The Achaean soldiers are desperate. They go to Achilles, who was in his tent playing the lute with his friend Patroclus, and beg time to return to the battlefields. Agamemnon comes up with the idea to offer Achilles a great deal of gifts in effort to bribe him back to the Achaean lines. Though this appears to be a superficial gesture, but in this time period material possessions were a sign of personal honor. Unsurprisingly Achilles rejects the offer. He is planning to return to his homeland of Phthia. He wants to live a long life, rather than a shorter one if he stays and fights on the front lines. This remark depicts the level of cowardice Achilles possesses. He would rather live out a long boring life where he is certain to be safe, rather
