Achilles appears in Homer's epic The Illiad. Achilles has come to be known as one of the most well-known heroes in Greek mythology. As the story goes, Achilles's mother, Thetis, dipped him as an infant into the River Styx. She did this in order to make him invulnerable to all that he would face. Unfortunately for her, the waters of the river did not cover him completely; she left a small place on his heel vulnerable to attack. Achilles ultimately dies from an arrow being shot into his heel, where the water did not touch. This injury proved to be fatal, and Achilles dies.

Similar to Achilles, Macbeth (from William Shakespeare's Macbeth) possesses his own tragic flaw. Macbeth's ambitious nature exists as his tragic flaw. Macbeth's ambition to be king of Scotland proves to be the one thing which means more to him than anything. Because of this, Macbeth is unable to see the unfortunate events which will lead to his own demise.

Another similarity between Achilles and Macbeth lies in prophecy. When Achilles is nine years old, a prophet (seer) tells Thetis that he will die in battle against the Trojans. In order to save her son from this fate, she dresses him as a girl and sends him away. In the end, Achilles decides to join the Greek army, which puts him into war with the Trojans, and he loses his life. Although he is thought to be invulnerable, his mother's actions to save him from the prophecy fail. Achilles's free will seems to be the one thing that ensures the prophecy comes true, resulting in his death.

Macbeth similarly has a prophecy regarding his own death. Three witches tell Macbeth that his death will only come under three circumstances: Macduff will kill him, only a man not born of woman will kill him, and he will not die until Birnam Wood moves against him. Macbeth, like Achilles's mother, tries to use the prophecy's weaknesses to see that the prophecy has no possibility of coming true. Macbeth dismisses the first and second prophecies together. He states that he need not fear Macduff because Macduff is born of woman. He dismisses the final prophecy by stating that trees will not pull their roots out of the ground and walk. Therefore, he need not worry about the prophecies at all. In reality, Macbeth's own free will "allows" him to dismiss the integrity of the prophecies. In the end, Macbeth should have feared Macduff because he was not born of woman; he was born by caesarean section. While the trees themselves do not move, it does look like they do. The soldiers moving against Macbeth's castle are ordered to cut down branches and carry them before them. They do this so that it looks like their numbers are greater than they actually are.

One final, yet arguably less important, comparison between Achilles and Macbeth lies in the idea that both men were well-known and successful warriors. Achilles becomes well-known over the course of the Trojan War's battles. The war has gone on for many years, and time and time again, Achilles has proven himself a great success. Macbeth's renown in war comes as his successes in battle are relayed to the king, Duncan. Macbeth defeated Macdownald, a great foe of the king. Because of the success Macbeth has found on the battlefield, Duncan rewards him with a new title, Thane of Cawdor. The previous thane has been found guilty of treason, and Duncan needs a new thane. Given the news brought to him about Macbeth's successes for Scotland, Duncan rewards him. Essentially, both men are great warriors.

If we look first at Macbeth and Achilles, we can say that they are both great warriors. Because he is the son of a goddess (Thetis) and was dipped in the River Styx, Achilles is virtually unbeatable in battle. As Macbeth opens, we learn of Macbeth's great feats in battle:

For brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name—

Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel,

Which smoked with bloody execution,

Like valor’s minion carved out his passage

Till he faced the slave;

Which ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him,

Till he unseamed him from the nave to th' chops,

And fixed his head upon our battlements.

Both Macbeth and Achilles kill a royal. Macbeth kills King Duncan, and Achilles kills Hector, a prince who is heir to the Trojan throne. Both Macbeth and Achilles also behave dishonorably. Macbeth murders Duncan when Duncan is a guest at Macbeth's home, which violates all the rules of hospitality in his society. Macbeth is supposed to do everything he can to protect his guests, not kill them. Likewise, Achilles dishonors Hector by dragging his body around behind his chariot after he has killed him (though he does later allow a funeral for Hector).

Both men cause damage to their countries through their own weaknesses. Macbeth's weakness is his ambition, and Achilles's weakness is his pride and anger. Macbeth ends up bringing misery to Scotland by being overly ambitious, which leads him to become a tyrant. Malcolm, the rightful heir, brings an invading army to the country to win back the throne, plunging Scotland into war. Achilles almost deserts his countrymen, leaving them in danger of losing the Trojan War, because of his pride and rage.

Because Achilles will not fight, his best friend Patroclus dons his armor and is killed in battle; it is because of Achilles's pride and rage that his friend dies. Likewise, Macbeth has his good friend Banquo murdered because of his ambition: he is afraid Banquo knows too much and will cause him to lose the throne.

Stepping back a bit from the two main characters, it is notable that the story of Macbeth and the story of Achilles are both influenced by a supernatural element. A prophecy from the three witches, who are supernatural creatures, leads Macbeth to his bloody path, though he always had a choice to take a different path. A supernatural prophecy also surrounds Achilles, and it offers him two choice in life. He will either have glory and a short life or no glory and a long life:

For my mother Thetis the goddess of the silver feet tells me

I carry two sorts of destiny toward the day my death.

Either, if I stay here and fight beside the city of Trojans,

my return home is gone, but my glory shall be everlasting;

but if I return home to the beloved land of my fathers,

the excellence of my glory is gone, but there will be a long life

left for me, and my end in death will not come to me quickly.

Both Macbeth and the story of Achilles are exciting, violent tales with supernatural elements (the gods, such as Zeus, are always getting involved with Achilles, as the witches do with Macbeth). Each story examines the character flaws of two brave warriors, though Macbeth's flaw are darker and more damaging.

What comparison can you make between Macbeth's and Achilles's death?

Achilles’s death is not actually part of Homer’s Iliad, but the commonly accepted version of the story is that Paris shot an arrow into Achilles’s heel, the undefeated warrior’s only physical weakness. However, Achilles’s death is mentioned in Book 22 of the Iliad—right as Achilles has mortally wounded Troy’s fiercest fighter and Paris’s brother, Hector.

Hector asks that his body be delivered back to Troy so that he might have a proper burial. When Achilles refuses Hector’s dying request, Hector replies:

I know you truly now, and see your fate, nor was it mine to sway you. The heart in your breast is iron indeed. But think, lest the gods, remembering me, turn their wrath on you, that day by the Scaean Gate when, brave as you are, Paris kills you, with Apollo’s help (Book 22, A.S. Kline translation 2009).

Hector essentially predicts Achilles’s fate, but in order to compare Achilles’s death with Macbeth’s, you have to understand the reason behind Achilles’s demise.

It could be argued that Achilles’s desire for revenge on Hector for killing his friend Patroclus caused him to violate sacred rules about the proper treatment of an enemy’s corpse. In fact, Achilles even says he wishes he were angry enough to cannibalize Hector’s body—which Achilles says to Hector as he lies on the ground dying. This shows that Achilles was in the wrong for what he did to Hector’s corpse.

In addition, Achilles’s hubris causes him to ignore Hector’s warning. His prowess as a warrior coupled with his lust for revenge blind him to the possibility that he will die at Troy.

As for Macbeth, he possesses a similar hubris. His thirst for power, and willingness to do whatever it takes to keep it, causes him to overlook the witches’ prophecies in act 4, scene 1.

The first spirit that appears to Macbeth from the witches’ cauldron warns him to fear Macduff. However, the second spirit tells him not to fear “for none of woman born / Shall harm Macbeth” (4.1.83-84). The third spirit says that no man can hurt Macbeth “until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill / Shall come against him” (4.1.96-98).

Macbeth immediately deems the first prophecy irrelevant because he thinks the second and third are impossible. Therefore, he disregards Macduff as a threat.

In act 5, scene 4, Malcolm and his army are at Birnam Wood and decide to use branches from the trees to conceal their numbers as they approach Macbeth’s castle. Also in act 5, the reader learns that Macduff was born via caesarean section (“from his mother’s womb / Untimely ripped”). Both revelations show that Macbeth should have carefully considered the possibility of the prophecies coming true.

Ultimately, Macbeth is killed on the battlefield by an inferior fighter—just like Achilles by Paris—because he did not entertain the possibility of defeat.

Achilles and Macbeth were warned of the circumstances surrounding their deaths, but neither heeded those warnings. Therefore, their pride costs them their lives.