Achilles
The greatest warrior in the Greek army at Troy, nearly invulnerable thanks to being dipped in the River Styx as an infant — except for the heel by which his mother held him.
The Legend of Achilles
Born to Peleus and the sea-goddess Thetis, Achilles was raised by the centaur Chiron on Mount Pelion before joining Agamemnon's expedition against Troy. Odysseus discovered him hidden among women on Scyros, and Athena favoured him in battle alongside Ajax and Diomedes. His mother dipped him in the river Styx to make him invulnerable, but the heel she held remained mortal. When Agamemnon seized his war-prize Briseis, Achilles withdrew from combat, and the Greeks suffered until Patroclus donned his armour and fell to Hector. Achilles slew Hector in revenge, dragged his body around Troy, then relented at aged Priam's plea. Apollo guided Paris's arrow to his heel, fulfilling the prophecy.
Parents
Peleus and Thetis
Children
Neoptolemus
Symbols
Fun Fact
The Achilles tendon, connecting the calf muscle to the heel bone, is named after the hero's only vulnerability.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Achilles
🗡 heroThe greatest warrior of the Trojan War
The swift-footed son of Peleus and Thetis whose wrath drives the Iliad and whose choice between glory and life defines the heroic ideal.
Ajax the Lesser
🗡 heroSwift warrior of the Locrians
Ajax son of Oileus was a fast, fierce, impious warrior whose assault on Cassandra in Athena's temple brought divine wrath upon the Greek fleet.
Ajax
🗡 heroThe immovable warrior who held the Greek line
The massive warrior from Salamis who carried a shield like a tower wall and held the Greek line when every other defender broke.
Hector
🗡 heroChampion of Troy
Hector was Troy's greatest warrior, who fought not for glory but to defend his city, wife, and son.
Euphorbus
🗡 heroCombat, beauty
Trojan warrior famed for his beauty who first wounded Patroclus before Hector delivered the killing blow
Diomedes
🗡 heroKing of Argos who wounded gods
Diomedes was the only mortal in the Iliad to wound two Olympian gods in a single day.
Ajax the Great
🗡 heroMightiest Greek warrior after Achilles
Ajax son of Telamon was the tallest and strongest of the Greek warriors at Troy, a tower of a man who fought with a massive shield and never received divine aid.
Perseus
🗡 heroHero who slew Medusa
The son of Zeus and Danae who beheaded Medusa, rescued Andromeda, and founded the Perseid dynasty of Mycenae.
Amphiaraus
🗡 heroSeer-warrior swallowed by earth
Amphiaraus was a warrior-prophet who foresaw his death in the Seven Against Thebes but marched anyway, bound by his wife's betrayal.
Tydeus
🗡 heroThe ferocious warrior who forfeited immortality
A hero of savage courage who fought as one of the Seven Against Thebes but lost Athena's gift of immortality in his final moment.
Peleus
🗡 heroMortal who married a goddess
The king of Phthia who wrestled and won the sea-nymph Thetis, fathering Achilles — the greatest warrior of the Trojan War.
Neoptolemus
🗡 heroSon of Achilles
Neoptolemus was Achilles' fierce son, brought to Troy because a prophecy declared the city could not fall without him.