Achilles (Wrath)
heroThe swift-footed son of Peleus and Thetis whose wrath drives the Iliad and whose choice between glory and life defines the heroic ideal.
The Myth
Achilles was the son of the mortal Peleus and the sea-nymph Thetis, who dipped him in the River Styx to make him invulnerable — all except the heel by which she held him. He was raised by the centaur Chiron and became the greatest warrior of his generation. The entire Iliad is driven by his wrath: when Agamemnon takes his prize Briseis, Achilles withdraws from battle. Without him, the Greeks are slaughtered. He relents only when his beloved companion Patroclus is killed by Hector. Achilles's grief transforms into cosmic rage: he kills Hector, drags his body behind his chariot for twelve days, and fights the river god Scamander himself. But the poem's climax is not violence but compassion: when old King Priam comes to ransom Hector's body, Achilles sees in Priam his own father Peleus, who will never see his son again. They weep together — enemy grieving with enemy — in one of the most profound moments in world literature.
Fun Fact
The Achilles tendon in your heel is named after the only vulnerable spot on the greatest warrior who ever lived.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
Explore Further
Achilles
heroThe greatest warrior in the Greek army at Troy, nearly invulnerable thanks to being dipped in the...
Agamemnon
heroAgamemnon led the Greek coalition against Troy but was murdered upon return by his wife...
Hector
heroHector was Troy's greatest warrior, who fought not for glory but to defend his city, wife, and son.
Patroclus
heroPatroclus was Achilles' closest companion whose death in borrowed armour at Hector's hands was the...
Priam
heroPriam was the aged king of Troy, father of fifty sons including Hector and Paris, whose night...
Briseis
heroBriseis was the captive woman taken from Achilles by Agamemnon — the cause of Achilles' wrath that...
Briseis (War Prize)
heroCaptured woman taken from Achilles by Agamemnon, whose seizure caused Achilles to withdraw from the...
Patroclus (Beloved Companion)
heroAchilles's closest companion whose death in borrowed armour broke the hero's withdrawal and sent...
Peleus
heroKing of Phthia, Argonaut, and father of Achilles who wrestled the shape-shifting sea goddess Thetis...
Peleus (Father of Achilles)
heroThe king of Phthia who wrestled and won the sea-nymph Thetis, fathering Achilles — the greatest...
Chiron
creatureChiron tutored Achilles, Asclepius, Jason — the great teacher.
Styx
placeThe great river that formed the boundary between the world of the living and the realm of the dead....