Matthew Padgett Padgett

1
Mr. Valassidis
6th Period
September 22, 2013
The Mirror
Aristotle defines traged as something that depi!ts the downfall of a noble hero or
heroine, "s"all thro"gh the !ombination of h"bris, fate, and the will of the gods. The tragi!
hero#s powerf"l wish to a!hie$e some goal ine$itabl en!o"nters limits, whi!h !ome in the form
of h"bris, flaws in reason, or so!iet. The hero need not die at the end, b"t he m"st "ndergo a
!hange in fort"ne. %n order to rea!h this !hange in fort"ne, he m"st reali&e his fatal flaw. %n order
to rea!h this state of reali&ation, one m"st loo' at themsel$es in the mirror. The mirror shows
tr"th, what is. %f the man is not able to see the tr"th, or loo' at himself from s"!h a !riti!al
standpoint, no progress will e$er be made. %n The Iliad, A!hilles m"st loo' at himself in the
mirror, and see what is tr"e in order to re!ogni&e the roots of his downfall. A!hilles is a hero
be!a"se thro"gh the mirror of death he reali&es that the roots of his downfall are pride and
inse!"rit.
The roots of A!hilles downfall are his pride and his inse!"rit. A!hilles# hammortia is that
he is inse!"re and alwas feels that he needs to magnif his self worth as if to mas' his inse!"rit.
(hen A!hilles was o"ng, Thetis was alwas e)tremel !on!erned with A!hilles# mortalit. She
did e$erthing she !o"ld possibl do to ma'e him immortal. She b"rned him o$er a fire e$er
night, then !o$ered his wo"nds with ambroisia, in order to not onl heal b"t strengthen the area of
the wo"nd. She also dipped him in the *i$er St) in order to ma'e him in$in!ible, e$erwhere
e)!ept for his heel, whi!h Thetis held so tightl that it did not to"!h the *i$er, gro"nding A!hilles
to mortalit. +owe$er e$en with all of Thetis# attempts to ma'e A!hilles in$in!ible, at the age of
nine ears old a seer predi!ted that A!hilles wo"ld die with glor d"ring a battle with the Tro,ans.
This is the main reason for A!hilles# inse!"rit. as said b Thetis, -.oomed to a short life, o"
ha$e so little time.- /1. 0162. 3nowing this, A!hilles alwas feels that he needs to mas' his
inse!"rit thro"gh a!hie$ing glor. This added with the fa!t that A!hilles is almost !ompletel
immortal adds "p to a prett high self image. S"!h pride led to A!hilles# rage when Agamemnon
too' awa A!hilles# pri&e. A!hilles was baffled that Agamemnon, !o"ld ta'e awa his pri&e when
A!hilles was the best of the 4ree's, a 3obe 5rant to the la'ers. A!hilles is abo$e the 4ree's,
ele$ated be!a"se of his almost immortalit. +owe$er ,"st li'e an of the 6a'ers, A!hilles is still
go$erned b the !oa!h, Agamemnon. 7o matter what Agamemnon has the final sa. A!hilles
!o"led not belie$e this. The loss of a pri&e li'e that s"ffi!ientl !ramped A!hilles pride. So, in his
anger, A!hilles praed to 8e"s, as'ing 8e"s to let the Tro,ans win for a little while so that the
4ree's wo"ld reali&e that the need A!hilles. A!hilles does this be!a"se of his pride. Altho"gh he
is abo$e the 4ree's, that does not mean that the war is being fo"ght o$er him. Altho"gh the war
ma be more easil won if A!hilles !hose to sta in the war and set aside his differen!es o$er
losing 5riseis, the war does not re$ol$e aro"nd him and his h"bris.
A!hilles# downfall stems from his pride and inse!"rities, whi!h lead to the death of
Patro!l"s, and his own death. (hen Agamemnon too' awa A!hilles# pri&e, A!hilles got anrgr,
and as an effe!t of his anger he staed o"t of the war. +e later praed to 8e"s as'ing for him to let
the Tro,ans win the war for eno"gh time for the 4ree's to reali&e how m"!h of a differen!e
A!hilles made. This ended "p res"lting in Patro!l"s# death. Patro!l"s ran o"t in A!hilles armor
and was str"!' down b +e!tor. 9n hearing the news of Patro!l"s# death, A!hilles !ried o"t to his
mother, -Mother, 8e"s has done all this for me, : b"t how !an % re,oi!e; M friend is dead. :
Patro!l"s, m dearest friend of all. % lo$ed him, and % 'illed him- /1<. <1=<02. Altho"gh A!hilles
shows sadness, he still does not reali&e that his pride is !orr"pting and destroing him. Thro"gh
his pride he lost his one and onl friend. Patro!l"s was the onl a!t"al h"man relationship that
A!hilles had maintained, and a $er !lose relationship at that. (hile A!hilles was arrogant
towards others, he was alwas !aring towards Patro!l"s. 6osing a !lose friendship li'e that
!ompletel destroed A!hilles, b"t altho"gh he reali&es that his praer to 8e"s was the main
reason Patro!l"s died, he still does not see that his pride was the root !a"se of it. 6ater on in
A!hilles# life, he dies. An arrow is shot into his heel, the onl mortal spot on his entire bod. (hat
!ontrib"tes to his downfall is not his own death, b"t the fa!t that he has been !"t off from all
!onne!tion to life. +e no longer !an see his own son, and he no longer has the !han!e to e$er go
to his father. .eath !ompletel !"ts A!hilles off from whate$er so!ial intera!tion he had. After
losing e$erthing li'e he did, A!hilles# glor and pride has no p"rpose to him. +e !an#t show off
his glor to anbod if he has nobod. Altho"gh he no longer has his life, that isnt what matters,
death ta'es awa his !onne!tion to so!iet, whi!h is what allowed A!hilles to be pridef"l in the
first pla!e. The loss of Patro!l"s and the loss of A!hilles# own life are A!hilles# downfall.
A!hilles is in fa!t a hero be!a"se thro"gh death he has reali&ed that his pride destroed
him, and is a !hanged man thro"gh death. This is shown when A!hilles tells 9dsse"s, -7o
winning words abo"t death to me, shining 9dsse"s> : 5 god, %#d rather sla$e on earth for
another man = : some dirt=poor tenant farmer who s!rapes to be ali$e = : than r"le down here o$er
the breathless dead.- /11. ???=?<2. A!hilles is not throwing a pit part, b"t he has seen himself
thro"gh the mirror that is death. .eath has re$ealed the tr"th abo"t A!hilles and he has finall
seen himself as he reall is, reali&ing that his hammortia was h"bris. A!hilles does not want to be
honored for his death for altho"gh he is seen as a man with m"!h 'leos, A!hilles is selfless, no
longer !aring abo"t himself, b"t abo"t others. +e is shown later as'ing 9dsse"s, -5"t !ome, tell
me of m gallant son. : .id he ma'e his wa to the wars, : did the bo be!ome a !hampion = es
or no; : Tell me of noble Pele"s, an word o"#$e heard- /11. ??1=622. A!hilles is as'ing abo"t
the wellbeing of others, something he has ne$er been seen doing before. +e finall reali&es that
what is important to him is not f"lfilling his 'leos and ma'ing s"re nothing ma'es a dent in his
pride, b"t he reali&es that what is important to him is the wellbeing of those he !ares abo"t. 9ddl
tho"gh A!hilles onl as's abo"t his father and his son, and not his mother, e$en gi$en how m"!h
he depended on her d"ring The Iliad. A!hilles is on!e again showing that he !ares abo"t the
wellbeing of those important to him when he sas to 9dsse"s, -9h to arri$e at m father#s ho"se
= the man % was, : for one breif da = %#d ma'e f"r of h hands, : in$in!ible hands, a thing of
terror to all those men : who ab"se the 'ing with for!e and wrest awa his honor>- /11. ?@1=@32.
A!hilles here is saing that he wo"ld, instead of arg"ing with the 'ing, stop those who attempt to
ab"se the 'ing and diff"se his 'leos, for A!hilles now !ares more abo"t the honor of his own
father than his own.
Altho"gh he did not see the root of his downfall in life, thro"gh the mirror of death he
reali&ed that his pride !orr"pted him, destroing him and destroing his !han!e to be with an
that mattered to him. .eath to A!hilles was the mirror that showed the tr"th, the pride, that
!ons"med A!hilles in his life. A!hilles is a hero be!a"se he saw the root of his downfall, and has
!hanged into somebod that !ares, not abo"t his glor, b"t abo"t the wellbeing of others. A!hilles
thro"gh death re!ogni&es the roots of his downfall, ma'ing him a hero.