Now Achilles, weeping, withdrew from his comrades, and sitting down by himself on the beach by the silvery surf he looked out over the wine-dark sea...
Likewise, in Book II of The Aeneid, we hear Aeneas' tearful dialogue.
"What words can tell how royal Troy, the throne of tears, fell to the Greeks? I saw that tragedy and in it played a great part. Who'd tell that tale— Myrmidon, Thracian, or cruel Ulysses' men— and keep from tears?"
These are small moments inconsequential to the plots, but they speak volumes. These epic heroes are not coldly detached from the world but are personally invested in it. They hurt; they bleed; and they know weakness. Achilles withdraws. Aeneas sheds tears. They are not on a pedestal above mankind but are painfully part of it— not humanity deified, but humanity amplified.
For this reason, the epics are not just a celebration of Western thought and culture, but a celebration of humanity, of being human. That is the appeal of stories like Homer's Iliad and Virgil's Aeneid. We are Achilles. We are Aeneas. We are them because we are human.
EDIT: Commented on Amanda Gaster's "Guidelines for Blogging."
Yes, these characters are human and feel just as we humans feels anger, sadness, love, and pain. However, I have noticed that in the case of Achilles I find that when he feels pain, for example when he cries over the loss of Briseis, it makes me angry. I believe it is because, as a demigod, I put Achilles on a pedestal above all other humans, and think that him showing emotions is a sign of weakness. This is really not fair, because he is still half human, and the gods themselves feel all of the same emotions the humans do. I just can't get over the fact that Achilles cries to his mother when things do not go his way. Am I being too harsh? After all, they man is about to die. I just think that it takes away from his all-powerful persona. I suppose what I am saying is that I want to see Achilles as the perfect human, and am shocked when I realize that he has weaknesses just like everyone else and feels emotions just as everyone else does.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with both of you. It is amazing to see the human frailty in such powerful men like Achilles and even in the gods themselves. It allows the readers to see the fault in them and also to connect to the characters more deeply, especially in The Iliad. I mean if they were purely emotionless and never showed any compassion or sadness I feel that their honor and the respect people have for such strong characters like Achilles would not be as strong. At the same time, however, I am slightly disappointed when Achilles always seems to cry out to his mother for help like Susan pointed out. Although, if Thetis was my mom I would probably ask her for help a lot as well. I guess it just goes to show like Josh said that these epics are a celebration of humanity and the emotions and the mistakes that come with being human.
ReplyDeleteI always imagined Achilles, Hector, and the rest of the Greek heroes as epic, meaning they're supposed to be the example for all heroes. Like Susan and Skylar said, it annoys me how Achilles cries out to his mother. It contradicts the true nature of a hero, which is courage and bravery. Then again, is Homer saying that the ideal hero doesn't exist in the real world but only in our minds? Granted, If Achilles was perfect all the time, that would just be boring. Some food for thought...
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