Why is Achilles the true hero of the trojan war?

Achilles is given a choice鈥?he can fight in the war, become a great hero and be remembered forever or he can stay home from the war, live out his days happily and die at an old age after living a good life. He chooses to fight, but why does he choose such a course鈥?br>




While he does want to help his country, Achilles is driven by selfishness. He wants glory and honor; he wants to go down in history as a hero. He is fighting less to preserve his people/lands and more to make a name for himself. Achilles fights with Agamemnon, during their dispute, Achilles鈥?pride gets wounded and he responds with spite towards the Achaeans鈥?he abandons them and even hopes the Trojans slaughter them鈥?all because his commanding officer smites him??





After a spell, he does amend things with Agamemnon, but this doesn鈥檛 change his hatred. Achilles then turns into a killing machine and slaughters anyone / anything that gets in his way鈥?even Hector. The killing doesn鈥檛 stop until Priam asks for Hector鈥檚 body. This, for some reason, strikes a chord with Achilles, but still isn鈥檛 enough to redeem him as a winning character.





While there is no doubt that Achilles fought well and saved his people, there is also no doubt that he did it to get a name for himself and not for the people whom he wound up saving. Achilles may have saved many lives, but he is in no respect a hero.


Why is Achilles the true hero of the trojan war?
I'm not sure that ';the true hero'; is an appropriate term for Achilles. He is one of many heroes, both Greek and Trojan, in the Iliad. And he is the central character, obviously. But he and the other Greek heroes had their flaws as well as their strengths.


But what defined Achilles as a Greek hero? For one, his prowess. He is the greatest of the heroes, never defeated in battle, He is brought down not in a duel as Hector was, but is shot by an arrow, a weapon that is looked on as somewhat unmanly. he is generous, as shown in the funeral games for Patrocles. He is courteous, giving proper respect to figures such as Odysseus and Nestor, though he remains adamantly opposed to Agamemnon.


He is also able to openly show his emotions, weeping for Patrocles several times. He commands the loyalty of some of the fiercest fighters among the Greeks, the Myrmidons. Such troops do not give such loyalty lightly. And in victory, he is able to feel some remorse, and pity for the father of his slain enemy. All these make him a ';true hero';.