Happy publication day, Achilles!
This gorgeous new book in our 'Myths, Gods & Immortals' series reveals the man behind the myth of Achilles, the great warrior of the Trojan War. Considered the epitome of heroism in Greek mythology, Achilles' bravery in combat is famously depicted in Homer’s Iliad, but every hero has their flaws. Authors from classical times all the way through to late Antiquity and the modern era have interpreted his character in a multitude of ways, and this latest book continues the tradition, exploring everything from his exploits in the war and interactions with Agamemnon, Patroclus, Hector and more, back to his early days as an infant dipped into the River Styx, exposing one vulnerable heel.
We asked the authors in this collection to say a little more about their stories, what drew them to Achilles, and to let us know about their own favourite depiction of this Greek hero! Read more below...
Q: How would you describe Achilles?
Jonathan S. Burgess, (Introduction):
Achilles is the son of a mortal and the goddess Thetis, who is obsessed with her son's mortality. Achilles knows his fate, but largely accepts it (except when he doesn't). Achilles is a brutal killer on the battlefield, hyper-heterosexual with captive females, and quick to anger. But he is a good host (to the embassy in Iliad 9, to Priam in Iliad 24), a loyal friend to Patroclus and others, and an extraordinary orator.
Q: Can you tell us about your story?
Amber S. Benham, author of 'The Second Fate':
My story showcases the other side of Achilles' prophecy, if he chose to live a long life and be forgotten. However, he can't entirely escape his fate.
Hammond Diehl, author of 'The Achilles Wheel':
Heroes never die, but their reputation sure can. Achilles, once revered in cults and memorialized on pottery, now toils as a tour-bus driver. When a seemingly mundane sight catches his eye, he embarks on a second heroic journey — one that may actually turn him into something other than a peevish old man.
Corey D. Evans, author of 'The Boldest of the Greeks':
We know what the poets have to say about Achilles, but what do the men who fought beneath his command have to tell? My story follows the perspective of Thersites, a common foot soldier in the Iliad, as he witnesses the events of the Trojan war and speaks out for the unnamed swarms of men who bled and died on the behalf of the heroes.
Kenzie Lappin, author of 'How Achilles Grew Up':
My story, “How Achilles Grew Up”, is a look at Achilles the hero as he goes from childhood to adulthood. It looks at how the war might have affected him as a person.
Zenobia Neil, author of 'The Choice of Iphigenia':
Agamemnon’s daughter, Iphigenia has no interest in marriage. When she’s summoned to Aulis to wed Achilles, she is in for a surprise.
Mari Ness, author of 'Waiting For Clear Waters':
A river describes what it's like to fight Achilles.
Parker M. O'Neill, author of 'Spindle, Rod, Shears':
Clotho, youngest of the three Moirai goddesses, decides to take the fate of Achilles into her own hands.
Celeste Plowden, author of 'Achilles in City Island':
My story, Achilles on City Island, depicts Achilles as an unknowing young man, hidden away in a distant future by his mother, to protect him from this predestination of being the greatest warrior that ever lived. After being visited by a lively goddess in his hideout in modern day New York, this youthful Achilles comes to accept his inevitable fate.
Sultana Raza, author of 'Veiled Stratagems':
As Achilles is fighting Hector in front of the Gates of Troy, Cassandra is desperately trying to come up with various stratagems to prevent the demi-mortal from killing her brother, and later on from de-membering her sibling’s body. What ploys will she use to get Prince Hector’s body back from Achilles?
Chey Rivera, author of 'The Eyes of the Pentekonter':
Nine years into the Trojan War, tormented warriors Achilles and Odysseus set sail in search of Agamemnon’s presumed-dead daughter, Iphigenia, in the belief that an end to their commander’s grief would mean an end to the war. A bold attempt to challenge destiny, redeem themselves, and free Achilles from the bounds of the prophecy.
Patricia Scott, author of 'Tears in the Sea':
When Achilles is born, his mother cannot bear the thought of him dying in battle. She undertakes a risky journey in order to protect him.
Susan Shwartz, author of 'Achilles in the Underworld':
Achilles was confronted with a choice - either a short and noble life or a long, ignominious life. He chose the short, glorious life. But even after his death, when Odysseus lures back the dead in Hades, he longs for the life he abandoned.
Rose Strickman, author of 'Immortality in Song':
After the Trojan War, Briseis leads a quiet, reclusive life with her husband Demetrius and her daughter Thalia. Briseis is haunted by memories of the war and her relationship with Achilles, memories only given more power by the arrival of a traveling bard who sings of Achilles' deeds in her hall. Is Briseis doomed to a life lived in the shadows with Achilles' ghost? Or can she move beyond the past to face the future?
Adam B. Widmer author of 'The Healing Mountain':
Young Achilles has been given the curse of knowledge & the chance to choose his own destiny. But at what cost?
Ernie Xu, author of 'Last Stand':
My story follows Achilles after his death, as he navigates the Underworld, where the absence of glory and the weight of his former pride leave him struggling with emptiness and apathy. As he descends deeper into his realm of despair, he forms a growing bond with a shadow, and learns to confront painful memories in his attempt to reclaim some semblance of purpose.
Lily Zimmerman, author of 'A Glass Heart in an Unbreakable Ribcage':
Before he trained in the art of war, before he made a name for himself on the battlefield of Troy, Achilles was just a boy, a boy so loved by his mother it made him irrevocably different from those around him.
Q: What drew you to Achilles?
Jonathan S. Burgess, (Introduction):
His fate and whole, complicated biography.
Amber S. Benham, author of 'The Second Fate':
I find it really interesting how scholarly reception of him has evolved over time, moving from focusing on his Homeric heroicness and traditional masculinity to seeing him as a more layered and complex character.
Hammond Diehl, author of 'The Achilles Wheel':
I just didn’t like him. I didn’t understand why anybody else would, either. I realized I needed to do some exploring on what made me feel this way about a fictional character. I had also recently taken a trip to Greece and had some entertaining imagery to work with from the start.
Corey D. Evans, author of 'The Boldest of the Greeks':
I have been a fan of Greek myth since I was young. Achilles and the Trojan war have always been one of the most mystifying tales I've read and finding a new point of view of his deeds made for an interesting challenge.
Kenzie Lappin, author of 'How Achilles Grew Up':
Specifically what drew me to Achilles for this story was the idea of the Achilles Heel, both as it is mythologically and what it has come to represent in the modern day — a weakness in any armor. This is what I wanted to explore; can being vulnerable also represent an act of love?
Zenobia Neil, author of 'The Choice of Iphigenia':
I first learned about the “Choice of Achilles” in high school when we read The Iliad. I was fascinated by the idea of having to choose between a short life of fame, remembered forever, or a long insignificant life. At the time I was also really into the lives and early deaths of Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix who all died at 27 and in my world were forever famous and forever young.
The Choice of Achilles seems like the quintessential Greek conundrum—most other myths focus on not having a choice, on foolish mortals trying to cheat fate only to make the prophecy they were trying to avoid happen. But Achilles gets to make this choice for himself, even after being hidden away with King Lycomedes daughters (which is another one of my favorite parts of his story), even after sulking in his tents and refusing to fight, his rage ultimately makes him chose to fight and by fighting he makes the choice to die young and live on in glory.
Mari Ness, author of 'Waiting For Clear Waters':
I was less intrigued by Achilles, and more by the river, which in the Iliad is just minding its own business and doing river things right up until a bunch of Greeks show up and start setting things on fire, dumping bodies in the river, leaving blood everywhere - so by the time the river and Achilles start fighting, I was kinda on the side of the river! So I decided to explore that.
Parker M. O'Neill, author of 'Spindle, Rod, Shears':
The story of Achilles is the most dramatic and succinct encapsulation of everything that Greek mythology is: the demigod hero, his rage against the immutability of fate, his eventual death dripping with dramatic irony.
Celeste Plowden, author of 'Achilles in City Island':
I was drawn to the legend of Achilles because of his willingness to follow his destiny, although he knew it would very likely end in his demise.
Sultana Raza, author of 'Veiled Stratagems':
I’ve always been interested in Greco-Roman myths, especially Trojan ones, and Achilles is an integral part of that story. So, I ended up persuading some of my poems about his tale to coalesce into this short story entitled Desperate Remedies.
Chey Rivera, author of 'The Eyes of the Pentekonter':
The many sides of him. He is such a famous figure of ruthlessness and violence in battle, but he is also a loyal friend and a lover of music. He plays board games with Ajax; he sings and plays the lyre for Patroclus. His tendency to excel at everything he does, and his tragic end, also make him compelling to me.
Patricia Scott, author of 'Tears in the Sea':
Both the ideas of how Achilles couldn't avoid his fate and how his mother must have felt when she learned what happened.
Susan Shwartz, author of 'Achilles in the Underworld':
He has fascinated me since I was a schoolgirl reading Edith Hamilton's MYTHOLOGY for the first time. Naturally, I love the ILIAD, especially the episodes in which he walks by the sea and speaks with his mother before his death and the episode in which he and Priam weep over their lost loved ones. He is more than a warrior, though that's what he's known for. Another work I like is Auden's Shield of Achilles.
Rose Strickman, author of 'Immortality in Song':
I'm intrigued by Achilles because he's so flawed and complicated, especially regarding his relationship with Briseis. He's killed her family, destroyed her city, enslaved and raped her--and he truly cares about her, enough to give up fighting when she is taken from him. Sadly, this is an all-too-human scenario. In turn, Briseis is a highly complex character in her own right, expressing extremely confused and ambiguous emotions toward Achilles and her situation. Together, Achilles and Briseis present a deep interrogation of the human psyche in a stressful and traumatic situation, one I find fascinating. In fact, I am currently writing a fantasy novel loosely based on their relationship, featuring immortal elves fighting a desperate war, with one woman caught up in the chaos.
Adam B. Widmer author of 'The Healing Mountain':
The elaborate web of Greek mythology surrounding him, and the chance to participate in a chain of storytelling that goes back thousands of years.
Ernie Xu, author of 'Last Stand':
Achilles has always intrigued me with his tragic heroism—his journey is one marked by fierce rage, fierce love, fierce loss. I wanted to explore what happens to a hero plagued by such fierceness when the battles are over, and the world around him fades into shadow.
Lily Zimmerman, author of 'A Glass Heart in an Unbreakable Ribcage':
I’ve always been fascinated by the humanity of heroes, the parts of them that we resonate with. In that regard, the Achilles anthology gave me a chance to really delve into the humanity of our titular hero, namely the growing pains of learning who we are as people and how isolating it would be if we were truly invulnerable like him.
Q: Do you have a favourite depiction of Achilles?
Jonathan S. Burgess, (Introduction):
Homer's Iliad can't be beat and never will be.
Amber S. Benham, author of 'The Second Fate':
The inspiration for my story was Achilles' appearance in “The Odyssey”, because while I have a certain distaste for his character in “The Iliad”, his regret and wistfulness in “The Odyssey” makes him much more appealing to me.
Hammond Diehl, author of 'The Achilles Wheel':
Here he is, on a vase from Ancient Greece, the greatest warrior of the Achaeans, playing a dice while war rages around him. Never meet your heroes.
Corey D. Evans, author of 'The Boldest of the Greeks':
Though it has many flaws in comparison to history and the Iliad, I will always be a fan of the 2004 film TROY and Brad Pitt will forever be Achilles in my mind.
Kenzie Lappin, author of 'How Achilles Grew Up':
The inspirations I drew most heavily on and admire most are the Iliad and other ancient sources of mythology.
Zenobia Neil, author of 'The Choice of Iphigenia':
The painting: Odysseus Recognises Achilles amongst the daughters of Lycomedes
Mari Ness, author of 'Waiting For Clear Waters':
I love looking at the various Greek vases that show Achilles at the top of his dramatic form, but I don't have any specific favorite.
Parker M. O'Neill, author of 'Spindle, Rod, Shears':
It's hard for me to think of Achilles without picturing Brad Pitt's iconic, machismo-drenched portrayal in the 2004 film Troy, which I think does a great job at displaying one very narrow, limited interpretation of the character; it excludes a lot of what makes Achilles interesting, which in a way makes it a great snapshot (sorry, Brad) of how much of Achilles' story was being sanded down and ignored even just twenty years ago.
Sultana Raza, author of 'Veiled Stratagems':
As soon as I saw that the film ‘Troy’ was at the cinema in 2004, I went to watch it, (instead of the one I’d come there for). I was surprised to see Brad Pitt playing Achilles, as this hero didn’t have a lot of positive traits from my point of view. However, when Achilles got rid of a giant early in the film quite easily, I couldn’t help thinking that that was a good example, or metaphor of how to deal with unpleasant tasks as quickly as possible. I also got interested in Thetis and the Myrmidons after that, all of whom manages to make their way into my story.
Chey Rivera, author of 'The Eyes of the Pentekonter':
I adore Madeline Miller’s book, “The Song of Achilles.” I also love the song “Achilles Come Down,” by Gang of Youths.
Patricia Scott, author of 'Tears in the Sea':
The song "Achilles Heel" by Toploader.
Susan Shwartz, author of 'Achilles in the Underworld':
This is the last verse of W.H. Auden's "The Shield of Achilles," and it's my favorite.
"The thin-lipped armorer,
Hephaestos, hobbled away,
Thetis of the shining breasts
Cried out in dismay
At what the god had wrought
To please her son, the strong
Iron-hearted man-slaying Achilles
Who would not live long."
Rose Strickman, author of 'Immortality in Song':
My favorite novel featuring Achilles is The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker, which features Briseis as the protagonist and explores her psyche and emotions regarding Achilles and the war.
Adam B. Widmer author of 'The Healing Mountain':
I've certainly enjoyed some modern adaptations of the life of Achilles, but, after reading some of the stories in this collection, I think my favorite piece is actually in this book!
Ernie Xu, author of 'Last Stand':
My favourite interpretation of Achilles has to be in The Iliad — being forced to translate a text from Latin to English during one's most stressful year of high school is bound to create some form of attachment to the work.
Lily Zimmerman, author of 'A Glass Heart in an Unbreakable Ribcage':
The song “Achilles Come Down” by Gang of Youths. The lines “Some of us love you, it’s not much but there’s proof” and “How the most dangerous thing is to love” in particular inspired parts of my piece.
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