Although Achilles possesses superhuman strength and has a close relationship with the gods, he may strike modern readers as less than heroic. He would have been killed, but Chiron, one of the Centaurs, gave Peleus his sword back. 1 History 2 Description 3 Abilities 4 Weakness 5 Known Curse-Bearers 6 Trivia Thetis, in an attempt to make her son, Achilles, immortal, dipped him in the River Styx as an infant, holding him by the heel as she had dreamt of his death some time before. Achilleus (Greek Ἀχιλλεύς, transliterated Akhilleus Roman: Achilles) was a hero of the Greeks (Achaeans) in the legends of the Trojan War, i.e. the Epic Cycle, and the principal character of Homer's 8th century BC epic poem the Iliad. She sought a place for him to avoid fighting in the Trojan War, due … The son of Peleus and the sea-nymph Thetis, Achilles was a fearsome warrior who chose a short, glorious life over a long and undistinguished one. The Curse of Achilles is a power and a curse that a person can acquire when they bathe in the River Styx. Achilles, knowing these paths, chose the latter and agreed to go to Troy under the Mycenaean king (and leader of the Greek army) Agamemnon. Homer’s Iliad describes Achilles as the greatest warrior in the army of Agamemnon in the Trojan War and recounts how his rage affects the outcomes of the epic conflict. Agamemnon promises that he did not touch her. Based on ancient legend, Achilles' mother, knowing that her son would die if he fought in the Trojan War, disguised him as a woman and entrusted him to King Lycomedes' household, where he lived among the king's daughters. Achilles, in Greek legend, was the son of the mortal Peleus, king of the Myrmidons, and the Nereid, or sea nymph, Thetis. Later, as she mourns Patroclus’ death, she mourns that he died before fulfilling his promise to get Achilles to make her his legal wife (Iliad 19.343-19.365). She saw that her only son was to die if he fought in the war. For Patroclus promised to Briseis, that Achilles intended to make her more than just a concubine after the war, proposing to make her his wife. Achilles' mother foretold many years before Achilles birth that there would be a great war. He has all the marks of a great warrior, and indeed proves the mightiest man in the Achaean army, but his deep-seated character flaws constantly impede his ability to act with nobility and integrity. Poseidon and Zeus were in love with Thetis, but Prometheus warned them of a prophecy that said that the son of Thetis would become greater than his father. When he was born, Thetis dipped Achilles in … It may be Briseis, though, in the books, she was never referred to as Achilles' wife. Peleus then married Thetis, and they had a son - Achilles. Briseis, when taken, did not want to leave Achilles’ house. Others say that Achilles' wife is Deidamea. Achilles did have a spouse her name was Patroclus. He also killed Astydameia, dismembering her body and marching his army between the pieces. Achilles returns to the war, and it is clear that his presence has turned the tide in the favor of the Achaeans. Peleus 'repulsed the attack' and got revenge, attacking and robbing Iolcus. This led to the Olympian gods leaving, and Thetis went on to marry Peleus. Achilles is the strongest, more virile of men—the son of a nymph and a mortal man, Achilles was prophesized at birth to either die an unimportant old man, or to die a young hero. than Agamemnon and would not have driven his wife to infidelity as Agamemnon did. Achilles, dressed in women's clothing, holds a shield while admiring a sword. The war did not look like ending any time soon, and so Briseis remained a concubine of Achilles, but she was well treated. Object Description. When Helen, the wife of the Greek King Menelaus, was taken by the Trojan Prince Paris, the Greeks went to war to get her back. 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