Editing Peleus (section)

==Mythology==
Peleus and his brother [[Telamon]] killed their half-brother [[Phocus of Aegina|Phocus]], perhaps in a hunting accident and certainly in an unthinking moment,<ref>"A witless moment" (Apollonius, ''Argonautica'', I. 93,</ref> and fled [[Aegina]] to escape punishment. In [[Phthia]], Peleus was purified by the city's ruler, [[Eurytion (king of Phthia)|Eurytion]], and then married the latter's daughter, [[Antigone (daughter of Eurytion)|Antigone]], by whom he had a daughter, [[Polydora]]. Eurytion received the barest mention among the [[Argonautica|Argonauts]] (both Peleus and Telamon joined the Argonauts themselves, "yet not together, nor from one place, for they dwelt far apart and distant from Aigina"<ref>[[Apollonius of Rhodes]], 1.90-93, in Peter Green's translation (2007:45).</ref>). However, Peleus accidentally killed Eurytion during the hunt for the [[Calydonian boar]] and fled from Phthia.

Peleus was purified of the murder of Eurytion in [[Iolcus]] by [[Acastus]]. Acastus' wife, [[Astydamia of Iolcus|Astydamia]], fell in love with Peleus and after he scorned her, she sent a messenger to [[Antigone (daughter of Eurytion)|Antigone]] to tell her that Peleus was to marry Acastus' daughter. As a result, Antigone hanged herself.

Astydamia then told Acastus that Peleus had tried to rape her. Acastus took Peleus on a hunting trip atop Mount Pelion and once Peleus fell asleep, Acastus hid his sword in cow dung and abandoned him on the mountainside. Peleus woke up and as a group of [[centaurs]] was about to attack him, the wise centaur [[Chiron]], or, according to another source, [[Hermes]], returned his sword to him and Peleus managed to escape.<ref>[[Aristophanes]], ''[[The Clouds]]'' 1063-1067</ref> He pillaged Iolcus and dismembered Astydamia, then marched his army between the rended limbs.  {{Clarify|date=April 2025|reason=how and when did Acastus die? |text=Acastus and }} Astydamia were dead and the kingdom fell to [[Jason]]'s son, [[Thessalus]].

===Marriage to Thetis===
{{Main|Judgement of Paris}}
[[Image:Dish Thetis Peleus Louvre CA2569.jpg|thumb|280px|right|Peleus makes off with his prize bride Thetis, who has vainly assumed animal forms to escape him: [[Boeotia]]n black-figure dish, {{circa|500 BC}}–475 BC]]

After Antigone's death, Peleus married the sea-nymph [[Thetis]]. He was able to win her over with the aid of [[Proteus]], who instructed Peleus to hold onto her tightly through all of her physical transformations she used to try to escape.<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' 11.219-74</ref> Their wedding feast was attended by many of the [[Olympian gods]]. As wedding presents, [[Poseidon]] gave Peleus two immortal horses: [[Balius and Xanthus]], [[Hephaestus]] gave him a knife, [[Aphrodite]] a bowl with an embossed [[Eros]], [[Hera]] a [[chlamys]], [[Athena]] a flute, [[Nereus]] a basket of the divine salt which has an irresistible virtue for overeating, appetite and digestion and [[Zeus]] gave Thetis, as present, the wings of [[Arke]].<ref>[http://remacle.org/bloodwolf/erudits/photius/ptolemee.htm Photius, Bibliotheca excerpts - GR]</ref><ref>[https://topostext.org/work/237#190.46 Photius, Bibliotheca excerpts, 190.46 - EN]</ref>

During the feast, [[Eris (mythology)|Eris]], in revenge for not being invited, produced the [[apple of Discord]], which started the quarrel that led to the [[judgement of Paris]] and eventually the [[Trojan War]]. The marriage of Peleus and Thetis produced seven sons, six of whom died in infancy. The only surviving son was [[Achilles]].

===Rescue of Achilles===
[[Thetis]] attempted to render her son [[Achilles]] invulnerable. In the well-known version, she dipped him in the [[River Styx]], holding him by one heel, which remained vulnerable. In an early and less popular version of the story, Thetis anointed the boy in [[ambrosia]] and put him on top of a fire to burn away the mortal parts of his body. She was interrupted by Peleus and she abandoned both father and son in a rage, leaving his heel vulnerable.

A nearly identical story is told by [[Plutarch]], in his ''On [[Isis]] and [[Osiris]]'', of the goddess Isis burning away the mortality of Prince Maneros of [[Byblos]], son of Queen [[Astarte]], and being likewise interrupted before completing the process. Later on in life, Achilles is killed by Paris when he is shot in his vulnerable spot, the heel. This is where the term "Achilles' heel" is derived from.

Peleus gave [[Achilles]] to the [[centaur]] [[Chiron]], to raise on [[Pelion|Mt. Pelion]], which took its name from Peleus. In the ''[[Iliad]]'', Achilles uses Peleus' immortal horses and also wields his father's spear.