole war and cannot deny him the greatest honor that he possesses (Ill., I, 278 ff., 283 ff.). Several times he was ready to abandon the field of battle because of the futility of the struggle and in view of the aimless, senseless death of many Achaeans. Suggesting that the war should be stopped (Illus, IX, 13-28), he states with contrition of heart the deception of Zeus, who promised him victory, and with tears in his eyes regrets the death of a huge number of Achaeans, thereby displaying a humanism unknown to Achilles. Not only Agamemnon, but also Nestor, Odysseus, and others talk about the end of the war (X, 145-147). Agamemnon (XIV, 64-81) at the most critical moment proposes to lower some of the ships from the shore to the sea, in order to save at least something from the Trojans who approached the ships. But this is not his firm opinion, and even more so not an order, because after the first brief objection to this Odysseus, he is again ready to fight to the end.

Theoretically, reasoning and interpreting the artistic image formalistically, one can, of course, reproach Agamemnon for taking Briseis away from Achilles and for his advice to end the war. But Agamemnon himself is not at all inclined to exaggerate his wisdom and quite rightly explains his actions by the delusion of Ata, the demon of madness (XIX, 78-144). This only indicates his modesty and his lack of desire to persist in his mistakes. His detailed account of how Ata brought madness to Zeus himself before the birth of Hercules leaves no doubt about it. In the same way, deceived [244] by a dream about the departure of the army to his homeland (p. II) and later unraveling this illusion, he modestly retreats; and one can only regret that such an exalted king turned out to be a pawn in the hands of the treacherous Zeus.

It follows that Agamemnon does not have the despotic and audacious character that many have attributed to him. On the contrary, his character is weak, as Diomedes says (Ill., IX, 39 ff.). If he orders something in the heat of the moment and someone criticizes him, he is immediately ready to take back his words, apologize and cover everything with his peacefulness, as it happened once, for example, with his order to go into battle and with the objection of Odysseus to this (IV, 338-363).

This weakness of character explains his angry outbursts, when he suddenly boils over, but immediately calms down. This explains his famous quarrel with Achilles (Ill., I), and Agamemnon turned out to be not vindictive, despite all the insults from Achilles, and Achilles, who insulted him, was just vindictive for a long time. And Nestor, who reproaches Agamemnon for having offended his best husband (IX, 110), is undoubtedly cunning, counting on Agamemnon's modesty and conscientiousness, which immediately happens: Agamemnon sincerely repents and deeply regrets the taking of Briseis from Achilles. In general, Agamemnon patiently listens to the endless objections of his subordinates and at the same time never resorts to extreme punishment, but, on the contrary, almost always tries to correct his mistakes.

It is quite soft and not petty. Recommending Diomedes to take a comrade for reconnaissance, he gives him the full right to choose anyone he wants and not to take into account the nobility of origin or, on the contrary, weak physical strength (X, 234-239).

Of course, Achilles condemns and belittles him in every possible way, calling him a dog, a drunkard, a shameless, a despot, and a coward (except for point I, where Achilles simply does not control himself, we can cite his calmer speech in IX, 332-378). But Achilles is a deeply interested person, and not only interested, but also embittered, poorly controlled by himself. Achilles (IX, 321-331, 352-377) not only exalts himself and his exploits immoderately, but reaches the point of complete anarchism, denying all authority of the supreme Achaean leader and preparing to go with his entire retinue to his homeland the very next day because of some trifle. In the mouth of the petty Achilles, who puts his cohabitation with an accidental captive above the interests of his people, this curse by Agamemnon sounds unconvincing.

True, Agamemnon is cruel. But he is no more cruel than all the other heroes. If he forbids Menslay to spare the Trojan Adrastus, and is ready to destroy even infants in the womb of mothers from a hostile country, this may be considered a trifle in comparison with the cruelty which Achilles showed to his enemies, not excepting the helpless and even minors.

Farewell to the warrior. Red-figure vase. V century BC.

And yet it must be said that Homer definitely does not like Agamemnon, and perhaps not so much as he is, but as a king in general and as a supreme military leader who abuses his power. In the eyes of Homer, the clan community in general moves towards absolutism with all the consequences that follow from it. The emancipated poet does not like this evolution very much, and the Achaean kings appear in him mainly in a very reduced form. Agamemnon is shown worse than others in this sense, since his power is stronger. But taken on its own, it is not much different from all others, and if it is criticized, it is no more than others. You can even say so. His image is eventually covered with some mournful and tender lyrics. One has only to read the story of the shadow of Agamemnon to Odysseus in Hades about how Clytemestra mercilessly killed Agamemnon and Cassandra and how she did not even close his eye after death (Od., XI, 405-461). It depicts how the weeping Agamemnon, once a powerful and glorious hero, after so many military labors suffered from an evil woman, and how in Hades he still regrets his unsuccessful marriage and is still interested in the fate of his son.

Thus, Homer's Agamemnon is a powerful, glorious, powerful knight and king, unstable and weak-willed, greedy and voluptuous, modest and pliable, a robber and predator, a bold critic of Zeus, often a coward and a drunkard with a lyrically delicate, deeply offended and infinitely suffering soul.

4. Hector.2) The character of Hector, in contrast to the hysterical Achilles, is striking in its deep adherence to principles: for him, the most important thing is to fight for his homeland and for his people. For all his religiosity, which Homer emphasizes in him more than once, in one famous verse he prefers military exploits to any bird-telling (Ill., XII, 243).

He cannot bear shame in front of the Trojans and Trojan women for bad and stupid behavior in war. He is not afraid to admit his military mistakes and covers them up with his heroism. Burning with a passion for military exploits, he, contrary to the advice of his elders, set his troops against Achilles and did not lead them to Troy, although his own death and the useless death of many Trojans was almost obvious. These inner vacillations, covered by selfless heroism, are beautifully depicted in Homer (XXII, 99-130). The consciousness of his duty, the shame before his compatriots in the event of his treason, the habit of fighting in the front ranks – these thoughts come to him even when parting with Andromache (VI, 441-449). At the appearance of the magnificently armed Ajax, Hector's heart trembles (VII, 216). But he does not even think of evading the battle or fighting in any insidious way, without attacking directly, openly and nobly (242-245). Wounds in the neck (262) and in the knees (271) not only do not stop him, but provoke him even more. The slightest hesitation about the plan of battle at the first compulsion from the outside immediately turns into an ardent offensive (XVI, 713-728).

However, the traditional idea of Homer's Hector as a kind of unshakable hero who behaves straightforwardly and schematically and is devoid of any psychology is completely erroneous. This psychology is usually seen only in the famous scene of Hector's farewell to Andromache. Indeed, the tender conjugal and paternal feelings with which Homer's mightiest and bravest hero appears here are so vital and deep that they continue to excite readers even now, and are even now the pinnacle of the beauty of the heroic personality in world literature.