Achilles and Thetis

Coming of Age: Thetis and Achilles

On the surface, the conflict between Thetis, the great Achilles' mother, and her warrior-son, seems typical of many mother-son conflicts. Thesis is a protective and worried mother, and desires her son's security. Achilles is a young man who is reckless and wants a life of glory. But the difference between their conflict and the conflict of ordinary sons and mothers is that Thetis is a goddess, and knows without a doubt the future destiny of her son: Achilles can live a long and quiet life, as a demi-god, or a short and glorious life as a warrior. Like many young men, with no fear of death, Achilles chooses the latter.

With difficulty, Thetis accepts her son's choice, even though she believes it is misguided. Perhaps Thetis' greatest act of love comes in Book 17 of the "Iliad," after Patroclus is killed by Hector, and Achilles vows revenge, Thetis comforts her son and commissions new armor from him by the smith of the gods, Hephaestus, because Hector has taken Achilles' own armor from the corpse of the dead Patroclus as a spoil of war. Thetis' procurement of new armor, in a more simplistic tale, might be read as a mother letting go of a son from her apron-springs. But in the wisdom of the "Iliad," an epic that does not glorify death and war, Thetis' emotional sacrifice is full of sadness for both son and mother because both of them know that Achilles' death will follow the death of Hector.

As a mortal, and also simply as a young man, Achilles does not know the full horror of death. His ability to fully apprehend the knowledge his mother already possesses as age-old immortal comes afterwards, as Book 11 of the "Odyssey," when Achilles' old compatriot from the war comes seeking knowledge in the land of the dead. Achilles, even though he lives in the Elysian Fields where all of the heroes are celebrated, mourns his current state. He is greeted by Odysseus as happy in life and happy in death, but Achilles responds, finally intuiting his mother's wisdom, that it is better to be even a slave and alive, than to be the king of the dead.