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ACHILLES (Gr. 'AxtXXeus)
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See also:ACHILLES (Gr. 'AxtXXeus) , one of the most famous of the legendary heroes of See also:ancient See also:Greece and the central figure of See also:Homer's Iliad. He was said to have been the son of See also:Peleus, See also: According to another story Thetis dipped the See also:child in the See also:waters. of the See also:river See also:Styx, by which his whole See also:body became invulnerable, except that See also:part of his See also:heel by which she held him; whence the proverbial " heel of Achilles " (See also:Statius, Achilleis, i. 269). With this may be compared the similar story told of the See also:northern See also:hero See also:Sigurd. The boy was afterwards entrusted to the care of Chiron, who, to give him the strength necessary for war, fed him with the entrails of lions and the marrow of bears and See also:wild boars. To prevent his going to the See also:siege of Troy, Thetis disguised him in See also:female See also:apparel, and hid him among the maidens at the See also:court. of King Lycomedes in See also:Scyros; but See also:Odysseus, coming to the See also:island in the disguise of a pedlar, spread his wares, including a See also:spear and See also:shield, before the king's daughters, among whom was Achilles. Then he caused an alarm to be sounded; whereupon the girls fled, but Achilles seized the arms, and so revealed him-self, and was easily persuaded to follow the Greeks (See also:Hyginus, Fab. 96; Statius, Ach. i.; Apollodorus,. l.c.). This story may be compared with the See also:Celtic legend of the boyhood of Peredur or See also:Perceval. During the first nine years of the war as described in the Iliad, Achilles ravaged the See also:country See also:round Troy, and took twelve cities. In .the tenth See also:year occurred the See also:quarrel with See also:Agamemnon. In order to appease the wrath of See also:Apollo, who had visited the See also:camp with a pestilence, Agamemnon had restored Chryseis, his See also:prize of war, to her See also:father, a See also:priest of the See also:god, but as a See also:compensation deprived Achilles, who had openly demanded this restoration, of his favourite slave Briseis. Achilles withdrew in wrath to his See also:tent, where he consoled himself with music and singing, and refused to take any further part in the war. During his See also:absence the Greeks were hard pressed, and at last he so far relaxed his anger as to allow his friend Patroclus to personate him, lending him his See also:chariot and -See also:armour. The slaying of Patroclus by the Trojan hero See also:Hector roused Achilles from his indifference; eager to avenge his beloved comrade, he sallied forth, equipped with new armour fashioned by See also:Hephaestus, slew Hector, and, after dragging his body round the walls of Troy, restored it to the aged King See also:Priam at his See also:earnest entreaty. The Iliad concludes with the funeral See also:rites of Hector. It makes no mention of the See also:death of Achilles, but hints at its taking See also:place "before the Scaean See also:gates." In the Odyssey (See also:xxiv. 36. 72) his ashes are said to have been buried in a See also:golden See also:urn, together with those of Patroclus, at a place on the See also:Hellespont, where a See also:tomb was erected to his memory; his soul dwells in the See also:lower See also:world, where it is seen ,by Odysseus. The contest between See also:Ajax and Odysseus for his arms is also mentioned. The A ethiopis of See also:Arctinus of See also:Miletus took up the story of the Iliad. It told how Achilles, having slain the See also:Amazon Penthesileia and See also:Memnon, king of the Aethiopians, who had come to the assistance of the Trojans, was himself slain by See also:Paris (See also: 
This was agreed to; Achilles went unarmed to the See also:temple of Apollo Thymbraeus, and was slain by Paris (Dictys iv. 1r). According to some, he was slain by Apollo himself (Quint. Smyrn. iii. 61; See also:Horace, Odes, iv. 6, 3). Hyginus (Fab. 107) makes Apollo assume the See also:form of Paris. Later stories say that Thetis snatched his body from the pyre and conveyed it to the island of Leuke, at the mouth of the See also:Danube, where he ruled with See also:Iphigeneia as his wife; or that he was carried to the Elysian See also:fields, where his wife was See also:Medea or See also:Helen. He was worshipped in many places: at Leuke, wherh he was honoured with offerings and See also:games; in See also:Sparta, See also:Elis, and especially Sigeum on the Hellespont, where his famous See also:tumulus was erected. Achilles is a typical See also:Greek hero; handsome, brave, celebrated for his fleetness of See also:foot, prone to excess of wrath and grief, at the same See also:time he is compassionate, hospitable, full of See also:affection for his mother and respect for the gods. In See also:works of See also:art he is represented, like See also:Ares, as a See also:young See also:man of splendid See also:physical See also:pro-portions, with bristling See also:hair like a See also:horse's mane and a slender See also:neck. Although the figure of the hero frequently occurs in groups—such as the See also:work of See also:Scopas showing his removal to the island of Leuke by See also:Poseidon and Thetis, escorted by Nereids and Tritons, and the combat over his dead body in the Aeginetan sculptures—no isolated statue or bust can with certainty be identified with him; the statue in the Louvre (from the See also:Villa See also:Borghese), which was thought to have the best claim, is generally taken for Ares or possibly Alexander. There are many See also:vase and See also:wall paintings and bas-reliefs illustrative of incidents in his See also:life. Various etymologies of the name have been suggested: " with-out a See also:lip " (a, yeZAos), Achilles being regarded as a river-god, a stream which overflows its See also:banks, or, referring to the story that, when Thetis laid him in the See also:fire, one of his lips, which he had licked, was consumed (See also:Tzetzes on See also:Lycophron, 178); " restrainer of the See also:people " (x-Xaos); " healer of sorrow " (aye-XGxos) " the obscure " (connected with axXbs, " mist ") ; " snake-See also:born " (Eyes), the snake being one of the See also:chief forms, taken by Thetis. The most generally received view makes him a god of See also:light, especially of the See also:sun or of the See also:lightning. See E. H. See also:Meyer, Indogermanische Mythen, ii., Achilleis, 1887; F. G. See also:Welcker, Der epische Cyclus, 1865–1882; articles in Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encyclopadie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, Daremberg and Saglio's Dictionnaire See also:des Antiquites and See also:Roscher's Lexikon der Mythologie; see also T. W. See also:Allen in Classical See also:Review, May 1906; A. E. Crawley, J. G. Frazer, A. See also:Lang, Ibid., See also:June, See also:July 1893, on Achilles in Scyros. In the See also:article GREEK ART, fig. 12 re-presents the conflict over the dead body of Achilles. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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