Achilles in the Iliad

Achilles is the greatest warrior the Greeks have to offer, yet in the Iliad he gets murdered by Paris, a cowardly Trojan prince. To truly grasp how humiliating this is, you must understand that Paris kind of sucks, and everyone and their grandmother knows it. “Oh, you mean Paris?” people are constantly saying in Homer’s epic. “The coward who can’t do anything? Sure, that rings a bell.” When Paris challenges Menelaus to single combat, the prince first tries to run away. Then when he loses the battle and is about to be killed, Aphrodite has to step in and save him. Furthermore, Paris’s weapon of choice is a bow and arrow—the coward’s way out. Who would actually choose to SHOOT AN ARROW from a SAFE DISTANCE when they could RUN SOMEONE THROUGH with a SWORD like a MAN?

So on the one hand, you’ve got Achilles, a guy who has murdered more men than you or I will ever make eye contact with. On the other hand, you’ve got Paris, who has run screaming in the opposite direction from more battles than he’s won. And yet Paris (with help from Apollo) is the one to bring down the great and powerful Achilles. Talk about mortifying.