In Greek mythology, Achilles or Achilleus was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's Iliad, he was the son of the Nere
Ancient Greek polychromatic pottery painting (dating c. 300 BCE) of Achilles during the Trojan War
Thetis Dipping the Infant Achilles into the River Styx by Peter Paul Rubens (c. 1625; Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam)
The Education of Achilles, by Eugène Delacroix, pastel on paper, c. 1862 (Getty Center, Los Angeles)
The Education of Achilles (c. 1772), by James Barry (Yale Center for British Art)
The Iliad is one of two major surviving ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. Like the Odyssey, the po
Inscription of lines 468–473, Book I. Dated 400–500 AD, from Egypt, on display at the British Museum
Iliad, Book VIII, lines 245–253, Greek manuscript, late 5th, early 6th centuries AD
Thetis at Hephaestus's forge waiting to receive Achilles's new weapons, fresco from Pompeii, 1st century
A detail of fresco from the François Tomb at Vulci, showing the sacrifice of Trojan slaves. From left to right: Agamemnon, ghost of Patroclus, Vanth, Achilles beheading a slave, Charun, Ajax the Great, a slave, Ajax the Lesser. 350–330 BC