Brothers in Rage: Achilles and Jax Teller

Every once in a while, a character appears on screen who feels strangely familiar, even if he lives in a completely different world. That happened to me while watching Sons of Anarchy. Somewhere between the roar of motorcycles, the leather cuts, and the constant tension inside the club, I realized I had seen this story before.

Not in California.
Not in modern times.
But outside the walls of Troy.

At his core, Jax Teller reminds me of Achilles. Not because they live the same kind of life, but because they share the same dangerous blend of loyalty, pride, fierce love, and emotion-driven decisions. Both men act from the heart first and deal with consequences later.

Achilles, the greatest warrior of the Greeks, lived for honor and loyalty to those closest to him. His world was shaped by the bonds he trusted most. When those bonds were threatened, his response was swift and intense, often reshaping the fate of everyone around him. Jax Teller moves through life in much the same way. His loyalty to his club, his family, and the idea of what his world should be drives nearly every decision he makes. Even when he knows the risks, he pushes forward because loyalty matters more than comfort.

Both men also inherit legacies larger than themselves.

Achilles carries prophecy in his blood. From birth, his life is tied to destiny and reputation. Jax inherits the vision of his father, written in journals and whispered through memory. Each man struggles with the same question: how do you honor the past without becoming trapped by it?
Then there is the matter of anger.

Achilles’ rage is famous enough to open The Iliad. His anger fuels the conflict that drives the entire epic forward. Jax also wrestles with anger that simmers beneath the surface. It is not empty fury, but emotion sharpened by grief, betrayal, and responsibility. Both men believe they are acting in defense of something worth protecting. Both discover that revenge rarely ends cleanly. And for both men, there is a moment when loss breaks something inside them.

When Opie Winston dies in Sons of Anarchy, it begins to undo Jax in ways that feel hauntingly familiar to readers of Homer. Opie was not just a friend. He was brother, confidant, and the one man who grounded Jax when the world around him spun into chaos. His loss shakes Jax at his core, just as the death of Patroclus shattered Achilles.

When Patroclus fell beneath the spear of Hector, Achilles did not simply mourn. He unraveled. Grief became fury. Fury became violence. The man who had once withdrawn from battle returned as something darker and more dangerous. Ancient writers would later describe warriors like Achilles in these moments as berserkers, fighters consumed by rage and driven beyond reason.
Jax reaches a similar threshold.

At one point, Jax makes the chilling observation that you cannot sit in the president’s chair without becoming a savage. Leadership demands hardness. It requires choices that stain the soul. Achilles faced the same transformation. By the end of The Iliad, he is no longer the warrior who simply seeks glory. He becomes something more brutal, more relentless, a man consumed by vengeance and grief.
In both stories, grief strips away restraint.

What makes these characters compelling is that they are not mindless fighters. They think. They question. They wrestle with the cost of their choices. At times they see the consequences clearly, yet still step forward because turning back feels impossible.

Watching Jax Teller navigate loyalty, power, and consequence often feels like watching a modern echo of Bronze Age heroism. Replace motorcycles with chariots, trade guns for spears, and shift California highways into the dusty plains of Troy. The emotional core remains the same.
Different armor. Same struggle.

And perhaps that is why stories like these continue to resonate. Whether told in ancient poetry or modern television, we are drawn to the same kind of figure. The man who loves fiercely. The man who fights for those closest to him. The man who carries the weight of his choices long after the battle ends. Because in the end, every age tells the same stories. Only the weapons change.

​— Janell Rhiannon
© 2015, revised 2026 Janell Rhiannon. All rights reserved.

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