The Iliad and Achilleus

                I actually like reading the first book of the Iliad maybe because it reminded me of the movie Troy. This was a very good movie and it kind of made it easier to understand what was happening in the book. Book 18 was mainly about Achilleus and his Armor which was kind of dull but anyways.  In class, we discussed whether or not Achilleus is a superhero.  Just about everyone agreed that he wasn’t.  Achilleus is in a sense indestructible and he is a very excellent solider which could possibly be like his super power. When Achilleus’ mother Thetis dipped him into a river or lake he became indestructible all but his heel.  Achilleus has many attributes that would make him a superhero.  He is publicly known to the Greeks, he kind of has a love interest with Briseis and he has a back story.  But Achilleus still doesn’t seem to be a superhero to me. When Agamemnon tell Achilles that he will take his prize (Briseis) Achilleus doesn’t take it lightly.  He seems very selfish when he goes to his mother and asks for his comrades to lose the war against the Trojans. Whether it was for love or not that isn’t very superhero like! Achilleus only thought about himself and he didn’t think of how his wishes could affect his people.

                When Achilleus asked his mom to punish the Achaians I believe that was a direct cause of Patroklos’s death.  When Patroklos went out to battle the Trojans wearing Achilleus’s armor to fight Hecktor, Patroklos was not victorious because Achilleus wished for his comrades to lose the war. But despite Achilleus’s selfishness I still think he is an honorable guy. His mother tells him that his death will come soon.  And Achilleus accepts his fate but says he wants to save Briseis and to avenge Patroklos’s death first.  I’d like to believe that Achilleus wanted to get Briseis back in the name of love and if that was the case then it kind of makes everything bad he did a little less awful. But still there is no evidence that Achilleus was in love with Briseis he might have just thought of Briseis as property.

                In Book 18, it shows the importance of Armor to the Greeks.  Armor was important for the obvious fact that it protects the soldiers. But I also believe Greek Armor to be a symbol of the soldiers honor and pride.  Maybe when Hecktor stripped Patroklos of Achilleus’s armor I think it was a way of stripping him of his honor. And to the Greeks honor is very important. It is acceptable to put honor above all else.  The emphasis on the Armor Hephaistos made for Achilleus shows how the Greeks cared for their armor.  

Word Count: 463