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.
He saw Hector as brother, because they shared together his most important values. And he killed him. Achilles could have probably felt like he killed himself, for a reason that might seem absurd from that perspective... That's why the tears and that's why he said "we'll meet soon my brother".
And finally, sorrow also causes the knees to falter (Iliad 18. 31; 22.448); Achilles, lying in the dust, mourns for Patroclus (18.27).
The heroes of the Iliad, in particular, are very often presented in tears, suffering grief and pain. The tears of Achilles, just as his military exploits, are present throughout the poem, from his first appearance to his last. When he is not fighting, he is crying.
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. Hector curses him, telling him Paris will kill him at the Scaean Gates with the help of Apollo.
How many, brave Achilles?” Overcome with guilt and shame, Achilles agrees to a twelve-day truce in order to facilitate Hector's funeral rites. He acknowledges Hector's tactical brilliance on the battlefield and deems him as a worthy opponent.
Near death, Hector pleads with Achilles to return his body to the Trojans for burial, but Achilles resolves to let the dogs and scavenger birds maul the Trojan hero.
It can be argued that Achilles's fatal flaw is that of hubris, excessive pride and overconfidence. This is what prevents Achilles from making amends with Agamemnon when he steals Briseis from him, refusing to accept his offer of recompense for the humiliations he inflicted upon him.
When Patroclus is slain, the pivotal moment of grief for Achilles, Achilles is thrown into despair. Then, he emerges from it, doom-driven and furious, to exact revenge upon Hector and his kin, those who took Patroclus from him.
Thetis had taken her son Achilles to the island of Scyros to prevent him from accompanying the Greek army to Troy. Disguised as a woman, Achilles lived on Scyros among the daughters of King Lycomedes until the Greeks discovered his whereabouts and sent Odysseus and Diomedes to the island to fetch him.
Achilles responds by saying that Patroclus is his husband.
Even though she was a war prize, Achilles and Briseis fell in love with each other, and Achilles may have gone to Troy intending to spend much time in his tent with her, as was portrayed in the movie.
Eventually, Achilles' best friend, the soldier Patroclus, was able to wrangle a compromise: Achilles would not fight, but he would let Patroclus use his armor as a disguise. That way, the Trojans would think that Achilles had returned to battle and would retreat in fear.
By dragging Hector's body face-down along the ground, Achilles reveals his desire to erase Hector. The face is the part of the body that individualizes the person; spoiling the face of the opponent, letting it become unrecognizable, makes him dissimilar to anything that reminds us of an “I” or “We.”
Lesson Summary
After leading the Greeks in battle against the Trojans, disguised in the armor of the great Greek hero Achilles, Patroclus is killed by the warrior Hector, fulfilling a prophecy made by the god Zeus. Enraged at the death of his dear friend Patroclus, Achilles is driven to seek vengeance.
Each day for the next nine days, Achilles drags Hector's body in circles around Patroclus's funeral bier. At last, the gods agree that Hector deserves a proper burial. Zeus sends the god Hermes to escort King Priam, Hector's father and the ruler of Troy, into the Achaean camp.
Patroclus – Death by Hubris. Patroclus' death was one of the most poignant and powerful scenes in the Iliad. It reveals the futility of mortals endeavoring to go against the gods and the price of reckless behavior. Recklessness and arrogance are recurring themes throughout the epic.
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.
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.
If Hector is a tragic hero, than his tragic flaw would be his stubbornness to accept the force of fate and his own delusional belief in a Trojan victory. But beneath these flaws are the works of understandable human feelings; Hector does all this because of his desire to protect Troy, his people and his family.
In it, Achilles and Patroclus do have a sexual relationship. Here is one short excerpt from their younger days, before the Trojan War began: "I was trembling, afraid to put him to flight.
Achilles' only weakness was his heel. According to legend, his mother had taken him to the River Styx, which was supposed to offer powers of invincibility, and dipped his body into the water. Because she held him by the heel, it was not washed over by the water of the magical river (see Figure 1).
SUMMARY: This article examines the order of the three laments in Iliad 24 and especially the significance of Helen's prominent position as the last mourner of Hector.
Upon his death Hector, the dying prince of Troy told Achilles, the warrior of Greece, his last words. “Spare my body!
Priam adds that he has kissed the hands of the man who killed his children. By kissing Achilles' hands instead of avenging Hektor's death, Priam breaks a taboo, and by this act, Priam humbles himself before Achilles.