Achilles as Hero in Homer's Iliad: Honor, Piety, and Rage

Introduction: Rage and Heroism in the Iliad

Without doubt the most destructive force in Homer's Iliad is the power of the gods — their hands seem to be in every death. Of human activities, however, nothing in the tale proves more destructive than the great rage of Achilles, that mortal son of a sea goddess. Achilles' rage destroys everything in its path, enemy and friend alike, and the tale implies it will eventually bring about Achilles' own death. This is, after all, the premise of the work; the opening lines promise to speak "of the rage of Achilles, son of Peleus — that murderous anger which condemned Achaeans to countless agonies and hurled many warrior souls deep into Hades" (Book 1, ln. 1–4).

Yet despite the fact that Achilles' rage is the greatest threat to both sides, and that the aftershocks of his anger will destroy the greatest warriors on both sides of the battle, Achilles is presented as a hero in the Iliad. Though it might be legitimately argued that the text is a satire on war, a critique of what might be anachronistically called shell-shock, or otherwise an anti-war commentary, a more straightforward reading suggests that Achilles is genuinely regarded as a hero. Despite the ill effects of his temper, there are very good reasons why he may be considered heroic by Greek standards. He is heroic, according to those standards, because of his noble sense of honor, his faithful dedication to the gods, and the great stature of his passion and his skill in battle.

Achilles' Flaws and Their Consequences

Despite his heroism, Achilles' flaws cannot be ignored. His rage is incredibly destructive, and he allows it to claim the lives not only of his enemies — such as Hector — but also of his friends. Patroclus, his own beloved shield-mate, is killed because of Achilles' refusal to enter the battle, a refusal based not on pacifism but on stubborn anger at Agamemnon. Additionally, even when he realizes that his Greek companions are literally wounded outside his tent doors, Achilles remains unwilling to enter the fray to save them, though he counts Odysseus and many others among his close friends.

Yet there is a very large degree to which his persistence in clinging to the shreds of his wounded dignity may in itself be considered noble, for he is unwilling to fight any longer for a cause that does not directly concern him.

Honor as Heroic Virtue

Achilles demonstrates great honor in that he will not fight for someone who does not respect him. When Agamemnon proves that he does not respect Achilles as an equal, that is the moment Achilles begins to refuse to fight. Among the reasons he gives for not returning, Achilles cites Agamemnon's disrespect: "Cur that he is, he doesn't dare confront me face-to-face" (Book 9, ln. 373). His honor is further shown when, having come to the realization that he is not fighting for a worthy cause, he refuses to continue. This aspect of his character may be easy to overlook if one listens too carefully to the criticism of his contemporaries, who fault his rage while passing over the fact that Achilles is one of the only characters in this epic to present a serious moral critique of the war — and to back it up with a refusal to fight.

One ought to notice that at the crux of his argument against returning is a desire to place principle over profit. Previously, he gave everything he won to Agamemnon and kept only what was given to him as a gift. Even now, though he loves Briseis, he will not accept her back if it means fighting for a false cause. He argues, in essence, that the war was supposed to be about the importance of marital fidelity and the love of Menelaos for Helen — yet Agamemnon has stolen Briseis, with whom Achilles appears to have had a marriage-like relationship of mutual affection, with even less honor than Paris' theft of the willing Helen. As Achilles explains:

"Why must Argives fight against the Trojans? Why did Atreus' son collect an army and lead it here if not for fair-haired Helen? Are Atreus' sons the only mortal men who love their wives? Every good and prudent man loves his wife and cares for her, as my heart loved that girl, though captured with my spear." (Book 9, ln. 337–343)

Achilles alone among the Greek warriors speaks of being heartsick over the atrocities of war and the ravages upon other cities, even as he delights in the physical exertion and triumph of battle. His honor provides that balance. There is no honor in fighting for a tyrant or an unjust cause — and Achilles is heroic precisely in that he refuses to fight when he ceases to believe in one.

It is notable that when he does return to battle, it is not for the sake of Agamemnon, whom he never seems to follow again, but for the sake of Patroclus. He is no longer fighting because Troy stole the wife of Menelaos, but because Troy stole the life of his own beloved friend. The parallel carries homoerotic overtones that would have been entirely legible to a Greek audience: the honorable nature of avenging the death of one's younger male companion, as the historical tradition of Spartan mentoring would later confirm. At the end, Achilles shows himself most honorable both in his willingness to die for the memory of his friend and in his ability to see past revenge to do what was right by the gods.

Conclusion: Achilles as a Timeless Hero

These qualities make Achilles a hero not only to the Greeks but even, quite possibly, to the modern reader. Today, if the thoughtful reader were able to extrapolate from the antique to the modern, one might find that Achilles presents virtues that are still recognizable. His sense of honor, to the modern eye, may become a kind of rugged individualism, secure in its own moral power. His piety may seem odd and pagan to a world that has largely lost the ancient sense of fate — though that sense endures in many modern cultures, as encapsulated in the word inshallah — but the core idea of faith sustaining the warrior remains as relevant today as it ever was. Achilles' supreme emotional intensity becomes even more comprehensible as heroic after the writings and explorations of the Romantic era. Thus it is that Achilles, for all his flaws, may be seen as a hero throughout the ages.