Achilles

This time, I will talk about Achilles. I don’t know a lot of this character, but in some countries, it refers Achilles as a part of the body, which is the Achilles heel. There is something that some people told me about him, that his only weakness was his ankle. So, here is some information about him. “Achilles was a half-divine hero, being the son of the sea nymph Thetis and king Peleus of Thessaly.

He was educated by the wise centaur Cheiron and was described as extremely handsome but also very emotional. He was almost immortal since his mother had dipped him into the river Styx as a baby. Holding the child by its heel when putting it in the water, Thetis made Achilles' whole body except the heel immortal. He had a son, Neoptolemus, with the Skyrian princess Deidameia, who met her when he was hidden in the Palace of the king Likomidis on the island on Skyros. “When the war against Troy was ignited by the kidnapping of Helen, Thetis learnt by an oracle that her son would not come back alive if he joined Agamemnon. The oracle had said that he would either die young and glorious, or reach old age in obscurity.”(in2greece, 2011).

I didn’t know a lot of this information, but is good to be informed all the time. Being mortal and becoming a god, it has to be interesting. There are other characters like him, for example Hercules, who was mortal and became a god, but I’ll post something about him other time.

Congratulations to Mexico who is celebrating the Independence Day!

Bibliography

Sandels, V.E.K. in2greece.com. n.d. 15 September 2011 .