Is Achilles right when, in the Iliad XVIII and...

Is Achilles right when, in the Iliad XVIII and subsequently, he bitterly blames himself for the death of Patroklos? The main theme of the poem, which is declared at the very beginning is the ‘wrath’ of Achilles. From this we are taken on a journey of human and divine responses. This central theme empowers a magnificently ‘articulated composition out of confusion of battle’.[1] Events that take place during this journey allow Homer to display and develop, within the social framework of heroic honour, the ideas of conflict, isolation, and reconciliation. Within this essay I will try to address one such consequence, the death of Patroklos, and see who, what or why this death occurred. Several factors need to be addressed in†¦show more content†¦Whether fate is to be identified with the will of Zeus or whether the will of Zeus is simply an expression of a fate which binds gods and man alike matters little, the result inevitably will be the same, how it reaches this point and who suffers because of it aid this result. But let us not neglect the question of Thetis, with her knowledge of the future could she not have warned Achilles of his friends impending death?, the answer here would have to be not, she is bound up with the human world as the other gods are not and it would have as Taplin points out, ‘destroyed the portrayal of Achilles as human’.[2] Patroklos himself, could be suggested was responsible for his own death, he overstepped the mark in terms of Achilles’ warning, â€Å"don’t entertain any dreams of fighting on without me†(16.89). But essentially here it is not about his illusions of grandeur that are the issue, more why he had to die? This marks two thirds of the way through the poem, two thirds taken up to the anger of Achilles signifying his prolonged rage, this book denotes a change in direction and is also central to the narrative. Patroklos marks the start of the end in terms of Achilles, it could even be suggested that the symbolic wearing of Achilles’ armour is actually meant to represent Achilles himself dieing in the battle, he is never the less fighting for