The Regret of Achilles

About this episode

Achilles, the greatest warrior in Greek mythology, knew his fate: stay and fight at Troy and die young with eternal glory, or go home and live a long, forgotten life. He ended up with the glory and the early grave. Then, in the land of the dead, he told Odysseus it wasn't worth it. It's one of the most powerful scenes in Homer's Odyssey, and Christopher Nolan left it out of his film. This episode goes back to the Iliad and the Trojan War to find out why Achilles ended up there. He thought he was making reasoned choices, but his passions were deciding for him the whole time. Most of us live the same way: sure of what we want in theory, hedging in practice, and letting our worst days settle the questions we never answered. Achilles shows what that costs, and what it takes to make a choice that's truly your own. --------------------------------- Sign up for 'BTMC: Protagonist Edition', where you get the full story the day it releases, plus EXTENDED VERSIONS of the episodes, access to all the Character Analysis episodes, and early access to the next book. Sign-up link below: Get BTMC: PROTAGONIST EDITION: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://becomingmain.supercast.com/ GET THE FREE NEWSLET