Achilles: Hero or Heel?

Some people lift weights and run 5Ks. 
Me—I attempt to read literary classics. My latest attempt is to read the Iliad; an
epic poem of the Trojan War by the Greek Poet Homer.This was spurred on by the recent publication of a new translation of the poem.

The newest translation of the Iliad by Stephen Mitchell is quite good. You can read it without getting lost in footnotes or flipping through the dictionary.

Here’s a very brief synopsis of the first book of the Iliad. Agamemnon, a Greek king, and his ally Achilles have been at war with the Trojans for nearly ten years.   Ten years is a long time and the alliance between Agamemnon and Achilles has begun to fray. A breaking point is reached when Agamemnon, takes Chryseis, the daughter of a priest of Apollo as war trophy. Because of his refusal to release Chyseis, Apollo causes Agamemnon's and Achilles' armies to suffer all sorts of misfortune.  To save his men all Apollo has to do is return Chryseis to her father.

Things begin to get complicated when Agamemnon agrees to return Chryseis, but only if Achilles will give his prize, a girl named Briseis to Agamemnon.   As you can imagine Achilles is angered at the unfairness of Agamemnon’s demand and refuses to fight any further for Agamemnon.

And this is the question that I haven’t been able to resolve. Is Achilles right to be angry with Agamemnon?

Achilles, up until this point, has been loyal to Agamemnon.  He has fought by his side for ten years. If he eventually defeat the Trojans, Achilles will only have his prizes to show for his efforts and sacrifice. Agamemnon’s demands suggest that he has only the slightest respect for Achilles' contributions to the war. Achilles certainly seems justified in his anger with Agamemnon, but does it justify his refusal to continue fighting? Instead of his army being destroyed by Apollo, Achilles has now doomed his army.  Without his leadership they may well be destroyed by the Trojans or Agamemnon’s megalomaniacal personality.

Is it fair that Agamemnon brings down the wrath of Apollo upon his men,
because he refuses to give up his prize?  And how just it for Agamemnon to demand Achilles prize when he must release his to save his army?

These are tough questions.  And I suppose this is why people have been reading the Iliad for thousands of years.  Next week, I increase the literary weight and
start Book II of the Iliad.