swift-footed Achilles
The greatest Greek warrior. A later Roman story says his mother Thetis dipped him in the River Styx as a baby to protect him, except for the heel she held him by. That is where the phrase “Achilles heel” comes from.
From Phthia. Today: Thessaly, around Farsala, Greece.
Strength 10/10 · Wisdom 6/10 · Courage 10/10 · Divinity 4/10 · Fame 10/10
The story
Son of the sea goddess Thetis and the mortal king Peleus. He was offered a choice: a long, quiet life, or a short one with glory that would last forever. He chose glory. The Iliad opens with his anger at Agamemnon, and his refusal to fight almost loses the Greeks the war.
How it ends
Paris shot him with an arrow guided by Apollo, after Hector, Penthesilea and Memnon had all fallen to him.
Still with us today
The Achilles tendon, at the back of your heel, is named after him.
Family
- Parents: Peleus, Thetis
- Partners: Deidamia
- Children: Neoptolemus
Appears in
Read about them in the Library
- Iliad 1: The quarrel
- Iliad 6: Hector and Andromache
- Iliad 9: The embassy to Achilles
- Iliad 10: The night raid
- Iliad 11: The Greek leaders wounded
- Iliad 16: The death of Patroclus
- Iliad 17: The fight for the body
- Iliad 18: The shield of Achilles
- Iliad 19: Achilles and Agamemnon reconciled
- Iliad 20: The gods go to war
- Iliad 21: The battle at the river
- Iliad 22: The death of Hector
- and 9 more parts of the Library
Ancient sources
- Homer, Iliad
- The Epic Cycle (lost early epics)
Achilles is a playable card in MythoTroy, the Trojan War card game.
History’s mirror
356 to 323 BCAlexander the GreatAlexander did not just resemble Achilles; he chose to live out the myth. Stories do not only describe us, they can script us.See the full mirrorIn the sky and in space
- AsteroidsThe Trojan asteroids
Thousands of asteroids share Jupiter's path round the Sun, in two swarms, one ahead and one behind. They are named after heroes of the Trojan War: Greeks in the front camp, Trojans in the back. There are two "spies": 624 Hektor sits among the Greeks and 617 Patroclus among the Trojans. NASA's Lucy spacecraft, launched in 2021, is on its way to visit them.