Greatest Warrior of the Trojan War
Son of the sea goddess Thetis and the undisputed peak of Greek fighting power. His mother dipped him in the river Styx by the ankle, making him invulnerable everywhere but the heel she held. The "Achilles’ heel" has meant "sole fatal weakness" ever since. The whole of the Iliad is, at its core, about his wrath.
His mother told him the prophecy: stay home and live long in obscurity, or go to Troy and die young but immortal in fame. She dressed him as a girl and hid him in a palace; Odysseus, disguised as a merchant, saw through it — a sword lay among the jewelry, and the "maiden" seized the blade. He chose the short, blazing life.
When the commander Agamemnon seized his war-prize, Achilles withdrew from battle and the Greeks were driven back. His dearest friend Patroclus fought in his armor and was killed by Hector. In rage Achilles returned, slew Hector, and dragged the body around the city. Late at night the old king of Troy came alone to his tent to beg for his son’s body, and the two wept together — the epic ends in the shared tears of enemies.
Near the war’s end, Paris, guided by Apollo, loosed an arrow that struck the one heel never touched by the Styx. The greatest hero fell to the least heroic of opponents. In medicine, the "Achilles tendon" still bears his name.
Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.
That email didn’t look right? Free · unsubscribe anytime · Privacy