Achilles Grief In The Iliad

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Recommended: Achilles as hero

John Worm
1011-103
Jillian Bjerke
Exactly as Home Intended, Achilles as Arête

A traditional Hero is defined as a person who is admired for outstanding achievements or noble qualities. Ten years into the Trojan War, the Achaeans and Trojans still have yet to have a decisive victor. The Trojans and their champion, Hector, only counter the unrelenting attacks at the Trojans led initially by Achilles until a feud with Agamemnon. Achilles’s absence on the battlefield is felt almost immediately, as he is the best Greek fighter. Achilles refuses to enter the battle even at the pleading of his Achaean friends. He, however, does allow Patroclus to wear his armor to give the Achaeans an edge in battle and to motivate them as well as scare the Trojans. While initially effective, Patroclus is slain by Hector. Achilles rejoins the Greeks the next day and slays their champion Hector because of Achilles’s immense …show more content…

This, however, aligns with the fact that Achilles is the hero of the epic. Achilles has displayed almost every emotion throughout the novel, but the final emotion that leaves a memory is that of his compassion. He allows his most hated enemy to be returned to his father and buried. While technically the story of The Iliad is continued in the aftermath of the war within The Odyssey. Homer ends the epic leaving Achilles on a good note to maintain his status as a hero. Achilles’ death is impending, and the death of Hector virtually seals Troy’s fate to fall. Homer intends to leave Achilles alive to preserve his status as a hero thus ending his epic with the death of his rival, “Thus they buried Hector, tamer of horses.” (Bk. 24, Ln, 944—0, p. 614). Homer ends the novel leaving Achilles full of valor to cement his place in time as a hero. His death, even heroic, would leave the epic with the near immortal warrior falling, tarnishing Achilles’s

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