Gods,Heroes,Myths Greek Mythology Homer's epics,Expeditions

He was the famous hero of Thessaly and the whole of Greece. He combined beauty, strength and passion.

He was born in Fthia by King Peleas and a deity of the sea, Thetis. His mother wanted to make him immortal. That is why every day she oiled him with ambrosia and at night she was holding him by the heel over the fire. But one time, Peleas watched her and when he saw the the child crying, he prevented Thetis from continuing her work. So the hero could only die if he was wounded on the heel (Achilles heel). After that, his mother returned to her father's palace, to the depths of the sea. Peleas handed the baby Achilles to Centaur Chiron, who brought him to mount Pelion and taught him the art of weapons and hunting.

When the hero grew up, he took part in the Trojan campaign in charge of his Myrmidons. Another legend states that his mother wanted to prevent him from taking part in the Trojan War and hid him in the yard of Skyros king Lykomedes'. She dressed him with girlish clothes, but Odysseus and Diomedes discovered him using a trick.

However, in the Trojan War he was the bravest and most glorious hero. But Agamemnon once attacked his honor, by taking as a slave Briseis, who previously belonged to Achilles. Achilles then became furious and withdrew from the fight. As a result the Greeks were defeated by the Trojans. Eventually he was forced to return to battle to avenge the death of his beloved friend Patroclus, who had been killed by Hector's hand. His revenge was wild because he not only killed Hector but dragged his corpse behind his chariot all the way to the camp of the Greeks. Soon after that he was killed by Paris and Apollo. His son Neoptolemos took his place in the Trojan war.

Achilles was worshiped as a hero in Thessaly, but also throughout the ancient Greece.