Other Epic Afterlives: Genealogies of Achilles' Female Counterparts

As a symbol of epic's imperial power, the Iliadic Achilles conjures a pervasively masculine model of heroism that has reverberated in later conquerors and poets. Other authors and genres, however, imagined different versions of Achilles' legacy. In particular, an extensive tradition identified him closely with women. Literary depictions of Penthesileia, Polyxena, and Iphigenia pair them with Achilles and present them as sharing his boldness, as well as his choice to earn fame by embracing an early death. Identified with heroism, death, and glory, these figures suggest not only additional versions of Achilles' afterlives, but alternative versions of Achilles himself.