Facts about Achilles

1. 07

   Achilles died from a poisoned arrow shot by Paris that struck his heel, according to post-Homeric sources including Statius and Quintus of Smyrna.

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2. 06

   Patroclus, Achilles' closest companion, died wearing his friend's armor during the Trojan War, prompting Achilles to return to battle and kill Hector in revenge.

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3. 05

   Achilles' son Neoptolemus, born to the nymph Deidamia while his father besieged Troy for 10 years, joined the Greeks in the final year of war and killed the Trojan elder Priam.

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4. 04

   Achilles' wrath against Agamemnon over the captive woman Briseis in Book 1 of the Iliad sets in motion the 10-year Trojan War's most consequential conflict.

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5. 03

   The armor of Achilles, forged by Hephaestus with a shield depicting 29 distinct scenes, weighed approximately 50 pounds according to classical descriptions.

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6. 02

   According to ancient sources, Achilles was invulnerable everywhere except his heel, which his mother Thetis held while dipping him in the river Styx as an infant.

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7. 01

   In Homer's Iliad, the hero Achilles slays approximately 28 named Trojan warriors during his aristeia, or greatest moment of heroic combat.

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