Achilles: The Tragic Hero Essay

Enter Achilles automatically triggers, to an audience, the connotations of the Achilles heel or Achilles tendon which from Greek mythology has gained the label as area of weakness. However, Enter Achilles was initially an idea provoked by Lloyd Newsons own experiences. In the early 1980’s Newson injured his hamstring and Achilles tendon in a ballet class he was taking. Whilst hospitalised only Newsons Female and homosexual friends came to visit him and show their worry and concern. This consequently led Lloyd to do some reading into male sexuality and male femininity. He was intrigued by the interaction of men to other men and how heterosexual men find it extremely difficult to express their feminine or

Patroclus’ death drives Achilles to seek revenge and Achilles rejoins the battle, vowing to kill everyone related to Hector. The Greek Army, led by Achilles fight their way to Troy, where ultimately Achilles and Hector find themselves alone. Hector, backed into a corner, vows to fight, but loses his nerve as he faces the greatest

At the battle of Troy, Achilles chooses almost certain death in exchange for the honor of avenging Patroclus. As Socrates paraphrases, “when his mother said to him, as he was eager to slay Hector, ‘My son, if you avenge the death of your friend Patroclus and kill Hector, you yourself shall die; for straightway, after Hector, is death appointed unto you,” (The Apology, 28c). However, Socrates is relatively loose in his representation of Achilles. Homer’s Achilles is focused primarily on private affairs as seen when he only agrees to return to battle to avenge personal loss in the form of his “beloved” Patroclus (The Iliad, book 18, 120). Contrastingly, Socrates represents the Greek hero as being much more absorbed by the necessity of attaining honor and justice for both himself and his peers. Through this specific example, Socrates makes it apparent that, he, like Achilles before him, is both willing and able to die if that is what it takes to find truth. He will under no circumstances condemn any of his actions just to save his life.

     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 death of Patroclus, Achilles’ closest and most beloved companion, causes Achilles to be driven into a rage so intense and so focused at the source of his fury that he loses all common decency towards his target. After Hector slays

Although Achilles was quite outraged at this, he gave a respectful response, stating that he would drop out of the war because Agamemnon had dishonored him. Later, the Trojans killed Patroclus, Achilles’ dearest and most trusted friend. Achilles was overcome with grief, but realized how stubborn and selfish he was being by dropping out of the war. He decided that he had to join the war once again to honor Patroclus. He told his mother, “Enough. Let bygones be bygones. Done is done. Despite my anguish I will beat it down, the fury mounting inside me, down by force. But now I’ll go and meet that murderer head-on, that Hector who destroyed the dearest life I know.” It is clear that he knew that in those ancient times, a real hero avenged the death of a dear friend, and would sacrifice his own life to save the dead body and give it a proper burial.

Achilles can be described as a Tragic Hero in many ways. He was brave and had great strength but, he was also prideful and lacked control with his emotions, and in all the label of a tragic hero fits him. A Tragic hero is “a literary character who makes an error of judgment or has a fatal flaw that, combined with fate and external forces, brings on a tragedy” (“Tragic Hero”). To many men Achilles was god-like, and immortal, the epitome of a hero to the Greeks, he was strong, brave in the face of war, and of noble birth because he was the son of a goddess. In the Iliad, Achilles, driven by anger seeks revenge on Hector for killing his “dearest comrade” (“The Heroic Age”), Patroclus, whom he claims to have valued more than his own life. He

“Furious, anger like twin black thunderheads seething/ In his lungs, and his eyes flickered with fire” (109-110) This shows that Agamemnon struggles with anyone speaking against him and he needs glory and pride. Again, Achilles attempts to belittle the king and taunts him about where a new, worthy war prize would be found. In response, Agamemnon informs Achilles that he will find a fair prize, perhaps Achilles beloved war prize. The demand shows that Agamemnon cannot stand to be doubted and how “Someone issues an order or makes a request to others for status and rank” (Donlan) this ensures that there is no question in the ranking of men. Nester even attempts to settle the childish dispute by informing both men that they are in the wrong, but both view this as blasphemy and only deepens their need for glory. Agamemnon, “Did not forget his spiteful threat against Achilles” (332), and uses Patroclus, the dearest friend of Achilles, to take Briseis. Agamemnon’s use of Patroclus is a painful and personal defeat for Achilles which means it is a sweeter and more prideful moment for Agamemnon; that he can use someone so dear to Achilles’ heart to bring him such suffering. Achilles retreats,

As with most Greek epics, both men also exhibit human flaws. Hector, despite being the strongest of warrior of Troy, could sometimes be impetuous at times and sometimes cowardly at others. Hector's pride was also a flaw which one that eventually led to his death. Achilles was a stubborn person from the beginning of the story. Anger and thirst for revenge carried Achilles through to the end of the epic, as evidenced by his mutilation of Hector's body.Achilles refusal to return to the safety of Troy’s walls after witnessing the deaths brought about by his foolish orders to cam outside the city demonstrates his mature willingness to suffer the consequences of his actions. His rejection of a desperate attempt of negotiation in favor of the honorable

Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero is someone of great importance or royalty. The hero must go through something terrible such as a relative’s death. We must feel what this character is feeling throughout the story. Aristotle also said that a tragic hero scan be defeated by a tragic flaw, such as hubris or human pride. In Sophocles’ tragedy Antigone, both Creon and Antigone are tragic heroes.

Achilles’ insolent pride backfires on him when he becomes ultimately responsible for the death of his best friend Patroclus. Although Achilles still refuses to fight, he allows Patroclus to where his armor into battle. The sight of what the Trojans think is Achilles terrorizes them at first, but Apollo pushes him down and knocks off Patroclus’ armor. Hector sees the injured imposter on the ground and delivers a fatal wound. Only now, out of personal grief, does Achilles return to the battle.

One of literature's most recognized titles in all of history, The Iliad tells the story of Achilles and his lust for Troy’s end. The epic starts nine years after the Trojan war with the strife between god and man (Apollo and Agamemnon) about Chryseis, a priests’ daughter who has been taken captive by Achaeans fleets. Achilles soon hears of this and demands Agamemnon to return her, but he only does so Achilles gives compensation. Achilles refuses to fight any longer and the Achaeans begin to lose soldiers rapidly. Achilles has a small change of heart and agrees to send his closest friend Patroclus in his armor to the battlefield where he dies by the hands of Hector, the commander of the Trojan army. Achilles rage sends him into a sudden desire

The death of Hector is the peak of Achilles’ wrath and also the climax of the poem. Achilles’ unabated rage propels the story: the Greeks' loss of momentum in battle, the deaths of Patroclus and Hector, and ultimately the fall of Troy. The wrath of Achilles emerges first in book one of the epic poem when King Agamemnon dishonors Achilles by taking his prize, Briseis. His resulting rage turns the war tide and the Trojans begin to overtake the

Achilles starts fighting for revenge, while Hector fights to defend Trojan. After Patroclus was killed by Hector, Antilochus told Achilles. “A black cloud of sorrow came upon Achilles as he heard”, and tells his mother that Hector must die from his spear, he “must pay for Patroclus’ death”(149-151). Achilles loses all his humanity and has no mercy after his friend had been killed; however Hector holds on to his humanity while fighting. Achilles began killing Trojans mercilessly until he got what he wanted, because the vengeance for his friend mattered more than his humanity. Achilles also did not feel remorse when he slaughtered Hector in front of his entire

Achilles went through a second stage of rage towards the end of the epic poem in Book eighteen when the death of his closest friend, Patroclus, happens. When Achilles says, “Then let me die now. I was no help to him when he was killed out there. He died far from home, and he needed me to protect him. But now, since I’m not going home...I stand alone in the whole Greek army when it comes to war; though some do speak better” (Norton 286) at this point in the poem, Achilles is now enraged at Hector for destroying his closest friendship. Also, at this second stage I believe Achilles is most likely mad at himself as well, because he feels guilty that he was not there for Patroclus when he needed to be, to protect him from Hector and all danger. In revenge, Achilles slayed and killed Hector and drags him around the walls of Troy, creating sorrow and terror in Priam.