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Achilles
MARIA MILI

Achilles, son of THETIS and Peleus, was the

mightiest hero of the Trojan War. His kingdom
included Phthia, Hellas, and Pelasgian Argos in
Thessaly, and he ruled over the Myrmidons,
Hellenes, and Achaians (Hom. Il. 2.681). As a
young boy he was educated by the centaur
Chiron (Hes. Fr. 204.879 M-W; Pind. Nem.
3. 43), or by Phoenix (Hom. Il. 9.440). His
close relationship with Patroklos was proverbial
(Pl. Symp. 179e). He also had several other
romantic relationships: with Troilos (Schol.
Lycoph. Alex. 307), perhaps Antilochos (Hom.
Od. 24.78), Medea (Ibycus fr. 10 Page), Helen
(Cypria, Proklos; Paus. 3.19.13), and Penthesileia (Aithiopis, Proklos); while by Deidameia,
the daughter of Lykomedes, king of Skyros, he
begat Neoptolemos. According to one tradition, Thetis had hidden him on Skyros, dressed
as a girl, in order to prevent him from going to
TROY and a predestined early death (Paus.
1.22.6). Other stories told how Peleus stopped
his wife from dipping young Achilles in
a cauldron of water, or in a fire, hoping to
make him immortal (Hes. Fr. 300 M-W; Ap.
Rhod. Argon. 4. 869). The tradition that had
only his ankle being vulnerable is explicitly
stated only in Roman sources, but some believe
that it may go back to earlier times (Burgess
2009). It was with the complicity of Apollo that
Paris finally managed to kill Achilles (Hom. Il.
22.358; Pind. Pae. 6.78). The theme of the
enmity between Apollo and Achilles can also
be traced in the stories concerning Achilles
slaying Troilos (Schol. Lycoph. Alex. 307) or
Tennes (Plut. Mor. 297df) in the sanctuaries
of the god. Achilles was buried at Troy (Hom.
Od. 24. 45). Although in the Odyssey he has
a shabby existence in Hades, another popular
tradition told how Thetis transferred his dead
body to the island of Leuke, and that he was
finally made immortal (Aithiopis, Proklos).
Achilles was widely worshipped from the
sixth century BCE onwards in the area of the

BLACK SEA at Berezan, Beikush, and mostly on

the island of Zmeinyj, which was identified
with Leuke. By Roman times his important
Olbian civic cult as Pontarches focused on
Berezan. But the city of Olbia seems also to
have been involved earlier in the important
cult at Zmeinyj. His worshippers were mainly
Greek settlers, but he also appealed to native
locals and travelers from all over the Greek
world. Protection over sea travel was one of
his main functions (Hupe 2006).
By the time of Herodotus (5.94; 7.43; see
also Strabo 13.1.39), a tumulus in the Hellespont may have been identified with the grave
of Achilles. It was visited by Alexander the
Great (Diod. Sic. 17.17.3), but it is from
Philostratus (Heroic. 53.8) that we first hear
about regular worship there by the Thessalians,
supposedly from ancient times.
Greeks regarded Achilles as a prototype
of athletic and military valor (cf. Pindars
Epinicians and the New Simonides), and his
myths were popular in art, particularly in Attic
pottery. He may have been worshipped widely,
but his cults, at Sparta (Paus. 3.20.8; 3.24.5),
Elis (Paus. 6.23.3), Kroton (Schol. Lycoph.
Alex. 857), Taras ((Arist.) Mir. Ausc. 840a),
Tanagra (Plut. Mor. 299c), Epirus (Plut.
Pyrrh. 1.2), and Erythrai (IErythrai II. 201),
are mostly known from late sources. However,
sixth century BCE evidence has now been found
on Thera (SEG 51, 103146).

SEE ALSO:

Hero cult; Homer.

REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS

Boedeker, D. and Sider, D., eds. (2001) The new
Simonides. Contexts of praise and desire. Oxford.
Burgess, J. S. (2009) The death and afterlife of
Achilles. Baltimore.
Hupe, J., ed. (2006) Der Achilleus-Kult im nordlichen
Schwarzmeerraum vom Beginn der griechischen
Kolonisation bis in die romische Kaiserzeit.
Rahden.
Nagy, G. (1979) The best of the Achaeans. Concepts
of the hero in Archaic Greek poetry. London.

The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, First Edition. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine,
and Sabine R. Huebner, print pages 4344.
2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah17003