Mixed Strategy Nash Equilibrium na Ilíada

Aprenda game theory lendo a Ilíada. O livro 21 da Ilíada é um dos melhores capítulos da obra prima. É nele que Hera, uma das consortes de Zeus, dá um pé de orelha em Ártemis, uma das filhas de Zeus, que foge chorando para o colo do pai, extraindo gargalhadas do mais poderoso dos deuses. Mas é no duelo entre Achilles e Agénor que Agénor encontra e define um mixed strategy Nash equilibrium. Agénor diz a si mesmo: “What shoud I do? If I run away from Achilles with the rest of the men who are fleeing, he will still catch me and slit my throat like a coward. But if I run in the other direction(…) he is bound to see me moving away from the city and will chase me and hunt me down, and I will have no chance against him, since he is such a fast runner and stronger than all men, and I will certainly die. But suppose I stand and face him in front of the city. He isn’t a god; his flesh can be pierced by bronze like anyone else’s; he doesn’t have more than one life, and only through Zeus’s will has he won such glory”. With these words he braced himself to await Achilles.