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Imagine a soldier starting their 10th tour of Vietnam. When the soldier arrived they were 18, now they’re 28... missing home, sick of fighting another man’s war... this is point we meet Achilles in the Iliad. He is a commander and combat veteran in book one. — a thread
We tend to not think of him this way. He’s a man, not a god. He’s not immortal. He’s endowed with size and strength but not immune to passion be it to love or hate or seek revenge. As a commander he’s responsible for his men—whether they live or die or make it home.
He’s kind and cruel. He’s a hero to his men and Agamemnon’s army, but he’s a killer to the Trojans and their allies. He wants to go home, but knows he’s probably dared to die in Troy.
Is it hard to see that by the tenth year he’s fed up with all of it? When Agamemnon takes Briseis, he’s ready to walk away. PTSD wasn’t invented in the modern era. It exists as long as humans exist.
Trying to understand Achilles and his relationships without this layer diminishes his character. Is it hard to believe that he could “lose it” at the end of this last year? Go beserk? Clearly, he wasn’t immune to losing it.
We see him lose it when he avenges Patrokles. He goes crazy in everyones eyes. His own men turn away stunned and mortified. The gods are mortified. Seeing Achilles this way let’s us know he is at the core a man suffering, not just bc Patrokles died or Briseis was taken from him.
He’s been suffering for years in another man’s war and these last two events are what push him over the edge. Whether or not he was Patrokles lover, doesn’t matter bc his beserk state would have been the same.
Patrokles was his touchstone to sanity. Achilles was responsible for his safety. Patrokles was his second in command and his advisor. His death was the final thread that snapped. Achilles was ready to kill anyone and everything. This state of mind is not uncommon in war.
Losing someone this special (regardless of sexuality) was enough to send Achilles (a combat veteran) over the edge... beyond caring about his own life, passed rational thought, into darkness. He was ruthless before, but in the end a killing machine.
He killed so many Trojans the gods were stunned and the river rose up to fight him.
