Achilles Virtual Challenge – 20K

Before we start our Achilles Virtual Run we must get to know his story. So who was he?

Achilles, the son of Peleus and Thetis, was the greatest of all Greek heroes who took part in the Trojan War. He is a symbol of strength, power and courage. Achilles was described also as the bravest, most handsome, warrior of the army of Agamemnon in the Trojan War. Achilles’ mother Thetis abandons her husband and son to return to live with the sea nymphs when Achilles is still young. Needing some help raising Achilles, Peleus sends him to be educated by a centaur named Chiron.

Being a goddess, Thetis wasn’t all that happy to be cruelly destined to one day see her son being taken away from her by merciless Death. Knowing that her child was ordained to either die the death of a glorious warrior or live a long life in mystery, Thetis bathed Achilles as an infant in the waters of the River Styx, thus making him all but immortal: only the heel by which she held him remained vulnerable. However, as prophesized, this proved costly, because Achilles eventually died from an arrow wound in that heel. Guided by Apollo, the fateful arrow was shot by Paris, the brother of Troy’s most celebrated hero Hector, whom Achilles had previously killed in a face-to-face duel, in an attempt to avenge the death of his closest friend, Patroclus.

Why was Achilles raised by a centaur? Centaurs, who have the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse, are often represented in Greek art as violent and savage creatures, but Chiron was known for his wisdom and had educated other heroes including Heracles and Jason.