10
votes
Accepted
What did Achilles look like?
With the preface that I think it's silly upset about mythological accuracy in a TV show: since the Olympic gods neglected to photograph their human pets, we can't really know what Achilles looks like. ...
- 7,867
8
votes
Accepted
Death of Achilles
The death of Achilles is related in Aethiopis by Arctinus of Miletus in the 8th Century BCE. This is one of the poems the Ancient Greeks collected into an "Epic Cycle" centered around the events of ...
- 1,623
7
votes
Accepted
Could Achilles have killed Hector at a later time?
Achilles doesn't actually want to escape his fate. Turning away from the war at its outset is a response to Agamemnon's insult over Briseis. (The Iliad actually begins with this feud, and the major ...
- 14.2k
6
votes
Accepted
What is the fight between Odysseus and Achilles?
You must be referring to the passage in book eight, near verse 75. The passage is rendered as follows in Butler’s translation:
“The company then laid their hands upon the good things that were before ...
- 581
5
votes
Accepted
Did Achilles suspect he might die by Hector's hands?
The duel in Book 22 is not the first time Achilles and Hector met on the battlefield. The story of their earlier encounter is told by Achilles himself, a little earlier in Book 9:
[346] "Nay, ...
- 17.1k
4
votes
Why does Achilles continue fighting?
In Madeline Miller's Song of Achilles she posits that, after the death of his beloved friend, Achilles is seeking death.
This makes sense because the prophecy about Achilles' death was that if he ...
- 14.2k
4
votes
Accepted
How does Glaucus know Patroclus killed Sarpedon?
The Greek you presented is the right line, and you're right that it's not clear what is going on.
Because the text doesn't actually say, it's anyone's guess why Homer might have had Glaucus name ...
cmw♦
- 7,383
4
votes
Accepted
Why does Achilles put up with Agamemnon's abuse?
Because Athena forbids it, and says he will be rewarded if he obeys. From the Iliad book 1:
While Agamemnon spoke, the son of Peleus was gnawed by pain, and the heart in his shaggy breast was torn; ...
cmw♦
- 7,383
4
votes
Why does Hector accept Achilles' challenge?
Pride and shame
It is put best in book 12, 90-130:
BkXXII:1-89 Priam and Hecabe fail to dissuade Hector | poetryintranslation.com
Which shows his own thinking on the issue: [bolding mine]
But ...
- 534
2
votes
What did Achilles look like?
Much can be deduced from the story of Odysseus and Diomedes going to Skyros to find Achilles. A man as smart as Odysseus would surely have looked for male characteristics such as an Adam's apple or a ...
2
votes
What did Achilles look like?
According to Homeros' Iliad, Achilles is the most handsome young man in the Greek camp. And he has shiny (reddish) blond hair.
Homer, Iliad. 2.673–674
“Nireus who was the most beautiful man who came ...
- 21
1
vote
What is the significance of the two cities on the Shield of Achilles?
Achilles tells Agamemnon's ambassadors—Odysseus, Telamonian Ajax, and his own old tutor Phoenix—of a prophecy:
For my mother Thetis the goddess of the silver feet tells me I
carry two sorts of ...
- 1,400
1
vote
What is the significance of the two cities on the Shield of Achilles?
From The Shield of Achilles: Symbol in Iliad:
The two cities depicted on the shield represent a city in Greece and Troy. One of the cities is filled with men dancing and singing and brides marching ...
- 5,378
1
vote
Was Achilles really motivated by eternal glory?
Up to a certain stage of his short, painful life, Achilles is motivated chiefly by the desire of Kleos (glory), which motivates others including Diomedes, Ajax the Greater and - to a certain extent - ...
- 11
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