Hero? My Eye! An Honest Look at Achilles
the very same battle, even though he has a part in starting it. Instead, he lets his best friend fight and die in his battle, and then he turns his anger on Hector for killing him. Hector is only doing what a soldier is supposed to do in war and that is killing the enemy. Achilles has no right to be angry at Hector for killing his friend, when Achilles could have gone to war and possibly protected Patroclus from his death in battle.
The entire point of The Iliad is for Achilles to overcome his own emotions and by doing this he is supposedly considered to be a great hero again. For me a hero encompasses all of those brave traits when you need them the most, in a battle for example, because that is what makes a hero dependable. A hero is someone others turn to in times of need because they have come through for them before. The Greeks did the same thing at the beginning of The Iliad and were sorely disappointed when Achilles chose his own emotional desires over their needs, even staying away so that they would suffer long enough to realize how important he is. Achilles is not a tragic hero because he is not a hero at all. He might have been considered one once upon a time, but in this particular story, under these circumstances he does not even exhibit the decent qualities of a man, let alone a God. The term "tragic hero" is subjective. A "hero" for some people may be a complete let down to others. Achilles was a let down to the Greeks and a let down to me. If I were living in ancient times, I would admire the same character I do now and herald him as the one true hero of The Iliad, and that is Hector.
Latest Articles