In Homer's The Iliad, we find the greatest, bravest, and most revered warrior of ancient times. Achilles was the son of Peleus, king of the Myrmidones in Phtia, and Thetis, a sea-nymph. As the legend goes, Achilles got his strength and battle skills when his mother dipped him in the river Styx. Achilles was thereby made invincible. However, Thetis forgot to wet the heel by which she held him and because of this grievous error, Thetis destined her son to defeat. It was prophesied that he would be defeated in battle by being pierced in his only vulnerable spot: Achilles' heel (thus the expression). This single weakness would inevitably be Achilles' downfall, but in the end he would still be defined as a true hero. The prophecy that he would die in battle during the Trojan War weighed heavily on Achilles. He knew he must decide whether to go home and live out his life in luxury, or go to war and surely die. The only benefit of his death would be the immortality and legendary status he would receive in the history of the world. Which brings us to our question: Was Achilles suicidal?
In determining the mental state of Achilles it is important to assess his relational ties with others. He loved his mother and looked to her for guidance and help. Although Thetis was the cause of his weakness, she did her best to protect Achilles and steer him away from the fatal destiny of the prophecy. To prevent him from being taken to battle, she bade him to disguise himself as a woman at the Court of Lycomedes. Only after being tricked by Odysseus, Ajax the great, and Phoenix, into showing his true identity did Achilles finally follow the path that would ultimately lead to his destruction. Proving himself as a brave and skilled c...
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...lles' pride required him to leave a name for himself; he had to become a legend. But how did he survive as long as he did? Was it luck? Was it skill? Was he blessed by the gods? I believe that his drive in combat was indeed his pride, but also he was compelled to fight in defiance of the prophecy. Achilles was far too brave a man to hide from danger; he chose instead to face it and to prove himself in every battle. His suicidal tendency is only truly clear after the vengeance for Patroclus has been taken. Achilles embraced the fact he would soon die and focused on defeating the Trojan army. With all ties broken and nothing more to gain in life but the glory and immortality he would receive in death, Achilles finally accepted his destiny and bravely placed his life in the hands of the gods as he went out to prove his worth on the battlefield one last time.
... in Achilles’ armor once the battle started getting direr, particularly for some of Achilles’ greatest friends. Finally, after Patroclus is killed, Achilles returns to battle, distraught over Patroclus’ death. Through the virtues and heroism of the Achaean heroes: Diomedes’ courage and oratory skill in reinvigorating the troops; Agamemnon’s honesty in admitting himself as the cause for Achilles’ rage and providing enormous wealth and honor to Achilles in an attempt to atone for his mistake; Nestor’s wisdom in selecting the three most likely to be successful; Phoenix’s favor with Zeus preventing Zeus from interfering against them while they attempted to bring Achilles back to the battle; Odysseus’ skill as an eloquent orator in his attempt to convince Achilles; all of this together eventually led to the mission of returning Achilles to the battle being successful.
The old man discounts Achilles’ ability to act solely on the account of his dangerously inflated pride, which proves to be detrimental not only to the Greeks but also those whom Achilles cares about, most notably Patroclus. Additionally, Phoenix’s anecdote draws incorrectly upon the role and relationship of Achilles’ parental figures, lessening the efficacy of the speech as a whole. Phoenix’s terminal mistake was confusing the desires of Achilles with that of Meleager,
The first way The son of Thetis experiences incomplete redemption is by being able to experience empathy. Achilles throughout the majority of the Iliad is a selfish man who does not understand or care for the feelings or thoughts of others. He conceitedly allows the Greeks to lose a massive number of troops due to his quarrel with Agamemnon and seems content with the fact that his enmity has brought about the end of his own comrades. He seems to think of himself as above all other mortals and is prepared to do as he desires with them. Achilles is so
The question "was Achilles' anger justified" brings up issues that seem to have little or no relevance to the war. In time of war I would expect the leaders to prioritize the groups interest for the sake of unity and cooperation rather than being entrenched in achieving their own personal goals. But my expectations are those of a modern day literature student, I'm inclined to think that the Greeks who first read this epic valued different things than myself. Another relevant question might be "were Achilles' actions justified". Anger can be easily justified, but the actions that anger might lead you to take are not as easily justified. Again I am not an ancient Greek and my opinions are irrelevant unless I open my mind to different viewpoints. Therefore I am striving to look into this issue through ancient Greek eyes where the principle of sacrificing ones own interests was apparently not valued, but maintaining ones honor, on the other hand, was greatly valued. In the following paragraphs I will attempt to answer these two aforementioned questions.
The Greeks placed great importance on personal honor. Why is this? Is it because to them man I nothing without honor. Or is it that the honor is more important than the man? "Honor to the Greeks is something that is won by a man's prowess, his ability to fight and be victorious on the battle field"(Schein 62). This is just one example of how honor is obtained. A second method of gaining honor is to be a great orator, one must posses the ability to speak in the assembly and express his ideas eloquently, and persuasively to the gathered body. A third way of achieving personal honor is to demonstrate athletic ability.
In the introduction of the Essential Illiad given by Sheila Murnaghan, Achilles is labeled as “the greatest of the Greek heroes”. In classic mythology a hero is a person of great strength and courage celebrated for bold exploits and is often the offspring of a mortal and a god. Achilles was the greatest fighter among the Greeks or Trojans and feared no man in battle. He was also the offspring of a mortal and a god so by classic mythology definition, Achilles was indeed a hero. A hero is defined by the present day Websters Dictionary as: “one who inspires through manners and actions; an individual who leads through personal example and accomplishments requiring bravery, skill, determination, and other admirable qualities.” Achilles, in no manner, fits this definition. By contemporary standards, he is instead a pathetic villain. Aside from being a kidnapper, rapist and murderer, Achilles proves to be emotionally weak, selfish, and malicious. Many times throughout the Illiad, Achilles is also referred to as “godlike”. The gods of Greek mythology were subject to the same emotions and character flaws as humans, and though privileged to some foresight, the gods had similar mental capacities as humans. What really set the gods apart were their powers (controlling the elements, changing their appearance, etc.), great strength, and immortality. Because of his great strength and apparent invincibility, it is easy to see why Achilles would...
Achilles, like most Greek epic heroes, was a demigod. The Nereid Thetis was Achilles’s mother, and his father was Peleus, the mortal king of the Myrmidons. Like most Greek demigods, Achilles has a very interesting childhood backstory. Soon after Achilles was born, his mother wished to make him immortal. Thetis took Achilles to the river Styx and immersed his body in the water. But Thetis was unsuccessful in her task and ultimately created a fatal flaw for Achilles. She neglected to immerse her son’s heel in the water and he is left mortally vulnerable to his enemies. Greek heroes always have a fatal flaw that ultimately leads to their death. Achilles is later shot in his heel with an arrow and dies almost instantly. Though his previous conquests were amazing, they did not exempt him from the power of his fatal flaw. Achilles was also strong, vengeful, and deeply loyal. When hector strikes down Achilles’s best friend during battle, Achilles makes it a point to get revenge on Hector. Eventually Achilles brutally kills Hector and drags his body behind his chariot. He wanted to humiliate his enemy even in death. Achilles was known to fly into a rage during battle. He was incapable of control his actions. Another unique quality that Greek heroes possess is their reliance of the Gods. Achilles had Athena to assist him in the fight with Hector. The Greek culture believed that a person could be favorited by the
The Ancient Greeks admired their heroes and tried to learn from both their achievements and their mistakes. They believed that most great leaders and warriors followed a predictable behavior cycle, which often ended tragically. In Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad, Achilles is a great warrior who traces the stages of the behavior cycle twice, from arete to hubris to ate and then to nemesis. Achilles is a highly skilled warrior and a great leader who becomes a narcissist and an arrogant person, which leads to selfish and childish behavior resulting in the death of his best friend. Following Patroclus’ death, Achilles repeats the behavior cycle by regaining his courage and motivation, and goes back to battle against Hector. The pride he feels in killing Hector and his overpowering hatred for him, leads Achilles to another bad decision: disrespecting the body of his enemy. This foolish choice leads directly to Achilles death. Although The Iliad is mainly known as a story about the Trojan War, it is understood as a story about Achilles and his struggle to be a hero.
Throughout the Iliad, heroic attributes are illustrated by both men. The “godlike runner Achilles” (337) was remembered for some of his heroic qualities such as his invincibility from the ankle up, his skilled fighting, and his yearn for battle. Unfortunately, each of these qualities illustrates his prideful and self-centered attitude, his l...
Achilles is introduced into The Iliad getting into a debacle with the leader of the Greek army, Agamemnon, during the last year of the Trojan War. Achilles starts a quarrel with Agamemnon because he has demanded possession of Achilles’ woman, Briseis, in consolation for having to give up his woman, Chryseis, so that the gods will end their plague upon the Greek soldiers. Achilles does all he can to get his loved one back, but he knows that nothing will waver Agamemnon’s decision. This is when Achil...
Achilles is the ideal hero, the obvious hero. He is the son of a goddess and a man, a demi-god. He is handsome and kingly in stature. He is strong and courageous. Though Achilles is not a king, he is willing to fight to the death for his country. “At Troy, Achilles distinguished himself as an undefeatable warrior. Among his other exploits, he captured twenty-three towns in Trojan territory, including the town of Lyrnessos, where he took the woman Briseis as a war-prize.” (Hunter) His confidence in himself speaks volumes about him as a person. He knows that virtually, he cannot be killed. “So he wavered, waiting there, but Achilles was closing on him now like the god of war, the fighter’s helmet flashing, over his right shoulder shaking the Pelian ash spear, that terror, and the bronze around his body flared like a raging fire or the rising, blazing sun.” (Book 22; Pg. 546-547) This confidence sometimes causes problems though. He argues with the king many times, and pretty much does whatever he wants. He is a hero, but he is ...
The loss of his prize humiliates and dishonor’s Achilles, and starts his rage towards Agamemnon. In this rage, Achilles turns his back from his fellow warriors and he isolates himself from the war. Hurt over his loss, Achilles cries out for his mother, Thetis, a sea-goddess. Using his rage, he asks her to call in a favor with Zeus, to guarantee that the Greek armies suffer defeat from the Trojan soldiers. Achilles hopes that this will cause dishonor for Agamemnon to make up for the dishonor that was brought upon
The first requirement of Aristotle's tragic hero is that they are more admirable than the average character. Achilles meets this requirement because of his ability on the battlefield. In The Iliad, the background to the story is the war between the Greeks and the Trojans. This background is not only the basis for the story overall, but is also the basis for Achilles' own story. This begins when Achilles refuses to join the battle because he is insulted by Agamemnon. This decision results in the action that drives the remainder of the story. Later in the story when Achilles becomes angered and goes to the other extreme, launching into battle and killing ferociously. The significance of this is that it places battle as central to both Achilles' story and to what is important in the setting of the story. Importantly, the aspect that makes Achilles greater than most is his ability o...
Achilles agreed that Patrokolos should wear his armor into battle, this decision along with the fact Achilles was no longer fighting, ultimately caused Patrokolos’ death. When Patrokolos died at the hands of Hektor, two things happened. First, being distraught over his friend’s death, Achilles feels responsible/ Guilt ensues but is channeled to more anger. Hektor, the slayer of Patrokolos now becomes the target of Achilles rage. Achilles is ready to fight, but more accurately ready for revenge. Achilles said, “I will not live nor go about among mankind unless Hektor fall by my spear, and thus pay me for having slain Patrokolos son of Menoetius,” (The Iliad, Chapter 18, Lines 89-91). When Achilles decided to fight, the fate of Hektor was already decided. Also, because he decided to fight, many more Trojans died. His fury with all of Troy was unleashed. Achilles killed and killed. The carnage was
The first reason Achilles is an epic hero is because he embodied the characteristics of the ideal Greek citizen at the time Homer wrote; he is in a position of power and regards honor highly. “O my mother! I was born to die young, it is true, but honour I was to have from Zeus, Olympian, thunderer on high! And now he has not given me one little bit! Yes, my lord king Agamemnon has insulted me! He has taken my prize and keeps it, he has robbed me myself” (page 17), Achilles cried to his mother. Agamemnon stole Achilles’ prize, Briseis, so Achilles is begging his mother, the sea nymph Thetis, to help him regain his honor. In Greece, honor was crucial and by taking Achilles’ prize, Agamemnon has stripped him not only of his hard-won prize but of his honor as well. Such a double loss would have been catastrophic for a Greek citizen. Classicist Ian Johnston highlights the significance of his loss, suggesting that “the greatest harm that can occur to a particular warrior is shame, the community’s public recognition that he has let the group down or failed to live up to its shared rules.”Being shamed, in this case, by Agamemnon, would cause the Achaeans to lose respect for Achilles, and as one of their leaders, this would be a tragedy for him. Achilles’ desire to regain his honor sho...