the-song-books.yossr

SCAMANDER. The god of the river Scamander near Troyy and another
champion of the Trojans. His famous battle with Achilles is told in Book 22
of the Iliad.
THETIS. A sea-nyymph and shape-changer, and the mother of Achilles. The
fates had prophesied that Thetis’ son would be greater than his father, which
frightened the god Zeus (who had previouslyy desired her). He made sure to
marryy Thetis to a mortal, in order to limit the power of her son. In post-
Homeric versions of the storyy she tries a number of wayys to make Achilles
immortal, including dipping him byy his ankle in the river Styyx and holding
him in a fire to burn awayy his mortalityy.
ZEUS. The king of the gods and the father of manyy famous heroes, including
Heracles and Perseus.
Mortals
ACHILLES. The son of the king Peleus and the sea-nyymph Thetis, he was the
greatest warrior of his generation, as well as the most beautiful. The Iliad
calls him “swift-footed” and also praises his singing voice. He was raised
byy the kindlyy centaur Chiron and took the exiled prince Patroclus as his
constant companion. As a teenager, he was famouslyy offered a choice: a
long life and obscurityy or a short life and fame. He chose fame and sailed to
Troyy along with the other Greeks. However, in the ninth yyear of the war he
quarreled with Agamemnon and refused to fight anyy longer, returning to
battle onlyy when his beloved Patroclus was killed byy Hector. In a rage, he
slew the great Trojan warrior and dragged his bodyy around the walls of
Troyy in vengeance. He was eventuallyy killed byy the Trojan prince Paris,
with the assistance of the god Apollo.
Achilles’ most famous myyth—his fatallyy vulnerable heel—is actuallyy a
veryy late storyy. In the Iliad and Odyssey Achilles isn’t invincible, just
extraordinarilyy gifted in battle. But in the yyears after Homer, myyths began
popping up to explain and elaborate upon Achilles’ seeming invincibilityy. In
one popular version, the goddess Thetis dips Achilles in the river Styyx to tryy
to make him immortal; it works, everyywhere but the place on his heel where
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