Achilles

Ally Angels, Alex Volynsky, and Min Sung Cho.

__Achilles Myth__

-Achilles was only half-divine. He was the son of the sea nymph Thetis and king Peleus of Thessaly. -Achilles was very handsome but also too emotional. -Ever since birth, Achilles’s father was told that he was going to be destined for greatness, just as his mother, Thetis.
 * Background** :


 * How did all of this happen?**

When his mother was dipping him into the river Styx, she made him completely immortal except for his heel. This is due to the fact that she was holding Achilles by his heel while she was dunking him, and she forgot to wet it. This special river has always been said to give special powers, such as immorality, and due to the fact that Achilles was not completely divine, he needed to be dunked in this river to gain immortality. This heel would cause his downfall later on, as it was the only part of him that was vulnerable.

1. Achilles joins the Greek force to invade Troy, conquering 23 cities altogether. 2. Achilles kills the queen of the Amazons, Penthilsea, with whom he falls in love with. 3. Achilles pulled out of the Trojan War because King Agamemnon, who had taken a beautiful hostage by the name of Briseis, antagonized him. 4. Patroclus, Achilles’s best friend was brutally murdered by Hector, and Achilles was angered by this event. 5. To avenge his friend, Achilles decided to kill Hector. While dragging Hector’s dead body around the town, Paris, who kidnapped Helen to start the Trojan War, and with Aphrodite’s help, shots an arrow into Achilles’s most vulnerable spot; his heel. 6. Because his heel is still vulnerable, this specific arrow kills Achilles. 
 * Sequence of Events** :
 * Type of Myth** : Hubris: Achilles’s greatness was known at birth, and as a result of this, he constantly exhibited hubris and over-excessive arrogance. Hero: He is handsome, and even though he is cocky, he is very heroic by helping out in the Trojan War.

-Just as how his heel led to his downfall, the Achilles’s heel in modern times refers to a specific weakness which will ultimately lead to the downfall of a person, organization, etc. -The Achilles heal also has a literal meaning. An actually tendon, known as the Achilles’s tendon, is a body part that connects muscles in the lower leg to the heel bone. -In the movie __Troy__, Achilles is played by Brad Pitt. This movie replays the events in the Trojan War.
 * Modern connections** :

EX: “Their Achilles's heel is definitely their defense, so if we push on offense we can exploit their weakness!"

-To prove that perfection is nonexistent. -To recount the events of the Trojan War, and to analyze the biggest factor, which could have allowed Greece to win in the war: Achilles. -Achilles serves as a source of inspiration, and people would try to imitate him. He is handsome and heroic.
 * Purpose of Myth** :