Many of us are completely embracing the MCU rage, enjoying the Avengers’ adventures, laughing and crying with all our favorite characters.  To us, a true hero is a valiant paragon of all things upright.  They may not be perfect, but they inspire many to overcome hurdles and “villains” in their own lives.  However, the original creators of great heroes, the Greeks, had a different interpretation of what heroes should be.

The Iliad consists of three kinds of characters: gods, heroes, and humans.  The way Homer wrote The Iliad and The Odyssey, the gods remain out of the spotlight, and heroes and humans take the lead roles.  It seems that the gods are beings who have little concern for the human world unless it benefits them or causes them to feel pity for the sad mortals down below them.  Because they are the most powerful beings in the world, they are free to do whatever the like with little to no resistance except for other gods.  Humans are the antithesis: weak and subject to the will and mercy of the gods.  However, they are the most relatable, and in the context of The Iliad in particular, humans are the ones the audience is meant to root for.  Hector is portrayed as a good husband and a warrior of strong, unwavering spirit.  He loves his wife and his little son, and he made the ultimate sacrifice by dying for Troy, his home.  Heroes are a unique case because they are naturally god-like due to their heritage.  Achilles is portrayed as confident, ruthless in his conquests, and nearly merciless.  He prides himself in his skill as a warrior–the greatest warrior according to the epic poem.  The interesting thing about heroes, however, is that they have the capability to become human.

Near the end of the twenty fourth chapter, Priam comes to Achilles to plead for Hector’s body back.  The moment Priam enters with humility and kisses the hands of Achilles, the world seemed to shift.  Achilles realized that his sorrow is not just his own, and others suffer just as much as he.  Priam and Achilles weep together for their individual losses, Priam for Hector, Achilles for his dear friend.  In this moment, Achilles makes a grand shift from a hero to a human.  One may beg to argue, as Achilles showed a similar level of grief and sorrow when he was informed of Patroclus’s death.  In fact, he was so overcome with grief that “his noble mother heard him … and she cried out in turn.”  However, it is Achilles’s revelation as he wept with Priam that makes the scene a character-defining moment.  The demi-god took Priam by the hand and called his sorrow “pain to break the spirit”, likening Priam’s loss to the loss he felt after Patroclus’s death.  He relates and understands his fellow man, and therefore, becomes more human.