ABSTRACT
The allegory of Ate and the Litai recounted to Achilles by his old tutor Phoenix in Iliad 9.502–12 is one of the most studied examples of personification in Homer. Ate is a sort of temporary blinding of mind, infatuation, delusion or the like, which leads one to serious errors. It can also mean the serious consequences of such errors or the agent which causes such mental conditions, most notably personified as the goddess Ate. The Litai are the personification of supplications and prayers, represented as them being suppliants. In Phoenix's allegory, Ate appears to personify the force that made Agamemnon dishonour Achilles and take his prize, Briseis, away, which resulted in the disaster for the whole army. The image of Ate is slightly different from the one in Phoenix's allegory.
