The Greek Achilles: Achilles: The Hero Of Achilles

Grasping his bronze forged shield and thrusting a nine foot long doru spear into the side of his enemies, the Greek solider known as Achilles, parted the Trojan army as Neptune parted the seas. Achilles being the true definition of a man of valor slashed his way through hundreds of Trojan soldiers and not a single one of them could land a scratch on this ancient death machine. However this Greek warrior was not fighting for a lazy king afar, no Achilles was fighting for his cause and for the lives of the men around him. Achilles did not take orders from any king because as long as his short xiphos sword was in hand Achilles could slay any army, country or enemy that opposed him. The Greek hoplites adored this man forged by the gods as he would …show more content…
In ancient Greece, one was simply not a hero if he could not establish himself as the one in charge or conquer whoever stood in his way. Furthermore a person could not be a hero to the Greeks if they did not have the ability to overpower their enemies whether by wits or force. According to Historynet LLC, ancient Greeks " did not require perfection of their heroes" however a good example to the Greeks was "Achilles as he was brave in battle but flawed by an equally intense selfishness" (74). Although he may not have been perfect Achilles was the true definition of a Greek hero because of the great tasks he accomplished. This ranged from literally slaughtering hundreds of Trojan soldiers to being the main force behind the destruction of the safe haven known as Troy. The destruction and intimidation of Achilles is noted several times in the Iliad, even Iris tells Achilles that " Just go to the trench and let the Trojans see you. One look will be enough. The Trojans will back off out of fear of you" (Homer 247). Achilles had put the fear of the gods in the Trojan soldiers, so much that they would run just at the sight of him. This Sword slinging killing machine goes on a rampage of death and carnage after the news of Patroclus 's death, killing almost everyman in the Trojan army. Furthermore because of this unstoppable onslaught the Greeks were able to strengthen their foot hold on the city of Troy resulting in the end of the ten year bloodbath of a war. Achilles strength and skill was matched by no one, he killed everyman that withstood him and single handedly defeated an army by himself. To a nation of war hungry soldiers and generals, Achilles was what everyman and child strived to be on the battlefield for