Achilles was a central hero in the ancient Greek tradition, but he doesn't meet the modern conception of a hero. This is the mythology of Achilles explained.
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00:00Achilles was a central hero in the ancient Greek tradition, even though he doesn't necessarily
00:05meet the modern conception of a hero. His name is familiar to many, but there's a lot
00:09more to him than the phrase, Achilles' heel. This is the mythology of Achilles explained.
00:15There are two main stories regarding the origin of Achilles, both of which involve the chief
00:19Greek god Zeus. The first story tells how both Zeus and his brother Poseidon had fallen
00:24in love with the sea nymph Thetis. So Themis, the goddess of justice, made a prophecy that
00:29if one of the two gods had a child with Thetis, that child would be more powerful than his
00:34father. Both Zeus and Poseidon had personal experience with this sort of thing. Zeus had
00:38killed and overthrown his father, Cronos, for eating his brothers and sisters, and he
00:42also managed to get his father to upchuck Poseidon and the others.
00:46Since patricide was a real concern, Zeus and Poseidon arranged to marry Thetis off to the
00:50mortal Peleus. The other, less dramatic version of the story is that Thetis brushed off Zeus'
00:55godly moves. As a result, Zeus declared that Thetis would never marry a god, and thus she
01:00ended up with Peleus. Peleus was honored by the arrangement, since it wasn't often that
01:05a moral man had the opportunity to marry a divine being. But Thetis wasn't very happy.
01:10She ran away with the help of a centaur. Peleus managed to capture her.
01:14Thetis was humiliated at being forced to marry Peleus. There was no way any child of hers
01:19was going to just be a regular mortal. She had given birth to six children before Achilles,
01:24and she sought to see if any of them were immortal, either by putting them in fire or
01:28boiling them in a cauldron. Neither method revealed any immortal children, so Achilles
01:33ended up becoming an only child. In fact, when Thetis decided to try holding Achilles
01:37over a divine fire by the heel, Peleus stepped in to prevent it.
01:41A more well-known version of Achilles' childhood is that Thetis, still motivated to make her
01:45son immortal, dipped him in the river Styx by the heel. Styx was one of the rivers in
01:50the underworld, and its representation of death reflected the powers that were imbued
01:54into the infant Achilles.
01:56Thetis obviously was not an ideal parent. There is a myth that she abandoned Peleus,
02:01leaving him alone with their son. Another story tells that Thetis remained with the
02:05family and even packed Achilles' chest when he headed off to the Trojan War. Either way,
02:09most of the traditions agree that at some point, while Achilles was still a child, Peleus
02:13handed him over to Chiron the centaur to be educated. The half-man, half-horse centaurs
02:18were considered to be wild and lawless creatures who lived in drunken debauchery, but Chiron
02:24was the exception, as he was considered wise and righteous.
02:27Some mythical traditions hold that Chiron fed Achilles a diet of boar and lion entrails,
02:32as well as the marrow of bear bones, to impart to him the strength of those beasts. Other
02:36stories contend that the hero was given a gentler diet of deer marrow and honeycomb.
02:41Chiron also taught Achilles healing and how to play the lyre, as well as how to hunt and
02:46how to wage war. In fact, the spear that Achilles famously used at Troy was Chiron's.
02:52A seminal part of Achilles' youth was developing a close bond with Patroclus, who would become
02:56his lifelong companion. Patroclus joined Achilles' household as an exile after having accidentally
03:01killed another child. The two became the closest of friends. In fact, the death of Patroclus
03:05and Iliad is a key plot point that spurs Achilles back into battle against the Trojans.
03:11There's a long-lasting speculation that Achilles and Patroclus were lovers. According to the
03:15scholarly article Achilles and Patroclus in Love by W.M. Clark, even some ancient writers
03:21believe this. As Ancient World magazine suggests, their close relationship might be similar
03:25to that of comrades-in-arms who go through intense combat experiences together. While
03:30Iliad author Homer never explicitly states that there was a physical relationship between
03:35the two, they were obviously intimate on some level.
03:38At some point in the Iliad, after Patroclus dies, Achilles says,
03:42The man I loved beyond all other comrades, loved as my own life. I've lost him.
03:46Hector cut his throat.
03:48Since Achilles was so powerful, it was prophesied that the Greeks could only win the Trojan
03:52War with his help. But another prophecy foretold that he would die in the war. This troubled
03:57his parents, who hid him on the island of Skiro, dressed as a girl. But the Greeks dispatched
04:02the wily Odysseus to retrieve him. Odysseus presented gifts to the ladies at court that
04:06included jewelry, mirrors, and a sword and shield. When Achilles immediately went for
04:11the sword and shield, his disguise was uncovered, and he was enlisted into the war.
04:16Achilles arrived in Troy with 50 ships and elite warriors called Myrmidons, who comprised
04:20some of the best warriors that the Greeks had. But according to Homer's depiction, the
04:24ancient Greeks who fought at Troy weren't capable of maintaining order. There are instances
04:29recounted in the Iliad of Myrmidons marching to war, but when it came to battle, they broke
04:33order, and the fight became completely disordered as each individual sought their own glory.
04:38In the mythological tales, only rarely do the Myrmidons or any of the ancient Greek
04:42forces demonstrate any sort of tactical sense.
04:46Where Achilles really shone was in his own ability in individual combat. He was basically
04:51the Greek superweapon, though he was largely kept at bay for the first nine years of the
04:55Trojan War. He and the Myrmidons sacked 12 cities by sea and 11 by land. Unfortunately,
05:01much is known about the early years of the war.
05:03However, it was in these raids that Achilles captured the women Briseis and Criseis. As
05:08recounted in the Iliad, Achilles gave Criseis to Agamemnon, a Criseis' father offered a
05:12ransom for her. Initially, Agamemnon refused, but after divine action by Apollo that caused
05:17a plague, he gave her up. So instead, he then seized Briseis.
05:22The Iliad is unclear about whether or not Achilles loved Briseis. In some sections,
05:26he does indeed declare his love for her, but then later he makes dismissive statements
05:30about her. Achilles was insulted by Agamemnon's action, as he considered it overreaching arrogance.
05:37The Iliad describes how Achilles refused to fight in the wake of Agamemnon seizing Briseis.
05:42The Trojans, led by Prince Hector, were then able to make gains against the Greeks. With
05:46things looking quite grim, Agamemnon begged Achilles to rejoin the fight by offering Briseis
05:50to him along with some treasure. But a sulky Achilles refused, even after Odysseus tried
05:55to guilt him into it by describing how many Greeks would die if he didn't rejoin the fight.
06:00That prediction proved to be very true.
06:03Hector and the Trojans drove the Greeks back and set some of their ships ablaze. Patroclus
06:08then begged Achilles to allow him to lead the Myrmidons into battle, even if Achilles
06:12himself wouldn't go. Achilles agreed and let Patroclus wear his armor to lead a defensive
06:16action. Patroclus was very successful at first, but then he became overconfident and led a
06:21rash charge. After intervention by Apollo, he was struck by a spear. The wounded Patroclus
06:27was then finished off by the spear of Hector, who seized Achilles' armor and wore it himself.
06:32But I gave the dead boy the honor he deserved.
06:34You gave him the honor of your sword.
06:37Achilles was famous for his rage. In fact, Robert Fagles' translation with the Iliad
06:41begins with,
06:42"'Rage! Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus' son Achilles, murderous, doomed, that costs
06:47the Achaeans countless losses.'"
06:50That rage was first directed at Agamemnon, and then it was even more mightily apparent
06:54after Patroclus' death, when only blood could console Achilles. First, he vowed vengeance
06:59to his mother, who appeared to him at this hour. Thetis then arranged to have the divine
07:03craftsman Hephaestus create a new set of armor for her son. It was gold and couldn't be pierced
07:08with arrows.
07:09Achilles first had a big reconciliation feast with Agamemnon, but he was more interested
07:13in killing Hector to avenge Patroclus' death. So he led his Myrmidons on a killing spree,
07:18driving the Trojans back into the city. At one point, so many Trojans stained the river
07:22Santhos with their blood that the river god rose in protest to chase Achilles off.
07:27"'Is there no one else?'
07:30Eventually Achilles cornered Hector before the gates of Troy. The city was watching,
07:34including Hector's father, King Priam. When Hector saw Achilles heading his way, he threw
07:38his spear, which promptly bounced off of Achilles' upgraded armor. Hector then attempted to make
07:43a run for it. The chase looped around the city three times before Achilles thrust his
07:47spear into Hector's throat. Hector begged at Achilles' knees for his body to be returned
07:52back to Troy. But alas, Achilles responded,
07:55"'Dog, talk not to me neither of knees nor parents. Would that I could be as sure of
07:59being able to cut your flesh into pieces and eat it raw, for the ill have done me. As I
08:04am, then nothing shall save you from the dogs.'"
08:07According to the Iliad, in Hector's last words to Achilles, he prophesied the hero's death
08:11at the hands of Apollo and Paris. Achilles hardly seemed to care, though. Instead, he
08:16took Hector's body and dragged it behind his chariot before the gates of Troy and then
08:20returned it to the Greek encampment. He also held funeral games for Patroclus, which included
08:25chariot races.
08:27It was hardly a completely fun time devoid of strife, though. The gods were furious with
08:31Achilles for his desecration of Hector's body. Hector's father Priam arrived at the Greek
08:35camp with the help of the messenger god Hermes. He begged Achilles to give back the body with
08:40a speech that, in part, said,
08:42"'Think of your father, O Achilles, like unto the gods, who is such even as I am, on the
08:47sad threshold of old age. It may be that those who dwell near him harass him, and there is
08:52none to keep war and ruin from him. Yet when he hears of you being still alive, he is glad,
08:57and his days are full of hope that he shall see his dear son come home to him from Troy.
09:01But I, wretched man that I am, had the bravest of all Troy for my sons, and there is not
09:07one of them left.'"
09:08This moved Achilles to ultimately relent and return the body to Priam. The Iliad ends,
09:13although the story of Achilles continues on for a short while more.
09:16The myth of Achilles ends with his fated death. He continued to dominate the stage
09:21in the final days of the war, with Slane of the King of the Ethiopians and the Queen of
09:25the Amazons. But as the Greeks pushed toward the city, Hector's brother Paris shot an arrow
09:29that was guided by Apollo and struck Achilles' vulnerable heel. There's been some speculation
09:34about how a wound to the heel could cause death, as it is a non-vital body part, even
09:39among mortals.
09:40The scholarly article Achilles' Heel by Jonathan Burgess considers various metaphysical reasons
09:45— the possible use of poison arrows, and the possibility that Paris' arrow immobilized
09:49Achilles long enough for a final blow to be struck in a more vulnerable area.
09:54After the events of the Iliad, Achilles made one last appearance as a ghost in the Odyssey,
09:58where he lamented his own death. Because of his central role in the works of Homer, Achilles'
10:03mythology has been one of the most popular subjects of antiquity. Ultimately, his story
10:07can still resonate with readers today, with its themes of fate, raw emotion, and deep
10:11flaws in character.
10:12Well, forget me not.