"Achilleus" redirects here. For the Roman usurper with this name, see Aurelius Achilleus. For other uses, see Achilles (disambiguation).
Achilles
Ancient Greek polychromatic pottery painting (dating to c. 300 BC) of Achilles during the Trojan War
Abode
Phthia
Personal information
Parents
Peleus and Thetis
Siblings
Polymele
Consort
Deidamia
Children
Neoptolemus, Oneiros
Part of a series on
Greek mythology
Deities
Primordial
Titans
Olympians
Nymphs
Water
Chthonic
Heroes and heroism
Heracles
Labours
Achilles
Hector
Diomedes
Trojan War
Odysseus
Odyssey
Jason
Argonauts
Golden Fleece
Perseus
Medusa
Gorgon
Oedipus
Sphinx
Orpheus
Orphism
Theseus
Minotaur
Bellerophon
Pegasus
Chimera
Daedalus
Labyrinth
Atalanta
Hippomenes
Golden apple
Cadmus
Thebes
Aeneas
Aeneid
Phaethon
Triptolemus
Eleusinian Mysteries
Pelops
Ancient Olympic Games
Pirithous
Centauromachy
Amphitryon
Teumessian fox
Narcissus
Meleager
Calydonian boar hunt
Otrera
Amazons
Related
Satyrs
Centaurs
Dragons
Demogorgon
Ancient Greek religion
List of Mycenaean deities
Ancient Greece portal Myths portal
v
t
e
In Greek mythology, Achilles (/əˈkɪliːz/ə-KIL-eez) or Achilleus (Greek: Ἀχιλλεύς, translit. Achilleús) was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. A central character in Homer's Iliad, he was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Peleus, king of Phthia and famous Argonaut. Achilles was raised in Phthia along with his childhood companion Patroclus and received his education by the centaur Chiron. In the Iliad, he is presented as the commander of the mythical tribe of the Myrmidons.
Achilles' most notable feat during the Trojan War was the slaying of the Trojan prince Hector outside the gates of Troy. Although the death of Achilles is not presented in the Iliad, other sources concur that he was killed near the end of the Trojan War by Paris, who shot him with an arrow. Later legends (beginning with Statius' unfinished epic Achilleid, written in the 1st century AD) state that Achilles was invulnerable in all of his body except for one heel. According to that myth, when his mother Thetis dipped him in the river Styx as an infant, she held him by one of his heels leaving it untouched by the waters and thus his only vulnerable body part.
Alluding to these legends, the term "Achilles' heel" has come to mean a point of weakness which can lead to downfall, especially in someone or something with an otherwise strong constitution. The Achilles tendon is named after him following the same legend.
In Greek mythology, Achilles (/əˈkɪliːz/ ə-KIL-eez) or Achilleus (Greek: Ἀχιλλεύς, translit. Achilleús) was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being...
The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body.[excessive...
The relationship between Achilles and Patroclus is a key element of the stories associated with the Trojan War. In the Iliad, Homer describes a deep and...
The Song of Achilles is a 2011 novel by American writer Madeline Miller. Set during the Greek Heroic Age, it is a retelling of the Trojan War as told from...
Achilles tendinitis, also known as achilles tendinopathy, occurs when the Achilles tendon, found at the back of the ankle, becomes sore. Achilles tendinopathy...
Morpho achilles, the Achilles morpho, blue-banded morpho, or banded blue morpho, is a Neotropical butterfly. The genus name Morpho comes from the Greek...
Look up achilles heel in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Achilles Heel may refer to: Achilles' heel, a metaphor for a fatal weakness in spite of overall...
been named Achilles, after the Greek hero Achilles. Four others, two of them prizes, had the French spelling of the name, Achille. HMS Achilles (1747) was...
depicts a fierce quarrel between King Agamemnon and a celebrated warrior, Achilles. It is a central part of the Epic Cycle. The Iliad is often regarded as...
Acanthurus achilles, the Achilles tang , redtail surgeonfish or redspot surgeonfish, is a marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae,...
Paris' insult. After the deaths of many heroes, including the Achaeans Achilles and Ajax, and the Trojans Hector and Paris, the city fell to the ruse of...
warriors. However, he is ultimately killed in single combat by the Greek hero Achilles, who later drags his dead body around the city of Troy behind his chariot...
Albrecht Achilles may refer to: Albrecht III Achilles, Elector of Brandenburg (1414–1486) Albrecht Achilles (Korvettenkapitän) (1914–1943), U-boat commander...
Iliad. Her role as a status symbol is at the heart of the dispute between Achilles and Agamemnon that initiates the plot of Homer's epic. She was married...
HMNZS Achilles was a Leander-class light cruiser, the second of five in the class. She served in the Royal New Zealand Navy in the Second World War. She...
by Peleus, king of Phthia. There, he was raised alongside Peleus' son, Achilles, of whom he was a childhood friend and close wartime companion. When the...
Achilles tendon rupture is when the Achilles tendon, at the back of the ankle, breaks. Symptoms include the sudden onset of sharp pain in the heel. A snapping...
Todd Achilles, also known as Theodore Achilles, is an American politician. He serves as a Democratic member for the 16B district of the Idaho House of...
L'ira di Achille, internationally released as The Fury of Achilles, is a 1962 Italian historical drama set in the ninth year of the Trojan War and is based...
The shield of Achilles is the shield that Achilles uses in his fight with Hector, famously described in a passage in Book 18, lines 478–608 of Homer's...
the Young Achilles The Education of Achilles by James Barry The Education of Achilles by Eugène Delacroix (circa 1862) Thetis takes Achilles from the Centaur...
novelist, author of The Song of Achilles (2011) and Circe (2018). Miller spent ten years writing The Song of Achilles while she worked as a teacher of...
and seizes Achilles' prize, the beautiful captive Briseis. This creates deadly resentment between Achilles and Agamemnon, causing Achilles to withdraw...
Achilles on Skyros is an episode in the myth of Achilles, a Greek hero of the Trojan War. Not existing in Homer's epic poem Iliad, the episode is written...
The ankle jerk reflex, also known as the Achilles reflex, occurs when the Achilles tendon is tapped while the foot is dorsiflexed. It is a type of stretch...
Global Information
Ancient Greece portal
Myths portal