Ignorant of fear, lover of the fight, violent and hungry for glory are some of the traits with which Homer describes Achilles. Thanks to him, the figure of the hero remained engraved in the imaginative eyes of the Greek people. 

Later, Achilles crossed the boundaries of time and, caught in the words of works such as the Iliad, carried with him the concept not only of a hero, but also of a brave and strong man. After having ruled the minds of many others before our time, his story reaches our hands. The Achilles described by Homer is not a thing of the past, for his remains are still perceived in inherited concepts.

Homer tells us in his Iliad about Achilles, he does so without mentioning his past and the nine years of fighting in which he has participated, but showing us that the war has made him a person with an overwhelming strength. Thus, he places the character directly in the tenth year of the Trojan War and decides to make his anger the protagonist.

Achilles, what sin can so enrage a man like you? The offense of the hero Agamemnon, who snatches from him part of a booty in which a woman, Briseis, is included. Finally, Agamemnon will think better of it and decide to return the woman to him, along with twenty of the most beautiful women of Troy and one of his daughters. Despite this opportunity, Achilles refuses to accept the offer, demonstrating that what really matters is that they have questioned his strength and power.

This strength is transformed into fury when his friend Patroclus dies in battle at the hands of his enemy Hector. In the grip of this feeling, Achilles will be able to make peace with Agamemnon to finish off Hector. The hero wants to prove that no one should question him, and after finishing off Hector, he binds his corpse and drags it mercilessly through Troy. Thus, Achilles' qualities of strength and courage end up turning him into someone impulsive, capable of defying gods and men and of showing no respect before the dead, a concept of real importance at that time. The hero wishes to demonstrate that he is a man endowed with courage, something with which the great characters of history are identified. But should pride, violence and ambition guide us in the construction of our prototype of man?

It is at this moment, at the end of the Iliad, when we sample the unexpected. Priam, Hector's father, begs Achilles to return the body of his son to give him a dignified burial. A feeling he had ignored until now is reborn in the hero: pity. Guided by the voice of the gods, the protagonist returns the body of the deceased to his father and manages to overcome his instincts.

Homer ends up demonstrating that, despite everything he has done, this character with a violent attitude is capable of feeling compassion and rectifying his mistakes. Re-reading his story allows us to reflect on the initial idea and to sample us that it is not true that men, simply because they are men, should hide their feelings and avoid weakness. This last decision challenges an assumed concept of a sex marked by the repression of feelings, in which it is frowned upon to show external weakness, suffering or pity. Achilles manages to teach that these are not signs of weakness, but of humanity.

Having discovered this detail in the hero's character, questions arise about his true personality. Leaving behind the well-known, warrior and adult image presented to us by Homer, we focus on his childhood and youth.

It is said that he was "fed exclusively on the entrails of lions and wild boars" to achieve the characteristic strength of these animals; therefore, from an early age he was expected to develop the stamina and energy of a good man. However, there is one detail that surprises us: it is also said that he was fed with honey, which provided him with sweetness. Something similar happens with his teaching, for he was instructed in hunting and horse training, but he also learned to sing and play the lyre. From a very young age, Achilles developed the vigor with which great men are identified, but also the gentleness and sensitivity that over time we have associated with women.

After this balanced childhood, Achilles was called to leave for Troy. His mother Thetis warns him of the end that awaits him, for an oracle has told him that he will die in Troy. Achilles, the famous warrior, goes into hiding and stays away from the war for nine years at the court of the king of Scythra, Lycomenes, and he will do so in an unusual way: disguised as a woman.

A painting by Rubens allows us to visualize this stage of Achilles' life: he appears among the women of the palace, surrounded by an overloaded decoration in which delicacy and colorful flowers stand out. Achilles was called "Pyrrha" (i.e. "the blonde") because of "her fiery blonde hair". In the painting, the young man is in the center dressed in brightly colored and delicate clothes, like women's dresses. However, he is donning a war helmet, typical of men. This fusion breaks with the established molds and allows the feminine and masculine to mix. A division also stands out in the painting. On the one hand, the men are presented next to a dog, which is in the position of attack; on the other hand, the women, delicate and frightened, appear near a fox, which could be a symbol of cunning (sometimes related to women). However, Achilles appears in the middle of the two groups. He does not seem to decide for either of the two worlds, as he merges hitherto divided concepts.

The strong warrior spirit that surrounds the figure of Achilles is unquestionable, but in him we discover numerous traits in which man and woman are united, demonstrating that the combination of different qualities, generally divided by gender, are what make Achilles a true man. In this young man, the masculine is at the same time feminine; the sweetness of honey does not cloy with the taste of flesh, a dress covers a male body, delicacy is combined with the sword and, as Homer makes us see, war also causes him pain and compassion.

With Achilles we discover another concept of man, result of small details in his Education and decisions throughout his life that dismantle the vision we ourselves have of how masculinity should be represented.
 

bibliography

P. Grimal. Dictionary of Greek and Roman mythology. Prologue by Pedro Pericay, Barcelona, Paidós, 1994.
C. García Gual. Diccionario de mitos. 2003.
C.Harrauer. Dictionary of Greek and Roman mythology. Translation by J.A. Molina Gómez, Barcelona, 2008.