| February 8, 2001 Heroic Honor: Achilles versus Odysseus Achilles dies and Odysseus lives; if a verdict were to be made from this fact alone, Odysseus would appear to be the hero, at least according to how we view life today. But Achilles too is considered a hero, one that lives on forever in legend as someone who caused the fall of Troy. According to Homer, though, being a hero involves having four qualities: xenia, or guest friendship, a law made and honored by Zeus; basileia, or respect for authority; time, or honor; and finally, most importantly, arête, or excellence, the final sum of the other three put together and then anything extra. Death, in fact, does not make or break a hero. It is what a man does with his life that pronounces the verdict on him after he dies. How, then, do each of these men measure up? Achilles lives by the law of xenia; when Priam comes to plead for the body of his son, though Achilles anger waxes great against Hector and therefore against his family, Achilles has pity on him and extends the rights of a guest and gives him protection. Never would Achilles think of breaking this promise of guest friendship; even in anger Achilles warns the old man not to tempt him to murder, which would “break the laws of Zeus.” Understanding the grave importance of the laws, Achilles even takes precautions to make certain Priam can’t be angered, which would cause Achilles to be angry; and Achilles’ anger knows no bounds. Achilles is a slave to it. But Achilles proves that he honors the law of xenia by offering hospitality to the father of the man Achilles hated more than any other. When it comes to basileia, Achilles has some troubles. His leader is Agamemnon, and though Achilles is correct in advising him to give up the girl, Chryses, to avoid a greater conflict, Agamemnon reacts with anger and decides to take Achilles’ girl as well. Agamemnon has this right, and he knows Achilles is proud, even subordinate in following orders. He punishes Achilles so that Achilles “can learn just how much greater” Agamemnon is than he. But Achilles fails to learn this lesson; instead his pride expands and anger grabs him with such fury that he debates whether he should “kill Agamemnon now” or try to control his anger. It is uncertain what he would have done because then Athena appears, come to make sure Achilles doesn’t do himself more dishonor by disobeying basileia. Achilles has a very strong sense of time, at least. He values his honor as his most prized possession. But unfortunately, Achilles’ honor is grounded in his pride. When he perceives that he has lost his honor, what has actually happened is that his pride has been wounded. He seeks honor in material things, in objects that he wins but don’t really belong to him. Such is the case with Briseis, the girl he takes as a “prize.” And when “[his] prize is snatched away” his biggest concern is with “[fetching] another prize […] else [he] alone of the Argives go without [his] honor.” His pride holds him down when the war is raging great, and not even the promise of “being honored like a god” convinces him to stop his pouting and go fight in the war. He is full of “heart-devouring anger” which threatens to destroy him. And it does destroy Achilles, though not in the expected way. Instead it is Patroclus who dies, and with his death comes a rage so strong that Achilles finally kills Hector – not for honor, but out of rage. Thus though Achilles has honor, it is tainted by his misconception of what honor should be. Arête, then – how excellent is Achilles? So far, on a scale of one to five, he gets a five for xenia; maybe a two for basileia, because though he thinks about it, he is stopped from harming Agamemnon. Honor is more difficult to judge. Achilles has a sense of honor, but it is kind of warped. So for time, he receives a four. What other qualities does Achilles show that could be grouped under arête, over-all excellence in performance? He has feelings; he is emotional. He has mercy enough to not kill Priam, and sensitivity to cry for “his father, [and] now for Patroclus once again.” He is an excellent warrior, a swift runner, and he strikes fear even into the heart of the brave Hector, who “looked up, saw him, started to tremble, nerve gone” all because he saw Achilles approaching in all his terrifying anger. Which brings us to Achilles’ number one quality, and it’s not even on Homer’s requirement list: anger. More than anything else, Achilles’ anger motivates him; it controls him. Because of anger he fears to keep Priam in his house, in spite of his own personal resolve; because of anger Achilles desires to kill Agamemnon; and it is because of anger, not honor, that Achilles finally erupts and destroys Hector, causing the fall of Troy. For arête, all things considered, Achilles deserves a three. Out of twenty points possible, Achilles received fourteen. If all he has to do is get a passing grade, then Achilles definitely made the hero honor roll. Odysseus’ story is a little different. With each of these laws, a lot if it is how they are done to him, rather than how he lives by them. He, too, lives by the law of xenia. Evidence of this is even seen in Odysseus’ son, who understands the law so well it can be assumed that his parents honored this law as well. Telemakhos offers a keepsake to Athena, the kind “such as dear friends give their friends,” making a promise that goes much deeper than promising to be friends forever. Odysseus counts on other people living the law of xenia, as well. When Polyphemus disobeys this law and kills Odysseus’ men, who have come seeking hospitality, Odysseus is enraged. He and his men “cried aloud, lifting [their] hands to Zeus […], appalled,” and thus after Odysseus takes no heed to blinding Polyphemus to free his men. By breaking the law of xenia, Polyphemus loses all respect from Odysseus. Basileia is something Odysseus has trouble with, but not because he doesn’t respect authority. On the contrary, he is the authority, and though the suitors don’t recognize who he is, Odysseus is filled with righteous indignation at their monstrosities. Their lack of respect for Telemakhos, his father, and their estate is obvious when Telemakhos tells them to “go home to bed,” and instead of heeding his words, the suitors become angry, “[their] teeth grew fixed in their under lips” out of prideful indignation. As Odysseus observes their lack of respect for his son and for the laws of Zeus, they seal their own fate, for Odysseus (and Athena) will not tolerate such behavior. Odysseus’ sense of time ties in to his indignation at the lack of observance of Zeus’ laws. Odysseus’ honor will not allow this disrespect to go unpunished. His honor is more a reaction to pride and a sense of ownership than of anger. He knows he must defend his honor against those suitors who “prayed to have [his] dear wife, and beget children on her;” if he does not, he loses all respect and authority in the city. He must prove that he is Odysseus, full of honor and strength, worthy of the city’s respect, obedience, and admiration. He makes sure that when he returns to Ithaca it is with many worldly treasures, enough treasures to secure his family name and make up for the riches lost in the Trojan war. Thus for Odysseus, honor is about wealth, name, and respect. For xenia, then, Odysseus gets a five; for basileia we’ll give him a four, because he did mock Polyphemus and therefore Poseidon also; and for time, a five as well. What of arête? Other than the qualities already mentioned, Odysseus also possessed courage and determination, pride and deceit. He is much more versatile than Achilles, as well as much more human. But he uses lying and cheating to his advantage, winning the trust of others only so they wouldn’t see his trap until too late (as with Polyphemus and the suitors). And more than any other trait, it is Odysseus’ pride that keeps him away from home for so many years; having barely escaped with their lives and with his crew men telling him to close his mouth, Odysseus “would not heed them in [his] glorying spirit,” and with pride and the desire to be known as the giant-wounder, Odysseus yells out his name to Polyphemus, the results of which cause the death of all of his men before they can reach home. For all of his wonderful traits and advantages and brains, Odysseus is unable to prevent the death of his men; he alone returns to Ithaca, a scavenger, returning only because the gods had the desire to save him in spite of himself. Thus for arête, he too deserves a three. Odysseus scored seventeen and Achilles only scored fourteen. However, the difference between the two is minimal. Neither of them scored a twenty, so neither of them are true heroes. They are simply men. But they are men who portrayed heroic qualities. They had the gods fighting on their sides. Homer’s point was not to show how perfect and god-like these men were (although they were very god-like, because the gods were about as petty as they), but to show the great deeds that could be accomplished. And although Achilles dies in the war and has fewer points than Odysseus, in my opinion he is the greater hero. He actually does the deeds; Odysseus talks the talk and then simply observes and makes judgments. |