In the Iliad, Achilles says the following after killing Hector: "Die; for my part I will accept my fate whensoever Jove and the other gods see fit to send it. '
If Zeus lets me kill you and survive, then when I've stripped you of your glorious armour I'll not mistreat your corpse, I'll return your body to your people, if you will do the same for me. ' Swift-footed Achilles glared at him in reply: 'Curse you, Hector, and don't talk of oaths to me.
Kneeling over his corpse, Achilles sheds tears, which could potentially symbolize the Greek hero's realization of the futility of war, and the possibility of respectful comradeship between the two in the absence of the feud over Helen.
Any moment might be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we're doomed. You will never be lovelier than you are now. We will never be here again.
Achilles strips off Hektor's armor and fastens his naked body to his chariot by the heels. Then he gallops off, dragging the corpse behind him in disgrace.
But when Achilles was now sated with grief and had unburdened the bitterness of his sorrow, he left his seat and raised the old man by the hand. Achilles, seated, and Priam, crouched at his feet, cry at length, the one for Patroclus and Peleus, the other for Hector.
Hector falls down while Achilles taunts him with the fact that his body will be mutilated by dogs and birds. Hector begs him not to, but to let Priam ransom him. Achilles tells him to stop begging, that if he could, he would eat the corpse himself, but since he can't, he'll let the dogs do it, instead.
Achilles states that he wishes Agamemnon would have died at Troy, so that all the soldiers could have mounded up a high burial grave, preserving high honors for Agamemnon's son.
Achilles' most distinctive characteristic is his invulnerability, coupled with the fact that he has one small spot on his body which is vulnerable. The lesson, it seems, is that everyone has their weakness, capable of bringing them down.
Last Lines: “In the darkness, two shadows, reaching through the hopeless, heavy dusk. Their hands meet, and light spills in a flood like a hundred golden urns pouring out of the sun.”
In the end, even if nothing is forgotten, everything seems to be forgiven. In front of Priam's humiliation, Achilles seems to forgive Hector's hand in the fall of Patroclus – he had his revenge, a life for a life. In having his son's body returned to him, Priam forgives Achilles' actions against it .
According to legend, the Trojan prince Paris killed Achilles by shooting him in the heel with an arrow. Paris was avenging his brother, Hector, whom Achilles had slain. Though the death of Achilles is not described in the Iliad, his funeral is mentioned in Homer's Odyssey.
When Achilles learns of the death of Patroklos, he bursts into tears, tearing his hair and throwing himself on the ground. His sorrowful lament is heard by his mother, Thetis, and she comes to comfort him. She points out that if Achilles avenges Patroklos, he himself will be killed.
At the point of death, Hector, his helmet flashing, said, "I know you well—I see my fate before me.
The Iliad as we have it ends with this line: Ὣς οἵ γ' ἀμφίεπον τάφον Ἕκτορος ἱπποδάμοιο. 'Thus they busied themselves with the burial of Hector, tamer of horses. '
Patroclus's Last Words
Fate and the son of Leto have overpowered me, and among mortal men Euphorbus; you are yourself third only in the killing of me.
Achilles' most notable feat during the Trojan War was the slaying of the Trojan prince Hector outside the gates of Troy. Although the death of Achilles is not presented in the Iliad, other sources concur that he was killed near the end of the Trojan War by Paris, who shot him with an arrow.
Achilles was the son of Peleus, king of Phthia, and Thetis, a sea nymph. When Achilles was born, Thetis, wanting to protect him from all harm, held him by his left heel and dipped him in the river Styx. Because of that, Achilles' left heel was unprotected and was his only physical vulnerability.
Shakespeare. William Shakespeare's play Troilus and Cressida portrays Achilles and Patroclus as lovers in the eyes of the Greeks. Achilles' decision to spend his days in his tent with Patroclus is seen by Odysseus (called Ulysses in the play) and many other Greeks as the chief reason for anxiety about Troy.
The grief shown by Achilles is, in fact, similar to the grief experienced by modern soldiers when they lose one of their comrades-in-arms. Upon hearing the news of Patroclus, he sinks into a heavy depression, forgoing food and even contemplating suicide.
After all the violence and heartbreak throughout the novel, it would have been nice to have a happy ending. However, in the end, as Achilles is dying, he thinks about being able to see Patroclus in Hades and finds rest in that. But Patroclus is never buried; therefore, the two will never be able to be together again.
to save my dearest comrade from his death! Look, a world away from his fatherland he's perished, lacking me, my fighting strength, to defend him.
Achilles fetches Hector's body for Priam and apologizes to Patroclus for letting the body go.
Hector takes Achilles' armor for himself, pulling it off of Patroclus' dead body. A battle ensues, as the Greeks and Trojans fight for the corpse of Patroclus. In Book 18, Achilles learns of Patroclus' death, and is both devastated and enraged. He begs his mother, the nymph Thetis, to have the gods make him new armor.
Achilles' rage is so extreme that even after this dream, he keeps Hector's body. He does not change his mind until Priam, Hector's father, comes to him in person to beg for his son's body to be returned. Finally, Achilles relents and his rage is ended.