The Triumph of Achilles

“The Triumph of Achilles” is a poem about the story of Patroclus and Achilles in Homer’s Iliad. The Iliad is a long narrative poem written in Greece around 800 BCE. It describes the Trojan War, which occurred because Paris, a Trojan, abducted Helen, a Greek (Achaean). Paris was favored by the goddess Aphrodite, and other gods are involved in the battle. The Iliad begins with Apollo, god of the sun and medicine, spreading disease in the Achaean camp as a result of the Achaeans acting against the gods. To resolve this, King Agamemnon of the Achaeans returns a hostage, but he steals one of Achilles’s hostages as a replacement. This injustice angers Achilles, who then remains in his tent, unwilling to assist the Greek kings in their efforts to destroy Troy and recapture Helen.

Patroclus attempts to convince Achilles to join the battle, but Achilles refuses. However, Achilles agrees to lend Patroclus his armor. Wearing this armor, Patroclus is assumed to be Achilles and leads the Achaeans in killing many Trojan soldiers. However, Patroclus is eventually killed by Hector, who takes Achilles’s armor and tries to take the corpse of Patroclus as well. The Achaeans recover Patroclus’s body, but not Achilles’s armor. When Achilles learns of the death of Patroclus, he weeps over the corpse. A new set of armor is created for Achilles, and he eventually joins the battle. The section of The Iliad that follows the Death of Patroclus is called The Rage of Achilles. Achilles kills many men, including Hector. Achilles drags Hector’s corpse behind his chariot, which angers the gods.

After Achilles returns Hector’s body to the Trojans, and after the end of The Iliad, Paris shoots Achilles with an arrow in his heel. The heel of Achilles was the only part of his body that was not dipped in the river Styx by his mother Thetis. The river made most of his body divine and immortal, but his heel remained mortal. The death of Achilles is prophesied in The Iliad and alluded to in Homer’s Odyssey. The physical vulnerability of Achilles inspires the idiom Achilles’s heel” meaning a weak point, or something that will cause a person’s downfall.