Aristotle said that the man who is incapable of working in common, or who in his self-sufficiency has no

need of others, is no part of the community, and is like a beast or a god. Achilles portrays these qualities
quite often in the epic poem. Achilles possesses god like powers, and because of his demigod state he is
a very strong, tactical warrior. Along with his powers though he has an undeniable ego and bad sense of
morals, it’s been said that absolute power corrupts absolutely and he shows this in his own ways
throughout The Iliad.

Achilles was seen as a brave warrior wherever he went, yet hit brutal ways in battle left him to be feared
by many around him. A shining example of his brutality would be when he bludgeoned Hectors body
and proceeded to not only refuse to return him to his family, but drag the corpse around like a sick prize
for all to behold. He displayed no remorse in this act seeing as he saw himself as above all others, self-
sufficient, and he didn’t care for morals or rules. By having no regard in this matter, he certainly shows
how “beast-like” he was. Adding on to the bad reputation Achilles walked around with, he had many
affairs and treated women more as toys rather than people, they were still considered beneath him in
his eyes. These affairs made it seem as though he actually saw women as a need, choosing them over
any riches he would be offered. There were no prizes worthy enough to suit him, so seeing him take
more of a liking to romance didn’t seem so hard to believe.

As high as his ego was, Achilles wasn’t fully god-like. Much like humans, he had his weaknesses and
flaws. The main weakness you see with him was his non-immortal heel. Based on the story of this mans’
origin, Achilles was dipped into the river Styx by his mother. While this act did give him his immortal
power and strength, his mother neglected to soak the heel she was holding him by as well, leaving the
now commonly known weak spot. Today, the term Achilles heel is still a reference to a person’s weak
spot.

Achilles wasn’t all bad in my opinion though. He was a highly honorable man who would fight until his
very last breath before even considering returning back home. While he didn’t need anyone else in his
life, he still stood by his comrades and displayed his unmatched strength, almost as if he was showing
off. He continued to fight for honor rather than prizes, and making an important life or death decision
just to win a battle is part of what made him a great warrior in his own right. Just one of his battle
achievements that stands out is how he almost single-handedly took out the Trojans. He continues to kill
these intruders even though the river god got upset over the amount of corpses in the waters.

So, as Aristotle claimed, Achilles was certainly self-sufficient and had no major part within his own
community, much like a beast. Given his attributes, many may consider him a full god.

Works Cited

Hunt, L., Martin, T. R., Rosenwein, B. H., Smith, B. G.(2012).The Making of the West peoples and cultures

Volume 1: To 1750(4th ed.). Boston, MA. Bedford/St. Martin’s

Homer. “The Iliad”. The Norton Anthology Western Literature. Ed. Martin Puchner. New York City: W.W.
Norton and Company, 2014. Print.