Mythology: Achilles

Today's hero spent his teens dressed as a girl and went in a homicidal rage when the person closest to him, Patroclus, was killed. Oh, he was also portrayed by Brad Pitt in Troy (2004).

Other actors that have taken the role of Achilles in film were: Piero Lulli in Ulysses (1955), Stanley Baker in Helen of Troy (1956), Riley Ottenhof in Something about Zeus (1958), Arturo Dominici in La Guerra di Troia (1962), Gordon Mitchell in The Fury of Achilles (1962), Panos Mihalopoulos in Iphigenia (1977), Steve Davislim in La Belle Hélène (TV, 1996), Richard Trewett in the miniseries The Odyssey (TV, 1997) and Joe Montana in Helen of Troy (TV, 2003).

Achilles was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Peleus, the king of the Myrmidons. Zeus and Poseidon had been rivals for the hand of Thetis until Prometheus, the fore-thinker, warned Zeus of a prophecy that Thetis would bear a son greater than his father. For this reason, the two gods withdrew their pursuit, and had her wed Peleus.

Achilles was brought up by his mother at Phthia with his cousin and inseparable companion Patroclus. When he was a baby, Thetis dipped Achilles in the waters of the River Styx, by which means he became invulnerable, except for the part of his heel by which she held him—the proverbial “Achilles’ heel.”

Thetis Immerses Son Achilles in Water of River Styx by Antoine Borel, 18th Century.

His father Peleus entrusted Achilles to Chiron the Centaur, on Mt. Pelion, to be reared. Later Peleus, having received an oracle that his son would die fighting at Troy, sent Achilles to the court of Lycomedes on Scyros, where he was dressed as a girl and kept among the king’s daughters (one of whom, Deïdamia, bore him Neoptolemus). Hearing from the soothsayer Calchas that Troy could not be taken without Achilles, the Greeks searched for and found him.

The Education Of Achilles by Benigne Gagneraux, 1785.

During the first nine years of the war, Achilles ravaged the country around Troy and took 12 cities. In the 10th year a quarrel with Agamemnon occurred when Achilles insisted that Agamemnon restore Chryseis, his prize of war, to her father, a priest of Apollo, so as to appease the wrath of Apollo, who had decimated the camp with a pestilence. An irate Agamemnon recouped his loss by depriving Achilles of his favourite slave, Briseis.

Achilles refused further service, and consequently the Greeks floundered so badly that at last Achilles allowed Patroclus to impersonate him, lending him his chariot and armour. Hector (the eldest son of King Priam of Troy) slew Patroclus, and Achilles, having finally reconciled with Agamemnon, obtained new armour from the god Hephaestus and slew Hector. After dragging Hector’s body behind his chariot, Achilles gave it to Priam at his earnest entreaty.

Painting of Achilles tending the wounds of Patroclus, circa 500BC.

The exact nature of Achilles' relationship with Patroclus has been a subject of dispute in both the classical period and modern times. In the Iliad, it appears to be the model of a deep and loyal friendship. Homer does not suggest that Achilles and his close friend Patroclus were lovers. Despite there being no direct evidence in the text of the Iliad that Achilles and Patroclus were lovers, this theory was expressed by some later authors. Commentators from classical antiquity to the present have often interpreted the relationship through the lens of their own cultures. In Plato's Symposium, the participants in a dialogue about love assume that Achilles and Patroclus were a couple; Phaedrus argues that Achilles was the younger and more beautiful one so he was the beloved and Patroclus was the lover. But ancient Greek had no words to distinguish heterosexual and homosexual, and it was assumed that a man could both desire handsome young men and have sex with women.

The death of Achilles, as predicted by Hector with his dying breath, was brought about by Paris with an arrow (to the heel according to Statius). In some versions, the god Apollo guided Paris' arrow. Some retellings also state that Achilles was scaling the gates of Troy and was hit with a poisoned arrow. All of these versions deny Paris any sort of valor, owing to the common conception that Paris was a coward and not the man his brother Hector was, and Achilles remained undefeated on the battlefield. His bones were mingled with those of Patroclus, and funeral games were held.

Dying Achilles by Ernst Herter (1884), in Corfu, Greece.

Bob Dylan is my favorite solo singer/songwriter of all-time, and his three best albums came out one after the other: Bringing It All Back Home (1965), Highway 61 Revisited (1965), and Blonde on Blonde (1966). The latter contains Temporary Like Achilles, a slow-moving blues number:

A few months ago on The Back Lot, reader PEP had asked me if In My Time Of Dying by Led Zeppelin had gay subtext. Well, PEP, if you're still reading, I looked it up and it seems that it doesn't. However, I had to sneak Led Zeppelin in my blog, both for your sake and mine (they're among my Top 6 favorite groups). I find the chance to do so with Achilles Last Stand, from the 1976 album Presence. Here's a live version:

By the way, PEP, I hope that you enjoyed my presentation of Vampire Weekend, a couple of months ago. Very soon you'll get to read about the other acts that you requested, Frank Ocean, Deehunter and quite possibly Sufjan Stevens. I try to please all my friends here.

In 2014, we had Cry of Achilles by Alter Bridge:

Lil Ugly Mane gave us Achilles Foot in 2015, a good hip hop song:

Back in 1992 Manowar gave us Achilles, Agony And Ecstasy In Eight Parts:

In 2002 Warlord released Achilles' Revenge:

There was a Greek song in 1980 called Ο Αχιλλέας Απ' Το Κάιρο (Achilles from Cairo) by Κώστας Τουρνάς (Kostas Tournas), which was one of the first songs in Greece to have a gay hero. It's worth listening to. Here it is:

Achilles is also an oratorio by Max Bruch (1885):

Finally, here's Achilles' Wrath, a concert piece by Sean O'Loughlin, performed here by The Norwalk Youth Symphony Philharmonia Orchestral Winds ensemble: