/ For my own death, I"ll meet it freely -- whenever Zeus/ and the other deathless gods would like to bring it own! (Iliad, XVIII, 132-138).
After deciding to enter the war, Achilles effectively manages to beat death by entering the battle not being afraid, the very attribute that Socrates shares with Achilles. .
By contrast, when looking at Odysseus" life, Odysseus survived the Trojan War, and was on his way home. On his travels home, he has one goal, and that is to see his homeland of Ithaca and his family. Therefore, because of his cunning is able to think his way out of situations where one of lesser intellect would have died. Odysseus was also a diplomat, and politicians are the very people who are prosecuting Socrates. Odysseus seemed to embody all that Socrates was against. Odysseus was concerned about what spoils he would take home, and if he would be disgraced if he did not have his plunder. All of Odysseus" worries were about the material life, not the spiritual. In all of Socrates" teachings he has stated that it is not what you have in the mortal life, it is how moral your soul is that will matter when you die. .
Socrates, much like Achilles, believes in certain moral aspects that he was willing to die for. This willingness to die for a cause is one of the main binding attributes that Achilles and Socrates share. Achilles" is willing to die to avenge the death of his closest friend Patroclus, nothing other than that spurs him into battle. Even after his own mother begged him to reconsider, his duty to show his friend honor by killing Patroclus" murderer wins out. Much in the same way, Socrates sat in jail awaiting his execution when his family came and begged him to appease the wishes of the prosecutors and admit that he was wrong. To show how steadfast Socrates was in his beliefs he states to the jury, .