A classical dictionary of Greek and Roman biography, mythology and geography / based on the larger dictionaries by Sir William Smith ; revised throughout and in part rewritten by G.E. Marindin.

Date:: 1899

Credit: A classical dictionary of Greek and Roman biography, mythology and geography / based on the larger dictionaries by Sir William Smith ; revised throughout and in part rewritten by G.E. Marindin. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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$Patroclua was slain, nnd when this news reached Achilles ho was seized with unspeak- able grief. Thetis consoled him, and iiromised new arms, to bo made by Hephaestus, and Iris exhorted him to rescue the body of Patroclus. Achilles now rose, and his thundering voice alone put the Trojans to flight. When his new armour was brought to him, with the cele- brated shield described at length by Homer, he hurried to the field of battle. He slew num- bers of Trojans, and at length met Hector, whom he chased thrice around the walls of the city. He then slew him, tied his body to his chariot, and dragged him to the ships of the ■S-reeks. After this, he burnt the body of Pa- iroclus, together with twelve young captive Trojans, who were sacrificed to appease the s])irit of his friend; but he gave up the body of Hector to Priam, who came in j)erson to beg for it. Achilles was slain at the Scaean gate, by Paris and Apollo, before Troy was taken. His death itself does not occur in the Iliad, but it is alluded to in a few passages (xxii. 358, xix. 417, xxi. 278). It is expressly mentioned in the Odyssey (xxiv. 36), where it is said that his fall—his conqueror is not men- tioned—was lamented by gods and men, that his origmal name, Ligyron, i.e. the ' whining,' into Achilles (Pind. h'em, iil 51; Static/////, i. 209 (fcc; Hor. E2iod. 13, 11). Chiron fed his pupil with the hearts of lions and the marrow of bears. According to other ac- counts, Thetis endeavoured to make Achilles immortal by dipping him in the river Styx, and succeeded with the exception of the heel, by which she held him (Stat. Achill. i. 269). When he had reached the age of nine, Calclias de- clared that Troy could not be taken without his aid; and Thetis, Imowing that the war would be fatal to him, disguised him as a maiden, and introduced him among the daughters of Lycomedes of Soyros, where he was called by the name of Pyrrlia on account of his golden locks. Here he remained con- cealed till Ulysses visited the place in the dis- guise of a merchant, and offered for sale some female dresses, amidst which he had mixed some arms. Achilles discovered his sex by eagerly seizing the arms, and then accompanied Ulysses to the Greek army. During his resi- dence at Scyros, one of his companions, Dei- damia, became by him the mother of Pyn-hus or Neoi)tolemus. [For the events at Aulis and the pretext of marrying Iphigeuia to him, see AchiUes at Sosrros. (From the Louvre.) his remains, togetlier with those of Patroclus, were buried in a golden urn which Dionysus had given as a present to Thetis, and were de- posited on the coast of the Hellespont, where a mound was raised over them. Achilles is the principal hero of the Iliad; he is the hand- somest and bravest of all the Greeks; affec- tionate towards his mother and his friends; formidable in battles, which are his delight; open-hearted and without fear, and at the same time susceptible to the gentle and quiet joys of home. His greatest passion is ambition, and when his sense of honour is hurt he is un- relenting in his revenge and anger, but withal submits obediently to the will of the gods.— Later traditiom. These chiefly consist of accounts which fill up the history of his youth and death. His mother, wishing to make Inm immortal, concealed him by night in fire, in order to destroy tlie mortal parts he had inherited from his father, and by day anointed him with ambrosia. But Peleus one night discovered his child in the fire, and cried out in terror. Thetis left her son and fled, iind Peleus en- trusted him to Chiron, who educated and in- structed liim in the arts of riding, hunting, and playing the phorminx, and also chanijed Iphigenla.; for the healing of Telephus by Achilles, see Telephus.] In the war against Troy, Achilles slew Penthesilea, an Amazon, but was deeply moved upon discovering her beauty ; and when Thersites ridiculed him for his tenderness of heart, he killed the scoffer , by a blow with the fist. He fought with Mem- non and slew the young Troilus (Q. Smjn-n. n. ! 480; Verg. Aen. i. 474). Both incidents are favourite subjects with vase-painters. In the former the mothers of the combatants watch the fight, or Zeus is represented weighing the life of Achilles against tliat of Memnon. The accounts of his death differ nmch, though all I agree in stating that ho did not fall by human hands, or at least not without the interference of the god Apollo. According to some tradi- tions, he was killed by Apollo himself (Soph. P Jul act. 834; Hor. Od. iv. 6,3), as had been foretold (11. xxi. 278). According to others Apollo merely directed the weapon of Pans a^'ainst Achilles, and thus caused his death, as had been suggested by the dying Hector 0 erg. Acn. XX. 57 Ov. U. xii. 001; II. ^^'\-f>f^- Others again relate that Achilles loved Poly- xena, a daughter of Priam, and tempted by the promise that he should receive her as his wite.$