Achilles

The Invincible Hero (Photograph by Jona Lendering)

**Achilles** was a hero of the Trojan War and one of the greatest Greek warriors in all of history.

## Appearance

He is described as the most handsome Greek man at the time of the Trojan War, with a large chest, broad shoulders, powerfully formed arms and legs and beautiful, flowing golden hair.

## Personality

Achilles has an incredibly strong will power as well as indomitable courage, he is known to face any challenge his way no matter the circumstances. Ever since his birth, Achilles was blessed by the Dodekatheon, a blessing so strong that Apollo didn't react even when Achilles destroyed a statue of his. Achilles is a warrior of honor and nobility, to the point where he has gained the respect of even his enemies, including Hector. He can be very arrogant at time, though this arrogance is considered earned as his strength is rivaled by very view.

Those who have managed to get in his good graces will find that he is a loyal companion and wise mentor, while if those who have angered him will find themselves on the receiving end of one of the deadliest killers in human history . While he doesn't show it in public, Achilles is very caring to those he considers friends. During the Trojan War, he would often show respect to his comrades and encouraged them to fight with honor, especially those who were forced to fight in the war. Though when he is provoked he can be more considered a living force of nature than a human. Those who have angered him rarely live, though those who do will witness Achilles turn cold and uncaring, gaining an almost sadistic sense of humor towards whoever enraged him.

Achilles was at his most disrespectful during the Trojan War, especially when he was in battle. He was incredibly calm and level-headed while facing opponents who challenged him, but was incredibly conceited when fighting weaker enemies, often assaulting them physically and verbally. Even at his worst however, he still maintains a coat of honor to those who he respects, even if they have wronged him. That said, very few have actually gained Achilles's respect, those being Odysseus, Patroclus, Priam, and Hector.

When Achilles fell in love with Briseis, he showed that he is an experienced lover, gentle and protective despite the fact that she was a concubine and prisoner of war, something that Patroclus knew very well. He demonstrated that he would be willing to kill, just for her sake and safety, and likewise Briseis became the only person other than his own mother able to stop him with her words only when he flew into a rage: such was the intimate relation between the two.

## Powers and Abilities

* **Nigh-Invincibility**: Troubled by a prophecy that her son would die at a young age, Achilles’ mother, the nereid Thetis, dipped him into the river Styx when he was a baby. This made him completely immune to any conventional weaponry, with the unique exception of his left heel, due to the fact that it is the place where his mother was holding him to avoid him drowning in the Styx.

## History

### Birth and early years

Zeus and Poseidon had been fighting each other for the hand of the beautiful Nereid Thetis. This was when Prometheus delivered a prophecy that Thetis would deliver the father a son who would surpass his father. This scared the two gods off from marrying her, so they married her off to the king, Peleus. From their union came fourth one of the greatest heroes of all of history, the demigod Achilles.

When he was only a baby, Thetis dipped Achilles into the River Styx in the hopes of making him immortal. While this made the rest of his body invulnerable, he had to be held by his left heel in order to not fall in, so this didn't apply to that one part. Early in his life, Achilles was prophesied by his mother to either live a long mundane life and be forgotten or live a short but glorious life that is remembered for centuries. Achilles chose the latter, and was sent to train under Chiron by his father in order to fulfill the prophecy. It was here where he was introduced to and became incredibly attached to his fellow student, Patroclus.

### Hidden on Skyros

While they respected his wishes, the parents of Achilles didn't want him to die young. They disguised him as a girl and hid him in the court of Lycomedes, king of Skyros, among his many daughters under the name "Pyrrha". During that time Achilles slept with Deidamia, one of Lycomedes's daughters, and produced a son, Neoptolemus.

Later on, Achilles noticed a strange peddler selling women's clothing and jewelry. Achilles became interested and decided to check it out to see if he could find something that he would be willing to buy. To his surprise, among the clothing was a shield and spear, goods that were very interesting to Achilles. He picked out the spear and found out that this was actually a trick by Odysseus in order to find Achilles. Apparently they needed his help in the Trojan War or else they wouldn't win, so he disguised himself as the strange peddler and set up the trap.

Despite being tricked into joining, Achilles was very excited to finally fulfill the prophecy and die in glory. He accepted Odysseus's offer willingly and started getting ready to go off to war.

### Trojan War

#### Start

Achilles and fifty other ships each carrying fifty Myrmidons arrived at Troy ready for battle. During his time on the boat, Achilles noticed an old companion of his was on the same ship, Patroclus being his name. The two used the time before the war to catch up and chat, much to the dismay of the ones sitting next to them.

When they finally got to the shores of Troy, Achilles was hyped and excitedly started slaying his enemies and sacked the surrounding towns of Troy. Over the course of nine years, anything not behind the wall protecting Paris was essentially destroyed, and the Achaeans managed find themselves bride prizes. While most of the women didn't appreciate being taken from their home, Achilles's bride prize, Briseis, managed to get along well with both Achilles and Patroclus. Achilles didn't even make any attempts on her, it's unknown why he took a bride prize.

#### Dishonor

All of a sudden, Apollo started to sent plagues on to the Achaeans for unknown reasons. The prophet Calchas pipes up and states that he knows why the god was doing this, but he asks Achilles to protect him first before saying anything further. Achilles was confused though he didn't see a reason not to and vowed to protect him. Calchas then said that the reason that the Achaeans were being plagued was because Agamemnon's bride prize was Chryseis, who happened to be the daughter of a priest of Apollo, Chryses. Chryses begged Agamemnon for his daughter back, even offering up riches for her, but Agamemnon disobliged and Chryses asked Apollo for help.

Agamemnon stated that he would give Chryseis back but only if he received Briseis as a bride prize as a replacement. Achilles had no choice in this arrangement, and after she was given to him he felt dishonored and, at the urging of his mother Thetis, refused to fight in the war and hides in his tent with Patroclus. To make matters worse for the Achaeans, Achilles prayed to his mother to convince Zeus to help the Trojans just to spite Agamemnon.

#### Death of Patroclus

To hopefully get Achilles back on his side, Agamemnon sent Odysseus and Ajax the Great to offer him Briseis and riches for if he would return to the battlefield. Achilles rejects these offers and tells them that the Achaeans and Myrmidons should just return home as Achilles was planning to do. With the Achaean forces on the verge of losing, Patroclus volunteered himself to fight in Achilles's place. He took up Achilles's armor and impersonated his companion in order to fight on the battlefield. Patroclus went off to fight while Achilles remained in his tent.

News later came to Achilles in the form of Antilochus. Antilochus told him that while Patroclus put up the best fight he could and managed to push the Trojans back from the beaches, he was unceremoniously killed by Hector before he and the Myrmidons could properly invade Troy. Thetis attempted to comfort her son but Achilles was too stricken with grief, what was once his most prominent lover was sent to live in the house of Hades. Achilles wouldn't stand for this, his rage motivated him to return to the Trojan War and avenge his significant other.

Thetis returned to Mount Olympus and persuaded Hephaestus to create new armor that would be difficult for even the gods to destroy. With his new armor, Achilles received a new shield as well. Achilles finally ended his refusal to fight and marched off to the battlefield once more.

#### Return to the Battle

In his rage, Achilles killed many men on his way to Hector, none of which quelled his anger whatsoever. It got to the point where the amount of bodies that resulted from his carnage started to choke the waters of the river god Scamander. Scamander confronted Achilles but was immediately scared off by Achilles's might. The gods attempted to restrain Achilles so that he wouldn't sack Troy before they allow it, though even they struggled.

Achilles eventually found Hector, even worse he was wearing the armor that Patroclus died in, armor that formerly belonged to Achilles. This somehow enraged Achilles even further than it already was. Hector knew death when he saw it, and chose to run from his inevitable fate as far as he could. After chasing him three times around the walls of Troy, Hector randomly decided to stop running away an charged at Achilles with his sword. Hector missed and started to beg for mercy from Achilles, to which he could only reply:

Achilles then stabbed Hector through the stomach with his spear, but not before Hector whispered a prophecy of Achilles's eventual death into his ear. While still feeling the adrenaline of finally killing Hector chose to tie him to the end of his chariot by his heels and dragged his dead body around Troy for all to see. This is only stopped after Achilles fell asleep, and in his dreams he was approached by what seemed like Patroclus begging Achilles to hold his funeral. Since he didn't want to dishonor his partner any further than Hector already did, Achilles relented and hosted Patroclus's funeral, though he kept Hector's body.

### Patroclus's funeral

Achilles chose to hold a funeral for his once beloved where he and a few other of the Achaeans played funeral games. During the event, Priam, the father of Hector, came to Achilles while he was in his tent to plead with him for his sons body in order to have something to bury. While Achilles despised Hector, he held nothing against his father and chose to return the body, for this was a time for mourning, and Achilles wouldn't want to take that away from someone he barely knew.

There they established a truce between the two sides that lasted the nine days of the twos funerals. On the tenth day they finally buried Patroclus's body.

### Death

Achilles attempted to return back to the war after the funeral though he didn't have the energy he had beforehand. He attempted to scale the walls containing Troy before he was unceremoniously shot in his weak heel by an arrow shot by Paris and guided by Apollo. When the Achaean forces finally retrieved his body they held further funeral games for the glory of Achilles before putting his bones in the same grave as Patroclus's.

## Myths and Legends

Achilles is a figure from ancient Greek religion and the central character of the *Iliad* by Homer. The Achilles heel has become a trope in fiction where a generally strong character would have an single weakness integral to defeat them.