Achilles and Hector

Ancient Greek Mythology, Religion, Art

« Back to Last Page | Photos: Mythology, Religion, Art of Greek Heroes »

 

Achilles is perhaps the best known figure from the Illiad and his story is, arguably, the central theme in Homer's account of the Trojan war. Like most Greek heroes, Achilles was born of a mortal (King Peleus of the Myrmidons in Thessaly) and an immortal (the sea nymph Thetis).

Also like Greek heroes, Achilles was himself a mortal man rather than an immortal, but his mother Thetis didn't want him to die so she dipped him into the River Styx as an infant in order to harden his skin and make it impervious to wounds - all except his heel, that is, which she had gripped during the process.

This, obviously, is the origin of the term "Achilles' Heel," which refers to a single vulnerable spot that a person has. Arguably this is not how the legends intended to tell the story, though, because in Homer Achilles' truly vulnerable spot would appear to be his pride - that, after all, is what ultimately leads to his downfall. It was typical of Greek drama and tragedy for a person to be brought down by a character flaw rather than physical weakness.

The name Achilles probably means something like "a grief to the army," suggesting that his role as a great warrior could date back to the earliest stages of his existence. In the Illiad Homer refers to Achilles as "god-like," a reference not only to his skills as a warrior but also his general attitude. He rises above mere mortals when it comes to his focus on fighting and his dismissive attitude towards everything else. He becomes so absorbed in fighting that, in a sense, he becomes the personification of war itself - and it is the process of becoming more human and less god-like that takes up a significant portion of the story.

During the siege of Troy Agamemnon is forced to give up one of his captives, Briseis, so he decides to take away one of Achilles' captives, Chryseis. For this Achilles decides to sulk in his tent, refusing to fight for the Greeks anymore. Such a reaction to the insult to his honor was appropriate under the warriors' code of the time, but Achilles went beyond all normal standards when he refused immediate compensation. At this point things went badly for the Greeks and they knew that they could not win without Achilles but no matter how much they begged, he just pouted. Finally, he allowed his beloved companion Patroclus to fight in his armor, making it look like he is on the field, but Patroclus was killed by Hector and this sent Achilles into a rage.

Achilles obtained a new set of armor from Hephaestus through his mother, Thetis, and returned the battle - eventually slaying Hector and dragging his body around the city walls three times. Achilles refuses to turn the body over to his father, King Priam, which was a major breach of protocol and civility at the time. Once again, Achilles started off acting in an acceptable manner but then went overboard - a basic feature of his charachter. Priam snuck into the camp at night and in a moving scene convinces Achilles to do the honorable thing.

Eventually Achilles was slain by Paris with the help of Apollo, but not in honorable combat. Some accounts say Paris used a poisoned arrow that struck his heel, some say that he stabbed Achilles in the back. As with other heroes in Greek mythology, though Achilles does not travel to Hades. Instead, he lives on with other heroes on the island of Leuke. Odysseus and Ajax competed for Achilles' fine set of armor and, when he lost, Ajax went mad - eventually killing himself after he realized how much he had dishonored himself.

The heroes were certainly not gods or immortal, but they were also just as certainly a bit more than the average mortal. Hero veneration should not be confused with the veneration of saints today - Greek heroes were not beings who mediated between humans and gods nor were they prayed to as intercessors. The power of heroes was bound to the site they supposedly called home and where the cult of veneration was located. Sacrifices were made to encourage their continued presence, but even more to encourage both the continued unity of the community and the human connection to the divine through the heroic figures.

« Back to Last Page | Photos: Mythology, Religion, Art of Greek Heroes »