Achilles in Homeric Texts <\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/trident\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/158\/2023\/12\/Leon_Benouville_The_Wrath_of_Achilles-603x1024.jpg\")
The Wrath of Achilles<\/em> by Leon Benouville, 1847<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nHomer\u2019s Iliad<\/em> is by far the most well known piece of literature that deals with Achilles. Compiled in the 8th century B.C from an earlier oral tradition, it is also one of the oldest surviving texts that mentions the character. The Iliad<\/em> recounts a short period of time set towards the end of the Trojan War, a battle between several Greek city-states and the kingdom of Troy. It details an argument between Achilles and his fellow Greek commander, Agamemnon, in which Achilles is slighted, and in turn refuses to fight any longer. Given that he is one of the best Greek fighters, this is an issue, especially when Achilles asks his mother\u2014the sea nymph Thetis\u2014to call in a favor from Zeus, and turn the tides of war further into Troy\u2019s favor. <\/p>\n\n\n\nEventually, Achilles joins the battle again, but only after his closest companion, Patroclus, dies. He is killed by the Trojan Prince Hector after donning Achilles\u2019s armor and fighting in his stead to inspire the Greeks. Achilles then goes on a warpath in his grief, killing Hector, prince of Troy and killer of Patroclus, and desecrating his body by dragging it around the city for days on end. The Iliad<\/em> ends with the return of Hector\u2019s body to King Priam, his father, after he supplicates Achilles for the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/trident\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/158\/2023\/12\/image-1024x704.png\")
Sketch of Achilles reaching out for the ghost of Patroclus, drawn in 1793 by artist John Flaxman Jr. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nThis is where the Iliad <\/em>ends, but where and how does Achilles meet his end? Technically, his death is predicted in the Iliad\u2019s text. Achilles reveals that he knows he is fated to die in Troy, based on a prophecy told to him by his mother. With his final breaths, Hector also predicts that Achilles will be killed by Paris and Apollo. The next we hear of the hero\u2019s death from Homer is in the Odyssey<\/em>, when King Nestor\u2014who fought alongside Achilles\u2014tells the son of Odysseus that Achilles died in Troy. Later in the Odyssey<\/em>, the spirits of Achilles and Agamemnon have a conversation about their deaths, and we learn that there was a fight for Achilles\u2019s corpse, and that after death, his ashes were mixed with that of Patroclus, and that his burial mound was at the Hellespont.2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Achilles Heel <\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/trident\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/158\/2023\/09\/758px-Thetis_and_Achilles_MET_77.2a-647x1024.jpg\")
Thetis cradles the baby Achilles in this 1874 statue by Piece Francis Connelly<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nSo, that is what Homer has to say about the hero, but there\u2019s still the matter of the \u201cAchilles heel\u201d myth. Early depictions of Achilles\u2019s death in art depict him with an arrow to the torso, not the heel.3<\/a><\/sup> In the third century B.C., Apollonius’s epic poem the Argonautica<\/em> described the means by which Achilles was made mostly invulnerable. The Argonautica<\/em> claims that the infant hero was anointed in ambrosia, the food of the gods, and then dunked in fire by Thetis to burn away his mortality. He was held in the flames by the ankle, leaving him mortal, and vulnerable, in that one spot.4<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\nA similar story is recounted later in the Achilleid<\/em>, an unfinished epic by Roman poet Statius, around 95 C.E.. In this version, it is Thetis dipping baby Achilles in the River Styx in the Underworld, while holding him by his left ankle, which leaves him invulnerable everywhere but there.5<\/a><\/sup> The Achilleid was an attempt to depict the hero\u2019s entire life, but unfortunately, due to Statius\u2019s death, the poem was never finished. Despite this, the partial epic has made a lasting impact. It was very popular; particularly the story of Achilles\u2019s escapades in drag while on the island of Scyros, in an attempt to dodge the draft. Additionally, the idea of the \u201cAchilles\u2019s heel\u201d has persisted and become one of the most well known traits about the hero, to the point where it has gained several new meanings; one anatomical, and one metaphorical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/trident\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/158\/2023\/12\/Mosaic_Achilles_at_the_court_of_Lycomedes_DMA-1024x429.jpg\")
This 5th century Byzantine mosaic features the scene in which Odysseus tricks Achilles into revealing his disguise among the daughters of King Lycomedes while attempting to avoid the Trojan War<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/trident\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/158\/2023\/12\/Bray_Achilles_discovered_by_Ulysses-1024x729.jpg\")
This 1610 painting by Dutch artist Jan de Bray depicts the same scene, proving the story’s lasting popularity <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nDeath and Romance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/trident\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/158\/2023\/12\/The_Death_of_Achilles_-_tapestry-1000x1024.jpg\")
17th century tapestry based on Paul Rubens The Death of Achilles<\/em> shows the hero’s death at the hands of Paris and Apollo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nOther various endings for Achilles scattered throughout the plethora of Greek and Roman addition’s to his biography include a star-crossed romance. One popular story, which is explored in Ovid\u2019s Metamorphoses<\/em> as well as Seneca\u2019s Trojan Women<\/em>, centers around his planned marriage to Polyxena, a daughter of the Trojan King Priam. Achilles agrees to wed the princess to establish a truce between the Trojans and Greeks. Unfortunately for Achilles, the promise of marriage is a trap. Polyxena’s brother Paris hides in the temple of Apollo, where Achilles has planned to meet the princess. The Trojan Prince\u2014in some sources informed of his opponent’s one weakness by his sister, to whom Achilles had entrusted the vulnerable secret\u2014stealthily fires an arrow at Achilles, killing him.6<\/a><\/sup>7<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/trident\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/158\/2023\/12\/34520001-805x1024.jpg\")
6th century BCE amphora shows the moment Achilles kills Penthesileia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nAnother version comes from the Aethiopis<\/em>, a lost epic composed around the 7th century B.C.E. by an unverified author. Only five lines of the original poem survive, however we are able to piece together the plot through later adaptations. Set immediately after the events of the Iliad, the Aethiopis <\/em>is the earliest surviving written reference to the Amazon warrior Penthesileia and her relationship to Achilles. The story goes that when the two met on opposite sides of the battlefield, Achilles struck her through the chest with his spear, and at that moment their eyes met. He fell immediately in love, as she died in his arms. After this, Achilles is shot by Paris while attempting to storm the gates of Troy.8<\/a><\/sup>
<\/p>\n\n\n\nAchilles’ story is a prime example of the way Greek myths were constantly shifting. Even elements that were added long after the \u201coriginal\u201d source can take on a large importance to the figure. While Achilles may not have started as nearly invincible, with only one weak spot (not literally, at least), the trait assigned centuries after his earliest appearance has become one of the most widely known and beloved parts of his story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nCarrinna Muncy is a third year student at Ohio Wesleyan University, double majoring in zoology and psychology, with a possible minor in classics. She is on the cheer team and is a part of Bishops for Accessibility, and is president of OWU Anime Club. Carrinna has had an interest in Greek mythology since picking up a children’s Greek God’s book in kindergarten, and has researched them ever since. She especially enjoys researching the through lines of myths, and how they change over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n- Homer, Iliad<\/em>. Trans. Emily Wilson. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
- Homer, Odyssey<\/em>. Trans. Emily Wilson. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
- British Museum, \u201cWho was Achilles?\u201d \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
- Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica.<\/em> \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
- Publius Papinius Statius, Achilleid<\/em>. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
- Ovid, Metamorphoses.<\/em> \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
- Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Trojan Women<\/em> \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
- Fragments of Aethiopis<\/em>. Trans. by H.G. Evelyn-White \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n
Images:<\/strong>
Featured image- “Achilles Lamenting the Death of Patroclus” by Gavin Hamilton c. 1760. This work is in the public domain.
Leon Benouville’s The Wrath of Achilles <\/em>courtesy of the Fabre Museum. This work is in the public domain.
John Flaxman Jr. sketch courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This work is in the public domain.
Thetis and infant Achilles sculpture courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This work is in the public domain.
Jan de Bray’s The Discovery of Achilles among the Daughters of Lycomedes <\/em>courtesy of the National Museum in Warsaw. This work is in the public domain.
Byzantine mosaic depicting Achilles in the court of Lycomedes courtesy of the Dallas Museum of Art. This work is in the public domain.
Tapestry of Peter Paul Ruben’s The Death of Achilles,<\/em> woven c. 1630 by Jan Raes. This work is in the public domain.
The Exekias amphora courtesy of the British Museum, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Written by Carrinna Muncy \u201cGoddess, sing of the cataclysmic wrath of great Achilles, son of Peleus.\u201d This is the first line of Homer\u2019s Iliad, which sets the tone of the epic. The Iliad is a story of Achilles\u2019s rage and the consequences of it, but Achilles’s story extends far beyond Homer\u2019s epic. So, where does… <\/p>\n
Homer\u2019s Iliad<\/em> is by far the most well known piece of literature that deals with Achilles. Compiled in the 8th century B.C from an earlier oral tradition, it is also one of the oldest surviving texts that mentions the character. The Iliad<\/em> recounts a short period of time set towards the end of the Trojan War, a battle between several Greek city-states and the kingdom of Troy. It details an argument between Achilles and his fellow Greek commander, Agamemnon, in which Achilles is slighted, and in turn refuses to fight any longer. Given that he is one of the best Greek fighters, this is an issue, especially when Achilles asks his mother\u2014the sea nymph Thetis\u2014to call in a favor from Zeus, and turn the tides of war further into Troy\u2019s favor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Eventually, Achilles joins the battle again, but only after his closest companion, Patroclus, dies. He is killed by the Trojan Prince Hector after donning Achilles\u2019s armor and fighting in his stead to inspire the Greeks. Achilles then goes on a warpath in his grief, killing Hector, prince of Troy and killer of Patroclus, and desecrating his body by dragging it around the city for days on end. The Iliad<\/em> ends with the return of Hector\u2019s body to King Priam, his father, after he supplicates Achilles for the body.<\/p>\n\n\n This is where the Iliad <\/em>ends, but where and how does Achilles meet his end? Technically, his death is predicted in the Iliad\u2019s text. Achilles reveals that he knows he is fated to die in Troy, based on a prophecy told to him by his mother. With his final breaths, Hector also predicts that Achilles will be killed by Paris and Apollo. The next we hear of the hero\u2019s death from Homer is in the Odyssey<\/em>, when King Nestor\u2014who fought alongside Achilles\u2014tells the son of Odysseus that Achilles died in Troy. Later in the Odyssey<\/em>, the spirits of Achilles and Agamemnon have a conversation about their deaths, and we learn that there was a fight for Achilles\u2019s corpse, and that after death, his ashes were mixed with that of Patroclus, and that his burial mound was at the Hellespont.2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n So, that is what Homer has to say about the hero, but there\u2019s still the matter of the \u201cAchilles heel\u201d myth. Early depictions of Achilles\u2019s death in art depict him with an arrow to the torso, not the heel.3<\/a><\/sup> In the third century B.C., Apollonius’s epic poem the Argonautica<\/em> described the means by which Achilles was made mostly invulnerable. The Argonautica<\/em> claims that the infant hero was anointed in ambrosia, the food of the gods, and then dunked in fire by Thetis to burn away his mortality. He was held in the flames by the ankle, leaving him mortal, and vulnerable, in that one spot.4<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n A similar story is recounted later in the Achilleid<\/em>, an unfinished epic by Roman poet Statius, around 95 C.E.. In this version, it is Thetis dipping baby Achilles in the River Styx in the Underworld, while holding him by his left ankle, which leaves him invulnerable everywhere but there.5<\/a><\/sup> The Achilleid was an attempt to depict the hero\u2019s entire life, but unfortunately, due to Statius\u2019s death, the poem was never finished. Despite this, the partial epic has made a lasting impact. It was very popular; particularly the story of Achilles\u2019s escapades in drag while on the island of Scyros, in an attempt to dodge the draft. Additionally, the idea of the \u201cAchilles\u2019s heel\u201d has persisted and become one of the most well known traits about the hero, to the point where it has gained several new meanings; one anatomical, and one metaphorical.<\/p>\n\n\n Other various endings for Achilles scattered throughout the plethora of Greek and Roman addition’s to his biography include a star-crossed romance. One popular story, which is explored in Ovid\u2019s Metamorphoses<\/em> as well as Seneca\u2019s Trojan Women<\/em>, centers around his planned marriage to Polyxena, a daughter of the Trojan King Priam. Achilles agrees to wed the princess to establish a truce between the Trojans and Greeks. Unfortunately for Achilles, the promise of marriage is a trap. Polyxena’s brother Paris hides in the temple of Apollo, where Achilles has planned to meet the princess. The Trojan Prince\u2014in some sources informed of his opponent’s one weakness by his sister, to whom Achilles had entrusted the vulnerable secret\u2014stealthily fires an arrow at Achilles, killing him.6<\/a><\/sup>7<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n Another version comes from the Aethiopis<\/em>, a lost epic composed around the 7th century B.C.E. by an unverified author. Only five lines of the original poem survive, however we are able to piece together the plot through later adaptations. Set immediately after the events of the Iliad, the Aethiopis <\/em>is the earliest surviving written reference to the Amazon warrior Penthesileia and her relationship to Achilles. The story goes that when the two met on opposite sides of the battlefield, Achilles struck her through the chest with his spear, and at that moment their eyes met. He fell immediately in love, as she died in his arms. After this, Achilles is shot by Paris while attempting to storm the gates of Troy.8<\/a><\/sup> Achilles’ story is a prime example of the way Greek myths were constantly shifting. Even elements that were added long after the \u201coriginal\u201d source can take on a large importance to the figure. While Achilles may not have started as nearly invincible, with only one weak spot (not literally, at least), the trait assigned centuries after his earliest appearance has become one of the most widely known and beloved parts of his story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Carrinna Muncy is a third year student at Ohio Wesleyan University, double majoring in zoology and psychology, with a possible minor in classics. She is on the cheer team and is a part of Bishops for Accessibility, and is president of OWU Anime Club. Carrinna has had an interest in Greek mythology since picking up a children’s Greek God’s book in kindergarten, and has researched them ever since. She especially enjoys researching the through lines of myths, and how they change over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Images:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Written by Carrinna Muncy \u201cGoddess, sing of the cataclysmic wrath of great Achilles, son of Peleus.\u201d This is the first line of Homer\u2019s Iliad, which sets the tone of the epic. The Iliad is a story of Achilles\u2019s rage and the consequences of it, but Achilles’s story extends far beyond Homer\u2019s epic. So, where does… <\/p>\nThe Achilles Heel <\/h2>\n\n\n
Death and Romance<\/h2>\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Featured image- “Achilles Lamenting the Death of Patroclus” by Gavin Hamilton c. 1760. This work is in the public domain.
Leon Benouville’s The Wrath of Achilles <\/em>courtesy of the Fabre Museum. This work is in the public domain.
John Flaxman Jr. sketch courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This work is in the public domain.
Thetis and infant Achilles sculpture courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This work is in the public domain.
Jan de Bray’s The Discovery of Achilles among the Daughters of Lycomedes <\/em>courtesy of the National Museum in Warsaw. This work is in the public domain.
Byzantine mosaic depicting Achilles in the court of Lycomedes courtesy of the Dallas Museum of Art. This work is in the public domain.
Tapestry of Peter Paul Ruben’s The Death of Achilles,<\/em> woven c. 1630 by Jan Raes. This work is in the public domain.
The Exekias amphora courtesy of the British Museum, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license.<\/p>\n\n\n\n