Weizhuo Jing

CLAS 3220

Prof. Chiara 

Topic: The Multifaceted Achilles

Achilles, son of Thetis and Peleus, is the king of Pythia which is located in southern Thessaly Unlike Other heroes in Homeric society, Achilles has a mysterious background as his mother is a sea goddess whereas his father is a mortal king of the Myrmidons. The story begins when his mother Thetis decides to eliminate his mortal part by holding one of his ankles and putting him in waters of the river Styx, which indeed made him proof against weapons except the ankle held by his mother. Rearing up by the wise Centaur, Chion, Achilles becomes the strongest man walking on earth. Acknowledging his unusual background and childhood experience , the life of Achilles attracts me right at the beginning as he is the only hero in the Homeric society who  retains part of the god’s power. In light of his superstrength over other warriors and his invulnerability, I have been fascinated by him not just because of his power. As mighty as Achilles is, he is also such a unique character in the Iliad who is exceptionally hard to define if only analyzing from one aspect. In this essay, I aim to dissect Achilles in a way that examines his relationship with other characters in Iliad in order to better understand the different roles he played and different personalities he possessed.In Kane’s article “The two Faces of Achilles”, he argues that Achilles has two faces in which first seems to be incompatible, but later proves to exist in harmony. Expanding outside this article, I believe Achilles has shown more than two faces in both Iliad and Odyssey as he behaves in distinctive manners with respect to different characters or at different times.

Achilles as a warrior

The first face that I want to examine is the warrior Achilles and his relationship with King Agamemnon. In chronological order, the first appearance of Achilles in Homeric epic poem Iliad is his role as a Greek Warrior. After the plague was spread in the Greek camp for nine-day, on the tenth day, Achilles called an assembly. This marks the beginning of the Iliad and his story. In this part of the essay, I want to talk about the stubbornness and cruelty of Achilles as a godlike warrior who holds a different belief in the warrior culture and heroic value. In general, the whole Achaean military society is based on the central concept called geras, the prize of honor, and it ensures the proper function of the military system in a way that geat warriors are being expected from the protection of geras.Throughout the whole poem, Achilles was described as a godlike warrior who earns his place by sacking many Trojan cities with a considerable amount of wealth. With invulnerability, mortals can not even post a threat on Achilles during battle.  Therefore, the first thing that comes to my mind about the face of Achilles as a warrior is godlike or imply a Demigod. Then, his next characteristic as a warrior ties closely with one of his concubines. Briseis, a form of geras and a material obsession of Achilles, was taken away as a punishment after Agamemnon felt his authority had been threatened when Achilles approaches him in an equal status. Agamemnon’s decision inevitably ruins the warrior culture which the Greek army has relied on, especially for the firm believer like Achilles. At this point, I can feel the fury and rage inside Achilles when the heroic value system that he supports for a long time is undermined, resulting warriors and cowards are being equally respected. As a result of this reckless action, Achilles not only becomes exceptionally angry and upset about his loss of Briseis as he has been deprived of his honor, but also feels sad about the reality so he withdraws from the battle and swears an oath of never rejoining the war except his ship is in danger. Without the help of a godlike warrior, the Greek falls back little by little, and the balance slowly turns to the Trojan. At this time, Agamemnon realizes that he makes a huge mistake in offending the top fighter, and he tries to fix the relationship between Achilles and him by sending an embassy along with countless fortunes to express his regret. Not surprisingly, all members of the embassy can not get this job domne. Ajax fails to appeal to Achilles with the warrior’s shame culture. Even Phoenix, who is literally a father-like role in Achilles’ life, can not move Achilles’ mind through detailed reasoning of the benefits to accept the compensations. Though this embassy does not bring Achilles back to the war, it certainly changes the way he assesses his relationship with Agamemnon and others. We can see in Iliad that Achilles indeed changes his mind continually from deep resentment toward Agamemnon and the Greek army toward a more gentle mood when they ask for help. Given this mental reconstruction  of Achilles, he still stands firmly by his final promise. Thus, the ultimate failure of the embassy explicitly manifests Achilles’ stubborn characteristic as he still sticks to his oath without any compromise when dealing with outsiders.Furthermore, in Sale’s article “Achilles and Heroic Values”, the author argues that Achilles’ ultimate return to the battlefield is also an indication of his stubbornness toward the warrior culture. From my point of view, the author’s argument absolutely makes sense when we think about losing his armor. The third characteristic of Achilles as a warrior is the cruelty and dehumanization. After the death of Patroclus, he basically turns into a killing machine, as efficient as a shark and pitiless, with only one goal-hunting down Hector. In Iliad book 22, there is a scene in which Achilles indicates his cruelty through his response “ I wish my stomach would let me cut off your flesh in strips and eat it raw” when Hector begs him to let Priam ransom the dead body. When I first read this part, it is instantly shocking and exceptionally hard to believe that this kind of degradation exists in a heroic character. This animal-like behavior shows me the dark side of Achilles and brings me a deeper insight into human nature. 

In this part, from my perspective, Achilles’ face as a warrior exposes his worst part to the public. To break down the analysis, the role as a warrior indeed links to some negative characteristics. No matter how honorable a man is, being a warrior always means to use violence for personal desire, which inevitably presents the worst of a human.

Achilles As a Friend

The second part of the analysis will focus on Achilles’ role as a friend in the Greek army. Referring back to the time when the first embassy was sent to seek help from Achilles, Ajax and the others fail to persuade Achilles to rejoin the war. However, the next time Ajax comes, he changes his strategy to urge Achilles by requesting as a friend, a comrade who fights alongside him for ten years. Personally, I believe this strategy apparently evokes another aspect of Achilles who regards responsibility as the top priority. Ajax appeals to Achilles smartly this time by surpassing the name of Agamemnon and asking in the name of himself.  In this way, Achilles feels bad about his misconduct of the obligation of friendship between him and Ajax and his distance of social love. Therefore, he then permits Patroclus to join in the battle with his armor. Stubborn as he is, Achilles, at last, shows sincerity as a friend to save the Acheneans even though he is still socially aloof from others, holding himself back from the battle. 

In this part, The role of a friend is expressed through his relationship with the Whole Greek Army, especially his relationship with other great warriors like Ajax. As a friend, Achilles does have sympathy and some traits of softness in his heart, but his stubborn warrior part restrains him from fully expressing his kindness. Therefore, the role of a friend and that of a warrior is constantly intertwined with each other. Interestingly, his softness and kindness as a friend exists in harmony with his stubbornness and cruelty as a warrior.

Achilles As a Lover

Unlike the two previous roles mentioned in this essay, from my perspective, Achilles’ role as a lover is the most fascinating one as it can be dissected in the aspect of being Briseis’ partner and Patroclus’s partner.

Firstly, Achilles wins Briseis over by slaughtering all the people in which she inhabits. Though Briseis is a material obsession, Achilles equates Briseis to his wife and disregards her status as a war prize. In Iliad Book 19, When Briseis saw Patroclus’ dead body, she mourned him with these following words “ you told me you’d make me Achilles’ bride, told me you’d take me on a ship to Pathia, for a wedding among the Myrmidons. I will never stop grieving for you, forever sweet.”  Though the promise to a marriage with Achilles is made by Patroclus, given the close relationship between Patroclus and Achilles, it is reasonable to infer that Patroclus is confident about Achilles’ love toward Briseis. Additionally, we can also deduce the status between Achilles and Briseis by reading the part where a comparison is drawn between the typological images of Zeus and Hera, Paris and Helen, and Achilles with his Briseis. The former two couples are bonded by marriage, literally meaning the sharer of bed. Though Achilles is never able to live the life he desires, he loves for Briseis is certain. 

Furthermore, though Homer does not write in Iliad, speaking from my view, Achilles also shows a genuine love toward Patroclus. After the death of Patroclus, Achilles basically went off his mind and was immersed by undesirable grief so overwhelming that he was in no mood to eat or drink until the fall of Hector. They must share a deep connection with each other as Achilles is able to sense the dead soul of Patroclus. There is an interesting sentence in the Iliad that implicitly conveys the notion of homosexuality when Patroclus requests Achilles “don’t bury my bones apart, but mix them with yours so that in death we’ll be together as in life”(Tom, 6). Usually, men bury themselves with the one their love such as their wife or concubine whereas warriors are usually left alone in the darkness. Through this burial request, it gives me a hint that Patroclus indeed indicates an authentic affection. Being sure that Patroclus places Achilles in a special place which is far beyond a friend and a commander, the next thing we want to make sure is that Achilles also shares the same kind of feeling.

Luckily, through the intricate examination of Achilles’ words and action, I found Achilles also regarded Patroclus more than a friend. Before the death of Patroclus, Achilles responds to the request of the embassy with a strong sense of selfishness by pointing out he’d rather give up the enormous glory but to live a normal life. Additionally, in Odyssey book 11, when Odysseus travels to the underworld, Achilles answers him by “ Don’t try to sell me on death, Odysseus. I’d rather be a hired hand back on Earth”. Moreover, in Iliad Book 9,  Achilles expresses his wish for a happy domestic life at home with his bride several times. Together, in these scenes, Achilles articulates his desire for a normal life to reinforce the notion that he ‘d rather be an ordinary guy with no glory at all rather live a short but glorious life. However, the death of Patroclus completely changes his mind, Knowing his fatal death will come right after the end of Hector, Achilles still chases Hector without hesitation even if it costs him his life. From my point of view, there is only one power that is strong enough to overcome the fear of death, and its name is love. Honestly, I do not believe in a word that Achilles met his death because of the affirmation of glory or unimaginable friendship with all the evidence in the Iliad and Odyssey. Deep down, similar to other mortals, godlike Achilles is also afraid of Hades  but his love toward Patroclus overcomes this fear.

In this part, Achilles as a lover breaks so many conventions and restrictions in Homeric society like a marriage based on unequal status and homosexuality that further fortify my notion that this is the most interesting role he plays in his life. Apart from that, in my opinion, the audience can resonate with the lover Achilles as it provides us with a mortal character who shares the same feelings such as fear and love.

Achilles as a father and  son 

Similarly, in Iliad, Homer does not explicitly examine Achilles’ role as a son. When Priam comes to the Greek camp alone to ransom Hector’s dead body, the old king of Troy evinces a more profound sense of suffering as a parent who loses his dear child. Priam then appeals to Achilles by emphasizing the sorrow he will endure for the rest of his life of not having his children with him. It reminds Achilles of his father Peleus far from the land of Troy who is probably as old as Priam. In this situation, Achilles feels guilty of not being able to stay by his father’s side to perform a son’s duty. Therefore, knowing his unchangeable destiny, Achilles instead shows the filial affection toward Priam to get rid of his guilt of not being a qualified son. Besides, there is another scene in Odyssey Book 11 also expresses his guilt and affection toward Peleus when Achilles met Odysseus in Hades. Even though Achilles is no longer alive, he still concerns about whether his father is being respected as usual. Together,  though Achilles might not fulfill a standard requirement of being a good son, his intention to do his job and constant concern of his father’s wellbeing make him at least a dutiful and responsible son.

Adding on, as a father, we can perceive Achilles’ expectation of his son to be a great warrior like him from his inquiry “ Did he come to the war and take his place as one of the best”. This is the only section in both Iliad and Odyssey that attaches Achilles to his son. The audience can still have a grasp on the new face of Achilles as a typical father who always wants his children to overcome or take his place. 

  In conclusion, each face of Achilles presents us with completely different characteristics and various aspects of him. More importantly, by examining the different roles, I now realize that Achilles is such a complicated character who has diverse personalities which first seem to be incompatible in a person such as cruelty and responsiveness . Yet, after dissecting Achilles in different aspects and at different stages, surprisingly, these traits coexist within Achilles smoothly but only in different faces of him. The characteristics of multifaceted makes him stand out  from the rest in Homeric society. For instance, when we think of Odysseus, we normally describe him as a master of strategy, the most distinctive characteristic that he possesses. However, it is not the case for Achilles since he has acquired so many different characteristics at the same time, which is again the reason why makes him so special and attractive. 

Reference for secondary sources

Tom Sleigh. (2006). Achilles’ Dream. The Kenyon Review, 28(2), 13-17. Retrieved April 1, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4338871

Sale, W. (1963). Achilles and Heroic Values. Arion: A Journal of Humanities and the Classics, 2(3), 86-100. Retrieved March 3, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/20162854

KANE, T. (1976). THE TWO FACES OF ACHILLES. CEA Critic,39(1), 4-6. Retrieved March 3, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/44370408