The Death of Achilles
Encyclopedia
The Death of Achilles is the fourth novel
in the Erast Fandorin
series by Boris Akunin
. Its subtitle is детектив о наемном убийце ("a detective novel about a murderer-for-hire"). It was originally published in Russian in 1998; the English translation was released in 2006.
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Moscow
, 1882. When Fandorin returns from Japan with his manservant Masa, he enters the service of Moscow governor Prince Dolgorukoi. Later that day, the White General Mikhail Sobolev, nicknamed the Russian Achilles
and an old friend of Fandorin's, is found dead in the same hotel. Officially, he died of a heart attack, but Fandorin becomes suspicious when he talks with the body guards of the general. Fandorin had befriended these cossack
s when he rooted out a Turkish
spy during the siege of Plevna (see The Turkish Gambit
). But the same cossacks now treat him with hostility.
Fandorin finds out the reason for their hostility as he discovers that the general had not really died in the hotel, but was moved there from the apartment of his mistress. Found dead in a compromising situation, the cossacks tried to prevent a scandal and protect the reputation of the general. But Fandorin looks even deeper and finds out that a large sum of money is missing. He learns that Sobolev is trying to raise funds to begin a political campaign, and Fandorin begins to suspect foul play
. He finds that the general has been poisoned in a very clever manner, and the killer anticipated the cover up, which would ensure his safe getaway. Fandorin further discovers that the plot leads up to the highest levels of the Tsar's government, and that he himself is now viewed as an enemy of the state for his efforts to catch the killer.
The killer is Achimas Welde, a hired assassin, who has only failed three times in his career. One of those times was his assignment to kill Fandorin, when he just managed to kill Fandorin's wife, as Fandorin himself was chasing him (see The Winter Queen
). The second half of the novel is told from Achimas' point of view and recounts his life story, up to the plot to kill Sobolev and the investigation. By chance, Achimas discovers that the man who hired him to kill Sobolev was Grand Duke Kirill Alexandrovich, the younger brother of Tsar Alexander III
. In the concluding chapters of the novel, Fandorin kills Achimas, and prepares to flee Moscow (believing himself to be a target of the plotters), but Prince Dolgorukoi's assistant meets him at the train station and tells him that everything has been covered up and he can continue in the service of the state.
's Sherlock Holmes
novels, such as A Study in Scarlet
and The Valley of Fear
. The first half of The Death of Achilles is also the first Fandorin story since The Winter Queen
to be told from Fandorin's point of view.
The earlier career of the assassin Achimas Welde includes a confrontation with a rival assassin nicknamed "The Jackal", who intended to assassinate the King of Italy
. This is a clear reference to the well-known thriller The Day of the Jackal
, where an assassin of the same nickname comes close to assassinating Charles de Gaulle
. Welde's career also includes an episode touching on a Belgian paedophile serial killer, reminiscent of the real-life such affair in Belgium a century later than the time in which the book is set.
. Skobelev died suddenly of a heart attack in 1882 under the circumstances similar to such as described in the novel (during a meeting with a prostitute). The press reports regarding his demise was heavily censored which gave rise to many conspiracy theories, some implicating the Tsar
Alexander III
himself.
The governor of Moscow
, Prince Dolgorukoi, is based on Prince Vladimir Andreevich Dolgoroukov, the Governor General of Moscow in 1865- 1891. Grand Duke Kirill Alexandrovich, the Tsar's brother, apparently is a fictionalized version of Alexander III's real younger brother, Vladimir Alexandrovich
.
. However, the allusion is more complex than just the mere reference to general Sobolev's nickname, the Russian Achilles.
In fact, the "true" Achilles referred to in the title is the killer, Achimas Welde. The second part of the novel, which recounts the expert assassin's life story, is a cleverly disguised retelling of the Iliad and other Greek myths relating to the life of Achilles. Some clues are scattered within the novel for the informed reader to decipher, such as the following:
The novel's title, therefore, has a double meaning. The real death of Achilles it refers to occurs not at the beginning but in the end of the book. Sobolev's role in the novel, in spite of his nickname, is that of Hector, Achilles' victim. A funeral speech delivered by the Grand Duke midway through the novel, in which he directly compares Sobolev to Hector, offers a more direct clue.
This is one of the more complex and broad allusions to famous works of literature which are quite numerous in all Akunin's novels.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
in the Erast Fandorin
Erast Fandorin
Erast Petrovich Fandorin is a fictional 19th-century Russian detective and the hero of a series of Russian historical detective novels by Boris Akunin. The first novel was published in Russia in 1998, and the latest was published in December 2009...
series by Boris Akunin
Boris Akunin
Boris Akunin is the pen name of Grigory Shalvovich Chkhartishvili , a Russian writer. He is an essayist, literary translator and writer of detective fiction.-Life and career:...
. Its subtitle is детектив о наемном убийце ("a detective novel about a murderer-for-hire"). It was originally published in Russian in 1998; the English translation was released in 2006.
Plot
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, 1882. When Fandorin returns from Japan with his manservant Masa, he enters the service of Moscow governor Prince Dolgorukoi. Later that day, the White General Mikhail Sobolev, nicknamed the Russian Achilles
Achilles
In Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greek hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad.Plato named Achilles the handsomest of the heroes assembled against Troy....
and an old friend of Fandorin's, is found dead in the same hotel. Officially, he died of a heart attack, but Fandorin becomes suspicious when he talks with the body guards of the general. Fandorin had befriended these cossack
Cossack
Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...
s when he rooted out a Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
spy during the siege of Plevna (see The Turkish Gambit
The Turkish Gambit
The Turkish Gambit is the second novel from the Erast Fandorin series of historical detective novels by Russian author Boris Akunin. It was published in Russia in 1998...
). But the same cossacks now treat him with hostility.
Fandorin finds out the reason for their hostility as he discovers that the general had not really died in the hotel, but was moved there from the apartment of his mistress. Found dead in a compromising situation, the cossacks tried to prevent a scandal and protect the reputation of the general. But Fandorin looks even deeper and finds out that a large sum of money is missing. He learns that Sobolev is trying to raise funds to begin a political campaign, and Fandorin begins to suspect foul play
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
. He finds that the general has been poisoned in a very clever manner, and the killer anticipated the cover up, which would ensure his safe getaway. Fandorin further discovers that the plot leads up to the highest levels of the Tsar's government, and that he himself is now viewed as an enemy of the state for his efforts to catch the killer.
The killer is Achimas Welde, a hired assassin, who has only failed three times in his career. One of those times was his assignment to kill Fandorin, when he just managed to kill Fandorin's wife, as Fandorin himself was chasing him (see The Winter Queen
The Winter Queen (novel)
The Winter Queen is the first novel from the Erast Fandorin series of historical detective novels, written by Russian author Boris Akunin...
). The second half of the novel is told from Achimas' point of view and recounts his life story, up to the plot to kill Sobolev and the investigation. By chance, Achimas discovers that the man who hired him to kill Sobolev was Grand Duke Kirill Alexandrovich, the younger brother of Tsar Alexander III
Alexander III of Russia
Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov , historically remembered as Alexander III or Alexander the Peacemaker reigned as Emperor of Russia from until his death on .-Disposition:...
. In the concluding chapters of the novel, Fandorin kills Achimas, and prepares to flee Moscow (believing himself to be a target of the plotters), but Prince Dolgorukoi's assistant meets him at the train station and tells him that everything has been covered up and he can continue in the service of the state.
Structure
The Death of Achilles is unusual in the sense that the story is told twice; halfway through, the point of view switches from Fandorin to his antagonist, and the latter's life history is told. When the two stories reach the same time, they merge in two final, concluding chapters. This is highly reminiscent of some of Arthur Conan DoyleArthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
's Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
novels, such as A Study in Scarlet
A Study in Scarlet
A Study in Scarlet is a detective mystery novel written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, introducing his new character of Sherlock Holmes, who later became one of the most famous literary detective characters. He wrote the story in 1886, and it was published the next year...
and The Valley of Fear
The Valley of Fear
The Valley of Fear is the fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The story was first published in the Strand Magazine between September 1914 and May 1915, and the first book edition was published in New York on 27 February 1915.- Part I: The Tragedy of Birlstone...
. The first half of The Death of Achilles is also the first Fandorin story since The Winter Queen
The Winter Queen (novel)
The Winter Queen is the first novel from the Erast Fandorin series of historical detective novels, written by Russian author Boris Akunin...
to be told from Fandorin's point of view.
The earlier career of the assassin Achimas Welde includes a confrontation with a rival assassin nicknamed "The Jackal", who intended to assassinate the King of Italy
King of Italy
King of Italy is a title adopted by many rulers of the Italian peninsula after the fall of the Roman Empire...
. This is a clear reference to the well-known thriller The Day of the Jackal
The Day of the Jackal
The Day of the Jackal is a thriller novel by English writer Frederick Forsyth, about a professional assassin who is contracted by the OAS, a French terrorist group of the early 1960s, to kill Charles de Gaulle, the President of France....
, where an assassin of the same nickname comes close to assassinating Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
. Welde's career also includes an episode touching on a Belgian paedophile serial killer, reminiscent of the real-life such affair in Belgium a century later than the time in which the book is set.
Historical context
The figure of general Sobolev was based upon the White General Mikhail SkobelevMikhail Skobelev
Mikhail Dmitrievich Skobelev was a Russian general famous for his conquest of Central Asia and heroism during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. Dressed in white uniform and mounted on a white horse, and always in the thickest of the fray, he was known and adored by his soldiers as the "White...
. Skobelev died suddenly of a heart attack in 1882 under the circumstances similar to such as described in the novel (during a meeting with a prostitute). The press reports regarding his demise was heavily censored which gave rise to many conspiracy theories, some implicating the Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
Alexander III
Alexander III of Russia
Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov , historically remembered as Alexander III or Alexander the Peacemaker reigned as Emperor of Russia from until his death on .-Disposition:...
himself.
The governor of Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Prince Dolgorukoi, is based on Prince Vladimir Andreevich Dolgoroukov, the Governor General of Moscow in 1865- 1891. Grand Duke Kirill Alexandrovich, the Tsar's brother, apparently is a fictionalized version of Alexander III's real younger brother, Vladimir Alexandrovich
Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia
Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia ) was a son of Emperor Alexander II of Russia...
.
Allusions to the Iliad and other Greek myths
As the title of the novel suggests, The Death of Achilles alludes to one of the main characters of the IliadIliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
. However, the allusion is more complex than just the mere reference to general Sobolev's nickname, the Russian Achilles.
In fact, the "true" Achilles referred to in the title is the killer, Achimas Welde. The second part of the novel, which recounts the expert assassin's life story, is a cleverly disguised retelling of the Iliad and other Greek myths relating to the life of Achilles. Some clues are scattered within the novel for the informed reader to decipher, such as the following:
- The name Achimas, of course, is similar to Achilles;
- Achimas' father is named Pelef, which is similar to Achilles' father PeleusPeleusIn Greek mythology, Pēleus was a hero whose myth was already known to the hearers of Homer in the late 8th century BCE. Peleus was the son of Aeacus, king of the island of Aegina, and Endeïs, the oread of Mount Pelion in Thessaly; he was the father of Achilles...
; - Achimas' mother is named Fatima, which is similar to Achilles' mother ThetisThetisSilver-footed Thetis , disposer or "placer" , is encountered in Greek mythology mostly as a sea nymph or known as the goddess of water, one of the fifty Nereids, daughters of the ancient one of the seas with shape-shifting abilities who survives in the historical vestiges of most later Greek myths...
; - Fatima, unbeknownst to Pelef, teaches Achimas to defend himself. This is similar to Thetis' attempt to make Achilles immortal by dipping him in the StyxStyxIn Greek mythology the Styx is the river that forms the boundary between the underworld and the world of the living, as well as a goddess and a nymph that represents the river.Styx may also refer to:-Popular culture:...
, also unbeknownst to Peleus; - Achimas is adopted by his uncle Chasan, a mountain dweller, who teaches him the way of his people. The young Achilles was taught by a centaur named ChironChironIn Greek mythology, Chiron was held to be the superlative centaur among his brethren.-History:Like the satyrs, centaurs were notorious for being wild and lusty, overly indulgent drinkers and carousers, given to violence when intoxicated, and generally uncultured delinquents...
, who also lived in the mountains; - The young Achimas hides in a monastery orphanage, dressed as a girl. The orphanage is located in a city called Skirovsk. The young Achilles hid, also dressed as a girl, at the court of LycomedesLycomedesLycomedes , in Greek mythology, was the King of Scyros during the Trojan War.-Lycomedes and Achilles:Before the war, Thetis sent her son Achilles, disguised as a girl, to Lycomedes's court, as a prophecy had decreed that he would die at Troy. It was there that Achilles married Lycomedes' daughter...
, the king of SkyrosSkyrosSkyros is an island in Greece, the southernmost of the Sporades, an archipelago in the Aegean Sea. Around the 2nd millennium BC and slightly later, the island was known as The Island of the Magnetes where the Magnetes used to live and later Pelasgia and Dolopia and later Skyros...
; - The way Chasan finds Achimas out is by trickery: he leaves his sword in the same room as women's jewelry and then secretly observes Achimas pick up the sword. Exactly the same thing happens to Achilles on Skyros;
- Achimas participates in an operation (the robbery of Medvedev’s vault), which results in Evgenia being sacrificed. Achilles participates in an operation (the Trojan warTrojan WarIn Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
) during which Iphigenia is sacrificed; - Evgenia's sacrifice is the result of her belief that Achimas loves her. Iphigenia is being told that she will marry Achilles;
- Evgenia's husband is named Medvedev, a common Russian name derived from medved (bear). He mistakenly kills his wife while trying to protect his house. According to one version of the Greek myth, Iphigenia was saved from the sacrifice by a bear;
- In his schoolboy days Achimas had killed the bully Kikin and the schoolmaster Tenetov. Achilles kills Trojan heroes CycnusCycnusIn Greek mythology, four people were known as Cycnus or Cygnus. Most of them ended up being transformed into swans. The most famous Cycnus however, was the son of Ares.-Son of Ares:Cycnus was sired upon Pelopia or Pyrene...
(Kikn in Russian) and TenesTenesIn Greek mythology, Tenes was the eponymous hero of the island of Tenedos. He was the son either of Apollo or of King Cycnus of Colonae by Proclia, daughter or granddaughter of Laomedon. Cycnus' second wife Philonome, daughter of Tragasus or Cragasus, falsely accused Tenes of rape, bringing in a...
; - Both Achimas and Achilles kill a famous general. Sobolev is a great patriotic hero of Russia, much the same as HectorHectorIn Greek mythology, Hectōr , or Hektōr, is a Trojan prince and the greatest fighter for Troy in the Trojan War. As the first-born son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba, a descendant of Dardanus, who lived under Mount Ida, and of Tros, the founder of Troy, he was a prince of the royal house and the...
was for Troy; - Achimas kills Sobolev in such a way as to make the death appear shameful. Achilles wasn't as crafty but took many pains to mutilate and befoul Hector’s body;
- Achimas dies near the Swedish Gates (Sveiskie vorota in Russian). Achilles dies near the Scaean Gates (Skeiskie vorota in Russian);
- The Swedish Gates are near an inn called Trinity (Troitsa in Russian). The Scaean Gates lead into Troy (Troya in Russian);
- The bane of both Achimas and Achilles is an arrow, which strikes them in the heel. Neither Achimas nor Achilles were ever wounded prior to this.
The novel's title, therefore, has a double meaning. The real death of Achilles it refers to occurs not at the beginning but in the end of the book. Sobolev's role in the novel, in spite of his nickname, is that of Hector, Achilles' victim. A funeral speech delivered by the Grand Duke midway through the novel, in which he directly compares Sobolev to Hector, offers a more direct clue.
This is one of the more complex and broad allusions to famous works of literature which are quite numerous in all Akunin's novels.
External links
- Complete online text of The Death of Achilles, in Russian, at Boris Akunin's official website.
- Interview with Boris Akunin, with references to The Death of Achilles
- Review by Sam Allis in the Boston Globe.
- The Death of Achilles on Amazon