Achilles' composite mythos respect thread
Almost perfect-looking:
"Achilles was the most handsome, capable and worthy of all the heroes who participated in the Trojan War.
Family of Achilles
Achilles was born in the ancient city of Fthia (presumably the modern Farsala of Thessaly/Central Greece) as the son of Peleus, the King of Fthia, and the silver footed sea goddess Thetis.
The character of Achilles
Achilles was a passionate, generous, brave hero but had also an impulsive and quick-tempered character. Many times he even gave the impression of being arrogant. During the Trojan War, Agamemnon accused Achilles for being a narrow-minded soldier who loved conflicts, wars and battles [1]
[1]Iliad A,177
"Achilles grew up tall, strong, and handsome, skilled in all the arts of war, tutored by Chiron, the famous and wise centaur. Patroclus, another young warrior, joined his training after having accidentally killed a boy he was playing with and having been forced to leave the country. They became friends...However, they both were trained and increased in knowledge and skill until-- BANG! The Trojan War began!
Knowing of Achilles's skill as a warrior, the Greek host realized that without him, their cause would be lost. However, Thetis, ever the protective mother, realized that if Achilles went to Troy, he would die an early death. Not only was this logical (what generally happens when you go to war?) but there was a prophecy concerning Achilles: he would either live long and be forgotten (no, not prosper) or have a short life but live forever in memory. Interesting choice...
Thetis wanted her baby to live, and decided to use drastic measures. No, she didn't imprison him. No, she didn't ban him from going. She did worse-- she forced him to cross-dress! (Most mothers do not go this far.) She sent him to the court of King Lycomedes and hid him among the king's daughters, calling him Pyrrha. (You can imagine the explanation for this. "If you were a girl, we were going to call you Pyrrha. But you were a boy, so we called you Achilles. Now you're a girl..."😉 Probably Lycomedes and his daughters were somewhat concerned about the "new girl" who wouldn't use the common showers, impregnated the others, and despite the fact that she was several heads taller than any other others, still was surprisingly...undeveloped."
Not invulnerable, just really, really good on the battlefield:
"However, none of the sources before Statius makes any reference to this general invulnerability. To the contrary, in the Iliad Homer mentions Achilles being wounded: in Book 21 the Paeonian hero Asteropaeus, son of Pelagon, challenged Achilles by the river Scamander. He cast two spears at once, one grazed Achilles' elbow, “drawing a spurt of blood”.
Also, in the fragmentary poems of the Epic Cycle in which we can find description of the hero’s death, Cypria (unknown author), Aithiopis by Arctinus of Miletus, Little Iliad by Lesche of Mytilene, Iliou persis by Arctinus of Miletus, there is no trace of any reference to his general invulnerability or his famous weakness (heel); in the later vase paintings presenting Achilles' death, the arrow (or in many cases, arrows) hit his body."
This makes feats like these far more impressive:
"Enraged over the death of Patroclus, Achilles ended his refusal to fight and took the field killing many men in his rage but always seeking out Hector. Achilles even engaged in battle with the river god Scamander who became angry that Achilles was choking his waters with all the men he killed. The god tried to drown Achilles but was stopped by Hera and Hephaestus. Zeus himself took note of Achilles' rage and sent the gods to restrain him so that he would not go on to sack Troy itself, seeming to show that the unhindered rage of Achilles could defy fate itself as Troy was not meant to be destroyed yet. Finally, Achilles found his prey. Achilles chased Hector around the wall of Troy three times before Athena, in the form of Hector’s favorite and dearest brother, Deiphobus, persuaded Hector to stop running and fight Achilles face to face. After Hector realized the trick, he knew the battle was inevitable. Wanting to go down fighting, he charged at Achilles with his only weapon, his sword, but missed. Accepting his fate, Hector begged Achilles, not to spare his life, but to treat his body with respect after killing him. Achilles told Hector it was hopeless to expect that of him, declaring that “my rage, my fury would drive me now to hack your flesh away and eat you raw; such agonies you have caused me”.[10] Achilles then got his vengeance.
With the assistance of the god Hermes, Hector’s father, Priam, went to Achilles' tent to plead with Achilles to permit him to perform for Hector his funeral rites. The final passage in the Iliad is Hector’s funeral, after which the doom of Troy was just a matter of time.
Achilles, after his temporary truce with Priam, fought and killed the Amazonian warrior queen Penthesilea, but later grieved over her death. At first, he was so distracted by her beauty, he did not fight as intensely as usual. Once he realized that his distraction was endangering his life, he refocused and killed her. As he grieved over the death of such a rare beauty, a notorious Greek jeerer by the name of Thersites laughed and mocked the great Achilles. Annoyed by his insensitivity and disrespect, Achilles punched him in the face and killed him instantly."
Strength proportionate to conviction:
Able to challenge The Eradicator physically:
Too quick for Wonder Woman