What does this mean for you? From birth you were destined for something and demanded nothing less than greatness or perfection from yourself. You may also have an aptitude for conflict, be it personal, work-related, or otherwise. Whether or not you enjoy it, you find yourself a warrior amid numerous conflicts, sometimes even by forces outside of your control. Despite whatever reservations you may have, however, you excel in these situations, especially when someone you love is a part of the conflict. To any end, you will always seek to defend them. Most likely too, you are a complicated, multifaceted individual.
Achilles’s most notable story is found in the Iliad, an ancient Greek epic supposedly written by the blind bard Homer, where the Asiatic Trojans are being besieged by the Archean Greeks, the side in which Achilles fights for. By the start of the Iliad–what comes to be known by later mythologists and historians–the Trojan War has raged on for nine years. Both sides are at a stalemate, and the great walls of Troy don’t seem to be falling any time soon. It is while the Greeks are stalled on the beaches of Troy that a series of infighting breaks out among the kings assembled there, Achilles being one of them.
Forced to part with one of his war prizes and possible bride-to-be Briseis, Achilles announces to the assembly of Grecian kings that he will no longer fight their war. This theft is ultimately an insult to his honor, the true reason why Achilles fought with them at all. Unlike the other kings sworn to fight in the war, Achilles made no similar pact, nor did he hold any grudges against the Trojans. Rather, he fought because it was because an oracle said that if he fought at Troy, he would gain the ultimate honor and his name would be remembered for all time, but die there and never return home. The oracle also said that if he didn’t fight, however, he would live to see old age and have many progeny, but he would not obtain the honor he sought. As such, with his rage and the loss of his honor by the theft, Achilles decided to take the second choice the oracle offered him, a life of peace and prosperity and longevity at home. This, of course, was a disastrous proposition for the assembled Greek kings who were fully aware that if Achilles left, they would never win the war.
It was only when the Grecian kings swallowed their pride and offered back what was stolen from Achilles, that he looked at them kindly again, but nevertheless refused to participate, preferring instead to watch the battles from the safety of his ships on the beach, present, but inactive in the war unless the battles arrive directly at his feet. By this point, the idea of living a long life at home was looking very attractive, and he would have his best friend, possible lover, and constant companion, Patroclus, at his side regardless of how it all ended.
Patroclus, a fellow warrior and apt spearman, had other ideas. He found that the Myrmidons, Achilles’s finest men, were bored of standing on the sidelines and craved the ferocity of battle. Achilles allowed this, aware of companion’s abilities as a commander. And because of his love for Patroclus, offered him his own armor to wear into battle, a powerful symbol of their trust and friendship. Brothers in arms until the very end they would be.
Unfortunately, Patroclus returned, but not with his own two feet. Patroclus would die at the hands of Hector, the finest prince of Troy, and brought back to the feet of Achilles by his fellow men.
Achilles was one of the last men in the army to find out, and the knowledge of Patroclus’s death ripped the very heart out of him. For days he was completely inconsolable, refusing food, drink, companionship, and the light of the outside world. Huddled inside a tent with the corpse of Patroclus, Achilles was unwilling to leave his side. At least, not until the spectral ghost of Patroclus haunted his dreams, demanding he be properly buried and put to rest.
The funeral pyre and games were lavish, meant more for a crown prince than a simple companion of one, but Achilles would not have it any other way. It was upon the ashes of that day that godlike Achilles swore revenge against the man who killed his closest friend. It was the day that Achilles’s fate was sealed, doomed now to die in Troy, forever remembered, honored in battle with immortal song and the knowledge that Patroclus would be avenged.
That vengeance would be acted upon with the death of Hector, breaker of horses, whose death also predicted the fall of Troy itself. After the death of Hector, however, Achilles was not satisfied. He dragged the body round and round the Greek encampments from the back of his chariot, rage in his heart, bent on desecrating the body that killed his beloved. It would only be when the King Priam of Troy, father or Hector, secreted and infiltrated the Greek camp that Achilles would give mercy upon Hector and Hector’s family.
Priam called to him, somewhere deep in his soul, begging him to remember his own father and his love for him and the relationship between father and son and remember his emotions. Despite all his rage, all his grief and pain, Achilles, even despite all his flaws and turmoil, found a piece of goodwill in his heart and let Priam and the city of Troy have the time to bury Hector.
The Iliad ends there.
In the end, the story of Achilles is not always an easy one to swallow. Not always remembered as a typically ‘good’ and ‘noble’ hero to some, it should be noted that all the best heroes we know and love have flaws. Without them, they wouldn’t be relatable. The Greeks loved their heroes and learned from them because of this. Humanity itself is not always kind, preferring vengeance and vile to mercy and kindness. Rage and pain can transform the best of us into monsters. That is not to say, however, that Achilles is a villain, but a troubled human being facing the best and worst of humanity in the most horrific of circumstances.
Achilles found himself amid a war that he never wanted to fight, lost his closest friend, killed and fought, forgave and became remembered as a hero that we still remember today. He was also a man who loved deeply, willing to do anything and everything to defend the honor of the man he loved. Perhaps you too are willing to do whatever it takes to defend your loved ones, even at the cost of yourself. As someone apt in conflict like Achilles, you may find yourself as a sworn defender, avenger of the wronged.
It is good to note your own flaws too, collect them, work on them, overcome your rage or your bitterness and be able to forgive others and yourself. That is never to say such a thing can be done with ease. Some acts against us are seemingly unforgivable, but you will find your peace of mind once you are able to push past the unbreakable walls before you, like Achilles did with Priam. He was able to see past the pain and destruction and forgive. The vengeance he sought did not satisfy him, but forgiveness ultimately did.
Flawed and complicated, great and storied and loving, may you find a piece of yourself in the song that defines the hero we know as Achilles.
