Editing Achilles (section)

== Birth and early years ==
[[File:Peter Paul Rubens 181.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|''Thetis Dipping the Infant Achilles into the River Styx'' by [[Peter Paul Rubens]] ({{circa|1625|lk=no}}; [[Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen]], Rotterdam)]]

Achilles was the son of [[Thetis]]—a [[Nereid]] and daughter of the [[Old Man of the Sea]]—and [[Peleus]], the king of the [[Myrmidons]]. [[Zeus]] and [[Poseidon]] had been rivals for Thetis's hand in marriage until [[Prometheus]], the fore-thinker, warned Zeus of a prophecy (originally uttered by [[Themis]], goddess of divine law) that Thetis would bear a son greater than his father. For this reason, the two gods withdrew their pursuit, and had her wed Peleus.<ref>[[Aeschylus]], ''Prometheus Bound'' 755–768; [[Pindar]], ''Nemean'' 5.34–37, ''Isthmian'' 8.26–47; Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]'' 3.13.5; ''[[Poeticon astronomicon]]'' 2.15.</ref>

There is a tale which offers an alternative version of these events: In the ''[[Argonautica]]'' (4.760) Zeus' sister and wife [[Hera]] alludes to Thetis' chaste resistance to the advances of Zeus, pointing out that Thetis was so loyal to Hera's marriage bond that she coolly rejected the father of gods. Thetis, although a daughter of the sea-god [[Nereus]], was also brought up by Hera, further explaining her resistance to the advances of Zeus. Zeus was furious and decreed that she would never marry an immortal.<ref>Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]'' 3.13.5.</ref>

[[File:The Education of Achilles 1862 Delacroix.jpg|thumb|''The Education of Achilles'', by [[Eugène Delacroix]], pastel on paper, {{circa|1862|lk=no}} ([[Getty Center]], Los Angeles)]]

According to the ''[[Achilleid]]'', written by [[Statius]] in the first century&nbsp;CE, and to [[Lost literary work|non-surviving previous sources]], when Achilles was born Thetis tried to make him immortal by dipping him in the river [[Styx]]; however, he was left vulnerable at the part of the body by which she held him: his left heel<ref>Statius, ''Achilleid'' 1.269; Hyginus, ''Fabulae'' 107.</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Jonathan S. Burgess |title=The Death and Afterlife of Achilles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ko_YAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA9 |access-date=5 February 2010 |year=2009 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore |isbn=978-0-8018-9029-1 |page=9}}</ref> {{Crossreference|(see [[Achilles' heel]], [[Achilles tendon]])}}. It is not clear if this version of events was known earlier. In another version of this story, Thetis anointed the boy in [[ambrosia]] and put him on top of a fire in order to burn away the mortal parts of his body. She was interrupted by Peleus and abandoned both father and son in a rage.<ref>[[Apollonius of Rhodes]], ''[[Argonautica]]'' 4.869–879.</ref>

[[File:The Education of Achilles, by James Barry.jpg|thumb|''The Education of Achilles'' ({{circa|1772|lk=no}}), by [[James Barry (painter)|James Barry]] ([[Yale Center for British Art]])]]

None of the sources before Statius make any reference to this general invulnerability. To the contrary, in the ''Iliad'', Homer mentions Achilles being wounded: in Book 21 the [[Paeonia (kingdom)|Paeonian]] hero [[Asteropaios]], son of [[Pelagon]], challenged Achilles by the river [[Scamander]]. He was ambidextrous, and cast a spear from each hand; one grazed Achilles' elbow, "drawing a spurt of blood".<ref>{{cite book |author1=Homer (Robert Fagles translation) |title=The Iliad |page=525 |quote=But the other (spear) grazed Achilles' strong right arm and dark blood gushed as the spear shot past his back}}</ref> In the few fragmentary poems of the [[Epic Cycle]] which describe the hero's death (i.e. the ''[[Cypria]]'', the ''[[Little Iliad]]'' by [[Lesches]] of Pyrrha, the ''[[Aethiopis]]'' and ''[[Iliupersis]]'' by [[Arctinus of Miletus]]), there is no trace of any reference to his general invulnerability or his famous weakness at the heel. In the later vase paintings presenting the death of Achilles, the arrow (or in many cases, arrows) hit his torso.

Peleus entrusted Achilles to [[Chiron]], who lived on [[Mount Pelion]] and was known as the most righteous of the [[Centaur]]s, to be reared.<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''Catalogue of Women'', fr. 204.87–89 MW; ''Iliad'' 11.830–832.</ref> In some accounts, Achilles' original name was "Ligyron" and he was later named ''Achilles'' by his tutor Chiron.<ref>Apollodorus, Library, Book III [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+3.13&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022 3.13.6]</ref> According to Homer, Achilles grew up in [[Phthia]] with his childhood companion [[Patroclus]].<ref name="New Pauly" /> Homer further writes that Achilles taught Patroclus what he himself had been taught by Chiron, including the medical arts.<ref>Homer, ''The Iliad'' [[wikisource:The Iliad (Murray)/Book XI|Book XI 822-836]]</ref> Thetis foretold that her son's fate was either to gain glory and die young, or to live a long but uneventful life in obscurity. Achilles chose the former, and decided to take part in the Trojan War.<ref>''Iliad'' 9.410ff.</ref>

[[File:Achilleus Lyra.jpg|thumb|[[Chiron]] teaching Achilles how to play the [[lyre]], Roman [[fresco]] from [[Herculaneum]], first century&nbsp;CE]]

According to [[Photius]], the sixth book of the ''New History'' by [[Ptolemy Hephaestion]] reported that Thetis burned in a secret place the children she had by Peleus. When she had Achilles, Peleus noticed, tore him from the flames with only a burnt foot, and confided him to the centaur Chiron. Later Chiron exhumed the body of the [[Damysus (Giant)|Damysus]], who was the fastest of all the giants, removed the ankle, and incorporated it into Achilles' burnt foot.<ref>[http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/photius_copyright/photius_05bibliotheca.htm Photius, ''Bibliotheca'', cod. 190]: "Thetis burned in a secret place the children she had by Peleus; six were born; when she had Achilles, Peleus noticed and tore him from the flames with only a burnt foot and confided him to Chiron. The latter exhumed the body of the giant Damysos who was buried at Pallene—Damysos was the fastest of all the giants—removed the 'astragale' and incorporated it into Achilles' foot using 'ingredients'. This 'astragale' fell when Achilles was pursued by Apollo and it was thus that Achilles, fallen, was killed. It is said, on the other hand, that he was called Podarkes by the Poet, because, it is said, Thetis gave the newborn child the wings of Arce and Podarkes means that his feet had the wings of Arce."</ref>

=== Physical description ===
In Homer's ''Iliad'', Achilles is portrayed as tall and striking, with strength and looks that were unmatched among the Greek warriors.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Strauss |first=Barry |url= |title=The Trojan War: A New History |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-7432-6442-6 |pages=87 |language=en}}</ref> Homer describes him as having long hair or a mane ({{lang|grc|χαίτη}}).<ref>Homer, ''Iliad'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hom.+Il.+23.141&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0133 23.141] (in Greek)</ref><ref>{{LSJ|xai/th|χαίτη|ref}}</ref> Along with some other characters, his hair is described with the word ''xanthḗ'' ({{lang|grc|ξανθή}}),<ref name="Myres">Myres, John Linton (1967). ''Who were the Greeks?'', pp. 192–199. University of California Press.</ref> which meant 'yellow' and was used for light hair, including [[blond]], [[Brown hair|brown]], [[Tawny (color)|tawny]] (light brown) and [[Auburn hair|auburn]].<ref>{{LSJ|canqo/s|ξανθός|ref}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Woodhouse |first=Sidney Chawner |title=English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language |publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited |year=1910 |location=London |pages=52,84,101}}</ref> A later Latin account, probably from the fifth century&nbsp;CE, [[Pseudepigrapha|falsely attributed]] to [[Dares Phrygius]] described Achilles as having "... a large chest, a fine mouth, and powerfully formed arms and legs. His head was covered with long wavy chestnut-colored hair (''capillo myrteo'', color of [[myrtus]] bark or [[myrrh]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Navarro Antolín |first1=Fernando |title=Lygdamus: Corpus Tibullianum III. 1-6: Lygdami Elegiarum Liber : Edition and Commentary |date=1996 |publisher=E.J. Brill |location=Belgium |page=309}}</ref>). Though mild in manner, he was very fierce in battle. His face showed the joy of a man richly endowed."<ref>[[Dares Phrygius]], ''History of the Fall of Troy'' [https://www.theoi.com/Text/DaresPhrygius.html 13]</ref>

=== Hidden on Skyros ===
{{Main|Achilles on Skyros}}
[[File:Gaziantep Zeugma Museum Achilles mosaic in 2011 2098.jpg|thumb|A [[Roman mosaic]] from the Poseidon Villa in [[Zeugma, Commagene]] (now in the [[Zeugma Mosaic Museum]]) depicting Achilles disguised as a woman and [[Odysseus]] tricking him into revealing himself]]

Some post-Homeric sources<ref>[[Euripides]], ''Skyrioi'', surviving only in fragmentary form; [[Philostratus III|Philostratus Junior]], ''Imagines'' i; Scholiast on Homer's ''Iliad'', 9.326; [[Ovid]], ''Metamorphoses'' 13.162–180; Ovid, ''[[Tristia]]'' 2.409–412 (mentioning a Roman tragedy on this subject); Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]'' 3.13.8; [[Statius]], ''[[Achilleid]]'' 1.689–880, 2.167ff.</ref> claim that in order to keep Achilles safe from the war, Thetis (or, in some versions, Peleus) hid the young man dressed as a princess or at least a girl at the court of [[Lycomedes (mythology)|Lycomedes]], king of [[Skyros]].

There, Achilles, properly disguised, lived among Lycomedes' daughters, perhaps under the name "[[Pyrrha (mythology)|Pyrrha]]" (the red-haired girl), Cercysera or Aissa ("swift"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Graves |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Graves |title=The Greek Myths – The Complete and Definitive Edition |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-241-98338-6 |pages=Index s.v. Aissa}}</ref>).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Graves |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Graves |title=The Greek Myths – The Complete and Definitive Edition |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-241-98338-6 |page=642}}</ref> With Lycomedes' daughter [[Deidamia (mythology)|Deidamia]], with whom he had begun a relationship, Achilles there fathered two sons, [[Neoptolemus]] (also called Pyrrhus, after his father's possible alias) and Oneiros. According to this story, Odysseus learned from the prophet [[Calchas]] that the Achaeans would be unable to capture Troy without Achilles' aid. Odysseus went to Skyros in the guise of a pedlar selling women's clothes and jewellery and placed a shield and spear among his goods. When Achilles instantly took up the spear, Odysseus saw through his disguise and convinced him to join the Greek campaign. In another version of the story, Odysseus arranged for a trumpet alarm to be sounded while he was with Lycomedes' women. While the women fled in panic, Achilles prepared to defend the court, thus giving his identity away.