Who Is Achilles A Hero

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

What makes a hero? Is it slaying a mighty monster? Saving a town? Hercules, son of zeus, may have done such things, but is he really one of the good guys? His twelve labours created by king Eurystheus may be seen as heroic acts, but in reality most were along the lines of stealing and murder. That leads to the question, is Hercules a hero or hitman?

     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,

What does it mean to be a hero? People have been asking this question for a while now and people ended up with different opinions. Take Odysseus for example. He was a king and leader to his men. Though he doesn’t wear a cape or have super powers, his followers still see him as a hero. Why? I personally think that being a hero means inspiring people and pushing people to be their best selves and this is what Odysseus had achieved during his troublesome journey.

Who was given gifts by gods and goddesses? Who was almost killed by his grandfather? Whose father was the biggest man on campus? Well, that was Perseus, son of Zeus, and killer of Medusa. Perseus was a descendant of Zeus and Danae, Acrisius, his grandfather did not like him, so he sent him and his mother away in a chest in the ocean. Perseus should be in the Greek Hero Hall of Fame, for multiple different reasons. When considering why he should be in the Greek Hero Hall of Fame, Perseus must be important because if he wasn’t why would there be so many books and movies, all about him. For example, Percy Jackson book series and movies, and The Clash of the Titans. Perseus is a Greek hero because he was born of a royal birth, had extreme feats, and died a usual death.

The fact that Achilles had bravery in times of adversity shows that he should be given glory as a hero. In spite of the fact that Patroclus had died, and it was immensely hard for him to accept the loss of his friend, Achilles decided that Patroclus would have wanted him to be courageous. Achilles rejoined the war, resolved to kill those that had killed his beloved friend. He was not afraid of dying or being badly wounded, but he wanted to make up for his impulsive absence in the war.

To begin with, after reading many selections of the Iliad and Odyssey from the text, The Essential Homer, and comparing many characters, Odysseus is a character that can be described as being a ‘Homeric Hero’. The term Homeric Hero can be described as being a cruel and brave individual, belonging to a hereditary class, must embody arête, and must be young, beautiful and emotional.

Tragic Greek dramas featured tragic heroes, mortals who suffered incredible 
losses as a result of an inescapable fate or bad decisions. According to Aristotle, a tragic hero is a character, usually of high birth, which is pre-eminently great, meaning they are not perfect, and whose downfall is brought about
 by a tragic weakness or error in judgment. The three Greek heroes Oedipus, Medea and Agamemnon, who each killed a member of their family, carry most of the qualities that make up a tragic hero: being of noble birth, being surrounded by an extraordinary circumstance, and gaining self-awareness or some kind of knowledge through their downfall. There is an important need for the audience to identify with the Aristotelian hero through

There is a fine line between a villain and hero. Not only are deeds taken into consideration, but actions as well. Much like real life, it is never easy knowing who plays what role until the final moments of their life. But is it fair to just take the bad moments and use them against a person? Does not the means justify the end?

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

In The Iliad, Homer presents the reader with an exceedingly complex conundrum regarding who should take responsibility for the death of Patroklos. In the heat of battle, Achilles encourages Patroklus to borrow his armor, out of a beneficent, yet condescending sharing. Although Achilles appears to be solely culpable for Patroklus’ death, the fact that each man values pride more than friendship is the true cause. At first glance, Achilles appears liable in Patroklos’ death. Despite being warned of what hazard the armor could bring to fully mortal Patroklus, Achilles thinks selfishly of himself and the glory he could win, and allows Patroklos to wear the deeply protective equipment, even though it will make

Many people consider him the father of history; others prefer to call him the father of lies. Whatever may be your perception of Herodotus’ work, the truth is that Herodotus began a new manner of writing history in which human psychology takes a fundamental place. He was the first historian who really considered the reasons why things happen and did not limit his narrative to just facts. His book The Histories evidences all the distinctive features that he employs through his description of facts as well as the intrinsic analysis that he includes to his storyline about controversial topics like the definition of what heroes really are. Indeed, The Histories’ book 7 reveals Herodotus’ astonishing and unique view of heroism. During his

“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things” Leonardo da Vinci once said. Leonardo was a very famous man, who very well could have lived by this quote. However, he did some very unhonorable acts in his lifetime, such as being charged with sodonomy with four friends. This act could have been punishable with exile, or being banished from his country, and even death, had he not left society for two years without anyone knowing where he was. If this is just one example of the many mistakes he made in his life, is it possible that people give him too much credit for what he has done right? On the flip side, he was an extremely talented painter, sculptor, architect, inventor, military engineer and draftsman. However, it is absolutely critical people are aware of the mistakes Leonardo da Vinci has made before they decide he was a sane man worthy of praise because

When Theseus lifted himself up from that terrible struggle, the ball of thread lay where he had dropped it. With it in his hand, the way out was clear. The others followed taking Ariadne with them they fled to the ship and over the sea towards Athens.” From this quote, Theseus is a hero. He slain the beast with his own two bare hands, and managed to save everyone there. He made a clear path not thinking about only himself but about the others too. He let everyone escape without getting hurt. He was brave and kind enough to save everyone. Everyone was safe from the beast from now on. They no longer had to fear being chosen to sacrifice themselves to a minotaur. They no longer had to go to that maze ever again. In my opinion, Theseus is courageous.

The Bible does not have the word hero in it, has many stories about different heroes throughout its pages. Moses was a very important man in the bible who did many great things for people. A couple of examples is Moses saw an Egyptian beating to death an Israelite and he killed the Egyptian. He also leads the Israelite out of slavery to the Promise land. Moses was a great hero to the Israelite. One of the greatest heroes of the bible is Jesus he did many great things and help many people. Many people seen Jesus as a hero because of what all he did from healing the sick to dying on the cross for their sins. The bible also wants the reader and believer to be a hero.” We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please