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Achilles
Achilles , in Greek mythology, foremost Greek hero of the Trojan War, son of Peleus and Thetis. He was a formidable warrior, possessing fierce and uncontrollable anger. Thetis, knowing that Achilles was fated to die at Troy, disguised him as a girl and hid him among the women at the court of King Lycomedes of Skyros. He was discovered there by Odysseus, who persuaded him to go to Troy. One of Lycomedes' daughters, Deidamia, bore Achilles a son, Neoptolemus. According to Homer, Achilles came to Troy leading the 50 ships of the Myrmidons. In the last year of the siege, when Agamemnon stole the captive princess Briseis from him, Achilles angrily withdrew and took his troops from the war. Later he allowed his friend and lover Patroclus to borrow his armor and lead the Myrmidons to aid the retreating Greeks. When Hector killed Patroclus, Achilles was filled with grief and rage and returned to the battle, routed the Trojans, and killed Hector, viciously dragging his body back to the Greek camp. Achilles died of a wound inflicted by Paris. According to one legend, Thetis attempted to make Achilles immortal by bathing him in the river Styx, but the heel by which she held him remained vulnerable, and Paris inflicted a fatal wound in that heel. Other legends state that Achilles was struck from behind and killed by Paris when he went to visit Priam's daughter Polyxena, with whom he had fallen in love. Achilles, the object of widespread hero worship, is the main character of Homer 's epic The Iliad. |
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"Achilles." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Achilles." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Achilles.html "Achilles." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Achilles.html |
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Achilles
Achilles in Greek mythology, a hero of the Trojan War, son of Peleus and Thetis. During his infancy his mother plunged him in the Styx, thus making his body invulnerable except for the heel by which she held him: this was where in the end he was to be mortally wounded. The term Achilles' heel, for a person's only vulnerable spot, comes from this story, as does the name Achilles tendon for the tendon attaching the calf to the heel muscle.
When the expedition to Troy was mounted, Thetis tried to protect her son by putting him in the charge of the centaur Chiron on the island of Scyros. Odysseus, visiting the island in search of him, found only what appeared to be a group of women, but when a battle-cry was heard one of the girls, the disguised Achilles, revealed himself by seizing sword and shield. During the Trojan War Achilles withdrew from fighting following a bitter quarrel with Agamemnon. After his friend Patroclus was killed by Hector, Achilles re-entered the battle and killed Hector but was later wounded in the heel by an arrow shot by Paris and died. His armour was seen as an emblem of valour; when it was awarded to Odysseus, Ajax committed suicide. |
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Achilles." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Achilles." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Achilles.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Achilles." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Achilles.html |
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Achilles
Achilles ♂ From Greek mythology. Achilles was the son of the sea nymph Thetis and the mortal Peleus. As a child he was immersed in the Styx by his mother, thereby making his body invulnerable except for the heel by which he was held. He was a leading warrior of the Greek army attacking Troy. In the Iliad, Homer relates how he withdrew from the siege as a result of a slight to his honour, until his lover Patroclus, wearing his armour, was killed by Hector. Thereupon Achilles rejoined the fray and killed Hector. Eventually, he was wounded by Paris in his unprotected heel and died. The Greek form of his name is Akhilleus, and is of unknown, possibly pre-Greek, origin; it may be connected with that of the River Akheloös. The name has been used only rarely in the English-speaking world, usually as a result of recent Continental influence. Although there were various minor early saints so named, it has normally been chosen by parents who wished to take advantage of the licence given by the Catholic Church to select names borne by classical heroes as well as those of saints.
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PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Achilles." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Achilles." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Achilles.html PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Achilles." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Achilles.html |
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Achilles
Achilles In the Greek epic tradition, a formidable warrior, the most fearless Greek fighter of the Trojan War and the hero of Homer's Iliad. Legend held him invulnerable from weapons because he had been dipped by his mother, Thetis, in the River Styx at birth, except for the heel by which he was held. Achilles sought glory fighting at Troy, but an arrow shot by Paris struck his heel and killed him.
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"Achilles." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Achilles." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-Achilles.html "Achilles." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-Achilles.html |
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Achilles
Achilles Asteroid 588, the first Trojan asteroid to be discovered, by MaxWolf in 1906. It is a member of the group of Trojans at the L4Lagrangian point 60° ahead of Jupiter. Achilles is a D-class asteroid of diameter 116km. Its orbit has a semimajor axis of 5.190 AU, period 11.82 years, perihelion 4.42 AU, aphelion 5.96 AU, and inclination 10°.3.
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"Achilles." A Dictionary of Astronomy. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Achilles." A Dictionary of Astronomy. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O80-Achilles.html "Achilles." A Dictionary of Astronomy. 1997. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O80-Achilles.html |
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Achilles
Achilles
•Andes
•Hades, Mercedes
•Archimedes • Thucydides • aphides
•Eumenides, Parmenides
•Maimonides, Simonides
•Euripides • cantharides • Hesperides
•Hebrides
•Aristides, bona fides
•Culdees
•Alcibiades, Hyades, Pleiades
•Cyclades • antipodes • Sporades
•Ganges • Apelles
•tales, Thales
•Achilles, Antilles
•Los Angeles • Ramillies • Pericles
•isosceles • Praxiteles • Hercules
•Empedocles • Sophocles • Damocles
•Androcles • Heracles • Themistocles
•Hermes • Menes • testudines
•Diogenes • Cleisthenes
•Demosthenes
•Aristophanes, Xenophanes
•manganese • Holofernes • editiones principes • herpes
•lares, primus inter pares
•Antares, Ares, Aries, caries
•antifreeze • Ceres • Buenos Aires
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"Achilles." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Achilles." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Achilles.html "Achilles." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Achilles.html |
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