Swift Achilles

1594 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Traits of a hero according to the odyssey

Swift Achilles

There was once a time of great warriors, heroes that fought for their honor and the honor of their people. This was the time of Homer’s Iliad when the great armies of the Achaeans charged Ilium, the Trojan Citadel. Although this ten-year epic battle, called the Trojan War, was supposedly fought over Helen, “the face that launched a thousand ships1,” the true heart of the Iliad is the characterization of the Homeric hero. These men possessed seemingly superhuman strength and courage, they fought and risked their lives for their people and their comrades in arms, and many of them were descendants of the gods themselves. Among the Achaeans, there emerged one man above all others in greatness. The son of the goddess Thetis, it was swift Achilles who defeated Hector, the mighty Trojan prince.

When trying to classify a man as a “Homeric hero” or to decide which from a group is the greatest hero, there are certain characteristics that must be evaluated. In this process, it is also imperative to remove from consideration the ideals and characteristics that are used to judge people in the present. It is important to remember “what Homer counts as goodness is not the sort of thing that we might most readily think of as such.” (T. Irwin, Classical Thought, pp. 7-8)2. For example, the fact that Agamemnon, Achilles, and just about every other male character from the Iliad treat women like property should not come into play when deciding the level of their greatness. Although such an attitude towards women is despicable today, it was accepted in their time and therefore must be overlooked. So, the characteristics that must be examined are, in no particular order, defending and honoring your comrades, respecting the unwritten rules of Homeric battle, and pure strength on the battlefield.

Achilles earns the title “greatest of the Achaeans” by gathering points in all of these categories. When Patroclus, Achilles’ best friend and comrade, is slain by Hector in Book XVI, Achilles vows, “I shall not bury you [Patroclus], no, not till I drag back here / the gear and head of Hector, who slaughtered you…” (Homer, The Iliad, 18.

Show More
Related

  • Epic Heroes Compared: Achilles, Sundiata and Rama

    770 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Greek army’s greatest warrior during the Trojan War, Achilles was born of the goddess Thetis and the mortal Peleus. (Murnaghan, 1997, p.xxv)“Strong, swift and godlike” as Lombardo translating Homer puts it (1997, p.5), his presence on the battlefield reverberated fear through his enemies. Being a general in the Achaean army, his original rationale as to engage...

    Read More

  • Heroic Code in the Iliad and the Odyssey

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    Achilles, the greatest of the Greek warriors, is portrayed as a hero in some ways but, on the other hand, performs some controversial acts in the Iliad. Throughout the entire Trojan war, Achilles spent most of his time pouting in his tent after Agamemnon kidnapped his prized maiden, Chryseis.

    Read More

  • Achilles Vs Odysseus

    3801 Words  | 8 Pages

    Homer's two central heroes, Odysseus and Achilles, are in many ways differing manifestations of the same themes. While Achilles' character is almost utterly consistent in his rage, pride, and near divinity, Odysseus' character is difficult to pin down to a single moral; though perhaps more human than Achilles, he remains more difficult to understand. Nevertheless, both heroes are defined not by their appearances, nor by the impressions they leave upon the minds of those around them, nor even so much by the words they speak, but almost entirely by their actions. Action is what drives the plot of both the Iliad and the Odyssey, and action is what holds the characters together. In this respect, the theme of humanity is revealed in both Odysseus and Achilles: man is a combination of his will, his actions, and his relationship to the divine. This blend allows Homer to divulge all that is human in his characters, and all that is a vehicle for the idyllic aspects of ancient Greek society. Accordingly, the apparent inconsistencies in the characterization of Odysseus can be accounted for by his spiritual distance from the god-like Achilles; Achilles is more coherent because he is the son of a god. This is not to say that Achilles is not at times petty or unimaginative, but that his standards of action are merely more continuous through time. Nevertheless, both of Homer's heroes embody important and admirable facets of ancient Greek culture, though they fracture in the ways they are represented.

    Read More

  • Achilles' Hero Behavior Cycle in the Iliad

    1038 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Justice in Plato's Republic and Hobbes' Leviathan

    2781 Words  | 6 Pages

    To understand Hobbes? reply to the fool, one must first define justice according to Hobbes. He believes that justice is men performing their covenants made and the constant will of giving every man his own. A covenant is a part of a contract, or ?mutual transferring of right, in which at least one of the parties ?is to perform in time to come?. Hobbes maintains that it is never against reason to complete a covenant when man has the security that others will also perform covenants made with him. However, the problem that arises from forming covenants is that just because people enter into a covenant to perform some actio...

    Read More

  • Importance Of Storytelling In Beowulf

    713 Words  | 2 Pages

    This epic poem by the ancient Greek poet Homer, recounts some of the significant events of the final weeks of the Trojan War and the Greek siege of the city of Troy. All of the places where Homer’s stories took place were in areas that had been significant in the Bronze Age of Ancient Greece. Excavations at Troy and Mycenae have revealed that affluent kingdoms did indeed exist there. The Iliad provides examples of the culture and traditions that took place in Ancient Greece. The warrior culture that is presented in The Iliad is based on honor and bravery, a good example of this is when Diomedes is trying to rally his fellow warriors in says, “I know only cowards depart from battle. A real warrior stands his ground. Whether he is hit or hits another.” This society was strongly against cowardice; bravery was the only option in these times. The Iliad preserves the Ancient Greek’s views on masculinity and what it meant to be a “real warrior” in their times. The evolution of what people consider honorable and brave is evident, for The Iliad has conserved past views that can be juxtaposed with more modern

    Read More

  • Honor in the Iliad and Antigone

    991 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the Iliad, Homer portraits the extent to which honor plays a role in the lives of Greeks and the manner in which they are willing to sacrifice in order to reach their goals. The Iliad is set during the Trojan War, a particularly long and bloody war, fought not over boundary disagreements, and not over political conflicts, and not to protect the nation. Rather, it was a war fought to defend the personal honor. The possession of women was important to a man’s standing and honor. Paris’ theft of Helen struck a huge blow to the honor of Menelaus and becomes the initial cause of the Trojan War. Consequently, Menelaus, the Spartan ruler, called upon his brother Agamemnon to gather the Greek forces to launch the war against Paris demanding the return of Helen and reinstating the honor for the king. The war lasted for ten years and cost innumerable Greeks’ lives and brought incurable pain upon their families. To Greek heroes, honor is more important than their life as much as that life would be meaningless without it, and they even willingly sacrifice their lives in order...

    Read More

  • Hector as the True Hero of Homer’s Iliad

    2380 Words  | 5 Pages

    Hector is the true hero of Homer's Iliad. Although Achilles and Hector are both leaders of men, Hector leads with a mature sense that gives his men reason to respect him. In turn, Hector respects his men which gives fulfillment to both parties. Hector is not a man to sit around and mull over strategies and ideas - Hector is a man of action. His men are inspired to fight because they see their captain fighting as well.

    Read More

  • The Debate Concerning Stem Cell Research

    2276 Words  | 5 Pages

    Stem cell research is becoming an issue that is one of the most profound of our time. The issue of research involving stem cells derived from human embryos is increasingly the subject of dinner table discussions and a national debate. The issue is confronted every day in laboratories as scientists ponder the ethical consequences of their work. It is agonized over by parents and many couples as they try to have children, or save children already born. The issue is debated within the church, with people of different faiths, even many of the same faith coming to different conclusions. Many people are finding that the more they know about stem cell research, the less certain they are about the right ethical and moral conclusions.

    Read More

  • Achilles: a Tragic Hero

    1170 Words  | 3 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Who was the Real Hero in Homer's The Iliad?

    914 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Homer’s The Iliad he tells of the battles and events during the time of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles. This was just a small portion of the Trojan War that had lasted ten years. The Iliad shares the ideas of the glory of war, military values over family life, and the impermanence of human life and its creation. One thing that Homer does is characterize the two different warriors Achilles and Hector. These two great warriors both show different kinds of traits that shape the character they become throughout the The Iliad. Achilles is the main hero in The Iliad, but Homer subliminally tries to persuade the reader that Hector is the true hero in this story.

    Read More

  • Long Term Auditor Essay

    1324 Words  | 3 Pages

    Marx ,B etail(2004) asserts that the audit quality is the basis of the credibility of the financial statements.According to De Angelo (1991) audit quality depends on the probability of auditor s ‘discovery of the unbiased truthful report of material errors, emission and misrepresentations from the clients’ financial statements. This ability of a truthful, unbiased report depends on the auditor s' professional conduct with the client, which are based on the objectivity of the auditor, such as professionalism and conflict of interest says Adenyi S and Mieseigha E.G (2013).

    Read More

  • A Comparison of Achilles and Hector

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Homer’s epic, the Iliad, the legendary, has no two characters that are so similar yet so different as Greek warrior, Achilles, and the Prince of Troy, Hector. Achilles is the strongest fighter in the Greek side, and Hector is the strongest Trojan. They are both put into the mold of a hero that their respective societies have put them into; however; it is evident that they are both extremely complex characters with different roles within their society and with their families, and with the gods.

    Read More

  • The Three Most Important Things I’ve learned in this Course

    1166 Words  | 3 Pages

    So, essentially, money has three functions which are, medium of exchange where money is exchanged for payment of goods and services, unit of account which measures the value of goods and services and store value which saves the purchasing power from the time money is received to when it is spent.

    Read More

  • Thomas Hobbes View On Government

    640 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hobbes’ view on human nature stated that not a single person was born kind and that how the people should not make decisions for themselves. The reason why Hobbes didn’t want the people to make many

    Read More

More about Swift Achilles

Open Document