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What Happened to Achilles After the Iliad?
Greek Reporter ^ | August 25, 2023 | Philip Chrysopoulos

Posted on 08/26/2023 11:58:48 AM PDT by nickcarraway

Achilles, the main character of the Iliad, remains one of the emblematic heroes of Greek mythology and modern literature for his bravery and fierceness in avenging the death of his best friend, Patroclus.

Homer’s epic poem, along with The Odyssey, has retained enormous influence on Western literature to this very day, and this is also true for Achilles, the fearless warrior who became the very symbol of gallantry.

“Sing, Goddess, of the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles,” is the opening line of the Iliad, the poem that describes a few weeks of the ten-year Trojan War, mainly the many feats of Achilles.

Greek mythology has it that the hero was invulnerable because his mother, Thetis, had dipped him in the river Styx as an infant.

Yet, he still retained that one vulnerable part of his body, the heel from which his mother had held him to immerse him in the river.

What happened to Achilles after the Iliad? The death of Achilles is not mentioned at all in the Iliad. His killing by Paris, who had discovered the one weak spot on the Greek warrior, comes from another ancient legend, which says that Paris shot the warrior in the heel with an arrow and killed him.

The terms “Achilles’ heel” and “Achilles tendon,” still used today, stem from the Iliad.

However, the death of Achilles by Paris’ arrow is not mentioned in the epic poem. Strangely, his death is related in later sources. One of them has it that it was the god Apollo who guided the arrow into his vulnerable spot, his heel.

Since the Iliad does not mention what happened to the mythic hero next, there are numerous later legends and other ancient authors who related more of the Greek warrior’s story.

After the death of prince Hector, the Trojans called on their allies to help them defeat the attacking Greeks.

The Ethiopian King Memnon was one such ally who brought his army to support the Trojans, but he was killed by Achilles in battle.

Another legend has the hero battling the Amazons and fighting their leader, Queen Penthesilea. The moment he kills her with his spear, their eyes meet, and he falls in love with her, but it is too late.

In other accounts, Achilles marries the Trojan princess Polyxena and supposedly negotiates an end to the war when Paris fires the shot that kills him.

According to other ancient authors, after his death, Achilles is cremated, and his ashes are mixed with those of his dear friend, Patroclus.

The Odyssey describes a huge tomb of Achilles on the beach at Troy, and Odysseus meets Achilles during his visit to the underworld among a group of other dead heroes.

Another legend has the ancient Greek hero marrying Helen in the afterworld. After his death, he became a demigod.


TOPICS: Books/Literature; History
KEYWORDS: achilles; amazons; apollo; catastrophism; godsgravesglyphs; greece; hades; hector; helen; homer; iliad; iphigenia; memnon; odyssey; paris; patroclus; peleus; penthesilea; philipchrysopoulos; polyxena; styx; thetis; trojanwar; troy
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To: nickcarraway

Stretching . . .


21 posted on 08/26/2023 3:05:12 PM PDT by linMcHlp
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To: nickcarraway

I don’t remember.

I last read it in 1963.

That is about 38 years ago, I calculate.


22 posted on 08/26/2023 3:22:19 PM PDT by Scrambler Bob
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To: Scrambler Bob

Maybe it’s time to read it again. Maybe a different translation.


23 posted on 08/26/2023 3:26:05 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

Au contraire, Achilles was an ******e. He was (almost) invulnerable, and like the baddest thug in the neighborhood he became full of himself and never walked away from a fight, because he (mistakenly) thought he could never lose.

The brave man in the Iliad was Hector, who missed his wife and went out to fight Achilles, who had come to him seeking vengeance for his buddy Petroclus.

Achilles didn’t make it quick either. He allowed Hector to take his best shot, laughing and mocking him. After Achilles killed Hector, he hitched his dead corpse behind his chariot and dragged it around in front of Hector’s wife.

Paris was the smart guy in the story. He gained intelligence via his sister, who had discovered Achilles’ vulnerability by asking around of the right people.

Paris happened to be an ancient Greek marksman, an archer. He played the tactical situation right and caught Achilles walking away, strung up his best broadhead in his 60-pund compound bow, and PMMP! (Proper mufflers on his bowstring)

Achilles was hit, DRT. He was no hero
He had it coming.

Hector, Paris, and Paris’ sister were the heroes of the Iliad.

Homer wrote it with the easily inferred moral: Don’t be this guy.


24 posted on 08/26/2023 3:36:14 PM PDT by OKSooner (Maybe Quix was right about some stuff. Pronouns=(XY, XYim, XY's))
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To: OKSooner

Hector KISSED his wife.


25 posted on 08/26/2023 3:37:17 PM PDT by OKSooner (Maybe Quix was right about some stuff. Pronouns=(XY, XYim, XY's))
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To: OKSooner

Paris’s sister...Cassandra.

When Troy fell to the Greeks, Cassandra tried to find a shelter in Athena’s Temple, but she was brutally abducted by Ajax and was brought to Agamemnon as a concubine. Cassandra died in Mycenae, murdered along with Agamemnon by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus.

Pi$$ed Athena off


26 posted on 08/26/2023 6:22:41 PM PDT by South Dakota (Patriotism is the new terrorism )
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To: South Dakota

Cool, thank you.


27 posted on 08/27/2023 7:52:26 AM PDT by OKSooner (Maybe Quix was right about some stuff. Pronouns=(XY, XYim, XY's))
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To: DoodleBob

Took me a few listens to really get into it (had to get over my expectations of what a Led Zeppelin song was supposed to sound like), but you’re right, it’s a classic.


28 posted on 08/27/2023 7:55:38 AM PDT by P.O.E. (Pray for America.)
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To: Lurker

+++


29 posted on 08/27/2023 7:59:17 AM PDT by MIA_eccl1212 (utilize leverage at every opportunity.)
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To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; 31R1O; ...
The rest of the Trojan War keyword, sorted:

30 posted on 08/27/2023 11:55:03 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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To: 75thOVI; Abathar; agrace; aimhigh; Alice in Wonderland; AnalogReigns; AndrewC; aragorn; ...
One of *those* topics.



31 posted on 08/27/2023 11:58:59 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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To: nickcarraway

So my middle name is Achille, named after my grandfather’s first name.

I’m doing fine, living in the foothills of California.


32 posted on 08/27/2023 3:45:18 PM PDT by jcon40 (Leftists are usually obnoxious Bullies)
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