Achilles felt proud of his parentage.His grandfather was noted for his justice and uprightness and became a judge in Hades after death. His father Peleus was a brave warrior and later married the beautiful sea goddess，Thetis. At the wedding of Peleus and the sea goddess，to which most of the gods were invited， the goddess of discord，Eris，feeling angry at not being invited， threw among the guests a golden apple bearing the words“For the fairest” and stirred up a bitter quarrel which led in the end to the Trojan war.

　　Thetis loved her son very much. When Achilles was still a baby， Thetis was shocked by a prophecy that her son would die in war. To save her son，the sea goddess dipped her baby in the waters of Styxwhich could protect the human body from the fire and sword. But as the heel by which she held him was dry it became the one mortal spotin the whole body of Achilles. Thus the expression“the heel of Achilles” has come to mean“a weak spot”. Achilles spent a great part of his boyhood in the woods with the wise old centaur， Chiron， who taught him the gentle arts as well as war affairs，and prepared him well for a short but brilliant career.

　　When fighters all over Greece flew to arms against Troy， a prophet foretold that Achilles was sure not to return from the war. Determined to keep her son from the disaster， Thetis sent young Achilles to the court of the king of Scyros， where he worked in disguise as one of the handmaids waiting on the princess of Scyros . For a time trick worked. Messenger after messenger came，but all left without him. One day，a peddlar appeared in the palace，bringing with him a wide variety of womanish small things. There was，however，also a sword among such goods. Whereas most of the ladies stared at the silks and veils，one of them eagerly grabbed the sword and joyfully played with it. At this the peddlar threw off his disguise and came out with his true identity. The artful Odysseus had come to fetch the hero to Aulis，where Greek ships had been waiting for both a fair wind and Achilles. Odysseus had not laboured in vain . During an attack on the walls of Troy， Achilles caught the sight of the beauty of Polyxena，daughter of Priam. He was so attracted by the grace of the princess that he asked Priam to give him the hand of Polyxena in marriage . He worked hard for the peace between the two sides. When his efforts proved useless， he obtained a promise from Priam that the marriage would be held after the war. Just as Achilles turned to leave，the faithless Paris took out a poisoned arrow and shot at his heel from behind. Before Achilles breathed his last， he left his armour in his willto the bravest of the Greek heroes. This gave rise to such a fierce contest between Ajax and Odysseus. As a result the armour was adjudged to Odysseus . So sad and desperate was Polyxena at Achilles'death she committed suicidein front of his magnificent tomb.

　　阿基里斯為自己的出身門(mén)弟感到自豪。他的祖父以正直，擅主持正義而聞名，所以祖父死后在陰間做了一名法官。他的父親珀琉斯是位勇敢的武士，后來(lái)與女海神忒提斯結(jié)婚。大多數(shù)神祗應(yīng)邀參加了婚禮，只有不和女神厄里斯未在邀請(qǐng)之列。厄里斯頗感憤怒。她將一只刻有“獻(xiàn)給最美的人”的金蘋(píng)果擲向來(lái)賓，由此引起了激烈的爭(zhēng)吵，最終引發(fā)了特洛伊戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)。

　　忒提斯非常喜愛(ài)兒子。當(dāng)阿基里斯還是個(gè)嬰兒的時(shí)候，忒提斯聽(tīng)到一種預(yù)言：兒子會(huì)在戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中死去，她大為震驚。為拯救兒子女海神在冥河中為她的孩子施浸禮。河水可使人體免遭苦難和屠殺。但因阿基里斯被抓的腳后跟是干的，因此腳后跟就成了阿基里斯整個(gè)身體中最致命的一點(diǎn)。這樣，表達(dá)法——“阿基里斯的腳后跟”——逐漸用來(lái)指“弱點(diǎn)”。阿基里斯在樹(shù)林中渡過(guò)少年時(shí)期。他與聰慧的半人半馬怪物契諾呆在一起。這個(gè)怪物給他教授文雅的藝術(shù)和戰(zhàn)事，為他短暫輝煌的一生做好充分的準(zhǔn)備。

　　當(dāng)希臘的全體戰(zhàn)士拿起武器進(jìn)攻特洛伊城時(shí)，一位先知說(shuō)：阿基里斯肯定不會(huì)從戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中生還。忒提斯決心使兒子免于遭難。她就派兒子去斯庫(kù)諾斯國(guó)王的宮中。在那兒，阿基里斯裝扮成一位女仆，伺候斯庫(kù)諾斯的公主，在一段時(shí)間內(nèi)，詭計(jì)并未被識(shí)破，前方的傳令兵一個(gè)接一個(gè)地來(lái)到宮殿，但走時(shí)并未帶上阿基里斯。有一天，一位小販來(lái)到宮中，出售各種婦人用的小玩意兒。然而在所賣(mài)的東西中有一把利劍，大多數(shù)人的雙眼都盯著絲綢和面紗，而其中一人卻熱切地抓起利劍，然后興高采烈地?cái)[弄起來(lái)。這時(shí)，小販揭掉偽裝，表明了自己的真實(shí)身份。狡猾的奧德修斯帶走了阿基里斯。在奧里斯，希臘的戰(zhàn)艦正在等待順風(fēng)和阿基里斯。奧德修斯的努力并未白費(fèi)。

　　當(dāng)攻占特洛伊城墻時(shí)，阿基里斯看到了皮安姆之女波利希娜的美貌。他深為公主的魅力所吸引，因而請(qǐng)求皮安姆將波利希娜許配給他。他致力于雙方的和解。當(dāng)他的努力被證明為毫無(wú)用處時(shí)，他得到皮安姆在戰(zhàn)后舉行婚禮的許諾。阿基里斯剛轉(zhuǎn)身要走，不守信用的帕利斯拿出毒箭從后面射中了他的腳后跟。阿基里斯咽氣之前，留下遺囑：將他的鎧甲留給希臘最勇敢的英雄，這在埃杰克斯和奧德修斯之間引發(fā)了一場(chǎng)激烈的爭(zhēng)斗。最終鎧甲被判給奧德修斯。波利希娜為阿基里斯之死而悲傷絕望。她自盡于他壯麗的墓碑前。