25+ Best Achilles Quotes From Literature And Film

Achilles was the hero of the Trojan War according to Greek mythology.

He is considered one of the greatest of all the Greek warriors. He was the central character of Homer's 'Iliad'.

According to Greek mythology, Achilles was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Peleus, king of Phthia. In Homer's 'The Iliad', Achilles was known for his feat in the Trojan War.

One of his most notable feats was when he slew the Trojan prince Hector. Though many later works based on 'The Iliad' claim that Achilles died at the end of the poem, which however was not presented in the Iliad itself.

These sources place his death at the end of the Trojan War in Paris. Most sources claim that he died of the arrow that was shot on his heel by Paris.

Hence, the term 'Achillies' Heels' came into existence. who shot him in the heel with an arrow. Read on to discover quotes by Hector, Patroclus, Agamemnon, and more, along with quotes such as "men are wretched things" and "any moment might be our last."

You can also check out 'The Iliad' quotes and 'The Odyssey' quotes articles.

Best Achilles Quotes

Many later books and works after the 1st century AD state that Achilles was invulnerable in his entire body except for his heels. It is said that her mother Thetis dipped him in the River Styx as an infant to make him immortal, but she held him by one of his heels, thus making him killable.

This is why, although any moment may be your last, everything is all the more beautiful because of this risk.

Although, it was actually prince Paris that killed Achilles in the end. Here we have listed some of the wonderful quotes from the movie 'Troy' .

1. "Imagine a king who fights his own battles. Wouldn't that be a sight."

- Achilles, 'Troy' (2004).

2. "You were brave to fight them. You have courage."

- Achilles, 'Troy' (2004).

3. "Greece got along fine before I was born. And Greece will remain Greece long after I am gone."

- Achilles, 'Troy' (2004).

4. "Play your tricks on me. But not on my cousin."

- Achilles, 'Troy' (2004).

5. "You gave me peace in a lifetime of war."

- Achilles, 'Troy' (2004).

6. "There are no pacts between lions and men. Now you know who you're fighting."

- Achilles, 'Troy' (2004).

7. "You are a brave man. I could have your head on a spit in the blink of an eye."

- Achilles, 'Troy' (2004).

8. "The gods envy us. They envy us because we're mortal because any moment might be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we're doomed. You will never be lovelier than you are now. We will never be here again."

- Achilles, 'Troy' (2004).

9. "You gave him the honor of your sword. You won't have eyes tonight, you won't have ears or a tongue. You will wander the underworld blind, deaf, and dumb, and all the dead will know - this is Hector, the fool who thought he killed Achilles."

- Achilles, 'Troy' (2004).

10. "Before my time is done I will look down on your corpse and smile."

- Achilles, 'Troy' (2004).

11. "Imagine a king who fights his own battles. Wouldn't that be a sight?"

- Achilles, 'Troy' (2004).

12. "You're a far better king than the one leading this army."

- Achilles, 'Troy' (2004).

13. "There are no pacts between lions and men."

- Achilles, 'Troy' (2004).

14. "Why kill you now, Prince of Troy, with no-one there to see you fall?"

- Achilles, 'Troy' (2004).

Achilles Quotes About Glory

Though some sources claim that the term 'Achilles' heel" refers to physical weakness, whereas others believe that this term refers to a weakness in a person. Here we have listed some Achilles quotes based on the same mythic legend. Did you know that the first word of 'The Illiad' is "rage"?

15. "Be men now...have consideration for each other in the strong encounters, since more come through alive when men consider each other, and there is no glory when they give way, nor warcraft either."

- Achilles.

16. "Someday, I swear, a yearning for Achilles will strike Achaea’s sons and all your armies!"

- Achilles.

17. "I say no wealth is worth my life...a man’s life breath cannot come back again."

- Achilles.

18. "Woman, I too take thought of all this... Nor doth my own heart suffer it, seeing I have learned to be valiant always and to fight amid the foremost Trojans, striving to win my father's great glory and my own."

- Achilles.

19. “I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way, his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.”

― Madeline Miller, 'The Song of Achilles'.

20. "Paris, you handsome, woman-mad deceiver, you shouldn't have been born or killed unmarried. When you appear as champion-champion beauty- But have no strength, nor character, nor courage."

- Achilles.

21. "'My mother Thetis tells me that there are two ways in which I may meet my end. If I stay here and fight, I shall not return alive but my name will live for ever: whereas if I go home my name will die, but it will be long ere death shall take me."

- Achilles.

22. "Come, friend, you too must die. Why moan about it so...the son of a great man, the mother who gave me life a deathless goddess. But even for me, I tell you, death and the strong force of fate are waiting."

- Achilles.

23. “There was more to say, but for once we did not say it. There would be other times for speaking, tonight and tomorrow and all the days after that. He let go of my hand.”

― Madeline Miller, 'The Song of Achilles'.

24. “The rosy gleam of his lip, the fevered gleam of his eyes. There was not a line anywhere on his face, nothing creased or graying; all crisp. He was spring, golden and bright...envious death would drink his blood, and grow young again.”

― Madeline Miller, 'The Song of Achilles'.

25. "Peleus stood at the shore’s edge, one hand raised in farewell....true to his word, Achilles had not told him of the prophecy, merely hugged him tightly, as if to soak the old man into his skin. I had embraced him too, those thin, wiry limbs. I thought This is what Achilles will feel like when he is old."

- Madeline Miller, 'The Song of Achilles'.

26. "Rage—the Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles, murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses, hurling down to the House of Death so many sturdy souls."

- Homer, 'The Iliad'.

27. "Great fighters’ souls, but made their bodies carrion, feasts for the dogs and birds, and the will of Zeus was moving toward its end. Begin, Muse, when the two first broke and clashed, Agamemnon lord of men and brilliant Achilles."

- Homer, 'The Iliad'.

28. "This is how I think of us when I remember our nights at Troy: Achilles and I beside each other, Phoenix smiling and Automedon stuttering through the punch lines of jokes, and Briseis with her secret eyes and quick, spilling laughter.”

― Madeline Miller, 'The Song of Achilles'.

29. “You can use a spear for a walking stick, but it will not change its nature.”

― Madeline Miller, 'The Song of Achilles'.

30. “We men are wretched things.”

- Homer, 'The Iliad'.

31. “…There is the heat of Love, the pulsing rush of Longing, the lover’s whisper, irresistible—magic to make the sanest man go mad.”

― Homer, 'The Iliad'.

32. “Sing, O Muse, of the rage of Achilles, son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans.”

― Homer, 'The Iliad'.

33. “We are all there, goddess and mortal and the boy who was both.”

― Madeline Miller, 'The Song of Achilles'.

34. “It is right to seek peace for the dead. You and I both know there is no peace for those who live after.”

― Madeline Miller, 'The Song of Achilles'.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 25+  best Achilles quotes from literature and film then why not take a look at Brad Pitt quotes or [Ancient Greek quotes].