Achilles

The Iliad is the story of Achilles’ journey through anger. Over the epic, Achilles undergoes a continual process of transformation, and as he does, the world changes around him. His anger unleashes the fiery beast of war and creates a spectacle of destruction. However, as Achilles awakens to the immense personal and social cost of his anger, the spectacle begins to transform. In place of rage, compassion and humanity come forth and the fires of war are replaced by the cathartic flames of the hearth and the funeral pyre. In this thesis I chart this journey by analysing Achilles’ communicative acts: his use of speech and action, across the epic. Through examining his communication and the ways in which others communicate with him, subtle but important changes are revealed. These changes in communication reflect the transformation that takes place within Achilles and are instrumental in generating change in the world around him. My interpretation of Achilles’ use of speech draws on insights from contemporary cognitive psychology, especially the work of Martin Seligman. My work on communication is also influenced by a range of contemporary strategic studies theorists who consider a wide range of non-verbal acts that have an important communicative function, including gestural and performative acts of violence. In charting Achilles’ transformation, we also gain a glimpse into the poet’s view of the elemental and personal dynamics that lie behind the creation of war and peace. Whilst a necessary part of the mortal condition, conflict, suffering and death are shown to hold within them the vital forces of change, and to reveal the nature of humanity itself.

This paper argues, based on an approach derived from Neoanalysis, oral poetry theory, and intertextuality, that the death of Achilles is of particular importance for the Iliad. Numerous structural and thematic similarities reflect and foreshadow elements of the traditional story of the death of Achilles which is thereby incorporated into the Iliad symbolically through two intertwined sets of correspondences. These motif transferences and symbolic correspondences serve to explain several peculiar details of the Homeric narrative and contribute to our interpretation of the poem in the context of the Homeric concept of heroism and to our appreciation of the Iliad’s poetic technique. Through the constant foreshadowing of his death, Achilles achieves the highest glory a Homeric warrior can hope for, dying in battle and earning immortal fame without actually dying, but vanquishing all his enemies. This is part of the Iliad’s strategy to encompass the whole of the Trojan War through analepses as well as prolepses and by making Achilles’ triumph over Hector prefigure the fall of Troy.

In the 6th century BCE, the Roman civilization flourished as a continuation of the perfect culture in Etruria (Truri, alb., = The Brain, eng.) and Latium (Albanum / Arbanum). In the 5th century, the book Mythologiæ or the Science of Untruth got published for the first time. Since the book would not have tilted the scale if it was alone, the creation of the poems Iliad, Odyssey, and Aeneid co-occurred. Iliad itself does not prove the Castle of Star (Illi, Ylli, Illion, alb.) or Troy as a place at the entrance of the Strait of Dardanelles.

Due saggi, apparsi nello stesso volume, relativi l'uno all'interpretazione di un erbario alla luce del mito antico, l'altro alla paternità stessa dell'erbario, che si lega, attraverso curiose vicende, all'opera di Giorgio Santi, professore di scienze naturali dell'Università di Pisa alla fine del secolo XVIII.

There is a popular view, supported by Oxford historian Robin Lane Fox and others, that Alexander the Great's personal motivation and public persona were heavily influenced by the myth of Achilles. However, skeptics of this view raise many legitimate doubts about its historical accuracy.  This article takes a broad look at the evidence linking Alexander the Great to Achilles.

What defines an epic hero?  Must he be perfect?  Homer's The Illiad highlights a well-known epic hero, Achilles.  Achilles was an epic hero, one to be remembered, honored, and immortalized in name forevermore.  He had physical strength and bravery as a result of his immortal descendancy.  Achilles was a war hero and his enemies trembled at the sight of him; and through it all, Achilles showed a humbled humility and never put himself above his comrades nor the gods and goddesses.  However, Achilles was not free from flaws.  He had a temper and his anger cost him greatly in the end.

In Being and Time, Martin Heidegger argues that death is always impending, waiting to claim us, and as such our existence in the world is one that is Being-toward-death.  Despite the fact that we can never escape death, we are constantly trying to flee it and distract ourselves from it.  There is a certain anxiety and fear in the face of death that mortals experience, hence the reason we try to outrun it.  Looking at the figure of the hero, we see an individual who, at times, experiences horror and terror in their lives.  They face death, and they too are afraid to die, however, the hero is able to overcome such fears, in spite of the horror and terror, and meet death head on.  In this respect, the hero embodies what Heidegger calls authenticity, and therefore lives an authentic life.
This paper seeks to examine the hero’s relationship to death, their fear of it, as well as their ability to overcome this fear and achieve authenticity.  Using Achilleus and Harry Potter, as examples of Ancient and Modern epic heroes, I will show how both heroes demonstrate a moment of fear, of pure anxiety, while facing death, but then embrace and overcome it in order to fulfill their allotted destiny and measure.  Furthermore, I am interested in looking at each hero’s loss of their loved ones and how that shapes both their fear in the face of death, but at the same time strengthens their character as the epic hero.  Both Achilleus and Harry experience deep loss and mourning, and yet through the pain and horror, are able to come to terms with their own fate and finitude.  It is this shared experience that demonstrate Heidegger’s theory and allow them to be thought as achieving authenticity.

Achilles is a complex hero. His brief, brilliant life is sacrificed to avenge the death of his beloved friend. He is a consummate warrior, yet he is childlike in his rage; and outside the Homeric Iliad we learn that he was dressed as a girl to escape being sent to fight at Troy. Marta González González explores the many facets of this fascinating figure, deftly applying insights from modern theories, literary and psychological, to help bring him into focus. It is a pleasure to read. (- Professor David Konstan, New York University, USA)

Achilles is the quintessential Greek hero, but that does not mean that he is a conventional hero. His uniqueness is dictated by his birth, as the son of a sea goddess, and his education at the hands of a centaur. The hero’s exceptional nature also forms part of the tension that both unites and opposes him to Apollo.

Achilles presents the different episodes in the life of this hero conventionally, in chronological order, based primarily on the Greek sources: birth, education, deeds in Troy, death and subsequent destiny as a figure of worship. On the other hand, this study employs the hero Achilles to reflect on various issues, all of them crucial for historians of the Greek world: what it meant to be and become a man in ancient Greece, what a hero’s aretê consisted of, how the Greeks represented the concepts of friendship and camaraderie, what moved them to revenge or reconciliation, what hopes they harboured as they faced their fate, how they imagined something as difficult to conceive of as a human sacrifice, and how they developed their ideas about the afterlife and hero cult..

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. Captain Ahab is no exception. Forget for a second Ahab's villainous qualities and look instead to the classical tradition. Shakespeare's Macbeth was not a very nice guy. Neither was Milton's Satan. Still, we find qualities within these antagonists that conform to ancient ideas of the epic and tragedy. Let us, then, look at Ahab in this same light. Ahab may be a monomaniac, but we still adore him despite all of his faults. Therefore, this essay explores the heroic qualities of Ahab which have made him into the American lit icon he is today.

The European Beta-tradition is the second in the series of five Homeric oral traditions that Ward Blondé discovered in the Iliad. In contrast to the Mykenaian Alpha-tradition, the Beta-tradition has its origins in the proto-Celtic Europe of the Tumulus and Urnfield cultures; it describes a society of clans who fought each other to death on the battlefield. The European Beta-tradition is so realistic and varied in its descriptions that it must have originated in a warrior culture.

Blondé’s discovery of the European Beta-tradition provides insights into the Homeric question about the origin of the Iliad and the Odyssey and into European prehistory. The framework of the Iliad as a whole appears to be an age-old narrative originating from the Central European Bronze Age. In addition, Blondé presents a theory that explains the presence of the European Beta-tradition in Greece. In doing so, Blondé sheds light on the mysterious issues of the Sea Peoples, the movements of the Urnfield Peoples, the fall of the Mykenaian Empire and Hittite Empire, the destruction of Troy, the invasion of the Dorians and the Dark Ages in Greece.

Some scholars continue to believe that the Trojan War and Achilles were mythological events.  Evidence from ancient sources, modern writings, excavations, and onsite visits tell a different story.  Through photographs and this evidence we trace the kingdom and capital city of Achilles, first military of Greece, to ancient Thessaly and his homeland Phthia with future challenges and opportunities provided through the "Achilles Project."

The association between Achilles and Alexander the Great has been accepted based on a few slim pieces of literary evidence. By looking at the work of Andrew Stewart who reaffirms that Alexander imitated Achilles, and by picking apart the sources which he uses, as well as those which were overlooked or discarded, it becomes clear that there were later figures who would benefit from cultivating this association between leaders and Homeric heroes.

In this article for sixth-formers and school teachers, I explore the story of Achilles' heel and Homer's likely suppression of the myth in the Iliad. Homer's Iliad appears to acknowledge, but simultaneously reject, an alternative tradition in which Achilles was more than mortal, part of a broader downplaying of heroic invulnerability and immortality within the poem. The only way to achieve immortality in the Iliad is through the fame and glory provided by Homeric song.

Homero en el canto XVIII de la Ilíada nos narra la confección de una nueva armadura para Aquiles, realizada por el dios Hefesto a petición de Tetis la madre del Pélida. Destaca en el poema la descripción de la decoración del escudo, una decoración única en una pieza de este tipo, pues nos encontramos con una cosmología que ha dado lugar a múltiples interpretaciones de su significado a lo que habría que añadir que asistimos a la primera écfrasis del mundo occidental.

Il Libro XI dell'Iliade è il primo di un blocco di libri che narrano del giorno più lungo e più importante dell'Iliade: un giorno che si apre con l'aristia di Agamennone nel Libro XI e si chiude con il recupero del corpo di Patroclo nel Libro XVIII, quando Era obbliga il Sole a tramontare per dare un po' di sollievo agli Achei. Il presente articolo è un'introduzione al primo libro di questa straordinaria blocco compositivo.

Human attitudes, practices and behavior modes as determined by culturally marked spaces: the author offers a new key to a wide range of phenomena coming from different Indo-European cultures, both archaic and modern, starting from the social-semantic structure Scythian "animal style" and up to Russian "mat" as (genetically) a male obscene code.

Il Libro IV dell'Iliade è il libro che - dopo un serie di ritardi e diversivi - vede finalmente l'inizio dei combattimenti. L'occasione viene offerta dal ferimento di Menelao, colpito da una freccia dell'arciere Pandaro, a sua volta istigato indotto a questo gesto dalla dea Atena. Buona parte del libro è occupato dall'Epipolesis, la rassegna delle truppe da parte di Agamennone. Il libro si chiude con le prime vittime: quattro guerrieri troiani e tre greci. Il presente articolo è una breve introduzione al quarto libro dell'Iliade.

Although the Iliad does not explicitly depict Achilles and Patroclus as lovers, I argue that the poem suggests an erotic dimension to their relationship by comparing them to husband-wife pairings in Homeric epic. Previous scholars have tended either to deny any erotic component to Achilles and Patroclus's bond or to assume that the Iliad unproblematically depicts them as lovers. Others have hinted at the possibility of a deliberate homoerotic subtext between the two heroes but have adduced little specific evidence other than the intensity of their emotional connection. In this article, I show that Achilles and Patroclus in the Iliad are analogous to a husband and wife by presenting specific examples from the text of how their relationship structure and affective bond mirror those of Homeric husband-wife couples. I conclude that the poem portrays Achilles and Patroclus's relationship as a conjugal bond in order to highlight Achilles' alienation from traditional social structures as well as the excessive and transgressive nature of his affective responses. I also suggest that Homeric epic presents the ideal conjugal bond as being characterized by the potential for power exchange and role reversal rather than by strict hierarchy.

Traduzione letterale, interlineare della prima parte del discorso di Fenice dal nono libro dell'Iliade, versi 430-495. Si tratta della prima parte del discorso, con la narrazione della propria vicenda fino all'allegorai delle λιταί (esclusa). La presenza di Fenice, così come il suo discorso, presentano vari problemi interpretativi, che hanno impegnato e fatto discutere già i primi critici alessandrini: vari elementi fanno ritenere che Fenice non fosse presente nel progetto iniziale della scena dell'ambasceria ad Achille e sia stato aggiunto in seguito, e l'adattamento in corso d'opera ha lasciato chiari segni.
La traduzione è accompagnata da note e commenti tratti, come sempre, dall'edizione commentata dell'Iliade di W. Leaf, e dal commentario edito da G. S. Kirk (per quest'ultimo, il commento è di B. Hainsworth).

The Helen portrayed in Seneca's Troades is a character marked by a limited dramatic prominence and by an inconstant psychology. Despite of this, she presents herself as a figure especially aware of her long ‘literary history’. The oxymoron ‘hymen funestus’ seems to display and summarize the paradoxical complexity that affects the myth of Helen and, on other hand, it formally highlights the paradox, which is stressed by Helen’s role as an auspex of a false marriage. The insistence on the vocabulary of the marriage rite recalls the Greek tragedy, in particular the topic of marriage-to-death. Nevertheless, what most distinguishes the Helen depicted by Seneca is the sentiment of exclusion and painful isolation. It is the perception of the hostility of both Trojan and Greeks, in her impossibility to take part in the fate of the conquerers as much as in that of the conquered people.
L'Elena delle Troades senecane, anche se figura caratterizzata da  non ampio rilievo drammatico e da una psicologia non sempre coerente, si presenta come un personaggio consapevole soprattutto della sua lunga 'storia letteraria': la iunctura ossimorica hymen funestus sembra voler enucleare da subito e in estrema sintesi tutta la paradossale complessità del mito di Elena, che arriva a Seneca dal teatro greco attraverso le riscritture romane, sottolineandone anche formalmente il paradosso concettuale, che si esalta con il suo ruolo di auspex di false nozze. La presenza insistita del lessico del rito matrimoniale sembra sottintendere una fitta rete di rimandi alla tragedia greca, in particolare testimoniando la precisa volontà di suggerire il tema topico delle "nozze di morte". La cifra interpretativa che comunque maggiormente caratterizza l'Elena senecana è il sentimento di esclusione e di doloroso isolamento, è l'ostilità che essa percepisce da parte dei Troiani e dei Greci nella sua impossibilità di condividere il destino dei vincitori come dei vinti.

Humiliated by Agamemnon's decision to take his share of booty, Briseis, away from him, Achilles, furious, insults violently the head of the Achaeans: You wine sack, with a dog's eyes, with a deers heart (Hom. Il. I 225). The recontextualisation of the three expressions in Homer's work enables to highlight their singular violence and their political and cultural dimension. By condemning the thoughtlessness, the impudence and the cowardice of Agamemnon, Achilles seems to expose, beyond the royal faults of Agamemnon, his lack of heroic Aidos. In the line 225, the insults against Agamemnon's body undermine his identity and sustain his bad reputation. They are the best warrior's weapons.

Se ha señalado que Aquiles constituye tanto para los griegos antiguos como para nosotros el ideal del héroe y la muerte heroica, porque acepta su destino inevitable, el cual le ha deparado una vida breve y una muerte hermosa, las cuales, aunque representan una existencia poco atractiva, le aseguran que su nombre nunca será olvidado. Este estudio analizó el conjunto de imágenes e ideas manifestadas en la Ilíada sobre el héroe y la muerte desde una perspectiva ideológica. A lo largo del análisis, se logró determinar que la ideología heroica es, básicamente, un conjunto de mecanismos simbólicos que despliegan un sentido particular a la inserción de un individuo dentro de la categoría de héroe con el fin de explicar y justificar su muerte en el combate. A partir de lo analizado, se puede concluir que el ámbito de acción del héroe era sumamente limitado, pues para él, sucumbir ante el combate es el único fin posible. Lo anterior supone que Aquiles, en lugar de ser el paradigma de la muerte heroica, es más bien su víctima más conspicua, pues constituye el modelo del ser humano que se ve constreñido a morir en la guerra.

ACHILLES AND THE SUBJECTION TO FATE: DEATH AND IDEOLOGY IN THE ILIAD

Achilles has been pointed out as the ideal of a hero and heroic death, not only for the ancient Greeks but also for contemporary scholars. He accepts his inevitable faith which has given him a brief life and a beautiful death. Both of which appear as an unattractive existence; however, they assure that his name will never be forgotten. This study analyzed the group of images and ideas, expressed in the Iliad, related to the hero and his death from an ideological perspective. Along the analysis, it was determined that the heroic ideology is, basically, a collection of symbolic mechanisms that create a particular sense through the insertion of an individual inside the category of hero; therefore, this can explain and justify his death in the fight.  From this perspective, it can be concluded that the area of action of a hero was absolutely limited because dying in combat was the only possible end for the hero. This perspective explains that Achilles, instead of being the paradigm of the heroic death, is the most notorious victim: he constitutes the role model of the human being who is forced to die in the war.

Questa tesi propone un commento e un'introduzione all'episodio della morte di Achille, così come è narrato da Quinto Smirneo nei primi 185 versi del terzo logos dei Posthomerica. Il commento analizza questioni lessicali e tematiche, che mettono in luce il modo in cui lo scrittore del III secolo d.C. si confronta e rielabora i miti e la dizione epica della tradizione. Si mettono così in evidenza le differenze tra le specifiche strategie compositive del poeta letterato rispetto alle forme della composizione orale. Tramite l'analisi delle fonti letterarie e iconografiche, nell'introduzione vengono esaminate le varianti mitologiche della morte di Achille, i miti circa la sua immortalità o invulnerabilità, l'importanza dell'arma con cui Apollo ferisce l'aristeuon acheo, e il modo in cui l'attacco di Apollo costituisce un totale ribaltamento degli schemi epici del duello.

More than 20 years after presenting his first interpretation of the mosaic from the House of Aion in a paper entitled “Uwagi na temat mozaiki z Domu Aiona w Nea Paphos (Cypr)” (Meander 9/10, 1987, p. 421-438, in Polish, and translated to English: « The Immortality of the Human Soul and the Dionysiac Mysteries in the 4th Century Allegory [in Connection with the Interpretation of the Mosaic from the “House of Aion” at Paphos in Cyprus]»), where he proposed reading the five mythological panels (1. Leda and Zeus; 2. Dionysus on Mount Nysa; 3. The Dionysian thiasos; 4. Apollo and Marsyas; 5. The Apotheosis of Cassiopeia) as an allegory of the destiny of the human soul and body, starting with conception and ending with the liberation of the soul and its apotheosis, the author now enhances his initial interpretation with numerous reflections concerning the historical context of this work of art, created in the years 320-360.
If, according to the author, the mosaic is a “Hymn” in honour of the pagan gods, Man (his soul) and his place in the (pagan) universe, then at the same time it polemicises with the Christian faith and its God, Jesus Christ.
The author puts forward numerous new solutions relating to the mosaic’s iconography and iconology. Analysis of the mosaic also leads him to propose a solution to the as-yet unanswered question regarding the absence of images of the crucified Christ in Christian art of the 3rd and 4th centuries, up until 420/430, when the first images of Christ on the cross appear.
CONTENTS:
Introduction
1. Research to-date (recap)
2. Description of mosaic (recap)
2.1. Composition of five mythological scenes
2.2. Brief iconographic description of mythological panels
2.3. Outline of individual iconographic elements and their respective roles
2.4. The pagan gods’ air of majesty and dignity as an expression of piety
3. A few words about the pagan reaction
4. An apology of pious human life according to pagan principles and a polemic on the Christian model of Man and his theological idol, Jesus Christ
4.1. Divine intervention in the act of human conception (allusion to/polemic on the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary)
4.2. The Epiphany of Dionysus (an allusion to the Epiphany of Christ – Theou Pais)
4.3. The procession and dissemination of Dionysian order (allusion to/polemic on Christ’s entry into Jerusalem)
4.4. The error of Marsyas (polemic on/allusion to the error of Jesus the Messiah): arrest, sentencing for arrogance and lack of piety (asebeia) and condemnation to a martyr’s death
4.5. The anabasis (or anagoge psyches) of a ‘beautiful soul’ (allusion to/polemic on the Ascension of Christ)
5. A few words on the mosaic programme prior to final conclusions
Final conclusions
Key words: mythological mosaic, House of Aion, Nea Paphos, Late Antiquity, Roman art, allegorical narrative, allusive language of mythological pictures, wordplay (Marsyas-Messias), Jesus Christ, anti-Christian polemic, Dionysos, Cassiopeia, Apollon, Nereides, Abstract Personifications, Greek Mythology, ΚΥΠΡΟΣ

Uno dei massimi problemi della filosofia è certamente rappresentato dalla figura dell’uomo nel suo complesso: la sua origine, la sua natura e la sua destinazione. Nel presente lavoro abbiamo voluto prendere in considerazione le risposte date a tali questioni da parte di alcune culture antiche, generalmente considerate pre-filosofiche:  la cultura sumerica, assira, babilonese, ebraica (tenendo conto della sola Bibbia ebraica) e greca (pre-platonica). L’ordine di esposizione delle tematiche è il seguente: i) concezioni della morte e del regno dei morti; ii) concezioni relative alla possibilità di raggiungere una qualche forma di immortalità; iii) concezioni della nascita, o creazione, dell’umanità e del suo scopo, o missione.

The notion for the greatness of the Homeric epics meets little opposition. In the ancient Hellenic world, they were not only a piece of cultural significance, but also a means of education (Plato.606e). One can argue that the Iliad “remains… the greatest epic poem in literature” (Fagles.157) Calling upon the educational properties of the Iliad, this study will evaluate any evidence regarding what the Hellenes valued in regards to battle-attributes, fighting-styles, and general combat abilities. Due to the warfare-oriented nature of the poem, such evidence could be found via the protagonistic roles of the chronicle. This, in turn, will give us a better picture, both of how the Hellenes fought in battle, including large-scale warfare but also in sport (such as with boxing, wrestling, and Pagration) – whereas such information has scarcely survived.