The hero in Homeric culture recognized the rightness of his community's anger. For example, when Agamemnon strips Achilles of his war prize, Agamemnon places the responsibility for his actions on Zeus and Destiny. He says, "It is the god who accomplishes all things" and he claims that "Delusion" entangled him. Similarly, when Achilles ponders whether or not to draw his sword against Agamemnon, Athena grabs him by the hair and warns him against fighting with Agamemnon. Clearly, Achilles does not assume responsibility either for his anger or for his not killing Agamemnon. In fact, neither Achilles nor Agamemnon recognizes a personal responsibility for their emotional and physical responses, even though both men are on the edge of violence. To the Homeric hero, an outside force initiates action and thought — hence, personal responsibility is not an issue for a hero's decision to follow the dictates of an outside force.
A hero always had two choices: He could follow an external force, or he could make his own personal decisions. This idea derives from the concept that a man became a hero because he possessed certain qualities. Among those qualities is heroic balance, which requires a hero to insist upon his greatness and maintain a proper modesty before the gods. He had to know himself and be able to evaluate and act upon a situation. He also had to recognize the time when the gods withdrew their help, and at that time the hero had to withdraw from battle. If he failed to recognize how much his action was ruled by the gods, he lost his heroic balance and made a tragic error. If he failed to follow the gods and made his own decisions, he had to live with the shame of his mistake, and when he erred, he lost approval and honor.
