In the
Iliad, Homer wrote, [1]
“The wrath of Achilles is my theme. That fatal wrath, which in the fulfillment
of the will of Zeus, sent so many Achaean noblemen to the Hall of Hades leaving
their bodies as carrion for the dogs and passing birds...” From this extract it
is evident that Achilles was the fundamental character and the greatest warrior
in the Iliad. He was seen as the Greek hero of the Trojan War, and has as such been
cemented into our universal history as an almost unconquerable fighter whose
only weakness was his own Achilles heel - for which he was named. Thus, how does
this hero compare to another, such as Herakles?
Achilles and
Herakles were both demigods born to fulfill a destiny that was predestined
before either of them were born. In the case of Achilles, his mother Thetis had
been pursued by both Zeus and Poseidon. However, upon hearing of the prophecy
that stated Thetis’ future son was to be greater than his father, they
retreated leaving her free to marry the mortal and father of Achilles, Peleus.
Once he was born Thetis attempted to make him immortal by bathing him in the
river Styx.Yet she missed a spot on his heel and it became his only weakness.
The river made Achilles near invincible with godlike strength and speed, and it
was soon prophesied that Troy could not be taken without his help. Thetis
however, was aware that if he went to Troy he would die and so she hid him in
Lycomedes disguised as a girl. The ploy worked until Odysseus discovered him
and led him willingly to the war that would result in his death.
Herakles’
destiny on the other hand was bound to him by his father Zeus, and his meddling
wife Hera. On the day Herakles was meant
to be born Zeus proudly stated that the son of his bloodline through Perseus
would rule over Mycenae and all its realm. He had no idea that his vengeful
wife would suspend the birth for several days by sitting in the binding position
outside of Alcmene’s home, so that another son of his bloodline through Perseus
would be seen as the boy in the prophecy. This was unfortunate for Herakles
because from that point on he was to forever be in the shadow of his cowardly
cousin, once removed, Eurytheus.
Herakles was incredibly strong and courageous
just like Achilles, but unlike Achilles he was not seemingly invincible. Just
as Achilles was sent away in his youth so was Herakles who was plagued by
murderous rages due to Hera’s hatred for him. These rages led him to murder his
music teacher which resulted in him being sent to Amphitryons’ cattle ranch.
This would not be the only murder his temper would lead to, as it would
ultimately cause the death of his first family resulting in him taking on
twelve labors set by Eurytheus as penance. He was told that if he completed
all twelve he would be forgiven and granted immortality.
Achilles may
have disguised himself as an undefeatable warrior at troy but he captured
twenty three towns in Trojan territory before he even got there, thus it is
well known that these two heroes were incredible warriors, and this brought
them both to situations where they would possibly have to enter into funereal
games. Achilles honored his dead friend Patroclus with his own funereal games
much like what the Olympics came to be much later when Herakles instituted the
first ever games to honor his father Zeus. While Achilles had armor made for
him from the Olympians divine blacksmith Hephaestus, Herakles wore the skin of
a lion like a cloak wherever he ventured.
Both men
eventually married, twice, in Herakles’ case, and they took on lovers too. They
share having murdered people that they cared for. For Achilles it was
Penthesilea, an Amazon woman whom he murdered during the fight for Troy and
after he discovered it was her he felt great remorse. They did share a
difference when it came to relationships. Achilles who had only one son would
never have as vast a family as Herakles who while living on the cattle ranch
impregnated fifty of Amphitryons’ daughters, for the man wanted Herakles’
bloodline in his family. Achilles too impregnated the daughter of the man who
took him in as a youth, but the relationship was short lived for he was soon to
be discovered and taken to Troy.
The two
heroes had many similarities but they were different from each other too.
Achilles was seen as respectable because he was a hero of war while Herakles
was seen as immoral because of his murderous rages, but they both had tempers,
Herakles just could not be trusted to keep his in check. And because war
granted you status in ancient Greece the terrible things Achilles did such as
the rape of Cassandra in Athenes' temple on her alter played no role in the
portrayal of his heroism, while poor Herakles, who was driven mad by Hera, was ill-treated
and cheated out of the opportunities he had worked so hard to accomplish
because murder, especially that of your own blood was a huge disgrace to the
ancient Greeks.
In the end
neither of the two proved to be invincible. Achilles was killed in the Trojan
War when an arrow shot by Paris and guided by Athene, struck him in his heel.
Herakles died a brutal death when his wife was tricked into giving him a cloak
covered in the blood of a centaur who was killed by his own arrow that had been
dipped in the poisonous blood of the hydra he killed as his second labor. Zeus
then guides Herakles to Olympus where he is finally granted immortality, even
if it is after death. Interestingly enough it is one of Herakles arrows dipped
in hydra blood that kills Paris after he shoots Achilles.
Achilles may
not have received immortality like Herakles, but his name has most certainly
been immortalized in modern society. Today we call the tendon on our heel the
Achilles tendon and it is notorious in sports, mainly with runners because if
it were to rupture or develop tendonosis due to overuse an athlete would have
to put their career on hold for over a year or retire indefinitely.
Achilles and Herakles were the equivalent of
super heroes to the ancient Greeks and because of Achilles heel being his only
weakness the modern use of the phrase, ‘Achilles heel,’ is used when we refer to
someone having an overwhelming vice or flaw that eventually leads to their
destruction or the end of their career. For many famous, ‘idols,’ it is
developing an addiction to drugs. For Mike Tyson it was woman, as he was
accused of rape on more than one occasion and it practically ruined his career.
Our very own South African fallen hero Oscar Pistorius has an Achilles heel
too. His penchant for letting off loaded guns in public places with no regard
for the law and a fascination with firearms led to his fall from grace when he
murdered his model girlfriend, Reeva.
Even modern
super heroes from comic books have an Achilles heel. For Iron man it is
literally his heart, for Batman it is his parents and for Venom it is fire.
Leaving the most similar to Achilles for last there is superman whose Achilles
heel is kryptonite. They are both almost invincible, strong and can be blinded
by their pride. Neither of them were born with their powers. Superman received
his as a child too, but unlike Achilles, his river Styx was the rays of the
yellow sun which he absorbed once he came to earth. This of course is not the
only case of a hero having ties to Achilles in comics or cartoons. For
instance, the anti-hero Obelix in the series of cartoons named Asterix and
Obelix, was submerged in a liquid that turned him into a notorious fighter with
inhuman strength like that of Achilles. However, he was in no way a demigod and
the liquid was a magic potion which he happened to fall into a cauldron of as a
child.
Herakles
like Achilles was immortalized in a cartoon known as [2]Hercules,
but for Herakles Disney deliberately attempted to base the character on the
actual hero. However, in the loosely based retelling of the myth Herakles’
enemy was Hades, and his minions, Pain and Panic actually fed him the potion
that would make him immortal. He lives with adoptive parents, he does the
twelve labors to prove he is a hero, and Pegasus becomes his steed. This is
wrong in many ways because Pain and Panic are reminiscent of Ares’ sons, Deimos
and Phobos, Hera is Herakles enemy not his mother (and I am sure the demigod
would be horrified by this depiction), the twelve labors were for atonement
and Pegasus was ridden by Bellerophon. The movie went on to become a cartoon
series featuring Hercules during his time at the Prometheus academy.
In 2004 the
movie Troy was released with [3]Brad
Pitt as Achilles. However the movie and the historical version of his character
is vastly different. For instance, in the movie Achilles is portrayed as a nice
enough guy, he rescues the princess, he is a great warrior who has been
fighting his entire life and one could say it is almost depicted as if he falls
in love with Briseis.
This is a
complete contradiction to how he is portrayed in the Iliad. In this epic of
Homer, Achilles is cruel with a terrible temper. He takes pleasure in seeing
the Greeks lose and die and seems to have absolutely no morals. He does not
love Briseis, she is nothing more than a war prize to him, but he does become
fond enough of her so that when Agamemnon takes her for his own he refuses to
fight. That is one example of his temper, another is when Patroclus is killed
by Hector and Achilles retaliates by killing Hector and choosing to drag his
body behind his chariot instead of allowing it to have funeral rights. He only
relents when Priam, Hectors father pleads to Achilles for his son’s body back.
Therefore,
Achilles and Herakles have many similarities including a heroic destiny that
ends in their tragic deaths, but they are different to each other too, in the
way that they are portrayed and the way they have chosen to live their lives.
Neither of them has escaped without misfortune and yet in the end we still
remember their names and continue to because of the influence of their legends
and mythology.
