Similar considerations apply to tragic learning through suffering, pathei mathos, a prototype of which Achilles undergoes in the Iliad. The death of his dear companion, Patroklos, brings home to Achilles the value of the life he sacrifices to glory. But killing Patroklos is Zeus’s way of redirecting Achilles’ anger from Agamemnon to the Trojans. It…

This analysis calls in question cherished mainstays of Western culture. Achilles is not merely the best, most terrifying fighter in the Achaian army. He presents a shining example of the courage to speak truth to power and the independence of mind to question traditional verities. He calls to account a commander who sacrifices his troops,…

The primacy of mothers in fashioning heroes and their lifelong involvement in maternal vengeance and vindication are acknowledged in the Iliad, but in sanitized ways. Agamemnon grudgingly links Achilles’ preeminence in might, divine birth, and special favor among the gods: although Achilles is very strong and his mother is a goddess, to Agamemnon he is…

Even so, our analysis cautions against uncritical acceptance of what by Socrates’ time had become a traditional opposition between the defiant independence of the hero and the herd mentality of the mass of men. The Achillean hero who makes a show of fearlessly speaking his mind, even if it angers powerful authorities, may be trying…