Achilles' Sacrifices in the Iliad

Achilles’ Sacrifices in The Iliad

Traditionally, all great heroes have sacrificed one thing or another. The Greeks, being a very anthropocentric people who worshipped the power and ability of humans, created many great works of literature of heroism, Homer being one of these great writers. In his epic poem, The Iliad, Homer writes of many great heroes and warriors who would sacrifice everything to achieve kleos, immortal glory. One of these ideal, perfect characters is Achilles, a strong, ideal male warrior who seeks to do acts of justice. Achilles sacrifices much of his former personality characterized by arrogance and becomes a new person as a whole in order to fulfill the after-death wishes of his most cherished friend, Patroclus.

Near the beginning of The Iliad, after Achilles had been wronged by Agamemnon, Achilles has a deep-rooted antipathy towards Agamemnon and refuses to participate in battle despite the fact that the Greeks may suffer defeat without him. Despite being offered a load of gifts by “the shameless bastard,” Agamemnon, before the death of Patroclus, Achilles declines Agamemnon's gifts, implying that “they mean nothing” to him (Homer 140). As a result of the previous and still imminent avidity of Agamemnon, Achilles surmises he must repudiate this offer in order to retain his pride. With the gifts being the sole motive and having a myriad of reasons not to fight, Achilles refuses Agamemnon’s generous but egocentric proposal. Before the death of his dearest companion Patroclus, Achilles already recognizes his choice between either having his “glory” to be “undying forever” by fighting or to return “home” to his “dear fatherland” of Phthia (Homer 141). When confronted with the decision of not only whether to accept Agamemnon's gifts or not but also to choose glory or life, Achilles chooses to live as opposed to having glory because the death of Patroclus had not happened yet. It would only be when Achilles chooses life that his emotional and more circumspect side is revealed. Without the death of Patroclus, Achilles does not sacrifice anything for anyone and instead fumes at Agamemnon and acts selfishly.

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After the death of his dear friend Patroclus, Achilles swallows his pride in order to avenge the death of his comrade, willing to sacrifice everything. Although “the warlord Agamemnon angered” him, Achilles decides to “let [Agamemnon's wrongdoings to himself] be, no matter how it hurts” and will “conquer” his “pride” (Homer 161). After the death of Patroclus, Achilles transforms his attitude regarding Agamemnon to a more positive one, feeling he must pommel and defeat Hector and sacrifice his pride for Patroclus. In accepting Agamemnon’s gifts, Achilles gives up his dignity by illustrating that he is not above Agamemnon no matter how much it costs. Achilles promulgates that he will not bury Patroclus until he brings back “the armor and head of Hector who killed” Patroclus (Homer 166). With the death of Patroclus, Achilles rids of his pride and his more emotional side shines through. Achilles, by becoming audacious by allowing his emotions to get the better of him, devotes the remainder of his life to slaying Hector and avenging Patroclus. Because of his strong determination to make reprisal for Patroclus’ death, Achilles “accepts” his fate “whenever it pleases Zeus” and decides to “lie down in death” (Homer 161). Achilles' acceptance of his fate to die with undying glory (kleos) shows his willingness to defeat the Trojans once more so that Patroclus does not die in vain. Because Achilles accepts his fate, his purpose transforms from one who is selfishly fixated on sustaining his internal pride to being a great, honorable warrior. In order to not only win eternal kleos but to honor his dead friend, Achilles chooses to die. Even willing to sacrifice his life, Achilles is blinded by his hatred for Hector and the necessity to demonstrate his consummate philotes for Patroclus.

Despite the demanding nature of the king of Troy, Achilles shows respect and courtesy towards Priam, surrendering his hatred and contempt towards Hector to carry out the will of Patroclus. When he proclaims to Priam that his “son is released,” Achilles calls Priam “sir” and serves him “supper” (Homer 201). In doing this act of respect, Achilles is shown to revere the guest-host relationship between Priam and himself greatly, even using the honorific of “sir” and treating an enemy to dinner in order to be polite. Because Achilles is to respect Hector and to bury him, Achilles does not mistreat Priam. Despite Priam's imperative and somewhat rude dialogue of “show me to my bed now... quickly”, “let flaming wine pass down my throat”, and other instances, Achilles obeys Priam (Homer 202). Even though he is in a more powerful position, Achilles follows Priam's mandates without question, showing his reverence for the old man. This respect is rooted in Patroclus' message, further showing Achilles' sacrifice of his feelings towards Hector for the sake of his dead friend's will. Finally, Achilles consents to Priam's “armistice” – “to bury” his “Hector” for him (Homer 202). Compared to Priam's kissing of Achilles hand, this action is relatively insignificant as compared to the armstice in which Priam commissions Achilles to do, therefore the action was for a deeper reason – the realization of Patroclus’ wishes. After receiving the vision from Patroclus about Patroclus' real desire after death, Achilles realizes that the solution to avenging Patroclus' death was not by channeling his menis into the hating of Hector, but to bury Hector and have philotes towards Priam. By honoring Priam and sacrificing his deep emotions of hatred, Achilles carries out his dead friend’s wishes despite him not favoring the idea.

With the extreme motivation caused by Patroclus behind his back, Achilles sacrifices his entire personality for his dead friend, causing the tables to turn in the war and the peaceful mind of Priam. By renouncing his pride and recanting his ill feelings towards the warrior who had killed his best friend, Achilles fulfills the wishes of many and learns to have respect. Achilles, realizing that fate cannot be changed, chooses to fight and die instead of a less honorable death. In order to be a hero, some sort of sacrifice must take place, whether it be some money, a cherished belonging, or even life itself.

Works Cited

Homer. “The Iliad.” The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. Ed. Lawall Sarah. 8th ed.

Vol.1. New York: Norton & Company, 2005. 104-205.