thumb|right|300px|Achillem [[Athena impedit Agamemnonem necare - Opus Ioannis Baptistae Tiepolo (Villa Valmarana)]]

'''Achilles''' (''-is, m.'') erat filius Thetidis et Pelei, et pater Pyrrhi. Chironi centauro educandus traditus est. Inter filias Lycomedis regis Scyri a matre, ne ad bellum Troianum ire cogeretur, sub habitu muliebri absconditus est, ubi ex Ulixe habitu mercatoris detectus ad bellum Troianum ductus est.
Erat optimus et maximus miles totius Graecorum exercitus. Occidit Hectorem fortissimum Troianorum eiusque cadaver ter circum moenia Ilii traxit bigis alligatum. Patroclum enim ulcisci voluit sibi amicissimum, qui ab Hectore interfectus esset. Dissensit ab Agamemnone odio implacabili, quod sibi Briseidem eripuisset. Captus est amore Polyxenae tempore indutiarum. Invitatus per fraudem specie nuptiarum in templum Apollinis a Paride sagitta in calcaneo transfixus, ubi tantummodo vulnerabilis erat, interfectus est. 

==Nexus externus==

categoria:Mythologia Graeca

eo:Aĥilo
es:Aquiles

:''"Achilleus" redirects here.  For the emperor with this name, see Achilleus (emperor).  For other uses, see Achilles (disambiguation).''
thumb|right|250px|''The Wrath of Achilles'', by [[François-Léon Benouville (1821&ndash;1859) (Musée Fabre)]]

In Greek hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's ''Iliad'', which takes for its theme the Wrath of Achilles.

Achilles also has the attributes of being the most handsome of the heroes assembled against Troy,<ref>Symposium,'' 180a</ref> as well as the quickest. Central to his myth is his relationship with Patroclus, characterized in different sources as either deep friendship or passionate love.

Achilles's death came as divine retribution for his sexual advances and was killed by the enraged hero inside Apollo's temple.<ref>James Davidson, "Zeus Be Nice Now" in ''London Review of Books;'' 19 July 2007[http://www.lrb.co.uk/v29/n14/davi02_.html] accessed October 23rd, 2007</ref> Later legends (beginning with a poem by Statius in the first century AD) state that Achilles was invulnerable on all of his body except for his heel.  These legends state that Achilles was killed in battle by an arrow to the heel, and so an "Achilles' heel" has come to mean a person's principal weakness. 

==Birth==
Achilles was the son of the immortal nymph Thetis and Peleus, the king of the Myrmidons. In Farsala, Thessaly. Zeus and Poseidon had been rivals for the hand of Thetis until Prometheus, the fire-bringer, warned Zeus of a prophecy that Thetis would bear a son greater than his father. For this reason, the two gods withdrew their pursuit, and had her wed to Peleus.<ref>Aeschylus, ''Prometheus Bound'' 755-768; Pindar, ''Nemean'' 5.34-37, ''Isthmian'' 8.26-47; ''Poeticon astronomicon'' (ii.15)</ref>
 
As with most mythology there is a tale which offers an alternative version of these events: in ''Argonautica'' (iv.760) Hera alludes to Thetis's chaste resistance to the advances of Zeus, that Thetis had been so loyal to Hera's marriage bond that she coolly rejected him.<!--the following psychological interpretation has no counterpart in the myths:"Zeus was furious and decreed that she would never marry an immortal. So Hera recommended that she marry Peleus, as he was as near to a mortal as she was ever going to get."-->

thumb|''The Education of Achilles'' (ca. 1772), by [[James Barry (painter)|James Barry]]
According to the incomplete poem ''Achilleis'' written by Statius in the first century AD, and to no other sources, when Achilles was born Thetis tried to make him immortal by dipping him in the river Styx. However, she forgot to wet the heel she held him by, leaving him vulnerable at that spot. (See Achilles heel, Achilles' tendon.) It is not clear if this version of events was known earlier. In another version of this story, Thetis anointed the boy in ambrosia and put him on top of a fire to burn away the mortal parts of his body. She was interrupted by Peleus and abandoned both father and son in a rage.<ref>Apollonius of Rhodes, ''Argonautica'' 4.869-479.</ref> 

However none of the sources before Statius makes any reference to this invulnerability.  To the contrary, in the ''Iliad'' Homer mentions Achilles being wounded: in Book 21 the Paeonian hero Asteropaeus, son of Pelegon, challenged Achilles by the river Scamander. He cast two spears at once, one grazed Achilles' elbow, "drawing a spurt of blood."

Also in the fragmentary poems of the Kùpria (unknown author), ''Ilias Mikrà'' by Lesche of Mytilene, Iliou pèrsis by Arctinus of Miletus, there is no trace of any reference to his invulnerability or his famous (achilles) heel; in the later vase-paintings presenting Achilles' death, the arrow (or in many cases, arrows) hit his body. 

Peleus entrusted Achilles to Chiron the Centaur, on Mt. Pelion, to be raised.<ref>Hesiod, ''Catalogue of Women'', fr. 204.87-89 MW; ''Iliad'' 11.830-32</ref>

==Achilles in the Trojan War== 
thumb|right|250px|''The Rage of Achilles'', by [[Giovanni Battista Tiepolo]]

The first two lines of the ''Iliad'' read:
:
:

:Sing Goddess of the rage, of Peleus' son Achilles
:the accursed rage that brought pain to thousands of the Achaeans.

Achilles is the only mortal to experience consuming rage (''menis''). His anger is at some times wavering, at other times absolute. The humanization of Achilles by the events of the war is an important theme of the narrative.

====Telephus====
When the Greeks left for the Trojan War, they accidentally stopped in Mysia, ruled by King Telephus. In the resulting battle, Achilles gave Telephus a wound that would not heal; Telephus consulted an oracle, who stated that "he that wounded shall heal".
		
According to other reports in Orestes for ransom, the ransom being Achilles' aid in healing the wound. Odysseus reasoned that the spear had inflicted the wound; therefore, the spear must be able to heal it. Pieces of the spear were scraped off onto the wound and Telephus was healed. This is an example of sympathetic magic.

====Cycnus of Colonae====
According to traditions related by Cycnus of Colonae, a son of Poseidon. Cycnus was invulnerable, except for his head.<ref>Plutarch, ''Greek Questions'' 28; Tzetzes, ''On Lycophron''</ref>

====Troilus====
According to Apollo), was watering his horses at the Lion Fountain outside the walls of Troy, Achilles saw him and fell in love with his beauty (whose "loveliness of form" was described by Tzetzes, scholiast on Lycophron.</ref> At the time, Troilus was said to be a year short of his twentieth birthday, and the First Vatican Mythographer reports that if Troilus had lived to be twenty, Troy would have been invincible. 

====In the ''Iliad''====
thumb|250px|right|Achilles sacrificing to [[Zeus, from the Ambrosian Iliad, a 5th century illuminated manuscript.]]

Homer's ''Iliad'' is the most famous narrative of Achilles' deeds in the Trojan War. The Homeric epic only covers a few weeks of the war, and does not narrate Achilles' death. It begins with Achilles' withdrawal from battle after he is dishonored by Agamemnon, the commander of the Achaean forces. Agamemnon had taken a woman named Chryseis as his slave. Her father Chryses, a priest of Apollo, begged Agamemnon to return her to him.  Agamemnon refused and Apollo sent a plague amongst the Greeks.  The prophet Calchas correctly determined the source of the troubles but would not speak unless Achilles vowed to protect him. Achilles did so and Calchas declared Chryseis must be returned to her father. Agamemnon consented, but then commanded that Achilles' battle prize Briseis be brought to replace Chryseis.  Angry at the dishonor (and as he says later, because he loved Briseis)<ref>''Iliad'' 9.334-343.</ref> and at the urging of Thetis, Achilles refused to fight or lead his troops alongside the other Greek forces.

As the battle turned against the Greeks, Nestor declared that had Agamemnon not angered Achilles, the Trojans would not be winning and urged Agamemnon to appease Achilles. Agamemnon agreed and sent Odysseus and two other chieftains to Achilles with the offer of the return of Briseis and other gifts. Achilles refused and urged the Greeks to sail home as he was planning to do.

Eventually, however, hoping to retain glory despite his absence from the battle, Achilles prayed to his mother Thetis, asking her to plead with Zeus to allow the Trojans to push back the Greek forces.
 
The Trojans, led by Hector, subsequently pushed the Greek army back toward the beaches and assaulted the Greek ships. With the Greek forces on the verge of absolute destruction, Achilles consented to Patroclus leading the Myrmidons into battle, though Achilles would remain at his camp. Patroclus succeeded in pushing the Trojans back from the beaches, but was killed by Hector before he could lead a proper assault on the city of Troy.

=== Achilles versus Hector=== 
thumb|250px|Triumphant Achilles dragging Hector's lifeless body in front of the Gates of [[Troy. (From a Achilleion)]]
After receiving the news of the death of Patroclus from Antilochus, the son of Nestor, Achilles grieved over his friend and held many funeral games in his honor.  His mother Thetis came to comfort the distraught Achilles. She persuaded Hephaestus to make new armor for him, in place of the armor that Patroclus had been wearing which was taken by Hector. The new armor included the Shield of Achilles, described in great detail by the poet.

<!--  Commented out because image was deleted: thumb|250px|This is a color-corrected version of the original image above. -->
Enraged over the death of Patroclus, Achilles ended his refusal to fight and took the field killing many men in his rage but always seeking out Hector.  Achilles even engaged in battle with the river god Scamander who became angry that Achilles was choking his waters with all the men he killed.  The god tried to drown Achilles but was stopped by Hera and Hephaestus.  Zeus himself took note of Achilles' rage and sent the gods to restrain him so that he would not go on to sack Troy itself, seeming to show that the unhindered rage of Achilles could defy fate itself as Troy was not meant to be destroyed yet.  Finally Achilles found his prey. Achilles chased Hector around the wall of Troy three times before Athena, in the form of Hector's favorite and dearest brother, Deiphobus, persuaded Hector to fight face to face. After Hector realized the trick, he knew his death was inevitable. Hector, wanting to go down fighting, charged at Achilles with his only weapon, his sword.  Achilles got his vengeance, killing Hector with a blow to the neck.  He then tied Hector's body to his chariot and dragged it around the battlefield for nine days.

With the assistance of the god Hermes, Hector's father, Priam, went to Achilles' tent and convinced Achilles to permit him to allow Hector his funeral rites.  The final passage in the ''Iliad'' is Hector's funeral, after which the doom of Troy is just a matter of time.

====Penthesilea====

Achilles, after his temporary truce with Priam, fought and killed the Amazonian warrior queen Penthesilea.

====Memnon, and the death of Achilles====
thumb|300px|right|Achilles dying in the gardens of the [[Corfu#Beauty, Power and Tragedy: The Achilleion|Achilleion in Corfu]]

Following the death of Patroclus, Achilles's closest companion was Nestor's son Ethiopia killed Antilochus, Achilles was once again drawn onto the battlefield to seek revenge. The fight between Achilles and Memnon over Antilochus echoes that of Achilles and Hector over Patroclus, except that Memnon (unlike Hector) was also the son of a goddess.

Many Homeric scholars argued that episode inspired many details in the ''Iliad'''s description of the death of Patroclus and Achilles' reaction to it. The episode then formed the basis of the cyclic epic ''Aethiopis'', which was composed after the ''Iliad'', possibly in the 7th century BC. The ''Aethiopis'' is now lost, except for scattered fragments quoted by later authors. 

As predicted by Paris&mdash;either by an arrow (to the heel according to Statius), or in an older version by a knife to the back while visiting Polyxena, a princess of Troy.  In some versions, the god Apollo guided Paris' arrow.
thumb|Ajax carries off the body of Achilles: [[Attica|Attic black-figure ''lekythos'', ca. 510 BCE, from Sicily (Staatliche Antikensammlungen, Munich]]
Both versions conspicuously deny the killer any sort of valor owing to the common conception that Paris was a coward and not the man his brother Hector was, and Achilles remained undefeated on the battlefield. His bones were mingled with those of Patroclus, and funeral games were held. He was represented  in the lost Trojan War epic of Arctinus of Miletus as living after his death in the island of Leuke at the mouth of the river Danube (see below). 

Paris was later killed by Philoctetes using the enormous bow of Heracles.

====The fate of Achilles' armor====
Achilles' armor was the object of a feud between Telamonian Ajax (Ajax the greater). They competed for it by giving speeches on why they were the bravest after Achilles and the most deserving to receive it. Odysseus won. Ajax went mad with grief and anguish and vowed to kill his comrades; he started killing sheep, thinking in his madness that they were Greek soldiers. He then committed suicide. Odysseus eventually gave the armor to Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles.

==Achilles and Patroclus==

Achilles' relationship with Patroclus is a key aspect of his myth.  Its exact nature has been a subject of dispute in both the classical period and modern times.  In the ''pederastic.

==The cult of Achilles in antiquity==

There was an archaic White Island, ''Leuce'', in the Black Sea off the modern coasts of Romania and Ukraine, with a temple and an oracle which survived into the Roman period.<ref>Guy Hedreen, "The Cult of Achilles in the Euxine" ''Hesperia'' '''60'''.3 (July 1991), pp. 313-330.</ref>

In the lost epic ''Arktinus of Miletos,  Achilles’ mother Thetis returned to mourn  him and removed his ashes from the pyre and took them to Leuce at the mouths of the Danube. There the Achaeans raised a tumulus for him and celebrated funeral games.

Pausanias has been told that the island is "covered with forests and full of animals, some wild, some tame. In this island there is also Achilles’ temple and his statue” (III.19.11). Ruins of a square temple 30 meters to a side, possibly that dedicated to Achilles, were discovered by Captain Kritzikly in 1823, but there has been no modern archeology done on the island.

Pomponius Mela tells that Achilles is buried in the island named Achillea, between Boristhene and Ister (''De situ orbis'', II, 7). And the Greek geographer Dionysius Periegetus of Bithynia, who lived at the time of Domitian, writes that the island was called ''Leuce'' "because the wild animals which live there are white. It is said that there, in Leuce island, reside the souls of Achilles and other heroes, and that they wander through the uninhabited valleys of this island; this is how Jove rewarded the men who had distinguished themselves through their virtues, because through virtue they had acquired everlasting honor” (''Orbis descriptio'', v. 541, quoted in Densuşianu 1913).

The ''Periplus of the Euxine Sea'' gives the following details: "It is said that the goddess Thetis raised this island from the sea, for her son Achilles, who dwells there. Here is his temple and his statue, an archaic work. This island is not inhabited, and goats graze on it, not many, which the people who happen to arrive here with their ships, sacrifice to Achilles. In this temple are also deposited a great many holy gifts, craters, rings and precious stones, offered to Achilles in gratitude. One can still read inscriptions in Greek and Latin, in which Achilles is praised and celebrated. Some of these are worded in Patroclus’ honor, because those who wish to be favored by Achilles, honor Patroclus at the same time. There are also in this island countless numbers of sea birds, which look after Achilles’ temple. Every morning they fly out to sea, wet their wings with water, and return quickly to the temple and sprinkle it. And after they finish the sprinkling, they clean the hearth of the temple with their wings. Other people say still more, that some of the men who reach this island, come here intentionally. They bring animals in their ships, destined to be sacrificed. Some of these animals they slaughter, others they set free on the island, in Achilles’ honor. But there are others, who are forced to come to this island by sea storms. As they have no sacrificial animals, but wish to get them from the god of the island himself, they consult Achilles’ oracle. They ask permission to slaughter the victims chosen from among the animals that graze freely on the island, and to deposit in exchange the price which they consider fair. But in case the oracle denies them permission, because there is an oracle here, they add something to the price offered, and if the oracle refuses again, they add something more, until at last, the oracle agrees that the price is sufficient. And then the victim doesn’t run away any more, but waits willingly to be caught. So, there is a great quantity of silver there, consecrated to the hero, as price for the sacrificial victims. To some of the people who come to this island, Achilles appears in dreams, to others he would appear even during their navigation, if they were not too far away, and would instruct them as to which part of the island they would better anchor their ships”. (quoted in Densuşianu)