In Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greek hero. He is the chief character in Homer's Iliad. His father was Peleus, ruler of Phthia in Thessaly, his mother the sea-goddess Thetis. When only six years of age he was able to overcome lions and bears. His guardian, Cheiron the Centaur, having declared that Troy could not be taken without his aid, his mother, fearing for his safety, disguised him as a girl, and introduced him among the daughters of Lycomedes of Scyros. Her desire for his safety made her also try to make him invulnerable when a child by anointing him with ambrosia, and again by dipping him in the river Styx, from which he came out proof against wounds, all but the heel, by which she held him.
His place of concealment was discovered by Odysseus (Ulysses), and he promised his assistance to the Greeks against Troy. Accompanied by his close friend, Patroclus, he joined the expedition with a body of followers (Myrmidons) in fifty ships, and occupied nine years in raids upon the towns neighbouring to Troy, after which the siege proper commenced. On being deprived of his prize, the maiden Briseis, by Agamemnon, he refused to take any further part in the war, and
disaster attended the Greeks.
Patroclus now persuaded Achilles to allow him to lead the Myrmidons to battle dressed in his armour, and he having been slain by Hector, Achilles vowed revenge on the Trojans, and forgot his anger against the Greeks. He attacked the Trojans and drove them back to their walls, slaying them in great numbers, chased Hector, who fled before him three times round the walls of Troy, slew him, and dragged his body at his chariot-wheels, but afterwards gave it up to Priam, who came in person to beg for it. He then performed the funeral rites of Patroclus, with which the Iliad closes. He was killed in a battle at the Scasan Gate of Troy by an arrow from the bow of Paris which struck his vulnerable heel. In discussions on the origin of the Homeric poems the term Achilleid is often applied to those books (i. viii. and xi.-xxii.) of the Iliad in which Achilles is prominent, and which some suppose to have formed the original nucleus of the poem. Research Achilles
In Greek mythology, Cassandra was the daughter of Priam, King of Troy. Her prophecies were never believed, because she had rejected the love of the god Apollo. She was murdered with Agamemnon by his wife Clytemnestra, having been awarded as a prize to the Greek hero on his sacking of Troy. Research Cassandra
In Greek mythology, Glaucus was a sea-god, the son of Anthedon and Alcyone or else Poseidon and Nais. In Greek mythology, Glaucus was the son of Sisyphus and Merope. He owned a team of mares which he kept high spirited by depriving them of the company of stallions. When he lost the chariot-race at Pelias' funeral games the mares became so angry that they killed and ate Glaucus, whose ghost subsequently haunted the stadium of the Isthmian Games near Corinth scaring horses. In Greek mythology Glaucus was the son of Minos. As a child he fell into a jar of honey and drowned, only to be brought back to life by the seer Polyidus using a herb. In Greek mythology Glaucus was son of Hippolochus, a Lycian and together with Sarpedon, the commander of the Lycian forces allied with Priam in the Trojan War. He was killed by Aias while they were fighting over the corpse of Achilles. Research Glaucus
In Greek mythology, Hector was a Trojan prince, son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy; husband of Andromache. During the Trojan war, Hector led the forces of Troy and no one could stand against him, he killed nineteen Greek leaders and wounded the heroesAgamemnon, Ajax, Diomedes and Odysseus until he was killed by Achilles - who was assisted with a gift of armour from the gods. Research Hector
In Greek mythology, Priam was the son of Laomedon and Placia. He was originally called Podarces and was still a baby when his father promised his sister Hesione to Hercules and then broke his word. Hercules sacked Troy and killed Laomedon and all his sons except Podarces whom he sold in the slave market. He was bought by Hesione and she changed his name to Priam. Research Priam
In Greek mythology, Telephus was a son of Hercules, who became king of Mysia. Having married Laodice, daughter of King Priam, he opposed the Greek expedition against the Trojans when they attempted to land on the Mysian coast, and in the fighting was wounded by Achilles. An oracle having declared that the wound could only be cured by the man who inflicted it, Telephus assisted Achilles in the taking of Troy and Achilles cured his wound. Research Telephus
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Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Helenus
