I Don't Get It. How Could Achilles Lose to a Tortoise? Did It Have a Good Headstart?

Question

And what's the relation between "Achilles and the Tortoise" and "The Tortoise and the Hare" fable (by Aesop?)? Is it the same story, or different? I know Zeno came up with the Achilles problem. Was it meant to be absurd, like the arrow that never reaches its mark because it can be infinitely said to be "halfway there"? Can someone remind me of what happened to the hare in Aesop's fable? Did he eat and get fat or just fall asleep before the finish line? Thanks!
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Answer 1

People generally misunderstand Zeno's paradox about Achilles and the tortoise. Of course Achilles can pass the tortoise, and Zeno (and Parmenides before him) understood that perfectly.

You are cotrect, the problem has to do with the definition of infinity that was current at that time; If their are an infinite number of divisions between point A and point B, then, logically, you must pass every one of an infinite number to reach B. That is absurd, and hard (if not impossible) to explain using the rules of logic and philosophy.

It was the explanation that Zeno was after, and which people were unable to give him. Even today, most philosophers and mathematicians give the wrong explanation.

Answer 2

in the fable of the tortise and the hare, the hare was so very conceited that he naturally would win the race between then. He dawdled along his way, and even stopped to take a lengthy nap--knowing full well his speed capacity, and that all he had to do to win was to sprint along and do so. However, he ended up losing the race after all--the tortise just kept plugging along at his slow gait for the duration of the race. The moral of the story--"slow and steady wins the race!"