Achilles

Power of Styx By: Danni

In the time of the Greeks, there was believed to be a man of invincibility. His name was Achilles. He was known and feared all over the world because he was said to be invulnerable. Achilles was a fierce warrior who lived his life to the fullest.

Achilles was one of the most powerful warriors in the world because he was said to be invincible. He could not be killed, for he had been dipped in the river of Styx by his mother, Thetis, as a young baby. No one could figure out why he was “invincible”, some thought it was because the Gods wanted him alive. Others had heard about him being dipped in the river of Styx, which was believed to be located in the Underworld, but did not believe in the rivers powers. The last bit of people, heard that the river of Styx could make you invincible but one part of the body would be vulnerable and would cause that person to die. The person would die if the body part was hurt in any way. No one could figure out if Achilles could be killed. Achilles mother, Thetis, had dipped Achilles in the river of Styx by his ankle, but she held him by his ankle, there for not allowing the ankle to be touched by the water. Achilles was later killed by an arrow right into the back of his ankle. There for we call the Achilles tendon, the Achilles tendon because of our fantastic war hero Achilles who died because of an arrow in his Achilles tendon ([|Bukisa]).

As a very young child there was a prophecy that stated “// Achilles // was fated to die (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia).” This prophecy was merely stating that Achilles would not survive far past the prime of his life. There are many different prophecies that were stated from that prophecy; for example “if Achilles went to Troy, he would die an early death ([|James Hunter])” or “that Achilles 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.com]).” Another Prophecy stated that “the city of Troy could not be taken without his help.” The words said in that prophecy are very simple, they mean what they say. Troy will not be conquered unless Achilles is there to help fight. The two prophecies told Achilles mother knew that her son would die an early death if he went to conquer Troy. So she sent him away to the island of Scyros, which was home to the court of Lycomedes. At the island of Scyros, Lycomdes made Achilles dress like a girl, so no one could recognize him. The noble Achilles, dressed as a woman, was housed in the women’s quarters. The young and beautiful daughter of Lycomedes, Deidameia, meets Achilles and falls in love with him. She and Achilles have a son named Neoptplemus or Pyrrhus. Young Achilles was dressed as a woman because his mother was only trying to protect him (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia).

There was a rumor going around every where stating that Achilles was on the island of Scyros, but no one found him, until Odysseus came. At first Odysseus could not even find him, but cunning Odysseus thought of a brilliant plan. His plan was to disguise himself as a merchant and walk around town with a cart full of weapons. He thought this plan would work because then he would attract any one who was into weapons back then; and back then it was the males that were interested. Achilles not thinking walks over to the merchant, Odysseus, and starts asking questions. Odysseus knows right away that he has found Achilles. Odysseus ends up telling Achilles, still dressed like a girl, who he is and about his life. Odysseus even gets Achilles to spill who he is. After talking for a long time, Achilles was convinced to go to the war with Odysseus. He left the only place where he was safe and was going out to take a risk ([|James Hunter]).

Achilles had been fighting in the Trojan War for a while and he was one of the best. His commander Agamemnon was very selfish. Agamemnon’s Greek troops were very impressive. They captured many people. If a male captive was caught they would be killed. If women were caught however, they became slaves to men. Chryseis, daughter of one of Apollo’s priest’s, was captured one day and she was given to Agamemnon, as his slave. Her father, Chryses, found out shortly after and rushed to Agamemnon’s tent. He begged for her release, but Agamemnon said no. Chryses then prayed to the God Apollo and asked him to curse the Greeks until his daughter was returned. Apollo heard his prayers and obliged to send out a plague to kill the Greeks. Agamemnon then returned Chryses’ daughter Chryseis to him, but demanded that he should get another beautiful captive. He decided that he wanted Briseis, but she belonged to Achilles. Achilles handed Briseis over, but he was furious at Agamemnon. The only reason Achilles handed over Briseis was because he did not want any more Greeks to die of the plague. Achilles, being the type of man he is, and then stated that he would no longer fight in the war. He no longer would fight in the war because he believed he should not be treated with such cruelty by his commander (Anne Wright).

Everyone knew Achilles’ name, they even knew his armor. Most men, if they ever saw Achilles armor would run and flee to safety. Very few stayed back and fought him and those men only fought him because they were encouraged by the Gods. Every man that ever faced Achilles ended up dead; no one ever survived, until Paris. It was said that Achilles was killed in the ankle, by an arrow. The arrow in some stories is said to be guided by the God, Apollo ([|//Bukisa//]//)//. In others stories, Achilles’ death is said to happen because Paris does not want to give up Helen. Paris would have to give up Helen if his sister was to marry Achilles. He then shot Achilles in the ankle with an arrow by the help of the Goddess Aphrodite (//[|In2Greece.com])//. In both stories of Achilles death, he was killed by Paris’s arrow but he only succeeded in hitting him with the arrow because the Gods helped. The Gods helped by guiding the arrow to Achilles weak spot ([|Bukisa]).

Achilles was a man of immense determination, the first cross-dresser, and he could do anything he wished. If Achilles had not been killed in the Trojan War, then the Achilles tendon might be named Jimbob, rather than Achilles.

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