What kind of a man is Achilles?

Question

Does anyone know alot about the Iliad by Homer? I need to answer the above question and give a passage to show an example. I find this extremely hard to read, and can't really understand it, so any help would be great!

Answer 1

In Greek mythology, Achilles (also Akhilleus or Achilleus; Ancient Greek: Ἀχιλλεύς) was a Greek hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad, which takes for its theme the Wrath of Achilles.

Achilles also has the attributes of being the most handsome of the heroes assembled against Troy,[1] as well as the quickest. Central to his myth is his loving friendship with Patroclus.

Achilles' death came in retribution for a sacrilege he had previously committed, his decapitation of Troilus upon an altar-omphalos of Apollo.[2] Later legends (beginning with a poem by Statius in the first century AD) state that Achilles was invulnerable on all of his body except for his heels. These legends state that Achilles was killed in battle by an arrow to the heel, and so an "Achilles' heel" has come to mean a person's principal weakness.

Achilles was the son of the immortal nymph Thetis and Peleus, the king of the Myrmidons. Zeus and Poseidon had been rivals for the hand of Thetis until Prometheus, the fire-bringer, warned Zeus of a prophecy that Thetis would bear a son greater than his father. For this reason, the two gods withdrew their pursuit, and had her wed Peleus.

As with most mythology there is a tale which offers an alternative version of these events: in Argonautica (iv.760) Hera alludes to Thetis's chaste resistance to the advances of Zeus, that Thetis had been so loyal to Hera's marriage bond that she coolly rejected him.

According to the incomplete poem Achilleis written by Statius in the first century AD, and to no other sources, when Achilles was born Thetis tried to make him immortal by dipping him in the river Styx. However, she forgot to wet the heel she held him by, leaving him vulnerable at that spot. (See Achilles heel, Achilles' tendon.) It is not clear if this version of events was known earlier. In another version of this story, Thetis anointed the boy in ambrosia and put him on top of a fire to burn away the mortal parts of his body. She was interrupted by Peleus and abandoned both father and son in a rage.

However none of the sources before Statius makes any reference to this invulnerability. To the contrary, in the Iliad Homer mentions Achilles being wounded: in Book 21 the Paeonian hero Asteropaeus, son of Pelegon, challenged Achilles by the river Scamander. He cast two spears at once, one grazed Achilles' elbow, "drawing a spurt of blood."

Also in the fragmentary poems of the Epic Cycle in which we can find description of the hero's death, Kùpria (unknown author), Aithiopis by Arctinus of Miletus, Ilias Mikrà by Lesche of Mytilene, Iliou pèrsis by Arctinus of Miletus, there is no trace of any reference to his invulnerability or his famous (achilles) heel; in the later vase-paintings presenting Achilles' death, the arrow (or in many cases, arrows) hit his body.

Peleus entrusted Achilles to Chiron the Centaur, on Mt. Pelion, to be raised.

hope this helps!!

Answer 2

he was the son of the goddess Tethys when Achilles was a newborn, Tethys bathed him in the river Styx by holding his ankle and dipped him into the water and so Achilles was nearly invincible but he had a small flaw, his ankle not touched by the water of the river Styx, the rest of the story you know what happened to Achilles.

Answer 3

He's a total Heel!

Answer 4

Achilles is very cocky, and is quite an egotist. The Greeks called it "hubris" to be overly prideful in oneself. He was also spiteful and shuns tradition.

To show an example of this, find the passage in the Iliad where Achilles kills hector and drags his body around the walls of Troy. This was a very wrong thing to do and shows how self centered he is. Hope this helps.

Answer 5

Mythical.

Answer 6

Achilles is prideful to the point of arrogance, he is very moody (but that is understandable after ten years of war), he knows he will not live to old age, he is stubborn, ruthless, fearless, somewhat gullible and definitely, definitely born for war.

A point of note: he was so young when the war began and he was recruited that his mother could hide him among a bunch of young women, dressed as a girl, and he did not stand out - a trick was required to draw him out.

I can fully understand your problem. I love reading, but the Iliad almost killed me. My God, what a boring book. And so long! The Odyssey is much nicer.