BACKGROUND
The great hero of the Trojan War, Achilles was a Mixed-Blood of Elemental that lived in Ancient Greece. Son of King Peleus of Aegina and the Nereid Thetis, because his beauty and capacity, he was loved by men and gods alike. His abilities were so outstanding that he was widely regarded as the strongest of the Achaeans who participated in that conflict.
Blessed from birth, his mother brought him to the Styx River as a baby to wash away the mortality from his body and make him invincible. Then, a few years later, his father sent him to be educated by the centaur Chiron at Mt. Pelion. There, he learned not only about the arts of combat, hunting and riding, but also music and fundamental sciences.
Around that time, a certain oracle made a prophecy that Achilles would “either have a long a long and ignoble life at home or a short but glorious one away”. Knowing this, when Thetis heard that the Achaeans wanted her son to participate in the war against Troy, she decided to disguise him as a young girl and hide him at the court of King Lycomede of Skyros. However, the hero Odysseus used a clever scheme to expose the disguise and Thetis was left with no other choice but to allow Achilles depart to war.
However, that was what Achilles wanted. Since early, the young warrior had an unrestrained thirst for glory. In his own words, his objective in life “was to surpass all heroes that came before and immortalize my name as the greatest of legends”. The dedication that he showed back in his lifetime towards that single dream of his was something that bordered a fanatical obsession.
Incidentally, this notion of “glory found in legends = immortality of men” was something that he learn from the story of a certain Babylonian king.
Trojan War Hero
Achilles participation in the Trojan War was marked by rage. It was a common sight to witness him lose itself to wrath. When combined with his superhuman strength, this overwhelming fury turned him literally into beast of destruction.
But, while he was the Achaeans greatest trump, his personality also made him the greatest torn in their flesh. Achilles excellence also made him quite aloof and somewhat incapable of empathizing with others. Furthermore, he was also known for being selfish and owner of great pride, who would go to the last consequences when it came down to cleaning his honor.
The most famous incident of that sort was the feud between him and Agamemnon, supreme commander of the Greek forces. After a disagreement between the two, Agamemnon imposed a minor punishment over Achilles by taking away from him Briseis, a beautiful woman that the hero had taken for himself as a spoil of war and concubine. Insulted, Achilles withdraw himself and his men from the frontlines in reprisal.
The absence of Achilles and his Myrmidons was disastrous for the Achaeans. The Greek army soon started to pile up defeat over defeat and the Trojans gained a clear advantage in the conflict. Recognizing once again that the war could not be won without Achilles, Agamemnon attempted to make amends with the warrior, going as far as sending Briseis back to him together with many other gifts. But blinded by rage, Achilles refused to concede. Not even his closest friend – Patroclus – was able to make him change his mind.
One day, after pushing their enemies all the way back to the beaches, the Trojans mounted an assault to Greek ships. Upon seeing that hopeless crisis, Patroclus decided to disguise himself as Achilles by wearing his prized armor and then rallying the Myrmidons to support the Greeks. The Trojans were successfully repelled, but Patroclus himself was killed in combat by Hector, prince of Troy.
The news of his friend’s death filled Achilles with sadness and desire for revenge. He went after Hector and took his life after an epic duel. But not satisfied with just killing him, Achilles dragged Hector’s body back to his camp with his chariot in order to prevent that the prince from having a proper funeral. The desecration of Hector’s body was a sin too heavy to be overlooked by the gods, and Achilles would eventually lose his life to a divine curse because of it.
By that point, Achilles had successfully turned himself into a living legend. However, the loss of his only friend turned him into a bitter man and he no longer cared about his dream like before. Rather, he started to look back in sorrow at the sacrifices he made for the sake of that dream and became filled with regret over the way of life he took.