Roman Culture/Achilles

Achilles, the great Trojan soldier, was born of the Nereid Thetis and the mortal Peleus. After his birth, his mother Thetis left him due to certain complications. His father took him to the wise Chiron, a Centaur living in Mount Pelion. Chiron educated and fed Achilles throughout his childhood years. During that time, Calchas prophesied that Trojan would soon be taken by Achilles.

However, because of this conflict, Achilles will end up dying at a very young age. Realizing the destiny that was bestowed upon her son, Thetis tried many different things to help him avoid it. One of her plans involved dressing Achilles in a female outfit and entrusting him to king Lycomedes. This did not last very long, as Odysseus foiled the plan by revealing Achilles' true identity. After this event took place, Achilles became a general at the age of 15, and the siege of Troy soon began. The purpose of the war again Troy was to restore Helen and the Spartan property which was stolen by Paris. On the way to Troy, Achilles came upon a island called Tenedos. There, Achilles killed King Tenes, who was honored by Apollo. It was said that whoever killed Tenes would be slain by Apollo himself. Thetis sent a servant to warn Achilles of the situation, but he was clouded with anger after his sweetheart Hemithea (Tenes' sister) got away with the help of her brother. Achilles' mother also warned him not to be the first to step foot on Trojan ground, for the first to step on Trojan ground is the first to die.

During the war, King Agamamnon took one of Apollo's priest daughters who set a plague on the Trojan Army. Seeing the situation, Calcas advised the king to return the daughter to save the Army. Agamamnon agreed, but was not satisfied, and so decided to take claim of Achilles' prize which was Briseis. With this, Achilles was filled with anger and sorrow which caused him to hide in depression away from the ongoing war. Without his presences on the battlefield, the Achaeans faced many defeats against the Trojan army. Agamamnon, realizing how important Achilles was, agreed to give him wealth and riches in return for his service. However, Achilles refused those gift because of his hatred towards the king.

As the Trojans came closer to the campsite of the Archaeans, Achilles ordered his best friend Patroclus to help with the offensive. Sadly, Patroclus was killed in the battle by Hector, which brought great grief upon Achilles. He felt regret and resentment of the times in which he was idle instead of helping out with the war effort. With this, he begged his mom to make him new armor which he used to destroy Hector and avenge his best friend, Patroclus. His mother agreed, and with his new armor Achilles dove into the Trojan army and destroyed many of their men. Soon, with Achilles' help, the Archaeans took the over the city of Troy.

There was no record of how Achilles died but it was said to he was slain by Paris and Apollo.

References

• Achillies. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2011. <http://www.maicar.com/GML/Achilles.html>.

Checked for grammar and originality by Griffin Donohue on 12/15/11