Him, Himself and Achilles

Sam Sheets
April 12th, 2007

Him, Himself, and Achilles

Aristotle once said that a man who is incapable of working in common, or who in his self-sufficiency has no need of others, is no part of the community, like a beast or a god. This statement fits Achilles perfectly. Throughout what I have read of The Iliad, Achilles doesn’t seem to fit in or even want to be a part of the Achaean army or community.
In book I of The Iliad, we are introduced to Achilles when he is in a disagreement with Agamemnon. Achilles says that a plague has struck the army because Agamemnon has taken a priestess for a slave. Agamemnon thinks it is unfair. To attack Agamemnon for being self and that he takes enough of their plunder, Achilles says:
My honors never equal yours,
whenever we sack some wealthy Trojan stronghold-
my arms bear the brunt of the raw, savage fighting,
true, but when it comes to dividing up the plunder
the lion’s share is yours, and back I go to my ships,
clutching some scrap, some pittance that I love,
when I have fought to exhaustion.
(Lines 192-198)

The one thing that stuck in my mind is that he says his arms bear the burnt of fighting. He never says anything about his men or the other Achaeans. He too is self in that sense. He seems to only care about what he and Agamemnon bring home at the end of the day, not the rest of the men.
After this whole fight/argument goes down, Agamemnon sends men to claim Achilles’ slave for himself, since his had to be returned to stop the plagues. Achilles gets really upset, and refuses to fight, and doesn’t let his men fight either. He is upset for selfish reason. He doesn’t care if they Achaeans lose battles because he’s not there. He doesn’t care that his men don’t get to fight and that they must sit on the beach during a time of war and watch their comrades die. He decides to mope, and cry to his mother to get Zeus’ attention so something can be done. He doesn’t care that because he is just sitting there, he or any of his men don’t receive any of the plunder which the army my find.
He refuses to participate only because he feels cheated. He doesn’t care about what may happen to everyone else because of this decision. And quite frankly, I don’t think he even cares. Obviously he isn’t a productive member of the Achaean community or army when he is acting this way. He decides to be alone and cry, and be very counter productive by being selfish and self contained.
The thing that strikes me about Aristotle’s quote is the ending comparing the man to a beast or god. In a way, Achilles is a god amongst the other troops. He is held as being above everyone else. Does that make him self-sufficient, and seen as if he doesn’t need the army? He can also be seen as a beast, for he is best known for his rage, which is an uncivilized human quality. And it’s an obvious fact that things which are uncivilized aren’t usually found in civilizations.

Flawed Funding for Public Schools?

We are told through our entire lives that if anyone wants to be a somebody in life, they must go to school. Everyone has the opportunity to go to a public school, but are all public schools equal? Should it matter where you live (and even where you come from) to determine the quality of your education in public schools? With public school being funded by property taxes there seems to be a bias in school funding. Where the rich live, property taxes are usually higher, so their school districts ultimately have more money to spend on children. Poorer districts likewise have less money to spend on each student. Is it fair to children that just because of their parent’s financial background and current standings they may et a worse education than a child who may only live a few miles away, but in a wealthier area? As always there are 2 sides to this debate.
Equalizing public funding for schools would give every child an equal opportunity. Have all the money from property taxes collected and distributed equally throughout all districts so each child has the same opportunity would get rid of much of the bias in school funding. It wouldn’t matter if you go to a predominately non-white school, because ever child, whether he or she is white, black, Hispanic or any other race would be receiving the same amount of money to be educated. Everyone would start on the same page. Equalizing funding could also help get rid of the gap between rich and poor in the state and in the country. With everyone getting the same opportunities in school, theoretically would mean more children of every ethnicity and race would graduate and become successful and productive members of society. This may help boost the economy and make the U.S. more productive.
Even though there are good points as to why equalizing the money made by property taxes to all students would be a good decision, there are many good points as to why equalizing public funding for schools would be and is bad. The question whether or not it is fair for the money raised by a higher property tax payer to go to a child who could be hundreds of miles away is the first thing which comes to mind. Is it fair for the money coming from people who have higher property taxes, probably because they have worked long and hard to afford their nice house, to go another child’s education who is not even in their school district? In chapter 9 or The Shame of the Nation, Kozol gives an example of children who are bused to other districts to receive a better education from at the wish of the parents. That way, kids who go to a “poorer” school have a better opportunity to succeed. Maybe if parents took an active role in their children’s schooling, and helped them to succeed, they could over come the obstacle of going to a school with less money for students. Once out of public school, things such as financial aid and loans can help with the cost of school if they or they’re family cannot afford college. Kozol gives the example of a young black girl who hadn’t dreamed of going to college before being bused to a primarily white school (p.229). Is this the fault of a faulty school district, or the fault of her family to not try and help her go to college? I know it my life, it was more my family than my peers who pushed me to go to college after high school to “make something of myself.”
Looking at the Minnesota Department of Education’s website, I found the demographics for both St. Paul’s and Minneapolis’ public schools. Both have a very diverse and pretty much equal student population according to race. One thing that I found very shocking, however, was that St. Paul seemed to have a greater graduation rate even though 36% of the students had a limited English proficiency (compared to Minneapolis’ 23%) and 71% of the students were on free or reduced lunches (compared to Minneapolis’ 67%). It seems that more of St. Paul’s students come from poorer families or families who primarily speak another language, yet more graduate. Perhaps this is because the over all values of the members of both communities and surroundings effect a child’s education, more than just how much money they get to be schooled because of property taxes.