Achilles

Achilles – Biography

Achilles is the central character in Homer’s Iliad. The epic poem does not tell the whole story of the Trojan War but only a few weeks in the ninth year of battle. It is a moral tale of the dilemmas facing Achilles, and as such would have been meaningful to the audience in Homer’s time. We learn the other details of Achilles’ life from other sources. His name is a combination of the words “grief” and “people”, suggesting “grief of the people”.

Achilles’ heel

Achilles was the son of Peleus, King of the Myrmidons in Thessaly, and the sea nymph Thetis. He was half mortal, half god. To give her precious baby the benefit of all-over, all-year immortality, Thetis dipped him in the waters of the River Styx, which marked the boundary between the land of the living and the underworld. Unfortunately, she forgot the one part of Achilles’ body by which he was being dangled, his heel. Thus Achilles’ heel became his only vulnerable spot. Otherwise he was invincible.

Upbringing and Adolescence

Peleus took his son to be brought up by the centaur Chiron, a wise old teacher of heroes, on Mount Pelion. Achilles was fed on lion and wild boar meat to toughen him up and honey for breakfast to put a spring in his feet. He got an all-round education. He grew up to be a daring, fearless fighter, swift as a deer, and dashingly handsome with it.

Fame or longevity?

Achilles was now nine years old and destined for great things. But his mother learnt from a prophecy that Achilles would either live a long life without fame and glory or go to war and die young, so she took him to the court of King Lycomedes in Scyros where he lived among the maidens in disguise. This didn’t suit Achilles at all, but on the other hand, it was the only way to be near the apple of his eye, Diedameia, the king’s daughter.

War with Troy was brewing and they were recruiting the best warriors. Odysseus went along to Scyros to fetch Achilles but couldn’t find him. However, he had brought some gifts for the king and these were shown to the palace ladies. While most of the women lovingly fingered the fine cloth, one of them seemed more interested in the bronze weapons. “Aha,” said Odysseus, “It is you Achilles!” His cover was blown and Achilles felt ashamed. This was no life for a brave man. Fame and glory had won the day. Leaving behind his sweetheart Diedameia, pregnant with their son Neoptolemus, Achilles departed with the other Greek warriors and girded up his loins for the coming battles. Now in his fifteenth year, he soon became leader of the Myrmidons.

Girl troubles

Achilles’ presence at Troy was critical to victory. The Myrmidons had 50 ships with 50 warriors in each. They were a fighting force to be reckoned with. In the Iliad, Achilles speaks of having sacked 23 cities. But in a show of one-upmanship, Agamemnon, the expedition leader and “King of Kings”, was determined to make it clear who was boss. After the gods caused a pestilence to break out among the Greek troops, Agamemnon was forced to return his slave girl captive (Chryseis) to her father, a priest of Apollo. To replace her, Agamemnon took away Achilles’ war booty, the slave girl Briseis, for himself. Achilles felt dishonored.

Patroclus – Achilles’ close companion

Achilles withdrew his troops. The battle turned in favor of the Trojans. Just as Achilles and his Myrmidons were about to sail home, the Trojans gathered their forces for a mighty attack and pushed the Greeks right back to the beach, burning a lot of their ships. Patroclus borrowed Achilles’ armor and went into battle in his place. This action saved the Greeks from certain destruction but Patroclus lost his life in combat with Hector, who had assumed Patroclus was Achilles. Hector also took away Achilles’ armor for himself.

Grief and rage – Achilles versus Hector

The death of Patroclus, Achilles’ best friend, cousin, lover or whatever, upset Achilles mightily. Achilles re-joined the battle wearing new armor tailor-made by the blacksmith to the gods, Hephaestus. Achilles and his men were unstoppable, even by the River God, Scamander. Achilles found Hector and revenge was in his heart. Hector fled from a confrontation with his invincible foe and was chased around the walls of Troy three times. Then he was tricked by an illusion and turned to face the music. Achilles was in a rage and showed no mercy. With a spear thrust to Hector’s neck, Achilles killed him. Hector’s last request was that Achilles treat his body with respect but magnanimity in victory was not in Achilles’ psychological profile. Instead, he strapped Hector’s corpse to his chariot and dragged it round the walls of Troy three times. He only returned the body to his father King Priam and the family after some hard bargaining – the weight of Hector in gold.

Death of a hero

Achilles carried on fighting the Trojans and their allies. The Queen of the Amazons and the King of Ethiopia both died by his sword. We all know that Achilles’ only vulnerable spot was his heel. Who else knew this? Apollo, for one. Achilles happened to fall in love with the Trojan princess Polyxena after he had killed her brother. Achilles agreed to meet Polyxena at night in the temple (it is rumored they would be married, an arrangement approved by her father, King Priam, to end the war) but it was a trap. Polyxena brought along two hit men, her brothers Paris and Deiphobus. Achilles was shot in the heel with an arrow from the bow of Paris, guided by Apollo, from a hidden vantage point. Bleeding profusely, his life ebbed away and Achilles died that day. He was given a funeral in keeping with his status. Following the custom of the times, he was cremated, and his ashes were mixed in the same urn as those of Patroclus.