Snake Island, also known as Serpent Island, White Island, Island of Achilles or Zmiinyi Island, is a Ukrainian island located in the Black Sea, near the Danube Delta, with an important role in delimiting Ukrainian territorial waters.
2008 photo of the island
The lighthouse in the background in 1896
Rock outcrop of conglomerate on the island
Snake Island (Ostriv Zmiinyi) by Carlo Bossoli, 1856
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. A central character in Homer's Iliad, he was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Peleus, king of Phthia and famous Argonaut. Achilles was raised in Phthia along with his childhood companion Patroclus and received his education by the centaur Chiron. In the Iliad, he is presented as the commander of the mythical tribe of the Myrmidons.
Ancient Greek polychromatic pottery painting (dating to c. 300 BC) 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)
