How does Achillies anger cloud his decision making??

Question

I'm refering to The Iliad. :)

Answer 1

Well i am assuming you are referring to the Iliad since you didn't clarify. But if you really need to ask this, you need to think it out more.

Ever been really REALLY mad? Think about a situation where you did something stupid because all you could think of was payback/vengeance/whatever.  

Answer 2

I wouldn't exactly say that his anger clouds his decision making, but it certainly leads him to do something very selfish and cruel--to have his mother persuade Zeus to let the Trojans get the upper hand in the war during Achilles' absence.  To me, ironically, what clouds his thinking is his concern for his comrades whom he sees coming in wounded.  Not only does he seem to forget that he's getting just what he asked for and is responsible for their injuries, but he actually agrees to let his best friend, Patroclus, go into battle in his place.  So when Patroclus is killed, Achilles has to realize that he not only let it happen but in a very real way CAUSED it to happen.  Homer never explicitly says that Achilles faced that realization, but when he's warned twice that he is fated to die soon or next after Hector, who killed Patroclus and whom Achilles must therefore kill to avenge Patroclus, he replies that it doesn't matter.  The impliction is that he realizes that he owes it to Patroclus to avenge him even at the price of his own life.  Although Achilles is still alive at the end of the Iliad, his death is strongly foreshadowed.  We may be meant to understand that he will be killed as soon as the fighting resumes after the truce declared for Hector's funeral.