Hero · Character in Homer’s Odyssey

Achilles

Greatest of the Greek dead

Greatest of the dead, least consoled by it; asks after his son.

Odysseus meets him among the shades, where he says he would rather work a poor man's fields alive than be king over all the dead. The only thing that pleases him is hearing that his son fought well.

Bonds

• Achilles dwells in Hades — first among the unhappy dead
• Achilles companion of Odysseus — old comrade from Troy

Appears in

• Book XI Visit of Odysseus to the Land of the Dead
• Book XXIV Conclusion

Scenes

1. The Fleet’s Quarrel — Book III. Nestor recalls Atreus brothers’ quarrel
2. Fates of the Heroes — Book III. Telemachus hears murder, longs for vengeance
3. A Double Wedding — Book IV. Menelaus’s daughter weds Achilles’s son
4. Poseidon Wrecks the Raft — Book V. Poseidon snaps mast, Odysseus clings
5. Feast and First Song — Book VIII. Demodocus sings the quarrel, Odysseus weeps
6. Achilles Among the Dead — Book XI. Achilles’s ghost speaks, Ajax lurks
7. Achilles’ Lament — Book XI. Achilles prefers poor life to death
8. Ajax’s Silent Wrath — Book XI. Ajax’s ghost resents Achilles’s arms
9. Achilles Meets Agamemnon — Book XXIV. Achilles greets shamefully slain Agamemnon
10. Achilles’ Funeral Recalled — Book XXIV. Agamemnon recalls Achilles’s funeral games

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