The Greek hero Achilles is one of the most famous figures in Greek myth and a key character in the Trojan War.

One of the great heroes of Greek mythology is the warrior Achilles. Achilles was said to have been extremely brave, strong, and devoted, yet he also had a weakness known as his "Achilles heel." His exploits during the final year of the Trojan War are described in Homer's epic poem The Iliad.

Achilles: Childhood

Achilles' familial history was convoluted, as it is with most epic heroes. His father was Peleus, a mortal king of the Myrmidons, who had a reputation for being exceedingly brave and cunning warriors. Thetis, a Nereid, was his mother.

According to myths and tales created long after the Iliad, Thetis was greatly worried about the mortality of her infant son. She tried everything to make him eternal, including burning him over a fire every night, applying ambrosial ointment to his wounds, and submerging him in the River Styx, whose waters were thought to bestow the gods' invulnerability. Yet as she dipped him into the river, she held him firmly by the foot, so firmly that the water never reached his heel. Because of this, Achilles was safe everywhere except for that.

A seer foretold Achilles' heroic death in battle against the Trojans when he was just 9 years old. Thetis learned of this and sent him to live on the Aegean island of Skyros while dressing as a girl. Achilles, however, was destined to be a great warrior, and he soon left Skyros and enlisted in the Greek army.

Yet, none of this would have been known to readers or listeners when Homer penned the Iliad in around 720 BCE. They were only aware of Achilles' immense heroism, extraordinary bravery and strength, and stunning good looks. Homer's portrayal of Achilles was more nuanced: in addition to these traits, he was also vindictive, easily enraged, and prone to being obstinate when he did not get his way. In addition, he had a strong sense of loyalty and would do anything for his friends and family.

Achilles: The Battle of Troy

Legend has it that Zeus, the god-king, arranged a battle between the Greeks (Homer refers to them as the Achaeans) and the Trojans in order to lower Earth's mortal population. He accomplished this by interfering in their personal and political affairs. Jupiter asked Paris, the youthful prince of Troy, to preside over a beauty pageant between the goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite during Achilles' parents' wedding supper. Paris was given a bribe by each of the goddesses in exchange for his vote.The most alluring was Aphrodite's, who assured the young prince that she would provide him with the most stunning wife ever. Sadly, Menelaus, the king of Sparta, was already married to Helen, the daughter of Zeus, who was the potential woman in question. At Aphrodite's urging, Paris travelled to Sparta, won Helen's affection, and returned to Troy with her and all of Menelaus' wealth.

Menelaus swore vengeance. He gathered the best soldiers of Greece, including Achilles and his Myrmidons, and headed out to conquer Troy and win back his bride. According to Homer, this war lasted for ten brutal years.

In The Illiad, Achilles

The Trojan War has been raging for nine years when the Iliad starts. The main character of the poem, Achilles, has commanded numerous engagements. He has had amazing success—he is unbeatable in combat—but the conflict has come to a standstill.

Yet, the main focus of Homer's narrative is a different conflict: the rivalry between his protagonist and Agamemnon, the commander of the Achaean armies and Menelaus' brother. Agamemnon had abducted Chryseis, a young Trojan woman, as a concubine in a war that happened before the poem begins. Agamemnon derided Chryseis' father, an Apollo priest, and refused to let the girl go, despite his best efforts to buy her freedom.

Apollo was furious and sent a plague to kill the soldiers one by one as retaliation for the Greek armies. Agamemnon ultimately consented to let Chryseis go back to her father as his army dwindled. He demanded Achilles' wife, the Trojan princess Breseis, as a replacement concubine, though.

Achilles gave up his bride as his captain had requested. Suddenly he said that he was giving up fighting for Agamemnon. He gathered his possessions and resisted leaving his tent.

The best warrior of the Greeks being absent from combat caused the Trojans to get the upper hand. One battle after another, the Greeks were defeated. Achilles eventually agreed to let Patroclus use his armour as a disguise in exchange for his agreement to forgo fighting. Patroclus was Achilles' closest friend and a soldier. In this manner, the Trojans would believe that Achilles had returned to the fray and flee in terror.

The strategy was successful up until Apollo, still enraged by Agamemnon's treatment of Chryseis and her father, stepped in to help the Trojans. Hector, the Trojan prince, had him assist in finding and killing Patroclus.

Achilles promised to exact justice. Thetis requested a sword and shield from the god-blacksmith Hephaestus to protect him. Achilles pursued Hector back to Troy while slaying other Trojans. Hector attempted to plead with Achilles as they approached the city walls, but the pursuer was uninterested. He killed Hector by stabbing him in the throat.

Even though Hector had pleaded for a respectful burial in Troy, Achilles was adamant about degrading him even after his death. He carried Hector's corpse all the way back to the Achaean camp in the rear of his chariot before disposing of it there. Achilles, however, finally caves in the final stanza of the poem and gives Hector's body back to his father for a proper funeral.

Achilles: The Fate Story Achilles

Homer leaves off a description of Achilles' fate in his epic poem The Iliad. Later stories (and fragments of Homer's Odyssey) claim that the warrior went back to Troy after Hector's funeral in order to take even more retribution for Patroclus' demise. Nevertheless, Apollo, who was still enraged, warned Paris, Hector's brother, that Achilles was approaching. As Achilles entered Troy, Paris, a cowardly warrior, assaulted him. With an arrow that Apollo had directed to Achilles' heel, where his mother had prevented the Styx's waters from contacting his skin, the unaware opponent was shot. Being still unbeaten in battle, Achilles passed away instantly.