Achilles

The powerful portrait of the glorious Greek warrior Achilles presented in Homer's "Iliad" imbued a particular soldier with transcendent value, linking 'soldier' with 'hero' in Western culture. Tracing Achilles' appearances in the works of poets, generals, philosophers, priests, and patriots, Katherine Callen King establishes the moral or political significance attached to the hero as a response to shifting mores and contemporary issues.