Achilles
Greek mythology · hero · wrath, glory, mortality
Greatest warrior at Troy, son of the sea nymph Thetis, offered the choice of a long obscure life or a short one of everlasting glory. The Iliad is the story of his wrath, withdrawn from battle over an insult, returning only when it costs Patroclus's life.
Stories
The Wrath of Achilles
A plague from Apollo forces Agamemnon to surrender his war-prize, so he seizes Achilles's instead. The greatest of the Greeks withdraws from battle in fury and prays for his own side to suffer; the Iliad is the story of what that anger costs.
The Death of Patroclus
With the ships burning, Patroclus begs to wear Achilles's armor and drives the Trojans back almost to their walls. Apollo strikes the armor from him, and Hector finishes it. The news breaks Achilles: grief, then a rage that no wall can hold.
Hector at the Scaean Gate
Hector alone stands outside the walls as Achilles comes on like fire. Athena, disguised as his brother, tricks him into standing his ground; he dies asking that his body be returned, and Achilles drags it behind his chariot instead.
Priam's Ransom
Guided by Hermes through the sleeping camp, old Priam kneels before Achilles and kisses the hands that killed his son. The two enemies weep together, each for his own dead, and Achilles returns Hector's body; the Iliad ends not in victory but in mercy.