Achilles
Achilles was the greatest warrior of the Trojan War. He was the son of Peleus and
the Nereid, Thetis. She dipped him, as an infant, into the river Styx and made every
part of his body invulnerable, except the heel by which she held him. Knowing that
Achilles would die at Troy, Thetis sought to prevent this by hiding him among the
women of the court of King Lycomedes. He was found by Odysseus and was
persuaded to join the Greek army . Achilles died shortly after he was wounded in his
heel by an arrow fired by Paris or Apollo during the Trojan War.
Achilles is most famous for the quarrel he had with Agamemnon over the maiden
Briseis. When she is taken from Achilles he sulks in his tent and refuses to fight until
the death of his best friend, Patroclus, at the hands of Hector . Enraged with anger
he attacks and kills Hector, whom is the greatest hero on the Trojan's side. Achilles
takes Hector's body and drags it around the walls of Troy three times. Later he is
moved to generous pity when the king of Troy, Priam, Hector's father, comes to beg
for his son's body so it can have a proper burial.
Achilles and Aiax playing dice
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