Joanah Eresechima - Finally Understanding Achilles Come Down

 I have not read many of the classic Greek stories. It feels weird to say that since I enrolled in a Heroes and Mystics class and I used to and still am very interested in Percy Jackson, which is a known children’s book that introduces people to Greek mythology. The only one I’ve read is Antigone but that was only last year. I was supposed to read the Odyssey in 9th grade but due to unforeseen circumstances (the COVID pandemic), I never got around to reading it. Since I knew that I’d needed to read these stories for this class, I’ve started looking around for one that would be a good starting point. In the end, I decided I should read the Iliad first because it was inspiration for one of my favorite songs “Achilles Come down”. Again, it feels weird to say that because knowing Achilles’ story probably would have been very helpful in understanding the song, but I got the general concept. It’s a song about suicide, with Achilles sitting on a roof while different speakers try to convince him to get off, either safely or by jumping to his death. 

Who these speakers could have been was a mystery to me. I first thought it was the singer himself using Achilles to voice his own struggles. I remember being really confused about this because back then, I saw Achilles only as a strong warrior. Now that I have read the Iliad, though, I understand his flaws a lot more. As strong as he is, his flaws are surprisingly human. He craves glory, he’s quick to anger, and he holds grudges. Most of all, he lost someone and the toll it took on him mentally is something I’m sure many people can relate to. Because of that, I don’t think the interpretation that the speaker is the singer himself is wrong. The push and pull between the two voices telling him to get off one way or the other mirrors someone who’s on the brink of suicide. But now, I also think another sound interpretation is that Patroclus is the voice telling him to get down safely. This is because at one point, the speaker talks about a pact made during their youth and Patroclus and Achilles have known each other since they were kids. It also makes sense that Achilles’ closest friend is the one trying to tell him to get down. For the voice telling him to kill himself, I’m still not completely sure but I think it might be Agamemnon since he is an antagonistic force in the story despite them being on the same side and that speaker talks very aggressively, just like Agamemnon does in the Iliad.

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