Achilles Hero's Journey Essay

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

The Hero’s Journey, or the monomyth, has existed as long as humans have told stories, the basic structure of every story created. Joseph Campbell puts this into words in his 1949 publication of The Hero With a Thousand Faces, providing a clear cycle and defining each step of it. Successful stories follow the Hero’s Journey, it makes storytelling easy, giving a barebones outline that can be used for any book written. Madeleine Miller’s The Song of Achilles is no exception. A retelling of the Iliad, The Song of Achilles follows the journey of Achilles from childhood to death, focusing on the relationship between him and Patroclus and its harrowing end. Each step of the Hero’s Journey is depicted through poetic and poignant language, especially when the main characters cross the threshold into the supernatural world. The Song of Achilles presents a tragic Hero’s Journey as the life of Achilles and crossing the first threshold as Achilles’ first taste of violence and death.

Socrates’ primary motivation for comparing himself to Achilles, the best of all the classic heroes, is to convince the jury of his Achillean heroism. One attribute of a hero according to the events of the Iliad is that one must either kill or be killed in the pursuit of honor. Correspondingly, the Iliad chronicles Achilles’ life and death on the natural path to heroism. Despite the

Every mythological hero seems to be on a journey in search of the thing he desires most in the world. The two heroes who stood out to me were Gilgamesh, and Achilles. Gilgamesh’s greatest fear was death, while Achilles feared his legacy being lost and forgotten. Technically their desires are different, but their journey share many similarities, and in the end, boils down to the same thing. Each man in his own way, both Gilgamesh and Achilles desired immortality above all else. Though immortality takes on very a different meaning for Gilgamesh, as it does for Achilles, every decision as well as all the sacrifices they make, are based on their fear of death and dying.

In the “Epic of Gilgamesh” translated by N.K. Sanders, Gilgamesh completes a series of many challenges and obstacles, fulfilling the conditions of an archetypal quest story. In order to fulfill an archetypal quest story, the hero or protagonist must complete a series of hurdles, on their way toward achieving their goal. In the “Epic of Gilgamesh”, Gilgamesh hunts for his main obsession, immortality, while he battles off monsters, with the help of some friends. Sensing Gilgamesh embraces too much power, the gods create a friend for Gilgamesh named Enkidu in the hopes of lessening Gilgamesh’s power. Enkidu and Gilgamesh turn out to be best friends after Enkidu loses a wrestling match

Achilles and Odysseus are both epic heroes because they face their external conflicts or struggles with the world and fight as strong warriors. First, Achilles stabbed Hektor in the neck and then “…had in mind for Hektor’s body outrage and shame. Behind both feet he pierced the tendons, heel to ankle. Rawhide cords he drew through both and lashed them to his

     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,

The Hero’s Journey is never an easy one. This particular journey, as detailed in Homer’s The Odyssey, is one of struggle, loss, heartache, pain, growth and triumph. It is comprised of many steps that Odysseus has to overcome and battle through in order to achieve his final goal of reaching his home and his loved ones. From the Call to Adventure to the Freedom or Gift of living, Odysseus conquered them all. The story begins in the middle of the story, as many of the oral Greek traditions did, with the Journey of Telemachus to find his father. Although Telemachus has not yet met his father, it is almost as if they are journeying together, where the end of both of their journeys results in being reunited. Telemachus journeys from being a

In the beginning (beginning of what? the epic? the quest?), Gilgamesh seeks immortality because he wants to live forever. After Gilgamesh witnesses the death of Enkidu, Gilgamesh becomes afraid of death himself. many direct parallels are shown throughout the story to justify the reasoning behind Gilgamesh’s fear of death. Enkidu often acts as an equal companion of Gilgamesh; Gilgamesh is born with a mixture of human and divine, while Enkidu is a mixture of human and wild beast. Although there is a difference in their status, their ability and strength are still the same. Gilgamesh is “perfect in strength” (Tablet I, Line 36) and Enkidu is “the mightiest in the land” (I,117). When Gilgamesh sees someone, who has been through every hardship with him and is equal in strength, grasp

Although this quote is very gory, it shows his taste for fighting and how badly he wants to be great. When Achilles was young he was given the choice from his Mother, Thetis Goddess of the Sea, he could either be a great warrior, have a ton of glory, be remembered for ever but would have to die young, or Achilles could live a normal life, not be a great warrior, or be remembered, but he would live to a ripe old age. This is

Greek mythology is the study of myths, which are stories about ancients Greeks. Those stories talk about the origin, history and cultural tradition of the gods and heroes of Greece. Achilles and Gilgamesh are considered mythological heroes; they are both hero’s that faces many problems through their journey and have fought many battles. These two legends have remained precious to the people now because their hero’s journey is unforgettable. They are both brave, and they have overcome many challenges to protect their family and city. Both Gilgamesh and Achilles share some similarities, such as they are both sons of a goddess and a mortal which makes them both a semi-divine personage. They are very powerful warriors who face the death of a

In this argument essay, it consists of three texts: The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Odyssey, and Beowulf. During each of the characters ' journey, they face challenges such as fighting with monsters and with that they either develop a greater sense of mortality or a greater sense of identity. Mortality and identity are common themes in an epic that portrays the importance of character development from the effects of their heroic actions. Some epics result in mortality which means they know that they live to die, while others result in identity which is when they live to discover their own identity. Mortality is developed more effectively in The Epic of Gilgamesh and Beowulf, and identity is shown in The Odyssey. Monsters in these epics that

Back in the days of ancient Greece and before this time, epic heros have had their lives chronicled and the stories of them passed on from generation to generation, all the way to our present day in our lives. Two of the greatest heros that have been expressed in past epic stories were Gilgamesh from the epic named after him, and Achilles from Homer’s Iliad. The two of their stories however, transpired in two different eras, their lives both had a surprising number of common points. Of course with things in common, there always comes differences, in the way they lived and the ideals they believed in.

The Iliad, the Greek epic documented by Homer that describes the battles and events of the ten year siege on Troy by the Greek army. Both Trojans and Greeks had their fair share of heroes and warriors, but none could match the skill and strength of the swift runner, Achilles. Achilles had the attributes of a perfect warrior with his god-like speed and combat abilities. However, even though he was Greek’s greatest warrior, he still possessed several flaws that made him fit the role of the Tragic Hero impeccably. Defined by Aristotle, a Tragic Hero is someone who possesses a high status of nobility and greatness, but must have imperfections so that mere mortals cannot relate to the hero. Lastly, the Tragic Hero’s downfall must be partially

The Epic of Gilgamesh details two fundamental types of heroic journeys or questions: external and internal ones. The first journey is an external one, in which Gilgamesh proves himself to be the most valiant of all warriors, overcoming Enkidu and Humbaba. The second type of journey is an internal one, in which Gilgamesh seeks to understand the meaning of life, after the death of his beloved friend Enkidu. When Gilgamesh realizes that his strength is meaningless in the face of the gods and he cannot triumph over death, he realizes he must seek another answer to the problems of life.