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Achilles

from Key Topics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2020

Edited by
Corinne Ondine Pache
Edited in association with
Casey Dué ,
Susan Lupack  and
Robert Lamberton
Corinne Ondine Pache
Affiliation:
Trinity University, San Antonio
Casey Dué
Affiliation:
University of Houston
Susan Lupack
Affiliation:
Macquarie University, Sydney
Robert Lamberton
Affiliation:
Washington University, St Louis
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Summary

A view of Achilles from inside the value system of Homeric epic, including the significance of his name (original meaning: “who has grief or akhos for the people or lāos”) and that of his best friend and body double, Patroklos (original meaning: “who has the glory or kleos of the ancestors”). Achilles’ trajectory from cosmic anger (mēnis) and debilitating alienation to friendship (philotēs) and death makes him into a person who embraces his accelerated destiny, reflects most deeply and lucidly on the human condition, and becomes the “best of the Achaeans,” the hero who wins the kleos “everlasting fame or epic song” that is Homeric poetry’s self-serving ultimate value.

Keywords

Achillesfriendship (philotēs)anger (mēnis)grief (akhos)
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Guide to Homer , pp. 99 - 102
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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