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Hero? My Eye! An Honest Look at Achilles

© Erica Davis

Homer's Iliad is an epic story of love, war, heroism, and cowardice, many times all wrapped into one character. The two principle warriors for Troy and Greece are Hector and Achilles. Tragically, it seems to me, Achilles has been heralded for millennia as being a hero in waiting if you will, someone who has to overcome his own conflicts before he can become truly great. I would argue he never reaches greatness. Hector, however, is great from the very beginning and even after his death, caused by Achilles in the heat of battle; his character is celebrated as a hero. This celebration, illustrated by Homer through the great mourning of the Trojans, only accentuates the horrendous behavior of Achilles. In order to be a tragic hero, a character must embody a heroic characteristic at some point in the story, which Achilles never conjures and Hector never surrenders.

A "tragic hero" as opposed to a run of the mill hero, is a hero whose own tragic flaw brings about their downfall, a definition that Achilles does not conform to. While Achilles is the main character of the story, a pre-requisite for being a hero, his flaws do not bring about a downfall. In fact, he is not represented as heroic from the beginning of The Iliad except for the fact that he is the son of Gods, which gives him some esteem over mortals. We hear references to his strength and bravery, "Not so quickly, brave as you are, Godlike Achilles," however his actions in the story all prove otherwise. Therefore, Achilles is a main character and not a tragic hero. While there may be no story without him, he does not actually fit the title of "tragic hero." In contrast, Hector does fit the mold for "tragic hero," because his flaw, if you can even call it that, is his honor. He enters what he knows to be a losing battle, with the knowledge that he will likely not come home alive. This decision brings about his death, and physical downfall, however his heroism is never in question. The same cannot be said for Achilles.

Achilles' behavior in The Iliad is cowardly, immature and selfish, never exhibiting heroic qualities. From the outset of the play Achilles refuses to become involved in a battle that his country needs him to fight, because he has been insulted. This action, or inaction, is made in haste and because of his emotional immaturity. Unfortunately, Achilles gets away with his behavior in part because his mother, Thetis, plays into his manipulative hands and asks Zeus to punish the

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