Achilles' Remorse

Considering its role in the dénouement of the Iliad, it is surprising that only a few modern scholars have attempted to define Achilles’ reaction to his causal role in Patroclus’ death. Whitman (1958) and Lloyd-Jones (1983) both see Achilles as blaming himself for sending Patroclus into battle. As Lloyd-Jones (1983: 22) says, “he finally sacrifices his life….out of remorse for his responsibility for the death of Patroclus.” Redfield (1975: 22), on the other hand, claims that “Achilles does not speak about his responsibility for his acts….he says only ton apolesa, ‘I have lost him.’” In this paper, I argue that Whitman and Lloyd-Jones are correct and that Lloyd-Jones’ identification of Achilles’ reaction as ‘remorse’ is precise (though he does not support it in any way). I further claim that this reaction gives us a glimpse into the way the bard constructs his individual heroes by contrasting them with each other. Achilles does not in fact, as Redfield asserts, say only that he has lost Patroclus; rather he expresses a wish to die because he did not save him (18.98-102). This wish indicates neither shame/aidos (generally regarded as typical of Homeric heroes) nor guilt (generally seen as contrasting with shame/aidos and as absent from the Iliad) but the emotion defined as ‘remorse’ in modern English-language philosophy (Taylor 1985: 53-107, especially 97-107): a reaction to one’s own failure in which “the concentration…is not on the self, but on its actions and their consequences” (Taylor 1985: 98) and which leads the sufferer not to seek rehabilitation (as shame does) or forgiveness (as guilt does) but to offer reparation. There has been much dispute over whether the Iliadic heroes are types or characters in the sense in which characters in modern novels are (Collins 1988, especially 14-18; Dickson 1995: 20-5). This paper responds to this debate by giving an example of how the bard constructs the type of characters that he deploys - however one defines them - through contrast. Achilles, Agamemnon, and Hector, in particular, must all cope with having made decisions that led to others’ deaths. Hector and Achilles are clearly contrasted: both decide that they must die to make good their failures, but Hector does so out of shame/aidos (22.104-7), while Achilles does so out of remorse. This accords with other aspects of the bard’s portrayal of these heroes. Hector is so consistently motivated by aidos that Redfield (1975: 119) calls him ‘a hero of aidos’. Achilles, on the other hand, though concerned with others’ aidos towards himself (1.149, 11.649), is criticized by both Ajax (implicitly, 9.639-40) and Apollo (explicitly, 24.44) for lacking aidos towards others. Finally, Agamemnon (who, like Hector, fails to reckon with Achilles’ superior powers and thereby causes the deaths of many of his troops) displays neither of these emotions. At 19.137-8 (cp. 9.119-20), he accepts responsibility for his failures, but, as many have noted, he does so in a relatively shallow way: he offers to pay for his failure with goods, not with his life, and he places the blame for his action on the gods - which either of the other heroes could equally do but do not. Thus Achilles’ remorse helps to define him by contrast with other key heroes. Collins, Leslie 1988. Studies in Characterization in the Iliad. Athenaum Press. Dickson, Keith 1995. Nestor: Poetic Memory in Greek Epic. Garland Press. Lloyd-Jones, Hugh 1983. The Justice of Zeus, 2nd edition. University of California Press. Redfield, James 1994. Nature and Culture in the Iliad: the tragedy of Hector, 2nd edition. Duke University Press. Taylor, Gabriele 1985. Pride, Shame, and Guilt: emotions of self-assessment. Clarendon Press. Whitman, Cedric 1958. Homer and the Heroic Tradition. Harvard University Press.