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THE MYTHOS OF ACHILLES birth Achilles is born to Peleus, king of Phthia, and Thetis, a sea-nymph of Nereus' stock. Zeus once received a prophecy that the son of Thetis would be more powerful than his father, and so fearing the child that would result from the union between Thetis and a god, he arranged for her to wed the mortal Peleus. Although she submits to his marriage bed, she scorns Peleus and stays instead with her sisters beneath the sea. Thus, young Achilles is raised primarily by his father and his caretaker Phoenix, while he receives regular visits from his divine mother. age 10 Menoetius, a companion of Peleus' from their days as Argonauts, arrives in Phthia with his son Patroclus, seeking refuge after young Patroclus has accidentally killed another boy over a game of dice. It is not long before he and Achilles are the best of friends. age 12 Peleus delivers both Achilles and Patroclus into the care of Chiron the centaur. The boys spend the next two years on Mount Pelion training in the arts of hunting, battle, medicine, and music. age 14 Thetis senses that the Trojan War is impending. A prophecy has stated that either Achilles will win glory in war but die before he reaches old age, or he will live a long and peaceful life but fade away into obscurity with his potential wasted. In order to protect Achilles from the promise of an early grave, she sends him to the island of Scyros, where he takes up the disguise of a girl in order to fit in with Lycomedes' daughters. He is reluctant until he spies Deidamia, the eldest and fairest of the king's daughters — whom Achilles soon falls in love with. Before long, he is overcome by desire to the point that he reveals himself as a man to Deidamia and seduces her. age 15 The union between Achilles and Deidamia results in the birth of Neoptolemus, also called Pyrrhus for his fiery hair. Deidamia manages to conceal her pregnancy, and when the baby is born he is passed off as the child of Deidamia's nurse. age 17 Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped by Paris of Troy. The sons of Atreus, Agamemnon and Menelaus, call to arms all the nations they know from among the Achaeans. Drawn in by a rumor, Odysseus comes to Scyros, where Achilles still hides in his disguise — which has become more difficult to maintain over the years. Odysseus lures him out: he brings many fine gifts, and while the household marvels over them, he has the war drums sounded. While Lycomedes' daughters cower in fright, Achilles takes up a spear and thus is discovered. Odysseus asks him to join the war, tempting him with the glory that shall be his should he fight. Achilles returns to Phthia to receive counsel from Peleus, and eventually decides to lend his strength to the sons of Atreus. Peleus bestows upon him his spear whose shaft is carved from an ash tree atop Mount Pelion, as well as the immortal horses Xanthos and Balios; he gives his son his Myrmidons to command and fifty ships to lead to Troy. Patroclus joins him as his personal attendant. Although Achilles has never officially taken Deidamia as his bride, it is agreed that young Neoptolemus will remain on Scyros to be cared for by Lycomedes, who has no sons of his own. Now the Achaean army has gathered in full. The only bay that can house so massive a fleet is in Aulis, from which the ships will set out en masse in order to make a fearsome impression on Troy. However, the fleet cannot depart due to the unnatural absence of wind, which stretches for months. Artemis is displeased by the vast glut of blood that will be shed in Troy and she demands a sacrifice in return, blood for blood. What she demands is Agamemnon's eldest daughter Iphigenia, for whom he sends with the promise that she is to be wed to Achilles. Achilles himself is not privy to this deception, but he and Agamemnon's wife Clytemnestra soon discover the heinous plot at hand. Moved by Clytemnestra's distress, and feeling that his honor binds him to Iphigenia since it was his name that was used to deceive her, Achilles vows to protect the girl with his life. However, even his own men rally against him, as they are impatient to set sail. Iphigenia finally decides that she will give herself up to the sacrificial altar if that is what will bring glory to the Achaean people. Appeased by the sacrifice, Artemis allows the Achaean fleet to sail. age 18 The fleet becomes lost and comes ashore in Mysia, through which land Paris traveled on his way home to Troy. The Trojan prince had asked that King Telephus prevent the Achaean army from progressing, and so the Achaeans are greeted by battalions of Mysian warriors, although Telephus is a son of Heracles, the great Achaean hero. In the ensuing battle, Achilles wounds Telephus, and the Mysians retreat. Agamemnon's fleet is thus allowed to sail forth, but still they do not know the way to Troy and so they retreat to Aulis in order to regroup. Meanwhile, Telephus' wound festers and refuses to heal. Telephus, still suffering from his terrible wound and driven mad by pain, consults the oracle at Delphi and learns that "he who wounded shall heal." This brings him to Aulis to seek Achilles, for whom his rage burns. Odysseus realizes that it is not enough that Achilles heals the wound, but he must do so with the very spear that caused the injury. With the infection thus excised, Telephus recovers at last and forgives Achilles. He then offers to guide the Achaean fleet to Troy, but he cannot join them for he is joined to Priam by bonds of kin through marriage. En route to Troy, Achilles sacks a dozen cities. One such city is that of Tenedos, which is ruled by Tenes, a son of divine Apollo. Thetis warns her headstrong son that the man who slays Tenes shall die by Apollo's hand, and she charges an attendant with the task of reminding Achilles of this prophecy. However, Achilles become enraged when Tenes prevents him from seizing the beautiful Hemithea, the king's sister, and forgetting his mother's warning, he kills Tenes. Once he realizes what he has done, he slays the attendant for failing to remind him of the dire prophecy. The thousand ships of Agamemnon's army arrive in Troy. The Trojan War begins in earnest. age 21 The Achaean army receives a prophecy from the seer Calchas that Troy will not fall if Priam's youngest son, Troilus, lives to manhood. Achilles is set to ambush him when he is struck by the prince's beauty, and once again cannot hold back his desires. When Troilus refuses his advances, Achilles chases him to a temple of Apollo, before whose altar he slaughters the youth. age 27 Here follow the events that unfold in the Iliad. After Agamemnon is forced by Apollo to return his war prize, Chryseis, to her father, a priest of Apollo, he commandeers Achilles' war prize, Briseis. Enraged, Achilles refuses to fight under his command. At her son's request, Thetis asks Zeus, who owes her a favor, to aid the Trojans. Blessed by Zeus and led by Hector, the Trojans charge the Achaean encampment and begin to set fire to the ships. Patroclus begs Achilles to let him lead the Myrmidons, Achilles' battalion, into battle. Achilles agrees, but warns Patroclus to return once he routes the Trojans, not to pursue them across the plains. Patroclus' failure to obey results in his death at the hands of Hector. Devastated by the loss of his dearest friend and motivated by revenge, Achilles returns to the war. However, he does not stop at slaying Hector: he drags the Trojan prince's corpse from the back of his chariot around the walls of the city. After Patroclus' ghost visits him, Achilles honors him with a magnificent funeral and sends him to the underworld with the promise that when he dies their remains shall share the same urn. His rage finally resolves itself when Priam persuades him to return Hector's body for burial. In a moment of empathy, each man weeps for his losses. Achilles' own death falls not long afterward. He is brought down by Paris' arrow, guided by Apollo who has not forgiven him for the blood spilt from his beloved son, nor for that which was spilt before his sacred altar.