THE ANCIENT MYTH OF ACHILLES
THE LONGEST LIST OF THE LONGEST STUFF AT THE LONGEST DOMAIN NAME AT LONG LAST

Achilles - Greek Mythology

Achilles was the son of the sea nymph Thetis and King Peleus of Thessaly. Thetis dipped Achilles while holding him only by his heel into the River Styx when he was just a baby. This gave Achilles a whole body that immortal except for his heel.

During the war against Troy, Helen was kidnapped and Thetis discovered through the words of an oracle that her son, Achilles, would not live if he joined Agamemnon. The oracle explained that he had a chose to make to die young and be celebrated or to die in old age in anonymity.

Thetis, of course, would rather have her son die from old age than die fighting in a war, so she had him disguise himself as a woman. There are two different accounts as to how Odysseus discovered his true identity. The first one states that Odysseus filled a cart with such things as perfumes and clothing and another cart with weapons. The carts were then pushed through the crowd of women for shopping. The women ran to the carts with clothing and perfume and Achilles ran for the cart full of weapons. The second account states Odysseus blew a horn that made all of the women run away and Achilles was left standing. Either way, Achilles was discovered and was forced to join the army and fight against Troy.

Achilles was put in charge of an army of warriors called the myrmidons in which he had a fleet of 50 ships. Not only did Achilles conquer Troy but also 12 other cities by the sea and 11 on land.

Achilles became distraught when his best friend Patroclus was killed by Hector, a Trojan hero. He took it upon his self to seek revenge in which he killed Hector and dragged his body around the city. The Trojan prince Paris that in fact kidnapped Helen, aided by Aphrodite shot Achilles in his heel which was his only weak spot. Achilles died as predicted by the oracle.

 

Page Sponsored By: Play Free Games Online