Source Verification: The Death of Achilles

Every claim below is either what a named ancient source attests, in its own line or section, or a point where the sources themselves disagree.

What the Sources Attest

How did Achilles die?

In the sequel to the Iliad, Achilles chases the Trojans into their city and is killed by Paris and Apollo. Apollodorus says an arrow struck him in the ankle at the Scaean gate. Ovid adds that Apollo guided Paris's aim. Homer never narrates the death, but the dying Hector names Paris and Apollo as the killers in Iliad 22.

Source: Apollodorus, Epitome 5.3

Who killed Achilles in Troy?

Paris fired the arrow, and most sources say Apollo guided it. Hector names both in Iliad 22, and Apollodorus and Ovid follow. Not every source agrees. In Iliad 21 Achilles says his mother foretold Apollo's missiles alone, and Frazer's note lists writers who name Paris alone. A late tale has Paris and Deiphobus ambush him at a temple of Apollo.

Source: Homer, Iliad 22.337-366

Did Achilles go crazy after Patroclus died?

The Iliad shows grief and fury, not madness. Achilles pours dust over his head, and Antilochus fears he will cut his own throat. He will not eat, cannot sleep and drags Hector's body round Patroclus's barrow each dawn. Apollo tells the gods that his mind is not right and that he has lost pity. Later he weeps with Priam.

Source: Homer, Iliad 24.33-54

Why did Achilles cry when he killed Hector?

In Homer he does not. He refuses Hector's plea for burial and says he will accept his own fate when the gods choose. His tears come later. In Iliad 24 he weeps with Priam for his own father and for Patroclus, while Priam weeps for Hector. His grief is for Patroclus, whom Hector had killed.

Source: Homer, Iliad 24.507-512

Where Accounts Differ

who-killed-achilles
polyxena-version-of-the-death
origin-of-the-heel
what-became-of-achilles-body
judges-of-the-arms

Who killed him varies. Homer, Iliad 22.337-366, has Hector name Paris and Apollo together, and Apollodorus, Epitome 5.3, and Ovid, Metamorphoses 12.580-619, agree, Ovid making Paris the archer and Apollo the guide. In Iliad 21.275-278 Achilles says his mother foretold Apollo's arrows alone. Frazer's note to Epitome 5.3 adds writers who name Paris alone and Hyginus, Fabulae 107, who has Apollo in Paris's shape. The Hyginus text was not read here, only Frazer's report of it.
The Polyxena version is only reported here. Frazer's note to Epitome 5.3 says later writers, including Tzetzes, Philostratus and Dictys Cretensis, have Achilles lured to a temple of Apollo by an offer of Polyxena and killed by Paris and Deiphobus. None of those texts was read for this page.
The heel is late. The Iliad prophecies, 18.95-96, 19.404-423 and 22.337-366, name killers and a place but no wound. Apollodorus, Library 3.13.6, gives fire, not water, and Epitome 5.3 says ankle. Statius, Achilleid 1.133-134 and 1.269-270, has the Styx but names no heel in either passage. Frazer's note to Epitome 5.3 places the dry heel in Servius on Aeneid 6.57, Lactantius Placidus on Statius and Fulgentius, none read here.
The Statius lines were read in the Latin text at thelatinlibrary.com, and the English paraphrase on this page is the site's own. No translation was quoted.
The body's fate varies. Homer, Odyssey 24.36-94, has a pyre, an urn with Patroclus's bones and a tomb on the Hellespont. Proclus's summary of the Aethiopis has Thetis snatch him from the pyre to the White Island. Apollodorus, Epitome 5.5, puts the burial on the White Isle, which Frazer's note calls an error, since the Greeks' tomb was in the Troad.
The judges of the arms vary. Homer, Odyssey 11.543-547, names the sons of the Trojans and Athena. Apollodorus, Epitome 5.6, says the Trojans or, according to some, the allies. Ovid, Metamorphoses 12.620-628, leaves it to the Greek chiefs.
Proclus is outside this site's source registry. His summaries of the Aethiopis and the Little Iliad were read in H. G. Evelyn-White's translation on theoi.com, and none of the epics themselves survives. No line numbers exist for them, so none is given.

Sources

Primary sources

Homer, Iliad 18.22-64
Homer, Iliad 18.95-96
Homer, Iliad 19.312-333
Homer, Iliad 19.404-423
Homer, Iliad 21.275-278
Homer, Iliad 22.337-366
Homer, Iliad 23.69-92
Homer, Iliad 24.10-18
Homer, Iliad 24.33-54
Homer, Iliad 24.507-512
Homer, Iliad 24.802-804
Homer, Odyssey 11.543-547
Homer, Odyssey 24.36-94
Homer, Odyssey 24.58-62
Apollodorus, Library 3.13.6
Apollodorus, Epitome 5.1
Apollodorus, Epitome 5.3
Apollodorus, Epitome 5.4
Apollodorus, Epitome 5.5
Apollodorus, Epitome 5.6
Ovid, Metamorphoses 12.580-619
Ovid, Metamorphoses 12.620-628
Statius, Achilleid 1.133-134
Statius, Achilleid 1.269-270
Proclus, Chrestomathia