![Achilles fighting against Memnon Leiden Rijksmuseum voor Oudheden](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Achilles_fighting_against_Memnon_Leiden_Rijksmuseum_voor_Oudheden.jpg)
In
Greek mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...
, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre,
Ἀχιλλεύς
In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's ''Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Peleus, k ...
) was a hero of the
Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has ...
, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
's ''
Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odysse ...
''. He was the son of the
Nereid Thetis and
Peleus
In Greek mythology, Peleus (; Ancient Greek: Πηλεύς ''Pēleus'') was a hero, king of Phthia, husband of Thetis and the father of their son Achilles. This myth was already known to the hearers of Homer in the late 8th century BC.
Biograp ...
, king of
Phthia.
Achilles' most notable feat during the Trojan War was the slaying of the Trojan prince
Hector outside the gates of
Troy
Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...
. Although the death of Achilles is not presented in the ''Iliad'', other sources concur that he was killed near the end of the Trojan War by
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, who shot him with an arrow. Later legends (beginning with
Statius' unfinished epic ''
Achilleid'', written in the 1st century AD) state that Achilles was invulnerable in all of his body except for one heel, because when his mother Thetis dipped him in the river
Styx
In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, whic ...
as an infant, she held him by one of his heels. Alluding to these legends, the term "
Achilles' heel
An Achilles' heel (or Achilles heel) is a weakness in spite of overall strength, which can lead to downfall. While the mythological origin refers to a physical vulnerability, idiomatic references to other attributes or qualities that can lead to ...
" has come to mean a point of weakness, especially in someone or something with an otherwise strong constitution. The
Achilles tendon
The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus (h ...
is also named after him due to these legends.
Etymology
Linear B
Linear B was a syllabic script used for writing in Mycenaean Greek, the earliest attested form of Greek. The script predates the Greek alphabet by several centuries. The oldest Mycenaean writing dates to about 1400 BC. It is descended from ...
tablets attest to the personal name ''Achilleus'' in the forms ''a-ki-re-u'' and ''a-ki-re-we'',
[ Retrieved 5 May 2017.] the latter being the
dative
In grammar, the dative case (abbreviated , or sometimes when it is a core argument) is a grammatical case used in some languages to indicate the recipient or beneficiary of an action, as in "Maria Jacobo potum dedit", Latin for "Maria gave Jacob a ...
of the former.
[ The name grew more popular, becoming common soon after the seventh century BC and was also turned into the female form Ἀχιλλεία (''Achilleía''), attested in ]Attica
Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean Se ...
in the fourth century BC ( IG II² 1617) and, in the form ''Achillia'', on a stele in Halicarnassus as the name of a female gladiator fighting an "Amazon".
Achilles' name can be analyzed as a combination of (') "distress, pain, sorrow, grief" and (') "people, soldiers, nation", resulting in a proto-form ''*Akhí-lāu̯os'' "he who has the people distressed" or "he whose people have distress". The grief or distress of the people is a theme raised numerous times in the ''Iliad'' (and frequently by Achilles himself). Achilles' role as the hero of grief or distress forms an ironic juxtaposition with the conventional view of him as the hero of ' ("glory", usually in war). Furthermore, ''laós'' has been construed by Gregory Nagy
Gregory Nagy ( hu, Nagy Gergely, ; born October 22, 1942 in Budapest)["CV: Gregory Nagy"](_blank)
''gr ...
, following Leonard Palmer, to mean "a corps of soldiers", a muster.[ With this derivation, the name obtains a double meaning in the poem: when the hero is functioning rightly, his men bring distress to the enemy, but when wrongly, his men get the grief of war. The poem is in part about the misdirection of anger on the part of leadership.
]
Some researchers deem the name a loan word, possibly from a Pre-Greek
The Pre-Greek substrate (or Pre-Greek substratum) consists of the unknown pre-Indo-European language(s) spoken in prehistoric Greece before the coming of the Proto-Greek language in the Greek peninsula during the Bronze Age. It is possible that ...
language. Achilles' descent from the Nereid Thetis and a similarity of his name with those of river deities such as Acheron and Achelous have led to speculations about his being an old water divinity . Robert S. P. Beekes
Robert Stephen Paul Beekes (; 2 September 1937 – 21 September 2017) was a Dutch linguist who was emeritus professor of Comparative Indo-European Linguistics at Leiden University and an author of many monographs on the Proto-Indo-European langu ...
has suggested a Pre-Greek origin of the name, based among other things on the coexistence of ''-λλ-'' and ''-λ-'' in epic language, which may account for a palatalized phoneme /ly/ in the original language.[Robert S. P. Beekes, ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', Brill, 2009, pp. 183ff.]
Description
In the account of Dares the Phrygian, Achilles was described having ". . .a large chest, a fine mouth, and powerfully formed arms and legs. His head was covered with long wavy chestnut-colored hair. Though mild in manner, he was very fierce in battle. His face showed the joy of a man richly endowed."
Birth and early years
Achilles was the son of Thetis, a Nereid and daughter of The Old Man of the Sea In Greek mythology, the Old Man of the Sea ( grc-gre, ἅλιος γέρων, hálios gérōn; grc-gre, Γέροντας της Θάλασσας, Gérontas tēs Thálassas) was a primordial figure who could be identified as any of several water-god ...
, and Peleus
In Greek mythology, Peleus (; Ancient Greek: Πηλεύς ''Pēleus'') was a hero, king of Phthia, husband of Thetis and the father of their son Achilles. This myth was already known to the hearers of Homer in the late 8th century BC.
Biograp ...
, the king of the Myrmidons. Zeus
Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D ...
and Poseidon
Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ch ...
had been rivals for Thetis's hand in marriage until Prometheus, the fore-thinker, warned Zeus of a prophecy (originally uttered by Themis, goddess of divine law) that Thetis would bear a son greater than his father. For this reason, the two gods withdrew their pursuit, and had her wed Peleus.
There is a tale which offers an alternative version of these events: In the ''Argonautica
The ''Argonautica'' ( el, Ἀργοναυτικά , translit=Argonautika) is a Greek epic poem written by Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BC. The only surviving Hellenistic epic, the ''Argonautica'' tells the myth of the voyage of Jason a ...
'' (4.760) Zeus' sister and wife Hera
In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; grc-gre, Ἥρα, Hḗrā; grc, Ἥρη, Hḗrē, label=none in Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she ...
alludes to Thetis' chaste resistance to the advances of Zeus, pointing out that Thetis was so loyal to Hera's marriage bond that she coolly rejected the father of gods. Thetis, although a daughter of the sea-god Nereus, was also brought up by Hera, further explaining her resistance to the advances of Zeus. Zeus was furious and decreed that she would never marry an immortal.
According to the '' Achilleid'', written by Statius in the 1st century AD, and to non-surviving previous sources, when Achilles was born Thetis tried to make him immortal by dipping him in the river Styx
In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, whic ...
; however, he was left vulnerable at the part of the body by which she held him: his left heel . It is not clear if this version of events was known earlier. In another version of this story, Thetis anointed the boy in ambrosia
In the ancient Greek myths, ''ambrosia'' (, grc, ἀμβροσία 'immortality'), the food or drink of the Greek gods, is often depicted as conferring longevity or immortality upon whoever consumed it. It was brought to the gods in Olympus ...
and put him on top of a fire in order to burn away the mortal parts of his body. She was interrupted by Peleus and abandoned both father and son in a rage.
None of the sources before Statius make any reference to this general invulnerability. To the contrary, in the ''Iliad'', Homer mentions Achilles being wounded: in Book 21 the Paeonian hero Asteropaeus
In the ''Iliad'', Asteropaios (; Greek: Ἀστεροπαῖος; Latin: ''Asteropaeus'') was a leader of the Trojan-allied Paeonians along with fellow warrior Pyraechmes.
Family
Asteropaios was the son of Pelagon, who was the son of the river ...
, son of Pelagon There are several figures named Pelagon (Ancient Greek: Πελάγων, -ονος) in Greek mythology.
* Pelagon, king of Phocis and son of Amphidamas. He gave Cadmus the cow that was to guide him to Boeotia.
* Pelagon, also called Pelasgus,Diodoru ...
, challenged Achilles by the river Scamander. He was ambidextrous, and cast a spear from each hand; one grazed Achilles' elbow, "drawing a spurt of blood".
In the few fragmentary poems of the Epic Cycle
The Epic Cycle ( grc, Ἐπικὸς Κύκλος, Epikòs Kýklos) was a collection of Ancient Greek epic poems, composed in dactylic hexameter and related to the story of the Trojan War, including the ''Cypria'', the '' Aethiopis'', the so-cal ...
which describe the hero's death (i.e. the '' Cypria'', the ''Little Iliad
The ''Little Iliad'' (Greek: , ''Ilias mikra''; la, parva Illias) is a lost epic of ancient Greek literature. It was one of the Epic Cycle, that is, the Trojan cycle, which told the entire history of the Trojan War in epic verse. The story of t ...
'' by Lesches of Pyrrha, the ''Aithiopis
The ''Aethiopis'' , also spelled ''Aithiopis'' (Greek: , ''Aíthiopís''; la, Aethiopis), is a lost epic of ancient Greek literature. It was one of the Epic Cycle, that is, the Trojan cycle, which told the entire history of the Trojan War in ...
'' and ''Iliou persis
The ''Iliupersis'' (Greek: , ''Iliou persis'', "Sack of Ilium"), also known as ''The Sack of Troy'', is a lost epic of ancient Greek literature. It was one of the Epic Cycle, that is, the Trojan cycle, which told the entire history of the Troj ...
'' by Arctinus of Miletus
Arctinus of Miletus or Arctinus Milesius ( grc, Ἀρκτῖνος Μιλήσιος) was a Greek epic poet whose reputation is purely legendary, as none of his works survive. Traditionally dated between 775 BC and 741 BC, he was said to have been ...
), there is no trace of any reference to his general invulnerability or his famous weakness at the heel. In the later vase paintings presenting the death of Achilles, the arrow (or in many cases, arrows) hit his torso.
Peleus entrusted Achilles to Chiron the Centaur
A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse.
Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as being ...
, who lived on Mount Pelion
Pelion or Pelium (Modern el, Πήλιο, ''Pílio''; Ancient Greek/Katharevousa: Πήλιον, ''Pēlion'') is a mountain at the southeastern part of Thessaly in northern Greece, forming a hook-like peninsula between the Pagasetic Gulf and the ...
, to be reared. Thetis foretold that her son's fate was either to gain glory and die young, or to live a long but uneventful life in obscurity. Achilles chose the former, and decided to take part in the Trojan War. According to Homer, Achilles grew up in Phthia with his companion Patroclus
In Greek mythology, as recorded in Homer's ''Iliad'', Patroclus (pronunciation variable but generally ; grc, Πάτροκλος, Pátroklos, glory of the father) was a childhood friend, close wartime companion, and the presumed (by some later a ...
.
According to Photius
Photios I ( el, Φώτιος, ''Phōtios''; c. 810/820 – 6 February 893), also spelled PhotiusFr. Justin Taylor, essay "Canon Law in the Age of the Fathers" (published in Jordan Hite, T.O.R., & Daniel J. Ward, O.S.B., "Readings, Cases, Materia ...
, the sixth book of the ''New History'' by Ptolemy Hephaestion reported that Thetis burned in a secret place the children she had by Peleus. When she had Achilles, Peleus noticed, tore him from the flames with only a burnt foot, and confided him to the centaur Chiron. Later Chiron exhumed the body of the Damysus, who was the fastest of all the giants, removed the ankle, and incorporated it into Achilles' burnt foot.
Other names
Among the appellations under which Achilles is generally known are the following:
* Pyrisous, "saved from the fire", his first name, which seems to favour the tradition in which his mortal parts were burned by his mother Thetis
* Aeacides, from his grandfather Aeacus
* Aemonius, from Aemonia, a country which afterwards acquired the name of Thessaly
* Aspetos, "inimitable" or "vast", his name at Epirus
* Larissaeus, from Larissa
Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regiona ...
(also called Cremaste), a town of Achaia Phthiotis in Thessaly
* Ligyron, his original name
* Nereius, from his mother Thetis, one of the Nereids
* Pelides, from his father, Peleus
In Greek mythology, Peleus (; Ancient Greek: Πηλεύς ''Pēleus'') was a hero, king of Phthia, husband of Thetis and the father of their son Achilles. This myth was already known to the hearers of Homer in the late 8th century BC.
Biograp ...
* Phthius, from his birthplace, Phthia
* Podarkes, "swift-footed", due to the wings of Arke
In Greek mythology, Arke or Arce ( grc-gre, Ἄρκη, ''Árkē'', meaning "swift") is one of the daughters of Thaumas and sister to Iris. During the Titanomachy, Arke fled from the Olympians' camp and joined the Titans, unlike Iris who remained l ...
being attached to his feet.
Hidden on Skyros
Some post-Homeric sources claim that in order to keep Achilles safe from the war, Thetis (or, in some versions, Peleus) hid the young man dressed as a princess or at least a girl at the court of Lycomedes, king of Skyros.
There, Achilles, properly disguised, lived among Lycomedes' daughters, perhaps under the name "Pyrrha
In Greek mythology, Pyrrha (; Ancient Greek: Πύρρα) was the daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora and wife of Deucalion of whom she had three sons, Hellen, Amphictyon, Orestheus; and three daughters Protogeneia, Pandora II and Thyia. Accordin ...
" (the red-haired girl), Cercysera or Aissa ("swift"). With Lycomedes' daughter Deidamia, whom in the account of Statius he raped, Achilles there fathered two sons, Neoptolemus (also called Pyrrhus, after his father's possible alias) and Oneiros. According to this story, Odysseus learned from the prophet Calchas
Calchas (; grc, Κάλχας, ''Kalkhas'') is an Argive mantis, or "seer," dated to the Age of Legend, which is an aspect of Greek mythology. Calchas appears in the opening scenes of the ''Iliad'', which is believed to have been based on a war ...
that the Achaeans would be unable to capture Troy without Achilles' aid. Odysseus went to Skyros in the guise of a peddler selling women's clothes and jewellery and placed a shield and spear among his goods. When Achilles instantly took up the spear, Odysseus saw through his disguise and convinced him to join the Greek campaign. In another version of the story, Odysseus arranged for a trumpet alarm to be sounded while he was with Lycomedes' women. While the women fled in panic, Achilles prepared to defend the court, thus giving his identity away.
In the Trojan War
According to the ''Iliad'', Achilles arrived at Troy with 50 ships, each carrying 50 Myrmidons. He appointed five leaders (each leader commanding 500 Myrmidons): Menesthius, Eudorus, Peisander, Phoenix and Alcimedon.
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". Guided by the oracle, he arrived at Argos
Argos most often refers to:
* Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece
** Ancient Argos, the ancient city
* Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland
Argos or ARGOS may also refer to:
Businesses
* ...
, where Achilles healed him in order that he might become their guide for the voyage to Troy.
According to other reports in Euripides
Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...
' lost play about Telephus, he went to Aulis pretending to be a beggar and asked Achilles to heal his wound. Achilles refused, claiming to have no medical knowledge. Alternatively, Telephus held Orestes for ransom, the ransom being Achilles' aid in healing the wound. Odysseus
Odysseus ( ; grc-gre, Ὀδυσσεύς, Ὀδυσεύς, OdysseúsOdyseús, ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; lat, UlyssesUlixes), is a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the ''Odyssey''. Odysse ...
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.
Troilus
According to the '' Cypria'' (the part of the Epic Cycle
The Epic Cycle ( grc, Ἐπικὸς Κύκλος, Epikòs Kýklos) was a collection of Ancient Greek epic poems, composed in dactylic hexameter and related to the story of the Trojan War, including the ''Cypria'', the '' Aethiopis'', the so-cal ...
that tells the events of the Trojan War before Achilles' wrath), when the Achaeans desired to return home, they were restrained by Achilles, who afterwards attacked the cattle of Aeneas
In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas (, ; from ) was a Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy (both being grandsons ...
, sacked neighbouring cities (like Pedasus
Pedasus (Ancient Greek: Πήδασος) has been identified with several personal and place names in Greek history and mythology.
Persons
In Homer's ''Iliad'', Pedasus was the name of a Trojan warrior, and the son of the naiad Abarbarea and hum ...
and Lyrnessus In Greek mythology, Lyrnessus (; grc, Λυρνησσός) was a town or city in Dardania (Asia minor), inhabited by Cilicians. It was closely associated with the nearby Cilician Thebe. At the time of the Trojan War, it was said to have been ruled ...
, where the Greeks capture the queen Briseis
Briseis (; grc, Βρῑσηΐς ''Brīsēís'', ) ("daughter of Briseus"), also known as Hippodameia (, ), is a significant character in the ''Iliad''. Her role as a status symbol is at the heart of the dispute between Achilles and Agamemnon t ...
) and killed Tenes, a son of Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
, as well as Priam's son Troilus in the sanctuary of Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
Thymbra :''See Battle of Thymbra for the fight in Lydia between the Persians and the Lydians''. See Thymbra (plant) for the plant genus.
Thymbra or Thymbre ( grc, Θύμβρα or Θύμβρη) was a town in the Troad, near Troy. The second of the six gate ...
ios; however, the romance between Troilus and Chryseis
In Greek mythology, Chryseis (, grc, Χρυσηΐς, translit=Khrysēís, ) is a Trojan woman, the daughter of Chryses. Chryseis, her apparent name in the ''Iliad'', means simply "Chryses' daughter"; later writers give her real name as Astynome ...
described in Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He wa ...
's '' Troilus and Criseyde'' and in William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''Troilus and Cressida
''Troilus and Cressida'' ( or ) is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1602.
At Troy during the Trojan War, Troilus and Cressida begin a love affair. Cressida is forced to leave Troy to join her father in the Greek camp. Meanwh ...
'' is a medieval invention.
In Dares Phrygius
Dares Phrygius ( grc, Δάρης), according to Homer, was a Trojan priest of Hephaestus. He was supposed to have been the author of an account of the destruction of Troy, and to have lived before Homer. A work in Latin, purporting to be a transla ...
' ''Account of the Destruction of Troy'', the Latin summary through which the story of Achilles was transmitted to medieval Europe, as well as in older accounts, Troilus was a young Trojan prince, the youngest of King Priam
In Greek mythology, Priam (; grc-gre, Πρίαμος, ) was the legendary and last king of Troy during the Trojan War. He was the son of Laomedon. His many children included notable characters such as Hector, Paris, and Cassandra.
Etymology
Mo ...
's and Hecuba's five legitimate sons (or according other sources, another son of Apollo). Despite his youth, he was one of the main Trojan war leaders, a "horse fighter" or "chariot fighter" according to Homer. Prophecies linked Troilus' fate to that of Troy and so he was ambushed in an attempt to capture him. Yet Achilles, struck by the beauty of both Troilus and his sister Polyxena, and overcome with lust, directed his sexual attentions on the youth – who, refusing to yield, instead found himself decapitated upon an altar-omphalos of Apollo Thymbra :''See Battle of Thymbra for the fight in Lydia between the Persians and the Lydians''. See Thymbra (plant) for the plant genus.
Thymbra or Thymbre ( grc, Θύμβρα or Θύμβρη) was a town in the Troad, near Troy. The second of the six gate ...
ios. Later versions of the story suggested Troilus was accidentally killed by Achilles in an over-ardent lovers' embrace. In this version of the myth, Achilles' death therefore came in retribution for this sacrilege. Ancient writers treated Troilus as the epitome of a dead child mourned by his parents. Had Troilus lived to adulthood, the First Vatican Mythographer The so-called Vatican Mythographers ( la, Mythographi Vaticani) are the anonymous authors of three Latin mythographical texts found together in a single medieval manuscript, Vatican Reg. lat. 1401. The name is that used by Angelo Mai when he publi ...
claimed, Troy would have been invincible; however, the motif is older and found already in Plautus
Titus Maccius Plautus (; c. 254 – 184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the gen ...
' ''Bacchides''.
In the ''Iliad''
Homer's ''Iliad'' is the most famous narrative of Achilles' deeds in the Trojan War. Achilles' wrath (μῆνις Ἀχιλλέως, ''mênis Achilléōs'') is the central theme of the poem. The first two lines of the ''Iliad'' read:
The Homeric epic only covers a few weeks of the decade-long war, and does not narrate Achilles' death. It begins with Achilles' withdrawal from battle after being dishonoured by Agamemnon, the commander of the Achaean forces. Agamemnon has taken a woman named Chryseis
In Greek mythology, Chryseis (, grc, Χρυσηΐς, translit=Khrysēís, ) is a Trojan woman, the daughter of Chryses. Chryseis, her apparent name in the ''Iliad'', means simply "Chryses' daughter"; later writers give her real name as Astynome ...
as his slave. Her father Chryses
In Greek mythology, Chryses (; Greek, Χρύσης ''Khrúsēs'', meaning "golden") was a Trojan priest of Apollo at Chryse, near the city of Troy.
Family
According to a tradition mentioned by Eustathius of Thessalonica, Chryses and Briseus ...
, a priest of Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
, begs Agamemnon to return her to him. Agamemnon refuses, and Apollo sends a plague amongst the Greeks. The prophet Calchas
Calchas (; grc, Κάλχας, ''Kalkhas'') is an Argive mantis, or "seer," dated to the Age of Legend, which is an aspect of Greek mythology. Calchas appears in the opening scenes of the ''Iliad'', which is believed to have been based on a war ...
correctly determines the source of the troubles but will not speak unless Achilles vows to protect him. Achilles does so, and Calchas declares that Chryseis must be returned to her father. Agamemnon consents, but then commands that Achilles' battle prize Briseis
Briseis (; grc, Βρῑσηΐς ''Brīsēís'', ) ("daughter of Briseus"), also known as Hippodameia (, ), is a significant character in the ''Iliad''. Her role as a status symbol is at the heart of the dispute between Achilles and Agamemnon t ...
, the daughter of Briseus In Greek mythology, Briseus (Ancient Greek: Βρισεύς) or Brises (Ancient Greek: Βρίσης) is the father of Briseis (Hippodameia), a maiden captured by the Greeks during the Trojan War, as recorded in the ''Iliad''. Eustathius of Thessalon ...
, be brought to him to replace Chryseis. Angry at the dishonour of having his plunder and glory taken away (and, as he says later, because he loves Briseis), with the urging of his mother Thetis, Achilles refuses to fight or lead his troops alongside the other Greek forces. At the same time, burning with rage over Agamemnon's theft, Achilles prays
''Prays'' is a genus of moths of the family Praydidae, formerly assigned to (depending on the author) Plutellidae or Yponomeutidae.
Selected species
*'' Prays acmonias'' - Meyrick, 1914 (from India)
*''Prays alpha'' - Moriuti, 1977 (from Japan) ...
to Thetis to convince Zeus to help the Trojans gain ground in the war, so that he may regain his honour.
As the battle turns against the Greeks, thanks to the influence of Zeus, Nestor
Nestor may refer to:
* Nestor (mythology), King of Pylos in Greek mythology
Arts and entertainment
* "Nestor" (''Ulysses'' episode) an episode in James Joyce's novel ''Ulysses''
* Nestor Studios, first-ever motion picture studio in Hollywood, L ...
declares that the Trojans are winning because Agamemnon has angered Achilles, and urges the king to appease the warrior. Agamemnon agrees and sends Odysseus
Odysseus ( ; grc-gre, Ὀδυσσεύς, Ὀδυσεύς, OdysseúsOdyseús, ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; lat, UlyssesUlixes), is a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the ''Odyssey''. Odysse ...
and two other chieftains, Ajax and Phoenix. They promise that, if Achilles returns to battle, Agamemnon will return the captive Briseis and other gifts. Achilles rejects all Agamemnon offers him and simply urges the Greeks to sail home as he was planning to do.
The Trojans, led by Hector, subsequently push the Greek army back toward the beaches and assault the Greek ships. With the Greek forces on the verge of absolute destruction, Patroclus
In Greek mythology, as recorded in Homer's ''Iliad'', Patroclus (pronunciation variable but generally ; grc, Πάτροκλος, Pátroklos, glory of the father) was a childhood friend, close wartime companion, and the presumed (by some later a ...
leads the Myrmidons into battle, wearing Achilles' armour, though Achilles remains at his camp. Patroclus succeeds in pushing the Trojans back from the beaches, but is killed by Hector before he can lead a proper assault on the city of Troy.
After receiving the news of the death of Patroclus from Antilochus
In Greek mythology, Antilochus (; Ancient Greek: Ἀντίλοχος ''Antílokhos'') was a prince of Pylos and one of the Achaeans in the Trojan War.
Family
Antilochus was the son of King Nestor either by Anaxibia or Eurydice. He was the brot ...
, the son of Nestor, Achilles grieves over his beloved companion's death. His mother Thetis comes to comfort the distraught Achilles. She persuades Hephaestus to make new armour for him, in place of the armour that Patroclus had been wearing, which was taken by Hector. The new armour includes the Shield of Achilles
The shield of Achilles is the shield that Achilles uses in his fight with Hector, famously described in a passage in Book 18, lines 478–608 of Homer's ''Iliad''. The intricately detailed imagery on the shield has inspired many different interpr ...
, described in great detail in the poem.
Enraged over the death of Patroclus, Achilles ends his refusal to fight and takes the field, killing many men in his rage but always seeking out Hector. Achilles even engages in battle with the river god Scamander, who has become angry that Achilles is choking his waters with all the men he has killed. The god tries to drown Achilles but is stopped by Hera
In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; grc-gre, Ἥρα, Hḗrā; grc, Ἥρη, Hḗrē, label=none in Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she ...
and Hephaestus. Zeus himself takes note of Achilles' rage and sends the gods to restrain him so that he will not go on to sack Troy itself before the time allotted for its destruction, seeming to show that the unhindered rage of Achilles can defy fate itself. Finally, Achilles finds his prey. Achilles chases Hector around the wall of Troy three times before Athena
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...
, in the form of Hector's favorite and dearest brother, Deiphobus, persuades Hector to stop running and fight Achilles face to face. After Hector realizes the trick, he knows the battle is inevitable. Wanting to go down fighting, he charges at Achilles with his only weapon, his sword, but misses. Accepting his fate, Hector begs Achilles not to spare his life, but to treat his body with respect after killing him. Achilles tells Hector it is hopeless to expect that of him, declaring that "my rage, my fury would drive me now to hack your flesh away and eat you raw – such agonies you have caused me". Achilles then kills Hector and drags his corpse by its heels behind his chariot. After having a dream where Patroclus begs Achilles to hold his funeral, Achilles hosts a series of funeral games in honour of his companion.
At the onset of his duel with Hector, Achilles is referred to as the brightest star in the sky, which comes on in the autumn, Orion's dog (Sirius
Sirius is the list of brightest stars, brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Ancient Greek language, Greek word , or , meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated α Canis Majoris, Latinisation ...
); a sign of evil. During the cremation of Patroclus, he is compared to Hesperus
In Greek mythology, Hesperus (; grc, Ἕσπερος, Hésperos) is the Evening Star, the planet Venus in the evening. He is one of the ''Astra Planeta''. A son of the dawn goddess Eos (Roman Aurora), he is the half-brother of her other son, Pho ...
, the evening/western star (Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...
), while the burning of the funeral pyre lasts until Phosphorus
Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ear ...
, the morning/eastern star (also Venus) has set (descended).
With the assistance of the god Hermes
Hermes (; grc-gre, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves, merchants, and orato ...
(Argeiphontes), Hector's father Priam
In Greek mythology, Priam (; grc-gre, Πρίαμος, ) was the legendary and last king of Troy during the Trojan War. He was the son of Laomedon. His many children included notable characters such as Hector, Paris, and Cassandra.
Etymology
Mo ...
goes to Achilles' tent to plead with Achilles for the return of Hector's body so that he can be buried. Achilles relents and promises a truce for the duration of the funeral, lasting 9 days with a burial on the 10th (in the tradition of Niobe
In Greek mythology, Niobe (; grc-gre, Νιόβη ) was a daughter of Tantalus and of either Dione, the most frequently cited, or of Eurythemista or Euryanassa, the wife of Amphion and the sister of Pelops and Broteas.
Her father was the ru ...
's offspring). The poem ends with a description of Hector's funeral, with the doom of Troy and Achilles himself still to come.
Later epic accounts: fighting Penthesilea and Memnon
The ''Aethiopis
The ''Aethiopis'' , also spelled ''Aithiopis'' (Greek: , ''Aíthiopís''; la, Aethiopis), is a lost epic of ancient Greek literature. It was one of the Epic Cycle, that is, the Trojan cycle, which told the entire history of the Trojan War in e ...
'' (7th century BC) and a work named '' Posthomerica'', composed by Quintus of Smyrna
Quintus Smyrnaeus (also Quintus of Smyrna; el, Κόϊντος Σμυρναῖος, ''Kointos Smyrnaios'') was a Greek epic poet whose ''Posthomerica'', following "after Homer", continues the narration of the Trojan War. The dates of Quintus Smy ...
in the fourth century CE, relate further events from the Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has ...
. When Penthesilea
Penthesilea ( el, Πενθεσίλεια, Penthesíleia) was an Amazonian queen in Greek mythology, the daughter of Ares and Otrera and the sister of Hippolyta, Antiope and Melanippe. She assisted Troy in the Trojan War, during which she was ...
, queen of the Amazons
In Greek mythology, the Amazons (Ancient Greek: Ἀμαζόνες ''Amazónes'', singular Ἀμαζών ''Amazōn'', via Latin ''Amāzon, -ŏnis'') are portrayed in a number of ancient epic poems and legends, such as the Labours of Hercules, ...
and daughter of Ares
Ares (; grc, Ἄρης, ''Árēs'' ) is the Greek god of war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for success in war b ...
, arrives in Troy, Priam hopes that she will defeat Achilles. After his temporary truce with Priam, Achilles fights and kills the warrior queen, only to grieve over her death later. At first, he was so distracted by her beauty, he did not fight as intensely as usual. Once he realized that his distraction was endangering his life, he refocused and killed her.
Following the death of Patroclus, Nestor's son Antilochus
In Greek mythology, Antilochus (; Ancient Greek: Ἀντίλοχος ''Antílokhos'') was a prince of Pylos and one of the Achaeans in the Trojan War.
Family
Antilochus was the son of King Nestor either by Anaxibia or Eurydice. He was the brot ...
becomes Achilles' closest companion. When Memnon
In Greek mythology, Memnon (; Ancient Greek: Μέμνων means 'resolute') was a king of Aethiopia and son of Tithonus and Eos. As a warrior he was considered to be almost Achilles' equal in skill. During the Trojan War, he brought an army t ...
, son of the Dawn Goddess Eos
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Eos (; Ionic and Homeric Greek ''Ēṓs'', Attic ''Héōs'', "dawn", or ; Aeolic ''Aúōs'', Doric ''Āṓs'') is the goddess and personification of the dawn, who rose each morning from her home ...
and king of Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
, slays Antilochus, Achilles once more obtains revenge on the battlefield, killing Memnon. Consequently, Eos will not let the sun rise until Zeus persuades her. 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
The ''Aethiopis'' , also spelled ''Aithiopis'' (Greek: , ''Aíthiopís''; la, Aethiopis), is a lost epic of ancient Greek literature. It was one of the Epic Cycle, that is, the Trojan cycle, which told the entire history of the Trojan War in e ...
'', 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.
Achilles and Patroclus
The exact nature of Achilles' relationship with Patroclus has been a subject of dispute in both the classical period and modern times. In the ''Iliad'', it appears to be the model of a deep and loyal friendship. Homer does not suggest that Achilles and his close friend Patroclus had sexual relations. Although there is no direct evidence in the text of the ''Iliad'' that Achilles and Patroclus were lovers, this theory was expressed by some later authors. Commentators from classical antiquity
Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...
to the present have often interpreted the relationship through the lens of their own cultures. In 5th-century BC Athens, the intense bond was often viewed in light of the Greek custom of ''paiderasteia'', which is the relationship between an older male and a younger one, usually a teenager. In Patroclus and Achilles' case, Achilles would have been the younger as Patroclus is usually seen as his elder. In Plato's ''Symposium'', the participants in a dialogue about love assume that Achilles and Patroclus were a couple; Phaedrus argues that Achilles was the younger and more beautiful one so he was the beloved and Patroclus was the lover. However, ancient Greek had no words to distinguish heterosexual and homosexual
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
, and it was assumed that a man could both desire handsome young men and have sex with women. Many pairs of men throughout history have been compared to Achilles and Patroclus to imply a homosexual relationship.
Death
The death of Achilles, even if considered solely as it occurred in the oldest sources, is a complex one, with many different versions. Starting with the oldest account, In the ''Iliad Book XXII'', Hector predicts with his last dying breath that Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
will slay him at the Scaean Gates leading to Troy (with an arrow to the heel according to Statius). ''In Book XXIII'', the sad spirit of dead Patroclus visits Achilles just as he drifts off into slumber, requesting that his bones be placed with those of Achilles in his golden vase, a gift of his mother.
In the ''Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major Ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek Epic poetry, epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by moder ...
Book XI'', Odysseus sails to the underworld and converses with the shades. One of these is Achilles, who when greeted as "blessed in life, blessed in death", responds that he would rather be a slave to the worst of masters than be king of all the dead. But Achilles then asks Odysseus of his son's exploits in the Trojan war, and when Odysseus tells of Neoptolemus' heroic actions, Achilles is filled with satisfaction.
In the ''Odyssey Book XXIV'' we read dead King Agamemnon's ghostly account of his death: Achilles' funeral pyre bleached bones had been mixed with those of Patroclus
In Greek mythology, as recorded in Homer's ''Iliad'', Patroclus (pronunciation variable but generally ; grc, Πάτροκλος, Pátroklos, glory of the father) was a childhood friend, close wartime companion, and the presumed (by some later a ...
and put into his mother's golden vase. Also, the bones of Antilocus, who had become closer to Achilles than any other following Patroclus' death, were separately enclosed. And, the customary funeral games of a hero were performed, and a massive tomb or mound
A mound is a heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded area of topographically higher el ...
was built on the Hellespont
The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...
for approaching seagoers to celebrate.
Achilles was represented in the ''Aethiopis'' as living after his death in the island of Leuke at the mouth of the river Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
. Another version of Achilles' death is that he fell deeply in love with one of the Trojan princesses, Polyxena. Achilles asks Priam for Polyxena's hand in marriage. Priam is willing because it would mean the end of the war and an alliance with the world's greatest warrior. But while Priam is overseeing the private marriage of Polyxena and Achilles, Paris, who would have to give up Helen if Achilles married his sister, hides in the bushes and shoots Achilles with a divine arrow, killing him. According to some accounts, he had married Medea
In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason an ...
in life, so that after both their deaths they were united in the Elysian Fields of Hades
Hades (; grc-gre, ᾍδης, Háidēs; ), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also ...
– as Hera promised Thetis in Apollonius' ''Argonautica
The ''Argonautica'' ( el, Ἀργοναυτικά , translit=Argonautika) is a Greek epic poem written by Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BC. The only surviving Hellenistic epic, the ''Argonautica'' tells the myth of the voyage of Jason a ...
'' (3rd century BC).
Fate of Achilles' armour
Achilles' armour was the object of a feud between Odysseus
Odysseus ( ; grc-gre, Ὀδυσσεύς, Ὀδυσεύς, OdysseúsOdyseús, ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; lat, UlyssesUlixes), is a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the ''Odyssey''. Odysse ...
and Telamonian Ajax
Ajax () or Aias (; grc, Αἴας, Aíās , ''Aíantos''; archaic ) is a Greek mythological hero, the son of King Telamon and Periboea, and the half-brother of Teucer. He plays an important role, and is portrayed as a towering figure and ...
(Ajax the greater). They competed for it by giving speeches on why they were the bravest after Achilles to their Trojan prisoners, who, after considering both men's presentations, decided Odysseus was more deserving of the armour. Furious, Ajax cursed Odysseus, which earned him the ire of Athena, who temporarily made Ajax so mad with grief and anguish that he began killing sheep, thinking them his comrades. After a while, when Athena lifted his madness and Ajax realized that he had actually been killing sheep, he was so ashamed that he committed suicide. Odysseus eventually gave the armour to Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles. When Odysseus encounters the shade of Ajax much later in the House of Hades (''Odyssey'' 11.543–566), Ajax is still so angry about the outcome of the competition that he refuses to speak to Odysseus.
The armour they fought for was made by Hephaestus thus making it much stronger and more beautiful than any armour a mortal could craft. He was made the gear because his first set was worn by Patroclus
In Greek mythology, as recorded in Homer's ''Iliad'', Patroclus (pronunciation variable but generally ; grc, Πάτροκλος, Pátroklos, glory of the father) was a childhood friend, close wartime companion, and the presumed (by some later a ...
when he went to battle and taken by Hector when he killed Patroclus. The Shield of Achilles
The shield of Achilles is the shield that Achilles uses in his fight with Hector, famously described in a passage in Book 18, lines 478–608 of Homer's ''Iliad''. The intricately detailed imagery on the shield has inspired many different interpr ...
was also made by the fire god. His legendary spear was given to him by his mentor Chiron before he participated in the Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has ...
. It was called the Pelian Spear which allegedly no other man could wield.
A relic claimed to be Achilles' bronze-headed spear was preserved for centuries in the temple of Athena on the acropolis of Phaselis, Lycia, a port on the Pamphylian Gulf. The city was visited in 333 BC by Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
, who envisioned himself as the new Achilles and carried the ''Iliad'' with him, but his court biographers do not mention the spear; however, it was shown in the time of Pausanias in the 2nd century CE.
Achilles, Ajax and a game of ''petteia''
Numerous paintings on pottery have suggested a tale not mentioned in the literary traditions. At some point in the war, Achilles and Ajax were playing a board game
Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well.
Many board games feature a comp ...
(''petteia''). They were absorbed in the game and oblivious to the surrounding battle. The Trojans attacked and reached the heroes, who were saved only by an intervention of Athena.
Worship and heroic cult
The tomb of Achilles, extant throughout antiquity in Troad,[Herodotus, '']Histories
Histories or, in Latin, Historiae may refer to:
* the plural of history
* ''Histories'' (Herodotus), by Herodotus
* ''The Histories'', by Timaeus
* ''The Histories'' (Polybius), by Polybius
* ''Histories'' by Gaius Sallustius Crispus (Sallust), ...
'' 5.94; Pliny, '' Naturalis Historia'' 5.125; Strabo, ''Geographica
The ''Geographica'' (Ancient Greek: Γεωγραφικά ''Geōgraphiká''), or ''Geography'', is an encyclopedia of geographical knowledge, consisting of 17 'books', written in Ancient Greek, Greek and attributed to Strabo, an educated citizen ...
'' 13.1.32 (C596); Diogenes Laërtius
Diogenes Laërtius ( ; grc-gre, Διογένης Λαέρτιος, ; ) was a biographer of the Ancient Greece, Greek philosophers. Nothing is definitively known about his life, but his surviving ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' is a ...
1.74. was venerated by Thessalians, but also by Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
expeditionary forces, as well as by Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
and the Roman emperor Caracalla
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname "Caracalla" () was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor S ...
. Achilles' cult was also to be found at other places, e. g. on the island of Astypalaea in the Sporades, in Sparta
Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...
which had a sanctuary, in Elis and in Achilles' homeland Thessaly
Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thes ...
, as well as in the Magna Graecia
Magna Graecia (, ; , , grc, Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, ', it, Magna Grecia) was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily; these re ...
cities of Tarentum Tarentum may refer to:
* Taranto, Apulia, Italy, on the site of the ancient Roman city of Tarentum (formerly the Greek colony of Taras)
**See also History of Taranto
* Tarentum (Campus Martius), also Terentum, an area in or on the edge of the Camp ...
, Locri
Locri is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Reggio Calabria, Calabria, southern Italy. Its name derives from that of the ancient Greek region of Locris. Today it is an important administrative and cultural centre on the Ionia ...
and Croton, accounting for an almost Panhellenic cult to the hero.
The cult of Achilles is illustrated in the 500 BC Polyxena sarcophagus, which depicts the sacrifice of Polyxena near the tumulus of Achilles. Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
(13.1.32) also suggested that such a cult of Achilles existed in Troad:
The spread and intensity of the hero's veneration among the Greeks
The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
that had settled
A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area.
A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer.
Settle ...
on the northern coast of the Pontus Euxinus, today's Black Sea, appears to have been remarkable. An archaic cult is attested for the Milesian colony of Olbia
Olbia (, ; sc, Terranoa; sdn, Tarranoa) is a city and commune of 60,346 inhabitants (May 2018) in the Italian insular province of Sassari in northeastern Sardinia, Italy, in the historical region of Gallura. Called ''Olbia'' in the Roman age, ...
as well as for an island in the middle of the Black Sea, today identified with Snake Island (Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
Зміїний, ''Zmiinyi'', near Kiliya, Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
). Early dedicatory inscriptions from the Greek colonies
Greek colonization was an organised colonial expansion by the Archaic Greeks into the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea in the period of the 8th–6th centuries BC.
This colonization differed from the migrations of the Greek Dark Ages in that it ...
on the Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...
(graffiti
Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
and inscribed clay disks, these possibly being votive offerings, from Olbia, the area of Berezan Island
Berezan (Cyrillic: Береза́нь; Ancient Greek: Borysthenes; former tr, Pirezin) is an island in the Black Sea at the entrance of the Dnieper-Bug Estuary, Ochakiv Raion, Mykolaiv Oblast, Ukraine. Located 8 kilometers from the city of Och ...
and the Tauric Chersonese
The recorded history of the Crimean Peninsula, historically known as ''Tauris'', ''Taurica'' ( gr, Ταυρική or Ταυρικά), and the ''Tauric Chersonese'' ( gr, Χερσόνησος Ταυρική, "Tauric Peninsula"), begins around the ...
) attest the existence of a heroic cult
Hero cults were one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion. In Homeric Greek, "hero" (, ) refers to the mortal offspring of a human and a god. By the historical period, however, the word came to mean specifically a ''dead'' ma ...
of Achilles from the sixth century BC onwards. The cult was still thriving in the third century CE, when dedicatory stelae from Olbia refer to an ''Achilles Pontárchēs'' (Ποντάρχης, roughly "lord of the Sea," or "of the Pontus Euxinus"), who was invoked as a protector of the city of Olbia, venerated on par with Olympian gods
upright=1.8, Fragment of a relief (1st century BC1st century AD) depicting the twelve Olympians carrying their attributes in procession; from left to right: Hestia (scepter), Hermes (winged cap and staff), Aphrodite (veiled), Ares (helmet and s ...
such as the local Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
Prostates, Hermes
Hermes (; grc-gre, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves, merchants, and orato ...
Agoraeus,[ or ]Poseidon
Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ch ...
.
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...
(23–79 AD) in his '' Natural History'' mentions a "port of the Achæi" and an "island of Achilles", famous for the tomb of that "man" (), situated somewhat nearby Olbia and the Dnieper-Bug Estuary; furthermore, at 125 Roman miles from this island, he places a peninsula "which stretches forth in the shape of a sword" obliquely, called ''Dromos Achilleos'' (Ἀχιλλέως δρόμος, ''Achilléōs drómos'' " the Race-course of Achilles") and considered the place of the hero's exercise or of games instituted by him.[ This last feature of Pliny's account is considered to be the iconic spit, called today ''Tendra'' (or ''Kosa Tendra'' and ''Kosa Djarilgatch''), situated between the mouth of the ]Dnieper
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...
and Karkinit Bay
Karkinit, Karkinitski, Carcinites, or Karkinitsky Bay ( uk, Каркінітська затока, ''Karkinits’ka zatoka''; russian: Каркинитский залив, ''Karkinitskiy zaliv'') is a bay of the Black Sea that separates the n ...
, but which is hardly 125 Roman miles ( km) away from the Dnieper-Bug estuary, as Pliny states. (To the "Race-course" he gives a length of 80 miles, km, whereas the spit measures km today.)
In the following chapter of his book, Pliny refers to the same island as ''Achillea'' and introduces two further names for it: ''Leuce'' or ''Macaron'' (from Greek ῆσοςμακαρῶν "island of the blest"). The "present day" measures, he gives at this point, seem to account for an identification of ''Achillea'' or ''Leuce'' with today's Snake Island. Pliny's contemporary Pomponius Mela () tells that Achilles was buried on an island named ''Achillea'', situated between the Borysthenes
Borysthenes (; grc, Βορυσθένης) is a geographical name from classical antiquity. The term usually refers to the Dnieper River and its eponymous river god, but also seems to have been an alternative name for Pontic Olbia, a town situate ...
and the Ister Ister, The Ister, or Der Ister may refer to:
*The Danube river, known as the Ister in Ancient Greek (Ἴστρος) and Thracian
*The Dniester river, known as the Ister in Thracian
*"Der Ister", a poem by Friedrich Hölderlin
**''Hölderlin's Hymn " ...
, adding to the geographical confusion. Ruins of a square temple, measuring 30 meters to a side, possibly that dedicated to Achilles, were discovered by Captain Kritzikly () in 1823 on Snake Island. A second exploration in 1840 showed that the construction of a lighthouse had destroyed all traces of this temple. A fifth century BC black-glazed lekythos inscription, found on the island in 1840, reads: "Glaukos, son of Poseidon, dedicated me to Achilles, lord of Leuke." In another inscription from the fifth or fourth century BC, a statue is dedicated to Achilles, lord of Leuke, by a citizen of Olbia, while in a further dedication, the city of Olbia confirms its continuous maintenance of the island's cult, again suggesting its quality as a place of a supra-regional hero veneration.[
The heroic cult dedicated to Achilles on ''Leuce'' seems to go back to an account from the lost epic '']Aethiopis
The ''Aethiopis'' , also spelled ''Aithiopis'' (Greek: , ''Aíthiopís''; la, Aethiopis), is a lost epic of ancient Greek literature. It was one of the Epic Cycle, that is, the Trojan cycle, which told the entire history of the Trojan War in e ...
'' according to which, after his untimely death, Thetis had snatched her son from the funeral pyre and removed him to a mythical (''Leúkē Nêsos'' "White Island"). Already in the fifth century BC, Pindar
Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar is ...
had mentioned a cult of Achilles on a "bright island" (φαεννά νᾶσος, ''phaenná nâsos'') of the Black Sea, while in another of his works, Pindar would retell the story of the immortalized Achilles living on a geographically indefinite Island of the Blest
The Fortunate Isles or Isles of the Blessed ( grc, μακάρων νῆσοι, ''makárōn nêsoi'') were semi-legendary islands in the Atlantic Ocean, variously treated as a simple geographical location and as a winterless earthly paradise inhabit ...
together with other heroes such as his father Peleus
In Greek mythology, Peleus (; Ancient Greek: Πηλεύς ''Pēleus'') was a hero, king of Phthia, husband of Thetis and the father of their son Achilles. This myth was already known to the hearers of Homer in the late 8th century BC.
Biograp ...
and Cadmus
In Greek mythology, Cadmus (; grc-gre, Κάδμος, Kádmos) was the legendary Phoenician founder of Boeotian Thebes. He was the first Greek hero and, alongside Perseus and Bellerophon, the greatest hero and slayer of monsters before the da ...
. Well known is the connection of these mythological Fortunate Isles
The Fortunate Isles or Isles of the Blessed ( grc, μακάρων νῆσοι, ''makárōn nêsoi'') were semi-legendary islands in the Atlantic Ocean, variously treated as a simple geographical location and as a winterless earthly paradise inhabit ...
(μακαρῶν νῆσοι, ''makárôn nêsoi'') or the Homeric Elysium
Elysium (, ), otherwise known as the Elysian Fields ( grc, Ἠλύσιον πεδίον, ''Ēlýsion pedíon'') or Elysian Plains, is a conception of the afterlife that developed over time and was maintained by some Greek religious and philos ...
with the stream Oceanus
In Greek mythology, Oceanus (; grc-gre, , Ancient Greek pronunciation: , also Ὠγενός , Ὤγενος , or Ὠγήν ) was a Titan son of Uranus and Gaia, the husband of his sister the Titan Tethys, and the father of the river gods a ...
which according to Greek mythology surrounds the inhabited world, which should have accounted for the identification of the northern strands of the Euxine with it.[ Guy Hedreen has found further evidence for this connection of Achilles with the northern margin of the inhabited world in a poem by Alcaeus, speaking of "Achilles lord of Scythia" and the opposition of North and South, as evoked by Achilles' fight against the Aethiopian prince ]Memnon
In Greek mythology, Memnon (; Ancient Greek: Μέμνων means 'resolute') was a king of Aethiopia and son of Tithonus and Eos. As a warrior he was considered to be almost Achilles' equal in skill. During the Trojan War, he brought an army t ...
, who in his turn would be removed to his homeland by his mother Eos
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Eos (; Ionic and Homeric Greek ''Ēṓs'', Attic ''Héōs'', "dawn", or ; Aeolic ''Aúōs'', Doric ''Āṓs'') is the goddess and personification of the dawn, who rose each morning from her home ...
after his death.
The '' Periplus of the Euxine Sea'' () gives the following details:
The Greek geographer Dionysius Periegetes
Dionysius Periegetes ( grc-gre, Διονύσιος ὁ Περιηγητής, literally Dionysius the Voyager or Traveller, often Latinized to ''Dionysius Periegeta''), also known as Dionysius of Alexandria or Dionysius the African,''Encyclopædia ...
, who likely lived during the first century CE, wrote 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 honour". Similarly, others relate the island's name to its white cliffs, snakes or birds dwelling there.[ 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". Leuce had also a reputation as a place of healing. Pausanias reports that the ]Delphi
Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The oracle ...
c Pythia
Pythia (; grc, Πυθία ) was the name of the high priestess of the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo at Delphi. She specifically served as its oracle and was known as the Oracle of Delphi. Her title was also historically glossed i ...
sent a lord of Croton to be cured of a chest wound. Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus (occasionally Anglicisation, anglicised as Ammian) (born , died 400) was a Roman soldier and historian who wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from Ancient history, antiquity (preceding Procopius). His w ...
attributes the healing to waters (''aquae'') on the island.
A number of important commercial port cities of the Greek waters were dedicated to Achilles. Herodotus
Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...
, Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...
and Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
reported on the existence of a town ''Achílleion'' (Ἀχίλλειον), built by settlers from Mytilene in the sixth century BC, close to the hero's presumed burial mound in the Troad.[ Later attestations point to an ''Achílleion'' in Messenia (according to ]Stephanus Byzantinus
Stephanus or Stephan of Byzantium ( la, Stephanus Byzantinus; grc-gre, Στέφανος Βυζάντιος, ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD), was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethni ...
) and an ''Achílleios'' (Ἀχίλλειος) in Laconia
Laconia or Lakonia ( el, Λακωνία, , ) is a historical and administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparta. The word ''laconic''—to speak in a blunt, c ...
. Nicolae Densuşianu Nicolae may refer to:
* Nicolae (name), a Romanian name
* ''Nicolae'' (novel), a 1997 novel
See also
*Nicolai (disambiguation)
*Nicolao Nicolao is an Italian given name and a surname. It may refer to the following:
Given name
*Nicolao Civitali ...
recognized a connection to Achilles in the names of Aquileia
Aquileia / / / / ;Bilingual name of ''Aquileja – Oglej'' in: vec, Aquiłeja / ; Slovenian: ''Oglej''), group=pron is an ancient Roman city in Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about from the sea, on the river N ...
and of the northern arm of the Danube delta, called Chilia (presumably from an older ''Achileii''), though his conclusion, that Leuce had sovereign rights over the Black Sea, evokes modern rather than archaic sea-law.[Nicolae Densuşianu: ''Dacia preistorică''. Bucharest: Carol Göbl, 1913.]
The kings of Epirus claimed to be descended from Achilles through his son, Neoptolemus. Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
, son of the Epirote princess Olympias
Olympias ( grc-gre, Ὀλυμπιάς; c. 375–316 BC) was a Greek princess of the Molossians, and the eldest daughter of king Neoptolemus I of Epirus, the sister of Alexander I of Epirus, the fourth wife of Philip II, the king of Macedonia a ...
, could therefore also claim this descent, and in many ways strove to be like his great ancestor. He is said to have visited the tomb of Achilles at Achilleion while passing Troy. In AD 216 the Roman Emperor Caracalla
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname "Caracalla" () was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor S ...
, while on his way to war against Parthia
Parthia ( peo, 𐎱𐎼𐎰𐎺 ''Parθava''; xpr, 𐭐𐭓𐭕𐭅 ''Parθaw''; pal, 𐭯𐭫𐭮𐭥𐭡𐭥 ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Med ...
, emulated Alexander by holding games around Achilles' tumulus.
Reception during antiquity
In Greek tragedy
The Greek tragedian Aeschylus
Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...
wrote a trilogy of plays about Achilles, given the title ''Achilleis'' by modern scholars. The tragedies relate the deeds of Achilles during the Trojan War, including his defeat of Hector and eventual death when an arrow shot by Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and guided by Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
punctures his heel. Extant fragments of the ''Achilleis'' and other Aeschylean fragments have been assembled to produce a workable modern play. The first part of the ''Achilleis'' trilogy, ''The Myrmidons'', focused on the relationship between Achilles and chorus, who represent the Achaean army and try to convince Achilles to give up his quarrel with Agamemnon; only a few lines survive today. In Plato's ''Symposium'', Phaedrus points out that Aeschylus portrayed Achilles as the lover and Patroclus as the beloved; Phaedrus argues that this is incorrect because Achilles, being the younger and more beautiful of the two, was the beloved, who loved his lover so much that he chose to die to avenge him.
The tragedian Sophocles
Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or co ...
also wrote ''The Lovers of Achilles'', a play with Achilles as the main character. Only a few fragments survive.
Towards the end of the 5th century BC, a more negative view of Achilles emerges in Greek drama; Euripides
Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...
refers to Achilles in a bitter or ironic tone in '' Hecuba'', ''Electra
Electra (; grc, Ήλέκτρα) is one of the most popular mythological characters in tragedies.Evans (1970), p. 79 She is the main character in two Greek tragedies, '' Electra'' by Sophocles and '' Electra'' by Euripides. She is also the centra ...
'', and '' Iphigenia in Aulis''.[Latacz 2010]
In Greek philosophy
Zeno
The philosopher Zeno of Elea
Zeno of Elea (; grc, Ζήνων ὁ Ἐλεᾱ́της; ) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher of Magna Graecia and a member of the Eleatic School founded by Parmenides. Aristotle called him the inventor of the dialectic. He is best known fo ...
centred one of his paradoxes on an imaginary footrace between " swift-footed" Achilles and a tortoise, by which he attempted to show that Achilles could not catch up to a tortoise with a head start, and therefore that motion and change were impossible. As a student of the monist Parmenides and a member of the Eleatic school, Zeno believed time and motion to be illusions.
Plato
In '' Hippias Minor'', a dialogue attributed to Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
, an arrogant man named Hippias argues with Socrates
Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no te ...
. The two get into a discussion about lying. They decide that a person who is intentionally false must be "better" than a person who is unintentionally false, on the basis that someone who lies intentionally must understand the subject about which they are lying. Socrates uses various analogies, discussing athletics and the sciences to prove his point. The two also reference Homer extensively. Socrates and Hippias agree that Odysseus
Odysseus ( ; grc-gre, Ὀδυσσεύς, Ὀδυσεύς, OdysseúsOdyseús, ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; lat, UlyssesUlixes), is a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the ''Odyssey''. Odysse ...
, who concocted a number of lies throughout the ''Odyssey'' and other stories in the Trojan War Cycle, was false intentionally. Achilles, like Odysseus, told numerous falsehoods. Hippias believes that Achilles was a generally honest man, while Socrates believes that Achilles lied for his own benefit. The two argue over whether it is better to lie on purpose or by accident. Socrates eventually abandons Homeric arguments and makes sports analogies to drive home the point: someone who does wrong on purpose is a better person than someone who does wrong unintentionally.
In Roman and medieval literature
The Romans, who traditionally traced their lineage to Troy, took a highly negative view of Achilles. Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...
refers to Achilles as a savage and a merciless butcher of men, while Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...
portrays Achilles ruthlessly slaying women and children. Other writers, such as Catullus
Gaius Valerius Catullus (; 84 - 54 BCE), often referred to simply as Catullus (, ), was a Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote chiefly in the neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical heroes. His s ...
, Propertius
Sextus Propertius was a Latin elegiac poet of the Augustan age. He was born around 50–45 BC in Assisium and died shortly after 15 BC.
Propertius' surviving work comprises four books of ''Elegies'' ('). He was a friend of the poets Gallus a ...
, and Ovid
Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...
, represent a second strand of disparagement, with an emphasis on Achilles' erotic career. This strand continues in Latin accounts of the Trojan War by writers such as Dictys Cretensis
Dictys Cretensis, i.e. Dictys of Crete (, ; grc, Δίκτυς ὁ Κρής) of Knossos was a legendary companion of Idomeneus during the Trojan War, and the purported author of a diary of its events, that deployed some of the same materials worke ...
and Dares Phrygius
Dares Phrygius ( grc, Δάρης), according to Homer, was a Trojan priest of Hephaestus. He was supposed to have been the author of an account of the destruction of Troy, and to have lived before Homer. A work in Latin, purporting to be a transla ...
and in Benoît de Sainte-Maure
Benoît de Sainte-Maure (; died 1173) was a 12th-century French poet, most probably from Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine near Tours, France. The Plantagenets' administrative center was located in Chinon, west of Tours.
''Le Roman de Troie''
His 40,000 ...
's '' Roman de Troie'' and Guido delle Colonne's ''Historia destructionis Troiae
''Historia destructionis Troiae'' ("History of the destruction of Troy"), also called ''Historia Troiana'', is a Latin prose narrative written by Guido delle Colonne, a Sicilian author, in the early 13th century. Its main source was the Old Frenc ...
'', which remained the most widely read and retold versions of the Matter of Troy until the 17th century.
Achilles was described by the Byzantine chronicler Leo the Deacon Leo the Deacon ( el, Λέων ο Διάκονος) (born c. 950) was a Byzantine Greek historian and chronicler.
He was born around 950 at Kaloe in Asia Minor, and was educated in Constantinople, where he became a deacon in the imperial palace. Whi ...
, not as Hellene
The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
, but as Scythian, while according to the Byzantine author John Malalas
John Malalas ( el, , ''Iōánnēs Malálas''; – 578) was a Byzantine chronicler from Antioch (now Antakya, Turkey).
Life
Malalas was of Syrian descent, and he was a native speaker of Syriac who learned how to write in Greek later in ...
, his army was made up of a tribe previously known as Myrmidons and later as Bulgars
The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians) were Turkic semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region during the 7th century. They became known as nomad ...
.
In modern literature and arts
Literature
* Achilles appears in Dante's ''Inferno
Inferno may refer to:
* Hell, an afterlife place of suffering
* Conflagration, a large uncontrolled fire
Film
* ''L'Inferno'', a 1911 Italian film
* Inferno (1953 film), ''Inferno'' (1953 film), a film noir by Roy Ward Baker
* Inferno (1973 fi ...
'' (composed 1308–1320). He is seen in Hell
In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
's second circle, that of lust.
* Achilles is portrayed as a former hero who has become lazy and devoted to the love of Patroclus, in William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''Troilus and Cressida
''Troilus and Cressida'' ( or ) is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1602.
At Troy during the Trojan War, Troilus and Cressida begin a love affair. Cressida is forced to leave Troy to join her father in the Greek camp. Meanwh ...
'' (1602). Despicably, he has his Myrmidons murder the unarmed Hector, and then gets them to announce that Achilles himself has slain Hector, as if it had been in a fair fight (Act 5.9.5-14).
* The French dramatist Thomas Corneille wrote a tragedy ''La Mort d'Achille'' (1673).
* Achilles is the subject of the poem ''Achilleis'' (1799), a fragment by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...
.
* In 1899, the Polish playwright, painter and poet Stanisław Wyspiański published a national drama, based on Polish history, named ''Achilles''.
* In 1921, Edward Shanks
Edward Richard Buxton Shanks (11 June 1892 – 4 May 1953) was an English writer, known as a war poet of World War I, then as an academic and journalist, and literary critic and biographer. He also wrote some science fiction. E. F. Bleiler and Rich ...
published ''The Island of Youth and Other Poems'', concerned among others with Achilles.
* The 1983 novel '' Kassandra'' by Christa Wolf
Christa Wolf (; née Ihlenfeld; 18 March 1929 – 1 December 2011) was a German novelist and essayist.
Barbara Gard ...
also treats the death of Achilles.
* H.D.'s 1961 long poem ''Helen in Egypt'' features Achilles prominently as a figure who's irrational hatred of Helen traumatizes her, the bulk of the poem's plot being about her recovery.
* Akhilles is killed by a poisoned Kentaur arrow shot by Kassandra in Marion Zimmer Bradley's novel '' The Firebrand'' (1987).
* Achilles is one of various 'narrators' in Colleen McCullough
Colleen Margaretta McCullough (; married name Robinson, previously Ion-Robinson; 1 June 193729 January 2015) was an Australian author known for her novels, her most well-known being ''The Thorn Birds'' and ''The Ladies of Missalonghi''.
Life
...
's novel ''The Song of Troy
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' (1998).
* ''The Death of Achilles
The Death of Achilles (russian: Смерть Ахиллеса) is the fourth novel in the Erast Fandorin historical detective series by Boris Akunin. Its subtitle is ''детектив о наемном убийце'' ("a detective novel about a ...
'' (''Смерть Ахиллеса'', 1998) is an historical detective novel by Russian writer Boris Akunin
Boris Akunin (russian: Борис Акунин) is the pen name of Grigori Chkhartishvili (russian: Григорий Шалвович Чхартишвили, Grigory Shalvovich Chkhartishvili; ka, გრიგორი ჩხარტიშვ ...
that alludes to various figures and motifs from the ''Iliad''.
* The character Achilles in ''Ender's Shadow
''Ender's Shadow'' (1999) is a parallel science fiction novel by the American author Orson Scott Card, taking place at the same time as the novel ''Ender's Game'' and depicting some of the same events from the point of view of Bean, a supporting ...
'' (1999), by Orson Scott Card, shares his namesake's cunning mind and ruthless attitude.
* Achilles is one of the main characters in Dan Simmons
Dan Simmons (born April 4, 1948) is an American science fiction and horror writer. He is the author of the Hyperion Cantos and the Ilium/Olympos cycles, among other works which span the science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres, sometimes wi ...
's novels '' Ilium'' (2003) and ''Olympos
Olympus or Olympos ( grc, Ὄλυμπος, link=no) may refer to:
Mountains
In antiquity
Greece
* Mount Olympus in Thessaly, northern Greece, the home of the twelve gods of Olympus in Greek mythology
* Mount Olympus (Lesvos), located in Lesb ...
'' (2005).
* Achilles is a major supporting character in David Gemmell
David Andrew Gemmell (; 1 August 1948 – 28 July 2006) was a British author of heroic fantasy, best known for his debut novel, ''Legend (Gemmell novel), Legend''. A former journalist and newspaper editor, Gemmell had his first work of fict ...
's ''Troy
Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...
'' series of books (2005–2007).
* Achilles is the main character in David Malouf
David George Joseph Malouf AO (; born 20 March 1934) is an Australian poet, novelist, short story writer, playwright and librettist. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2008, Malouf has lectured at both the University of Quee ...
's novel ''Ransom
Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or the sum of money involved in such a practice.
When ransom means "payment", the word comes via Old French ''rançon'' from Latin ''red ...
'' (2009).
* The ghost
A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...
of Achilles appears in Rick Riordan's '' The Last Olympian'' (2009). He warns Percy Jackson about the Curse of Achilles and its side effects.
* Achilles is a main character in Terence Hawkins
Terence Hawkins (born 1956) is an American author of numerous short stories and two novels, ''American Neolithic'', published by C&R Press, and ''The Rage of Achilles'', a recounting of ''The Iliad'' in the form of a novel. In 2016, Hawkins plea ...
' 2009 novel ''The Rage of Achilles
Terence Hawkins (born 1956) is an American author of numerous short stories and two novels, ''American Neolithic'', published by C&R Press, and ''The Rage of Achilles'', a recounting of ''The Iliad'' in the form of a novel. In 2016, Hawkins ple ...
''.
* Achilles is a major character in Madeline Miller's debut novel, ''The Song of Achilles
''The Song of Achilles'' is a 2011 novel by American writer Madeline Miller. Set during the Greek Heroic Age, it is an adaptation of Homer's ''Iliad'' as told from the perspective of Patroclus. The novel follows Patroclus' relationship with Achi ...
'' (2011), which won the 2012 Orange Prize for Fiction
The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...
. The novel explores the relationship between Patroclus and Achilles from boyhood to the fateful events of the ''Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odysse ...
''.
* Achilles appears in the light novel series ''Fate/Apocrypha
''Fate/Apocrypha'' is a Japanese light novel series in Type-Moon's ''Fate'' franchise, written by Yūichirō Higashide and illustrated by Ototsugu Konoe. Type-Moon published five volumes from December 2012 to December 2014. A manga adaptati ...
'' (2012–2014) as the Rider of Red.
* Achilles is a main character in Pat Barker's 2018 novel ''The Silence of the Girls
''The Silence of the Girls'' is a 2018 novel by English novelist Pat Barker. It recounts the events of the ''Iliad'' chiefly from the point of view of Briseis.
Plot summary
The plot begins when Greeks led by Achilles sack Lyrnessus, describin ...
'', much of which is narrated by his slave Briseis
Briseis (; grc, Βρῑσηΐς ''Brīsēís'', ) ("daughter of Briseus"), also known as Hippodameia (, ), is a significant character in the ''Iliad''. Her role as a status symbol is at the heart of the dispute between Achilles and Agamemnon t ...
.
Visual arts
* ''Achilles with the Daughters of Lycomedes'' is a subject treated in paintings by Anthony van Dyck
Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy.
The seventh c ...
(before 1618; Museo del Prado
The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to house one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from the ...
, Madrid) and Nicolas Poussin
Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for a ...
(; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...
) among others.
* Peter Paul Rubens
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...
has authored a series of works on the life of Achilles, comprising the titles: ''Thetis dipping the infant Achilles into the river Styx'', ''Achilles educated by the centaur Chiron'', ''Achilles recognized among the daughters of Lycomedes'', ''The wrath of Achilles'', ''The death of Hector'', ''Thetis receiving the arms of Achilles from Vulcanus'', ''The death of Achilles'' (Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Municipal Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen () is an art museum in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The name of the museum is derived from the two most important collectors of Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans and Daniël George van Beuningen. It is located at ...
, Rotterdam), and ''Briseis restored to Achilles'' ( Detroit Institute of Arts; all –1635)
* Pieter van Lint, "Achilles Discovered among the Daughters of Lycomedes", 1645, at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem
* ''Dying Achilles'' is a sculpture created by Christophe Veyrier
Christophe Veyrier (25 June 1637 – 10 June 1689) was a French sculptor, the nephew and follower of Pierre Puget.
Veyrier was born in Trets, Bouches-du-Rhône, France. He arrived in Genoa in 1663 and stayed for a number of years, before moving ...
(; Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
, London).
* ''The Rage of Achilles'' is a fresco by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; March 5, 1696 – March 27, 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an impo ...
(1757, Villa Valmarana Ai Nani, Vicenza).
* Eugène Delacroix
Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( , ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: Britis ...
painted a version of ''The Education of Achilles'' for the ceiling of the Paris Palais Bourbon
The Palais Bourbon () is the meeting place of the National Assembly, the lower legislative chamber of the French Parliament. It is located in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, on the ''Rive Gauche'' of the Seine, across from the Place de la Concor ...
(1833–1847), one of the seats of the French Parliament.
* created a statue group ''Achilles and Penthesilea'' (1895; Vienna).
* ''Achilleus'' (1908) is a lithography
Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...
by Max Slevogt.
Music
Achilles has been frequently the subject of operas, ballets and related genres.
* Operas titled ''Deidamia'' were composed by Francesco Cavalli
Francesco Cavalli (born Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni; 14 February 1602 – 14 January 1676) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian composer, organist and singer of the early Baroque music, Baroque period. He succeeded his teacher Claudio Monteverd ...
(1644) and George Frideric Handel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...
(1739).
* '' Achille et Polyxène'' (Paris 1687) is an opera begun by Jean-Baptiste Lully
Jean-Baptiste Lully ( , , ; born Giovanni Battista Lulli, ; – 22 March 1687) was an Italian-born French composer, guitarist, violinist, and dancer who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas, he ...
and finished by Pascal Collasse
Pascal Collasse (or Colasse) (22 January 1649 (baptised) – 17 July 1709) was a French composer of the Baroque era. Born in Rheims, Collasse became a disciple of Jean-Baptiste Lully during the latter's domination of the French operatic stage ...
.
* '' Achille et Déidamie'' (Paris 1735) is an opera composed by André Campra
André Campra (; baptized 4 December 1660 – 29 June 1744) was a French composer and conductor of the Baroque era. The leading French opera composer in the period between Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau, Campra wrote several '' tra ...
.
* ''Achilles
In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's ''Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Peleus, k ...
'' (London 1733) is a ballad opera, written by John Gay
John Gay (30 June 1685 – 4 December 1732) was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for ''The Beggar's Opera'' (1728), a ballad opera. The characters, including Captain Macheath and Polly Peac ...
, parodied by Thomas Arne
Thomas Augustine Arne (; 12 March 17105 March 1778) was an English composer. He is best known for his patriotic song "Rule, Britannia!" and the song "A-Hunting We Will Go", the latter composed for a 1777 production of ''The Beggar's Opera'', whic ...
as ''Achilles in petticoats'' in 1773.
* ''Achille in Sciro
''Achille in Sciro'' is an opera and libretto by Pietro Metastasio telling the story of Achilles on Skyros. It was first set to music by Antonio Caldara in 1736, and premiered at the wedding of Maria Theresa and Francis of Lorraine in Vienna.Ita ...
'' is a libretto
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...
by Metastasio, composed by Domenico Sarro
Domenico Natale Sarro, also Sarri (24 December 1679 – 25 January 1744) was an Italian composer.
Born in Trani, Apulia, he studied at the Neapolitan conservatory of S. Onofrio. He composed extensively in the early 18th century. His opera ''Didon ...
for the inauguration of the Teatro di San Carlo (Naples, 4 November 1737). An even earlier composition is from Antonio Caldara (Vienna 1736). Later operas on the same libretto were composed by Leonardo Leo
Leonardo Leo (5 August 1694 – 31 October 1744), more correctly Leonardo Ortensio Salvatore de Leo, was a Baroque composer.
Biography
Leo was born in San Vito degli Schiavoni (currently known as San Vito dei Normanni, province of Brindisi) in ...
(Turin 1739), Niccolò Jommelli
Niccolò Jommelli (; 10 September 1714 – 25 August 1774) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan School. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire and France, he was responsible for certain operatic reforms including redu ...
(Vienna 1749 and Rome 1772), Giuseppe Sarti (Copenhagen 1759 and Florence 1779), Johann Adolph Hasse
Johann Adolph Hasse (baptised 25 March 1699 – 16 December 1783) was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a co ...
(Naples 1759), Giovanni Paisiello (St. Petersburg 1772), Giuseppe Gazzaniga
Giuseppe Gazzaniga (5 October 1743 – 1 February 1818) was a member of the Neapolitan school of opera composers. He composed fifty-one operas and is considered to be one of the last Italian opera buffa composers.
Biography
Born in Verona, Ga ...
(Palermo 1781) and many others. It has also been set to music as ''Il Trionfo della gloria''.
* ''Achille'' (Vienna 1801) is an opera by Ferdinando Paër
Ferdinando Paer (1 July 1771 – 3 May 1839) was an Italian composer known for his operas. He was of Austrian descent and used the German spelling Pär in application for printing in Venice, and later in France the spelling Paër.
Life and career ...
on a libretto by Giovanni de Gamerra
Giovanni de Gamerra (26 December 1742 – 29 August 1803) was an Italian cleric, a playwright, and a poet. He is best known as a prolific librettist.
Gamerra was born in Livorno, and worked from 1771 at the Teatro Regio Ducale in Milan ...
.
* ''Achille à Scyros'' (Paris 1804) is a ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
by Pierre Gardel, composed by Luigi Cherubini
Luigi Cherubini ( ; ; 8 or 14 SeptemberWillis, in Sadie (Ed.), p. 833 1760 – 15 March 1842) was an Italian Classical and Romantic composer. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the gre ...
.
* ''Achilles, oder Das zerstörte Troja'' ("Achilles, or Troy Destroyed", Bonn 1885) is an oratorio
An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...
by the German composer Max Bruch.
* ''Achilles auf Skyros'' (Stuttgart 1926) is a ballet by the Austrian-British composer and musicologist Egon Wellesz
Egon Joseph Wellesz CBE (21 October 1885 – 9 November 1974) was an Austrian, later British composer, teacher and musicologist, notable particularly in the field of Byzantine music.
Early life and education in Vienna
Egon Joseph Wellesz was ...
.
* ''Achilles' Wrath'' is a concert piece by Sean O'Loughlin.
* ''Achilles Last Stand
"Achilles Last Stand" is a song by the English rock group Led Zeppelin released as the opening track on their seventh studio album, '' Presence'' (1976). Guitarist Jimmy Page and singer Robert Plant began writing the song during the summer of 1 ...
'' a track on the 1976 Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
album '' Presence''.
* ''Achilles, Agony and Ecstasy in Eight Parts'' is the first song on the 1992 Manowar
Manowar is an American heavy metal band from Auburn, New York. Formed in 1980, the group is known for lyrics based on fantasy (particularly sword and sorcery) and mythology (particularly Norse mythology and Greco-Roman mythology), as well as ...
album ''The Triumph of Steel
''The Triumph of Steel'' is the seventh studio album by the American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Manowar, released in 1992. It is the only Manowar album to feature guitarist David Shankle and drummer Kenny Earl, Kenny Earl "Rhino" Edwards ...
''.
* ''Achilles Come Down'' is a song on the 2017 Gang of Youths
Gang of Youths are an Australian alternative rock group from Sydney based in London. The band consists of principal songwriter David Le'aupepe (lead vocals, guitar), Max Dunn (bass guitar), Jung Kim (lead guitar, keyboards), Donnie Borzestowsk ...
album ''Go Farther in Lightness
''Go Farther in Lightness'' is the second studio album by Australian alternative rock band Gang of Youths. It was released on 18 August 2017 by Mosy Recordings. It debuted at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart and was supported by nationw ...
''.
Film and television
In films Achilles has been portrayed in the following films and television series:
* The 1924 film ''Helena
Helena may refer to:
People
*Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name)
*Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer
*Helena, mother of Constantine I
Places
Greece
* Helena (island)
Guyana
* ...
'' by Carlo Aldini
Carlo Aldini (1894–1961) was an Italian actor and film producer
A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of fil ...
* The 1954 film ''Ulysses
Ulysses is one form of the Roman name for Odysseus, a hero in ancient Greek literature.
Ulysses may also refer to:
People
* Ulysses (given name), including a list of people with this name
Places in the United States
* Ulysses, Kansas
* Ulysse ...
'' by Piero Lulli
* The 1956 film ''Helen of Troy
Helen of Troy, Helen, Helena, (Ancient Greek: Ἑλένη ''Helénē'', ) also known as beautiful Helen, Helen of Argos, or Helen of Sparta, was a figure in Greek mythology said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world. She was believe ...
'' by Stanley Baker
* The 1961 film ''The Trojan Horse
The Trojan Horse was a wooden horse said to have been used by the Greeks during the Trojan War to enter the city of Troy and win the war. The Trojan Horse is not mentioned in Homer's ''Iliad'', with the poem ending before the war is concluded, ...
'' by Arturo Dominici
* The 1962 film ''The Fury of Achilles
''L'ira di Achille'', internationally released as ''The Fury of Achilles'', is a 1962 Italian historical drama set in the ninth year of the Trojan War and is based primarily on Homer's ''Iliad''. The film was directed by Marino Girolami and starre ...
'' by Gordon Mitchell
Gordon Mitchell (born Charles Allen Pendleton; July 29, 1923 – September 20, 2003) was an American actor and bodybuilder who made about 200 B movies.
Biography
Charles Allen Pendleton was born in Denver, Colorado, and began working out in hi ...
* The 1997 television miniseries '' The Odyssey'' by Richard Trewett
* The 2003 television miniseries ''Helen of Troy
Helen of Troy, Helen, Helena, (Ancient Greek: Ἑλένη ''Helénē'', ) also known as beautiful Helen, Helen of Argos, or Helen of Sparta, was a figure in Greek mythology said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world. She was believe ...
'' by Joe Montana
* The 2004 film ''Troy
Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...
'' by Brad Pitt
William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. ...
* The 2018 TV series '' Troy: Fall of a City'' by David Gyasi
David Kwaku Asamoah Gyasi (; born 2 January 1980) is a British actor. He is best known for his roles in ''Cloud Atlas'' (2012) and '' Interstellar'' (2014), as well as the lead role of Lex Carnahan in The CW miniseries ''Containment''.
Early l ...
Architecture
* In 1890, Elisabeth of Bavaria, Empress of Austria, had a summer palace built in Corfu
Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...
. The building is named the Achilleion, after Achilles. Its paintings and statuary depict scenes from the Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has ...
, with particular focus on Achilles.
* The Wellington Monument is a statue representing Achilles erected as a memorial to Arthur Wellesley, the first duke of Wellington, and his victories in the Peninsular War
The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...
and the latter stages of the Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
.
Namesakes
* The name of Achilles has been used for at least nine Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
warships since 1744 – both as and with the French spelling . A 60-gun ship of that name served at the Battle of Belleisle in 1761 while a 74-gun ship served at the Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (180 ...
. Other battle honours include Walcheren 1809. An armored cruiser of that name served in the Royal Navy during the First World War.
* was a which served with the Royal New Zealand Navy in World War II. It became famous for its part in the Battle of the River Plate
The Battle of the River Plate was fought in the South Atlantic on 13 December 1939 as the first naval battle of the Second World War. The Kriegsmarine heavy cruiser , commanded by Captain Hans Langsdorff, engaged a Royal Navy squadron, commande ...
, alongside and . In addition to earning the battle honour 'River Plate', HMNZS ''Achilles'' also served at Guadalcanal 1942–1943 and Okinawa in 1945. After returning to the Royal Navy, the ship was sold to the Indian Navy
The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...
in 1948, but when she was scrapped parts of the ship were saved and preserved in New Zealand.
* A species of lizard, '' Anolis achilles'', which has widened heel plates, is named for Achilles.
Gallery
File:Achilles departure Eretria Painter CdM Paris 851.jpg, Achilles and the Nereid Cymothoe, Attic red-figure kantharos from Volci
Vulci or Volci (Etruscan: ''Velch'' or ''Velx'', depending on the romanization used) was a rich Etruscan city in what is now northern Lazio, central Italy.
As George Dennis wrote, "Vulci is a city whose very name... was scarcely remembered, but ...
( Cabinet des Médailles, Bibliothèque nationale, Paris)
File:Akhilleus embassy Staatliche Antikensammlungen 8770.jpg, The embassy to Achilles, Attic red-figure hydria, BC (Staatliche Antikensammlungen
The Staatliche Antikensammlungen (, ''State Collections of Antiquities'') is a museum in Munich's Kunstareal holding Bavaria's collections of antiquities from Greece, Etruria and Rome, though the sculpture collection is located in the opposite Gly ...
, Berlin)
File:AmbrosianIliadPict47Achilles.jpg, Achilles sacrificing to Zeus
Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D ...
for Patroclus' safe return,[''Iliad'' 16.220–252.] from the ''Ambrosian Iliad
The Ambrosian Iliad or ''Ilias Picta'' (Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Cod. F. 205 Inf.) is a 5th-century illuminated manuscript on vellum, which depicts the entirety of Homer's ''Iliad'', including battle scenes and noble scenes. It is considere ...
'', a 5th-century illuminated manuscript
File:Bell-krater Akhilleus Penthesileia MAN.jpg, Achilles and Penthesilea fighting, Lucanian red-figure bell-krater, late 5th century BC
File:Akhilleus Penthesileia Staatliche Antikensammlungen 2688.jpg, Achilles killing Penthesilea, tondo of an Attic red-figure kylix
In the pottery of ancient Greece, a kylix ( , ; grc, κύλιξ, pl. κύλικες; also spelled cylix; pl.: kylikes , ) is the most common type of wine-drinking cup. It has a broad, relatively shallow, body raised on a stem from a foot ...
, BC, from Vulci.
File:Mourning of Akhilleus Louvre E643.jpg, Thetis and the Nereids mourning Achilles, Corinthian black-figure hydria, BC (Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
, Paris)
File:Aias Achilles game Musei Capitolini MC6.jpg, Achilles and Ajax playing the board game ''petteia'', black-figure oinochoe, BC ( Capitoline Museums, Rome)
File:Achilles-01.jpg, Head of Achilles depicted on a 4th-century BC coin from Kremaste, Phthia. Reverse: Thetis, wearing and holding the shield of Achilles with his AX monogram.
File:Getty Villa - Collection (3151231788).jpg, Achilles on a Roman mosaic with the Removal of Briseis
Briseis (; grc, Βρῑσηΐς ''Brīsēís'', ) ("daughter of Briseus"), also known as Hippodameia (, ), is a significant character in the ''Iliad''. Her role as a status symbol is at the heart of the dispute between Achilles and Agamemnon t ...
, 2nd century
References
Further reading
* Ileana Chirassi Colombo (1977), "Heroes Achilleus – Theos Apollon." In ''Il Mito Greco'', edd. Bruno Gentili and Giuseppe Paione. Rome: Edizione dell'Ateneo e Bizzarri.
* Anthony Edwards (1985a), "Achilles in the Underworld: Iliad, Odyssey, and Æthiopis". ''Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies''. 26: pp. 215–227.
* Anthony Edwards (1985b), "Achilles in the Odyssey: Ideologies of Heroism in the Homeric Epic". ''Beiträge zur klassischen Philologie''. 171.
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* Graves, Robert, ''The Greek Myths'', Harmondsworth, London, England, Penguin Books, 1960.
*Graves, Robert, ''The Greek Myths: The Complete and Definitive Edition.'' Penguin Books Limited. 2017.
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* Hélène Monsacré (1984), ''Les larmes d'Achille. Le héros, la femme et la souffrance dans la poésie d'Homère'', Paris: Albin Michel.
* Gregory Nagy (1984), ''The Name of Achilles: Questions of Etymology and 'Folk Etymology'', ''Illinois Classical Studies''. 19.
* Gregory Nagy
Gregory Nagy ( hu, Nagy Gergely, ; born October 22, 1942 in Budapest)["CV: Gregory Nagy"](_blank)
''gr ...
(1999), ''The Best of The Acheans: Concepts of the Hero in Archaic Greek Poetry''. Johns Hopkins University Press (revised edition
online
.
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* Dale S. Sinos (1991), ''The Entry of Achilles into Greek Epic'', PhD thesis, Johns Hopkins University. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms International.
* Jonathan S. Burgess (2009), ''The Death and Afterlife of Achilles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
* Abrantes, M.C. (2016), ''Themes of the Trojan Cycle: Contribution to the study of the greek mythological tradition'' (Coimbra).
External links
* Poem by Florence Earle Coates
{{DEFAULTSORT:Achilles
Greek mythological heroes
Kings of the Myrmidons
Achaean Leaders
Thessalians in the Trojan War
Metamorphoses characters
Mythological rapists
Demigods in classical mythology
LGBT themes in Greek mythology
Deeds of Apollo
Medea
Fictional LGBT characters in literature