Who is the central hero of Homer's Iliad?
In a story full of heroic characters it can be hard to identify the central hero. The other educator answer here makes a good case for Hector. He does seem to be the most heroic hero in the epic poem, truly embodying the aspects of a hero by modern definitions. However, one might also make the case that Achilles is the central hero of The Iliad.
Achilles' centrality is established right in the opening lines of The Iliad. The poet opens by invoking the muses to
Sing, O goddess, the anger of Achilles, son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans.
Right from the start Achilles is identified as the main character which the epic will follow. Specifically, The Iliad is the story of Achilles' anger. It begins with the cause of this anger and follows the consequences of it. The epic ends with the resolution of...
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Achilles' anger when he returns Hector's body to the Trojans. Looking atThe Iliad this way, it is clear that Achilles is the central hero of the story.
Achilles does not always come across as the most sympathetic of heroes. He is moody, self-centered, and self-serving. However, he fits the classic definition of a hero according to the Greeks. He is a warrior from the legendary past with near-superhuman abilities, who is descended from the gods. Achilles fits all these requirements.
Who is the hero in Homer's Iliad?
The flawed Achilles is most often identified as the hero of the Iliad. He is offered the choice of long life without glory or a short life with glory. He chooses the life of death and glory because he longs for his legacy to live on forever in poetry.
Although he is a fierce and mighty fighter, Achilles also has a temper. Achilles grows angry at his own people, the Greeks, in the Trojan War, when he believes Agamemnon has insulted and belittled him. He sulks in his tent, refusing to fight, until his close friend, Patroclus, is killed. At this point, he becomes so consumed with anger that he enters into a savage butchery of killing, culminating in the death of Hector, who he dishonors by dragging as a corpse behind his chariot.
Achilles's flaws become stand-ins for the problems that wars create in general. Wars are often caused by anger and hurt pride, and they then feed the flames of these emotions. Wars create a preoccupation with personal honor and a tendency to barbaric levels of bloodshed. Through the flawed Achilles, Homer both celebrates the figure of the valiant warrior and critiques what a war—and a warrior mentality—can do to a person.