For my blog post I am going to be focusing on the last part that we read, which would be book 24.
We begin this book with Achilles crying over the loss of his friend. Achilles in in such a rage that he takes Hector's dead body and attaches it to the back of his chariot. Now not only does he attach Hector's body to his chariot, he proceeds to drag it around. To me that set off some red flags for me that he may be a little crazy. The gods were obviously very upset over this, so they put a spell like thing on his body so it would not be damaged during Achilles little outburst.
For me I think there is something wrong in the head with Achilles. I know we all get upset and grieve in our different ways when we lose someone close to us. I think what Achilles did was a bit extreme in my opinion. The fact that he attached a dead body to the back of a chariot just shows that obviously this guy has some mental Issues going on.
I hope I am not the only one in this class that thinks something is wrong with him. Also I do not think that what he did was socially acceptable back then either, considering that the Gods were very upset with him trying to ruin Hector’s body.
I definitely agree that something is wrong with Achilles in the head. There is something to be said about someone who drags a dead body in order to demolish it. I think if it was socially acceptable then the gods probably wouldn't have stepped in when they did. Even if they didn't like what they were doing, they usually let things happen because that was their fate. Even they, who I think liked to play with mortals like dolls, thought that to drag a dead body around was too much.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if what Achilles did was considered overkill (quite literally) for the time period, or if it was just controversial mainly because it was Hektor whom he was humiliating. Hektor was a beloved warrior and hero for his people, the model of a well-rounded man who displays both striking bravery and caring sensitivity towards his family. Furthermore, Hektor was said to be a faithful servant to the gods who prepared rich sacrifices. This may have been why Achilles's treatment of Hektor's corpse was so greatly scorned, especially when you think about it whom it bothered most: his family whom he showed great love to and the gods whom he showed great service to. Frequently throughout the text it mentions the mutilation of corpses, even of war heroes, with some characters expressing worry that they would meet their mortal end as fodder for the dogs. Therefore, the way Achilles handled Hektor's mortal frame may or may not have been crazily taboo.
ReplyDeleteHowever, his reasoning for executing such treatment likely does say some things about his mental state. Achilles is a bit unstable, which may be owing to a lack of maturity. He has no control of his emotions, launching himself into a killing spree after finding out about Patroklos's murder and then suffering tearful, restless nights for long after. Achilles is a whirlwind of emotion and brash courage, which leads him to bold yet at times merciless courses of action.
I think it is important to know how religious and spiritual the people of Troy were. Properly burying someone is crucial to them. They feel that the proper burial is essential to a safe after life. For whatever reason, I thought that Achilles would have honored that in the first place. It took an enormous amount of guilt from looking Hector's father in the eyes for him to correct his wrong doing.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I do agree that Achilles was brutal to Hector, we must keep in mind that this man was a killer and warrior. He was made to be ruthless. Part of me thinks that we should have expected the worse for the person who killed Achilles family.
I would definitely agree that Achilles is royally messed up in the head. His way of dealing with the death of his friend, Patroklos, is where he only goes through only two out of the five stages of grief, angry (which sums up his main character trait) and depression (which he does a lot of moping and sulking). To me, if Achilles were to live in this society and dragged Hector's corpse around the streets, he would be in a mental asylum, for sure.
ReplyDeleteThank god that the gods had some sense that this was NOT acceptable for Achilles to drag a corpse around like it's a rag doll. I think the reason why Achilles went berserk after the death of Patroklos was because vengeance/revenge was seen as a way to show pride and honor. Now that we've read Achilles' crazy murder spree and ultimately killing Hector to avenge his friend, most of us believe that Achilles' way of revenge as deplorable and cruel.
I like your Five Stages of Grief observation...
DeleteThere's no doubt that what Achilles did was absolutely off the rails, even by ancient standards. Achilles' pride, grief, and violent nature definitely leads to some... questionable actions.
ReplyDeleteAchilles was one of the first to urge Agamemnon to accept the ransom for Cryseis in book one, yet he explicitly tells Hector he has no intention of responding in kind to his family's ransom. Grief and rage turned him not only into someone who would gleefully defile a corpse but into a hypocrite as well. It takes a direct message from Zeus to convince him.
Achilles is a piece of work. He's the best and brightest in Greece, (well maybe not very bright, but pretty strong) and he knows it. Achilles is shown to be prideful and vengeful. He was wronged and he lords it over the Greeks, milking his self-pity for all it's worth to get them to come crawling back, and even then he's not going to help until their ships are actually on fire. Can you believe this guy? Achilles, in a way, may be the main protagonist of the Iliad, but he's is absolutely not a good guy. The fact that he defiled Hector's body so much (dragging him by the heels no less, the same place where his fatal wound was destined to be, how's that for some foreshadowing) is shocking, but I think it tracks with his attitude and how he behaves.
AND because Achilles is one of the main characters, he's (technically) on the side of the Acheans, he's the best warrior, and he's one of the primary characters driving the plot, you would expect him to be the protagonist. By modern storytelling standards, you would expect Achilles to be the main protagonist, the Good Guy, the paragon of the hero who saves the day in the end. But he's not! Achilles is a horrible person! I hate him! He's awful! He's not sympathetic or even likable. The start of the book tricks you into rooting for Achilles, but I think by the end his true colors have been shown.
DeleteI believe that Achillies actions were based solely on his own immaturity. I compare his actions to the outbursts of a spoiled child when you deny it of something that it wants. A tell-tale sign of immaturity is the constant effort to avoid personal guilt even after it is clear that you're the one at fault. An even deeper level of immaturity is reached when you can't even see that your actions were the cause of the issue. Achillies displays both of these characteristics. The whole reason his friend was killed in battle was because he refused to fight himself. Once presented with the body of his dead friend, he should have immediately felt a strong sense of remorse for his actions and immediately changed his behavior. However, he chooses to instead blame it on the Trojans and takes his anger out on the corpse of an extremely honorable man. All of this to say I don't think he is sick, he's just extremely immature.
ReplyDeleteYou're right on the money here, Pierre...
DeleteI think its important to remember, and some others mention it as well, that in greek society the body is considered kind of important, and to Achillles, if he can no longer dishonor Hektor in any way, he feels obligated to dishonor him after death for causing the death of Patroklus and not forcing Paris to give up Helen.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I see where you are coming from, I would not call Achilles "crazy" because of this point alone. Yes, what he does is disrespectful, but Hector is his prime enemy. I think he did what he did for a couple reasons. The first being that he was releasing the rage that has been building up inside of him ever since the war began. The second being what Orion mentioned. He feels almost obligated to disrespect his body because of how the Greeks viewed life after death.
ReplyDeleteI agree that there is something wrong with Achilles, but I think it has more to do with his ego. His ego makes him want to be the best, the most feared. Therefore I feel as if achilles defying Hector's family the proper burial rights for a time will make him more of a feared fighter because if he kills you then the same fate could happen to you.
ReplyDeleteShining the light on Achilles was a good choice, Morgan--it never fails to kindle a passionate discussion...
ReplyDeleteI agree with this one hundred percent. It was very unusual, and weird to just drag a corpse around everywhere. Also you would think he would want to respect his body, and let it stay intact instead of dragging it around, and letting it get dirty, and mangled. Its a good thing that the gods put that spell on it
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