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Achilles is a god of what. Achilles is a hero of ancient Greek mythology

06.05.2021

Achilles Achilles

or Achilles

(Aehilies, Άχιλλεύς). The protagonist of the Iliad He was the son of Peleus, king of the Myrmidons, and; Nereids of Thetis. His mother, wanting to make him immortal, dipped him, when he was still a child, in the river Styx, and only the heel remained dry, for which she held him. His tutors were Phoenix and the centaur Chiron, of whom the first taught him eloquence and the art of war, and the second - the art of healing. When he was only nine years old, Calchas announced that Troy could not be taken without his help. But his mother, knowing that he should die in this war, disguised him as a girl and sent him to the island of Skyros, to the court of King Lycomedes, where he lived with his daughters and was called Pyrrha, that is, red, due to the chestnut color of his hair. Seeing, however, that Troy could not be taken without his help, the cunning Odysseus went to Skyros disguised as a merchant, and recognized Achilles when he laid out various women's jewelry in front of the girls, putting a shield and a spear between them. Achilles immediately grabbed the weapon and thus betrayed himself. Odysseus took him to the Greek army near Troy. At the court of Lycomedes, Achilles became the father of Neoptolemus, or Pyrrhus, whose mother was Deidamia. Under Troy, Achilles performed great feats of military prowess. After killing many Trojans, he finally met with Hector, whom he forced to run three times around the walls of Troy, and then, having killed him, tied his body to his chariot and dragged him to the Greek camp. Achilles had an invulnerable weapon, forged by Hephaestus at the request of his mother. In the end, Achilles was killed by Paris, the son of Priam, who shot him in the heel - the only vulnerable part of his body. Achilles is not only the protagonist of the Iliad, but was considered the bravest and most beautiful of the Greeks. After his death, Achilles became one of the judges of the underworld and lived on the islands of the blessed, where he was the spouse of Medea or Iphigenia.

(A source: " Concise vocabulary mythology and antiquities ”. M. Korsh. St. Petersburg, edition of A.S.Suvorin, 1894.)

Synonyms:

See what "Achilles" is in other dictionaries:

Achilles, Albrecht This term has other meanings, see Achilles (meanings). Albrecht Adolf Konrad Achilles January 25, 1914 (19140125) September 27, 1943 (age 29) ... Wikipedia

- (Greek Achilles). 1) male name: deified. 2) the bravest hero of the Trojan campaign; now Achilles is sometimes called a person with extraordinary courage. 3) a beautiful daytime butterfly in Suriname. Dictionary of foreign words included in ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

- (Achilles) (the hero of Homer's poem "Iliad" (between the X-VIII centuries BC). Greek mythology A. the son of the sea goddess Thetis and Peleus, king of the city of Phthia in Thessaly. By the name of his father in the Iliad, A. is called Pelid or Peleev's son. Myths say that A ... Literary heroes

Noun., Number of synonyms: 3 Achilles (3) butterfly (201) character (103) ASIS synonym dictionary ... Synonym dictionary

See Achilios. Day Angel. Reference book on names and name days. 2010 ... Dictionary of personal names

ACHILLES- (var. to Achilles; also in the meaning of a common character.) // Helena. Achilles. Name the sound more consonant. (rfm. to the veil) Tsv924 (II, 235); Only the rustle of the Myrtle trees, the sleep of the cithara: "Elena: Achilles: A scattered couple." RP ... Given name in Russian poetry of the XX century: a dictionary of personal names

ACHILLES, ACHILLES, eh; m. [from the Greek. Achilleus]. 1. [with capital letter] In Greek mythology: the name of one of the bravest heroes who besieged the city of Troy. 2. In the speech of doctors: the Achilles (Achilles) tendon. Damage, injure a. Retire from ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

ACHILLES- (achilles) Albrecht (25.1. 1914, Karlsruhe - 27.9.1943, northeast of Bahia, Brazil), submarine officer, captain of the 3rd rank (posthumously, 5.4.1945). In apr. 1934 began service in the navy. Trained at the Naval School in Schleswig Holstein ... Navy of the Third Reich

Or Achilles (Greek) in the heroic legends of the Greeks is the bravest of the heroes who undertook a campaign against Troy under the leadership of Agamemnon. Legends unanimously call him the son of mortal Peleus, king of the Myrmidons (people of southern Thessaly), ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

I m .; = Achilles The name of one of the bravest heroes who besieged the city of Troy, whose only weak point was the heel for which his mother held when, wanting to make him immortal, she dipped into the sacred waters of the Styx River. II m. Title ... ... Modern explanatory dictionary of the Russian language by Efremova

Books

Achilles Son of the sea goddess Roman in two books Book 1 Part 1-3, Kolobova N .. The gods gave him a choice: a long, calm and unremarkable life, or short, but full of feats and glory. He chose the second one. The son of a goddess and a mortal, one of the outstanding heroes, ...

Achilles is a hero of ancient Greek mythology, best known for the episode of participation in Homer wrote about this character in his "Iliad". And although "Iliad" is considered an epic describing the war against Troy, in fact, this is a story about the quarrel between Achilles and it was she who led to the events that decided the outcome of the ten-year siege of the city.

The origin of Achilles

Achilles was a hero. And initially not even thanks to their actions. Just the heroic fate of Achilles was predetermined already at birth. Indeed, according to Greek myths, the offspring, who appeared as a result of the connection of the immortal gods with mortal people, became a hero. He himself did not possess immortality, however, he could count on the patronage of heavenly relatives and, as a rule, possessed outstanding abilities, mainly combat.

The mother of Achilles was the sea nymph Thetis, and the father was Peleus, who reigned over the Myrmidons. Therefore, in the Iliad, the hero is often called Pelid (which means the son of Peleus). The unusual marriage between an earthly man and an immortal nymph is also explained in myths. Thetis was raised by Hera, and when Zeus tried to seduce a young nymph, she, in gratitude for the care that his lawful wife showed to her, refused the voluptuous Olympian. As punishment, Zeus gave Thetis to a mortal.

Achilles' heel

As time went on, Thetis and Peleus had children. To check whether they are immortal or not, Thetis dipped the newborn into a cauldron of boiling water. The first six sons died in this way. The seventh was Achilles. It was his father who saved him from the unenviable fate of his brothers, taking his son away from his wife in time. After that, Thetis leaves her husband and returns to live at the bottom of the sea. But she continues to closely follow her son's life.

According to another myth, Thetis lowered the little Achilles into the waters of the sacred Styx, flowing in the kingdom of Hades. This gave the child invincibility. Only the heel, the place where his mother held him tightly, remained vulnerable. From here comes the stable expression "Achilles' heel", which conveys the idea of a person's weak point.

After the departure of his wife, Peleus sends his little son to be raised by the centaur Chiron. He feeds him bone marrow animals instead of mother's milk. The boy grows up and diligently comprehends the science of wielding weapons. And according to some information, and the art of healing.

Visiting Lycomed

Chiron, who, among other things, possessed the gift of a fortuneteller, informs Thetis that if her son avoids participation in the upcoming Trojan war, he will have a long life. If he goes there, the Greeks will win, but Achilles will die. This prompts Thetis to send his son to another island - Skyros, and hide him between the daughters of King Lycomedes. For greater safety, Achilles lives there disguised in women's clothing.

This behavior seems somewhat unusual for a hero hungry for immortal glory. However, it is worth remembering that at that time the young man was barely fifteen years old. It was by the time Homer described in the Iliad that Achilles had become a mature, accomplished warrior. After all, the siege of the impregnable city lasted twenty years. And all this time the Greeks did not sit idle on the spot. They attacked and ravaged nearby cities. Until then, it was a young man. Brave but obedient to the direction of his divine mother.

Meeting with Odysseus

Meanwhile, a chain of events leads to the gathering of troops for the war against Troy. Priest Kalhant announces that if the son of Peleus does not participate in the campaign, the Greeks will face a crushing defeat. Then the Achaean leaders hastily equip Odysseus and send him to the island of Skyros after Achilles.

Realizing that going against the immortal inhabitants of heaven with brute force is more expensive for himself, Odysseus resorts to cunning. He introduces himself as an ordinary itinerant merchant and enters Lycomedes' palace. Having laid out his goods in front of the king's daughters, Odysseus places richly decorated weapons among the jewels.

At the appointed moment, the people of Odysseus, on his orders, gave an alarm signal. All the girls rushed scatteringly, only Achilles was not at a loss. This gave him away. The young man grabbed a weapon and ran towards the imaginary enemies. Declassified by Odysseus, Achilles agrees to join the military campaign and takes with him his beloved friend Patroclus, with whom they grew up together.

Sacrifice to Iphigenia

And so the huge Greek fleet, which now includes a detachment of Myrmidons on fifty warships led by Achilles, moves to Troy. The immortal inhabitants of Olympus are also involved in all the unfolding events. Moreover, some of them support the Trojans, and some are on the side of the Greeks. Due to the next trick of the gods supporting the defenders of Troy, the Greek fleet, immobilized by the absence of a favorable wind, stands off the coast of the island of Aulis.

Kalhant utters another prediction: a tailwind will blow only if Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek army, who embarked on a campaign against Troy, sacrifices his daughter Iphigenia. Father was not embarrassed by this. The only problem he saw was how to get the girl to the island? Therefore, messengers are sent to Iphigenia with the message that she was given to Achilles as wife and that she must come to Aulis for the wedding. The description of the portrait of Achilles, the hero of ancient Greek mythology, does not leave her indifferent and the girl arrives on the island for a wedding. Instead, she goes straight to the altar.

One version of this story claims that Achilles himself did not know anything about the insidious plan. And when he found out, he rushed to defend the deceived princess with arms in hand. But earlier myths tell that the son of Peleus did not show any sentimentality, because he himself was eager to quickly sail to Troy. And if the gods demand sacrifices, who will argue with them? In fairness, it should be noted that Iphigenia was still saved. True, not a hero, but the one who replaced the girl with a deer.

Meeting with the Amazon

But be that as it may, the sacrifice was credited, and the Greeks arrived safely at Troy. Thus began the long siege of the impregnable city. As already mentioned, Achilles did not sit idly by. He became famous already at the very beginning of the war, winning one after another glorious victories over the cities surrounding Troy and the nearby islands. According to the son of Priam, who was later killed by Achilles, during this time did not meet with the impudent and successful invader. And Achilles continued to hone his skill with weapons.

In one of the next raids, Achilles enters into a battle with the queen of the Amazons, Pentiselia, who at that time was hiding on the mainland from the revenge of her fellow tribesmen. After a hard struggle, the hero kills the queen and, with the tip of his spear, prying off the helmet that hid the entire upper part of his face, throws it off the woman. Struck by her beauty, the hero falls in love with her.

Nearby is one of the Greek warriors - Tersit. According to Homer's unflattering descriptions, a very unpleasant subject. He accuses Achilles of lusting for the dead and gouges her eyes out with a spear. Without thinking twice, Achilles turns around and kills Thersit with one blow to the jaw.

Briseis and Chryseis

In another campaign, the Greeks capture Briseis, which Achilles keeps as a concubine. In mythology, it is described that a young woman is not at all burdened by her position. On the contrary, she is always loving and gentle.

During this time, Agamemnon also enjoys the fruits of the raids. Among other things, he is presented with the beautiful girl Chryseis as a share of the spoil. But her father comes to the camp, begging to allow her daughter to be redeemed. Agamemnon taunts him and drives him out in disgrace. Then the inconsolable father prayed for help to Apollo and he sends an epidemic to the Greeks. All the same soothsayer Kalhant explains the cause of the misfortune and says that the girl must be released. Achilles strongly supports him. But Agamemnon does not want to give in. Passions are running high.

Discord with Agamemnon

In the end, Chryseis is still released. However, the vengeful Agamemnon, holding a grudge, decides to take revenge on Achilles. Therefore, as compensation, he takes Briseis from him. The enraged hero refuses to continue to take part in the war. From this moment, events begin to develop rapidly, as the Iliad describes it. The duel between Achilles and Hector is inexorably approaching. As well as the tragic denouement to which it will lead.

Achilles inactivity

The Greeks are suffering defeat after defeat. But the offended Achilles, does not give in to anyone's persuasion and continues to be inactive. But once the defenders of Troy pushed the opponents back to the very shore. Then, heeding the persuasion of his friend Patroclus, Achilles agrees to lead the Myrmidons into battle. Patroclus asks permission to take his friend's armor and receives it. In the ensuing battle, Hector, a Trojan prince, mistaking Patroclus in the armor of Achilles for a famous hero, kills him. This provokes a duel between Achilles and Hector.

Duel with Hector

Upon learning of the death of Patroclus, a grief-stricken Achilles intends to take cruel revenge. He rushes into battle and sweeps away one by one all the mighty warriors. The characterization of Achilles, which Homer gives him in this episode, is the apogee of the hero's whole life. It was the moment of undying glory he had dreamed of so much. Alone, he turns enemies back and drives them to the very walls of Troy.

Terrified, the Trojans hide behind the strong walls of the city. All but one. Noble Hector is the only one who decides to fight back the son of Peleus. But even this battle-hardened warrior is horrified at the approach of his frantic enemy and turns to flight. They circled Achilles and Hector Troy three times before meeting in a mortal battle. The prince could not resist and fell, pierced by the spear of Achilles. Having tied the corpse to his chariot, he dragged the body of Hector to his camp Achilles. And only the genuine sorrow and humility of Hector's inconsolable father, King Priam, who came to his camp unarmed, softened the victor's heart, and he agreed to return the body. However, Achilles accepted the ransom - gold as much as the prince of Troy Hector weighed.

Death of a hero

Achilles himself dies during the capture of Troy. And here it is not complete without the intervention of the gods. Apollo, who is sickened by the disrespect to him of a mere mortal, invisibly directs an arrow shot by Paris, the younger brother of Hector. The arrow pierces the hero's heel - his only weak point - and turns out to be fatal. But even as he dies, many more Trojans continue to infect Achilles. His body is carried out of the thick of the battle by Ajax. Achilles was buried with all the honors, and his bones were laid in a golden urn along with the bones of Patroclus.

The sea goddess Thetis strove to make her son Achilles invulnerable and tempered him in fire at night and rubbed him with amusement during the day. According to another version, she bathed him in the waters of the underground river Styx, which flowed in the kingdom of the gloomy Hades. And only the heel, for which she held him, remained unprotected. Achilles was raised by the wise centaur Chiron, who fed him with the entrails of lions, bears and wild boars. He also taught him to sing and play the cithara.

Achilles grew up as a mighty, strong youth, he was not afraid of anyone. At the age of six, he killed ferocious lions, wild boars, without dogs, he caught up with deer and knocked them to the ground. The goddess Thetis, who lived in the ocean, did not forget about her son, sailed to him, gave good advice.

At that time, the hero Menelaus began to collect brave warriors throughout Greece for a campaign against Troy. Thetis, knowing that her son was destined to participate in the Trojan War and die, tried with all her might to resist him. She sent her son to the island of Skyros to the palace of King Lycomedes. There, among the royal daughters, he hid in girls' clothes.

But the Greek soothsayers knew that one of the heroes of the Trojan War would be the young warrior Achilles, they suggested to the leader Menelaus that he was hiding on the island of Skyros with King Lycomedes. Then the leaders Odysseus and Diomedes equipped a merchant ship, disguised themselves as merchants, collected various goods and arrived at Skyros. There they learned that only daughters live with Tsar Lycomed. Where is Achilles?

Then Odysseus, famous for his cunning, figured out how to recognize Achilles. They came to Lycomedes' palace and laid out decorations, textiles, household utensils, battle swords, shields, daggers, bows and arrows in the hall. The girls looked at the product with interest. Noticing this, Odysseus went out and asked his soldiers, who were standing at the entrance to the palace, to issue a battle cry. Warriors banged on shields, hummed through trumpets, shouted in draft voices. It seemed like a war had begun. The princesses fled in fear, but one of them grabbed a sword and a shield and ran to the exit.

So Odysseus and Diomedes recognized Achilles and invited him to participate in the Trojan War. He happily agreed. He had long wanted to throw off his girlish dress and do a real business worthy of a man.

Achilles became famous in the very first days of the battles. He proved himself to be a fearless, skillful warrior, luck accompanied him everywhere. He accomplished many feats. Together with others, he participated in the devastation of the environs of Troy, conquered the population of the cities of Lirness and Pedas, and captured the beautiful Briseis. But the leader Agamemnon took the girl away from him, which caused a terrible resentment from Achilles. He was so angry with Agamemnon that he refused to fight against the Trojans. And only the death of his friend Patroclus forced Achilles to take up arms again and join the ranks of the Greeks.

Achilles perished in the most absurd way: he burst into Troy and went to the royal palace, but the Trojan prince Paris, who did not love him, took a bow and asked the god Apollo, who favored him, to send arrows to Achilles. One of his two arrows hit Achilles' only weak point, in the heel. This is how one of the most famous heroes of the Trojan War died. His death was mourned by the entire army.

Achilles(ancient Greek Ἀχιλλεύς, Achilleus) (lat. Achilles) - in the heroic legends of the ancient Greeks, he is the bravest of the heroes who undertook a campaign against Troy under the leadership of Agamemnon. Name a-ki-re-u(Achilles) recorded in ancient Knossos, it is worn by ordinary people.

Myths about Achilles

Achilles' childhood

From the marriages of the Olympian gods with mortals, heroes were born. They were endowed with tremendous strength and superhuman capabilities, but did not possess immortality. The heroes had to fulfill the will of the gods on earth, bring order and justice into people's lives. With the help of their divine parents, they performed all kinds of feats. The heroes were highly revered, the legends about them were passed down from generation to generation.

Thetis dips Achilles into the waters of Styx
(Rubens, Peter Paul (1577-1640)

Legends unanimously call Achilles the son of a mortal - Peleus, king of the Myrmidons, but his mother, the sea goddess Thetis, belongs to the host of immortals. The earliest versions of the birth of Achilles mention the furnace of Hephaestus, where Thetis, wishing to deify Achilles (and make him immortal), laid her son, holding his heel. According to another ancient legend, which Homer does not mention, the mother of Achilles, Thetis, wanting to test whether her son is mortal or immortal, wanted to dip the newborn Achilles in boiling water, just as she did with her former children, but Peleus opposed this. Later legends tell that Thetis, wanting to make her son immortal, plunged him into the waters of Styx or, according to another version, into fire, so that only the heel for which she held him remained vulnerable; hence the proverb that is still used today - "Achilles' heel" - to indicate someone's weak side.

Baby Achilles is handed over to Chiron to be raised

As a child, Achilles bore the name Pyrrisius (translated as "Ice"), but when the fire burned his lips, he was named Achilles ("lipless"). According to other authors, Achilles was called Ligiron as a child. A similar change baby name for an adult, associated with trauma or exploit, is a relic of the initiation ritual (compare the change of the child's name “Alcides” to “Hercules” after the hero's murder of the Kiferon lion and the victory over Tsar Ergin).

The teaching of Achilles (James Barry (1741-1806)

Achilles was raised by Chiron in Pelion. He was not Elena's fiancé (which only Euripides calls him). Chiron fed Achilles with the bone marrow of deer and other animals, from here, as if, from a-chylos, and there was his name "feedless", that is, "not breastfed." According to one interpretation, Achilles found an herb that can heal wounds.

The upbringing of Achilles and the beginning of the war for Troy

Achilles was educated by the Phoenix, the centaur Chiron taught him the healing art. According to another legend, Achilles did not know the art of medicine, but nevertheless he healed Telephus.

At the request of Nestor and Odysseus and according to the will of his father, Achilles joined the campaign against Troy at the head of 50 ships (or 60), and took with him his tutor Phoenix and childhood friend Patroclus (some authors call Patroclus beloved of Achilles). According to Homer, Achilles arrived in the army of Agamemnon from Phthia. According to Lesha's poem, the storm brought Achilles to Skyros.

Identifying Achilles among the daughters of Lycomedes (Bray)

The legend of the post-Homeric cycle tells that Thetis, wanting to save her son from participating in the fateful campaign for him, hid him with Lycomedes, the king of the island of Skyros, where Achilles in women's clothes was between the royal daughters. A cunning trick of Odysseus, who, under the guise of a merchant, laid out women's jewelry in front of the girls and, adding weapons to them, ordered to suddenly raise a battle cry and noise, discovered the floor of Achilles (who immediately grabbed his weapon), as a result, the exposed Achilles was forced to join the campaign of the Greeks.

According to some authors, at the beginning of the campaign, Achilles was 15 years old, and the war lasted 20 years. The first shield of Achilles was made by Hephaestus; this scene is depicted on vases.

During the long siege of Ilion, Achilles repeatedly raided various neighboring cities. According to the existing version, he wandered the Scythian land for five years in search of Iphigenia.

At the beginning of the war, Achilles tried to take the city of Monenia (Pedas), and a local girl fell in love with him. "There is nothing strange in the fact that he, being amorous and intemperate, could zealously make music."

Achilles in the Iliad

The main character of the Iliad.

In the tenth year of the siege of Ilion, Achilles captured the beautiful Briseis. She served as a bone of contention which his captive Astinoma was forced to return to her father Chris, and therefore declared a claim to possession of Briseis.

Achilles receives ambassadors from Agamemnon
(Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (1780-1867)

The enraged Achilles refused to further participate in the battles (compare with the similar refusal to fight the offended Karna, the greatest hero of the Indian legend "Mahabharata"). Thetis, wishing to take revenge on Agamemnon for the insult inflicted on her son, begged Zeus to grant victory to the Trojans.

Angry Achilles (Hermann Wilhelm Bissen (1798-1868)

The next morning, Thetis brought her son new armor, forged by the skillful hand of Hephaestus himself (in particular, the shield is described in the Iliad as a marvelous work of art - a description that is significant for the original history of Greek art). ; only Hector dared to confront him here, but nevertheless fled from Achilles.

Achilles duel with Hector

Pursuing the killer of his friend, Achilles three times forced Hector to run around the walls of Troy, finally overtook and killed him, tied him naked to the camp of the Greeks. Having pompously celebrated the feast for his fallen friend Patroclus, Achilles returned the corpse of Hector for a rich ransom to his father, King Priam, who appeared in the hero's tent to pray to him about it.

Priam asking Achilles for the body of Hector, 1824
(Alexander Andreevich Ivanov (1806-1858)

In the Iliad, 23 Trojans, named by name, for example, Asteropeus, were killed by Achilles. Aeneas crossed weapons with Achilles, but then fled from him. Achilles fought with Agenor, who was saved by Apollo.

Death of Achilles

The legends of the epic cycle tell that during the further siege of Troy, Achilles killed in battle the queen of the Amazons and the Ethiopian prince, who came to the aid of the Trojans. Memnon was killed by Achilles in revenge for his friend Antilochus, the son of Nestor. In the poem Quintus, Achilles killed 6 Amazons, 2 Trojans and the Ethiopian Memnon. According to Hyginus, he killed Troilus, Astinom and Pilemen. In total, 72 soldiers died from the hands of Achilles.

Having defeated many enemies, Achilles in the last battle reached the Skeian gates of Ilion, but here the hero also died. According to some authors, Achilles was directly killed by Apollo himself or by the arrow of Apollo, who took the form of Paris, or by Paris, who hid behind the statue of Apollo of Fimbreys. The earliest author mentioning the vulnerability of Achilles' ankle is Statius, but there is an earlier depiction on an amphora of the 6th century. BC BC, where we see Achilles wounded in the leg.

Death of Achilles

Later legends transfer the death of Achilles to the temple of Apollo at Fimbra, near Troy, where he came to marry Polyxena, the youngest daughter of Priam. These legends tell that Achilles was killed by Paris and Deiphobus when he wooed Polyxenes and came to negotiations.

According to Ptolemy Hephaestion, Achilles was killed by Helen or Penfesileia, after which Thetis resurrected him, he killed Penfesileia and returned to Hades

Subsequent traditions

According to the existing version, the body of Achilles was redeemed for an equal weight of gold from the gold-bearing river Pactol.

Achilles Shield

The Greeks erected a mausoleum for Achilles on the banks of the Hellespont, and here, in order to pacify the hero's shadow, sacrificed him to Polyxenus. According to Homer's story, Ajax Telamonides and Odysseus Laertides argued for the armor of Achilles. Agamemnon awarded them to the latter. In the Odyssey, Achilles dwells in underworld where Odysseus meets him. Achilles was buried in a golden amphora (Homer), which Dionysus gave to Thetis (Lycophron, Stesichor).

But already "Ethiopis", one of the epics of the epic cycle, narrates that Thetis took her son away from a burning fire and transferred him to the island of Levka (called the Serpent Island at the mouth of the Danube Istra), where he continues to live in the company of other deified heroes and heroines ... This island served as the center of the cult of Achilles, as well as the mound, which rises on the Sigei hill in front of Troy and is still reputed to be the tomb of Achilles. The sanctuary and monument of Achilles, as well as the monuments of Patroclus and Antilochus, were at Cape Segey. His temples were still in Elis, Sparta and other places.

Philostratus (born in 170) in the essay "On Heroes" (215) cites a dialogue between a Phoenician merchant and a winegrower, telling about the events on the Serpent Island. With the end of the Trojan War, Achilles and Helen got married after death (the marriage of the bravest with the most beautiful) and live on White Island (Levka Island) at the mouth of the Danube on the Pontus Euxine. Once Achilles came to a merchant who had sailed to the island and asked him to buy a slave girl for him in Troy, indicating how to find her. The merchant fulfilled the order and brought the girl to the island, but his ship had not yet sailed far from the coast, when he and his companions heard the wild cries of the unfortunate girl: Achilles tore her apart - she, it turns out, was the last of the descendants of the royal family of Priam. The cries of the unfortunate woman reach the ears of the merchant and his companions. The role of the owner of the White Island, played by Achilles, becomes explicable in the light of the article by H. Hommel, who showed that even in the 7th century. BC NS. this character, long ago turned into an epic hero, still acted in his original function as one of the demons beyond the grave.

It is called "reigning over the Scythians." Demodok sings a song about him. In Troy, the ghost of Achilles, hunting animals, appeared.

The spear of Achilles was kept in Phaselis in the temple of Athena. The cenotaph of Achilles was in Elis, in the gymnasium. According to Timaeus, Periander erected the fortification of Achilles against the Athenians from the stones of Ilion, which is refuted by Demetrius of Skepsis. Statues of naked ephebes with spears were called Achilles.

The origin of the image

There is a hypothesis that initially in Greek mythology, Achilles was one of the demons underworld(to which other heroes belonged - for example, Hercules). The assumption about the divine nature of Achilles was expressed by H. Hommel in his article. He shows on the material of early Greek texts that even in the 7th century. BC NS. this character, long ago turned into an epic hero, still acted in his original function as one of the demons beyond the grave. Hommel's publication has caused an active discussion, not yet completed.

Image in art

Literature

The protagonist of the tragedies of Aeschylus "Myrmidonians" (fr. 131-139 Radt), "Nereids" (fr. 150-153 Radt), "The Phrygians, or the Ransom of Hector's body" (fr. 263-267 Radt); the satire dramas of Sophocles "Admirers of Achilles" (fr. 149-157 Radt) and "Companions" (fr. 562-568 Radt), the tragedy of Euripides "Iphigenia in Aulis". The tragedies "Achilles" were written by Aristarchus of Tegea, Iophon, Astidamant the Younger, Diogenes, Karkin the Younger, Cleophon, Evaret, Heremon had the tragedy "Achilles the killer of Thersites", from the Latin authors Livy Andronicus ("Achilles"), Ennius ("Achilles according to Aristarchus "), Stocks (" Achilles, or Myrmidonians ").

art

The plastic art of antiquity has repeatedly reproduced the image of Achilles. His image has come down to us on many vases, bas-reliefs with individual scenes or a whole series of them, also on a group of pediment from Aegina (stored in Munich, see Aigin art), but there is not a single statue or bust that could be attributed to him with certainty.

One of the most remarkable busts of Achilles is kept in St. Petersburg, in the Hermitage. The sad and at the same time indignant head is crowned with a helmet, which ends with a ridge hanging forward, fixed on the back of the sphinx; behind this ridge curls with a long tail. On both sides of the ridge, they are sculptured in a flat relief along the neck, they are separated by a palmetto. The front supra-forehead plaque of the helmet, terminating on both sides with curls, is also decorated with a palmetto in the middle; on either side of it are a pair of sharp-faced, thin-tailed dogs with long pressed ears, in collars (apparently, a pair of hunting dogs sniffing the ground). The facial expression resembles a bust stored in Munich. Presumably, that moment is captured here when they have already put on the hero the armor chained by Hephaestus, and now his face has already caught fire with anger, a thirst for revenge, but sadness for a dear friend still trembles on his lips, like a reflection of inner heart longing. This bust apparently dates back to the 2nd century AD. NS. to the era of Hadrian, but his plan is too deep for this era, poor creative thought, and therefore it remains only to assume that this head, like the Munich one, is an imitation, the original of which could have been created no later than Praxiteles, that is, no later than IV-III v. BC NS.

In cinema

In 2003, a two-part television film "Helena Troyanskaya" was released, where Achilles was played by Joe Montana.

Brad Pitt plays Achilles in the 2004 film Troy.

In astronomy

The asteroid (588) Achilles, discovered in 1906, is named in honor of Achilles.

Achilles

(Achilles) - in the "Iliad" one of the bravest Greek heroes who besieged Troy. Son of Thetis and Peleus, grandson of Eak. Mother Achilles - the goddess Thetis, wishing to make her son immortal, immersed him in the sacred waters of the Styx; only the heel by which Thetis held him did not touch the water and remained vulnerable. The armor forged by Hephaestus also contributed to the invulnerability of Achilles. Before getting to the Trojan War, dressed in a woman's dress, he lived on the island of Skyros, among the daughters of King Lycomedes, where the goddess Thetis hid Achilles, wanting to save him from participating in the war. Odysseus exposed his deception: having arrived to Skyros under the guise of a merchant, he laid out many goods attractive to women, and among these goods - a set of weapons. While Lycomedes' daughters examined jewelry and fabrics, Achilles looked only at the weapon. At this time, Odysseus's comrades raised a false alarm in front of the palace, the princesses fled, and Achilles, grabbing his sword, rushed to meet the imaginary danger. By this he betrayed himself and soon left with Odysseus to the war. He performed many feats near Troy, but in the tenth year of the war, Achilles died from the arrow of Paris, which Apollo sent to his heel. Hence the expression "Achilles' heel" (vulnerability). From an alliance with Elena, a son, Euphorion, was born. From Deidamia, daughter of Lycomedes, was born Neotolus, without whose participation Trojan War could not end.

// Gottfried BENN: Fifth century // Valery BRYUSOV: Achilles at the altar // Konstantinos KAVAFIS: Treason // Konstantinos KAVAFIS: Horses of Achilles // Marina TSVETAEVA: Achilles on the shaft // Marina TSVETAEVA: From the cycle "under the shawl"

Myths Ancient Greece, reference dictionary. 2012