Classical Resemblance of Achilles - Essay Example

Achilles' anger is comparable to Euripides’ character, Heracles, who was also motivated by anger to kill. Heracles offended the gods when he traveled down into the underworld and they punished him by making him insane with anger. Heracles’ anger was artificially superimposed on him by the goddess Iris. He was overcome by the personality of Madness and he killed his wife, Megara, and his children in his mad rage. Heracles was said to have equal success with females and males in the area of sexual prowess. Achilles differed from Heracles in this area because he was more famous for his relationship with a male called Patroclus. Heracles was not killed in battle but he suffered serious injuries and desired to die. He asked Philoctetes to place his body on top of a funeral pyre and torch him. In this way, Heracles wanted to die and committed suicide with the help of  Philoctetes.

Achilles was killed by Paris of Troy who was avenging his brother Hector’s death. Paris has been termed a coward in some literature because he took advantage of Achilles’ weakest spot and killed him with an arrow to his heel.

Sophocles’ Greek character, Philoctetes, resembles Achilles because he was wounded in his foot. His injury did not cure. Philoctetes was about to participate in the Trojan War when he was bitten by a snake on his foot. He suffered great pain and the wound smelled bad. His superior, Odysseus, betrays him and leaves him behind on an island called Lemnos. It seems Philoctetes has an ‘Achilles heel’ too because the weak spot on his foot refused to heal. However, Philoctetes, unlike Achilles,  does not die from his foot injury. It seems that the pain in his foot was linked to his reception of Heracles’ bow. For when Neoptolemus tried to deceive Philoctetes and steal his Heracles’ bow, the pain in his foot magnified. Neoptolemus took pity upon him and returned his bow. Philoctetes fought in the Trojan War. As a reward from the gods, his foot was cured of pain, smell and disease.

Antigone was the daughter of Oedipus. She was a brave heroine who tried to bury her slain brother Polyneices, against the orders of Creon, Haemon’s father. Her lover, Haemon, defended her actions and committed suicide after her death. Haemon’s mother, Eurydice, killed herself because of grief. Creon gives up his life to his enemies. Antigone died by her hand while Achilles was killed by his enemy. It seems the feminine Antigone does not resemble Achilles except that they both had great love relationships with their lovers.

I would choose Sophocles’ Philoctetes to be the tragic hero who best resembles Homer’s Achilles.