However, he fails to realize that his retirement from the army has created a feeling just as intense as the one he feels over the loss of Patroclus. Analyzing the character of Achilles in the Iliad, Homer brilliantly personifies the river god who defines the conflict between them as a conflict between two beings. However, the personification is a dramatic illustration of a man caught in a flood, while, at the same time, it is a vivid description of a man caught in a flood, while clearly fighting for his life. The poem makes more sense and becomes more influential as the reader creates it in his or her mind, taking into account the deep debris of trees, rough rocks, and strong waves that wash against Achilles. Achilles' anger overcomes him after the death of Patroclus. He attempts to take revenge on all the Trojans for the death of his companion by punishing them. Denying them Hector's burial rites and throwing his body in a trash heap is among the many things he intends to do.