Achilles’ Humanness

Achilles’ weakness lies in his inability to control the excess of his emotions and this leads him to abuse his power. He exists in a state of liminality between near-immortality and over-identification with mortal concerns. His God-given military prowess seems effortless to the point that it causes envy among his closest allies. This form of unwarranted pre-destination is akin to what baby boomers perceive in silver-spooned millennials— a generation that grew up in an overextending environment that failed to nurture maturity and responsibility. Actually, he very much resembles Mark Zuckerberg, who has invaded privacy preferences of his members on multiple occasions in his pursuit of promoting the expansion of the company.  Achilles similarly places his individual interest ahead of a community for he refuses to gift Briseis to Agamemnon at the onset of the poem.

The Iliad supports a historical framework of Spartan values that creates a dichotomy between military allegiance and familial concerns. This makes it difficult to gauge the moral or ethical compass of the poem not only because it reads as a neutral narrative, but also because deeming a character as good or bad tethers him to his willingness to follow or rebel against his military obligations. In book IX, Achilles weighs his options between a glorious death and an ordinary life. It is at this moment where the demi-god characterizes himself as human and vacillates choosing an ordinary lifestyle - far from being Achilles the hero. This derivation doubly characterizes him as courageous and cowardly for he rebels against conformity and likewise surrenders to his fear of his death.