Achilles The Iliad Character Analysis

At the time of the Trojan War, countries, as we know them today, did not exist. Instead, there were city-states. People lived in their homes and carried on their lives clustered behind the protective walls of their city. Powerful kings ruled the people. On the Greek mainland, King Agamemnon ruled over the city state of Mycenae and his brother, Menelaus, ruled over Sparta. On the mainland of present day Turkey, King Priam ruled over the magnificent city-state of Troy, its protective walls built by the gods. These city-states were prone to sea raiding and marauding. The motivation for the attacks was that one place envied the wealth of another. One kingdom would raid the other kingdom to gain goods, gold, and other valuables, as well as

The attributes of the hero can be shown best and only in the battles fought during a war. Achilles will emerge as the hero of The Iliad despite his flaws because he is a valiant and courageous fighter on the battlefield. “Opposite him, Achilles exploded forward, fury incarnate behind the curve of his shield, a glory of metalwork and the plumes nodded and rippled on his helmet’s crest, thick golden horsehair set by Hephaestus, and his spear point glinted like the evening star...A gleam in the air as Achilles poised his spear with murderous aim at Hector.”(343-353) Achilles does not fear death and will therefore take risks in battle that show great courage. He is passionate beyond reason in fighting for his cause. Without war, there is no way in everyday events for the Greek hero to show his heroic nature. War is necessary to create the circumstances for heroic action. War, then, is justified by how it glorifies the best virtues in

“Wife, all this concerns me, too. But I’d be disgraced, dreadfully shamed among Trojan men and Trojan women in their trailing gowns, if I should, like a coward, slink away from war. My heart will never prompt me to do that, for I have learned always to be brave, to fight alongside Trojans at the front, striving to win fame for father and myself.”(VI, 540-557) Hector’s virtues are also valued greatly by the Greeks. Although they admire the heroic courage and strength of Achilles, Hector remains the sympathetic hero of The Iliad. The power and strength of Achilles has reduced Hector to a non-human thing drawn through the dirt. However, in his attempt to humiliate Hector, Achilles has diminished his own stature among men. Hector, who represents the best in humanity because he loves his family and wants to protect them, exposes the tragic flaw of the excessive pride of Achilles, the great hero on the