ABOUT Achilles

Achilles, the son of Peleus, is the leader of the Myrmidons. He is thought to be the greatest warrior of them all, and when the Greeks go to war against Troy, Agamemnon sends Odysseus to persuade Achilles to join the war party. Achilles' mother, Thetis, warns him of his destiny if he decides to go to Troy but Achilles, who wants to make sure his name is remembered long after he's gone, decides to go anyway.

Achilles and his Myrmidons are victorious in the first battle, and they sack the temple of Apollo. Briseis, a priestess of Apollo, is also captured from the temple, and she is given to Achilles by his men to "amuse him". Soon though, she, along with other war booty from the temple, is taken by Agamemnon. Achilles, who had promised his protection to Briseis, is ready to fight for her but she refuses to be the reason for any more men being killed. So, Achilles leaves her, but swears revenge on Agamemnon. As a result from all of this, Achilles orders his men not to fight, and the Greeks are beginning to lose the war. In an effort to get Achilles and the Myrmidons to fight again, Agamemnon is persuaded to give Briseis back to him.

However, it takes the death of his cousin, Patroclus, for Achilles to finally be moved to fight again. Enraged and overwhelmed with grief, he ignores Briseis' pleas and goes to challenge her cousin, Hector.

A brutal battle ensues, but in the end Achilles is victorious. In his rage he drags Hector's body behind his chariot to his camp. Later that night, he receives a visitor who's come to claim back the fallen hero. King Priam humbles himself and begs Achilles to give him back his son, so he can be given the proper death rites. Moved by the old king's speech, Achilles relents and guarantees that no Greek will attack Troy for twelve days, the duration of the funeral. When Priam leaves with Hector's body, he also takes Briseis with him.

When the final attack against Troy is on the way, Achilles races to find Briseis before the city falls. He finds her just in time to save her from Agamemnon's soldiers. However, the two of them won't get their happily ever after as Achilles immediately afterwards falls victim to Paris and his arrows.

Achilles was played by Brad Pitt.

In Mythology

Achilles is the hero of Homer's Iliad and therefore features rather heavily in Greek mythology. But, in short, he was the son of King Peleus of Thessaly and the sea nymph Thetis. Thetis, in trying to make her son immortal, dipped him in the river Styx which ran through Hades. As a result, the only part of Achilles that was left vulnerable was where his mother had kept a hold of him, and therefore hadn't been touched by the water, his heel.

Achilles' downfall at Troy had been foretold, and in an effort to prevent her son from going, Thetis had sent him to the island of Scyros, to King Lycomedes, disguised as a girl. However, in the end, Odysseus found him and they sailed to Troy.

There Achilles quarrelled with Agamemnon over Briseis, and refused to fight the Trojans. It was only after the death of Patroclus that he re-joined the war efforts and challenged Hector. After that he continued to fight and the Greeks were winning the war again. Achilles himself, however, was fatally wounded by Paris and his arrow which was guided by the god Apollo.

 
ABOUT Briseis

Briseis is Hector and Paris' cousin, and obviously close to them. She is also a priestess of the sun god, Apollo. When the Greeks attack she is in the temple and is taken captive. She is first given to Achilles but is soon taken, among other war booty gotten from Apollo's temple, by Agamemnon. Later, when Agamemnon realises how much he truly needs Achilles and his men to win the war, Briseis is returned to Achilles. Later, when King Priam arrives to take back Hector's body, she goes back home with him. And, when Troy falls, she is, thanks to Paris, among those who manage to flee the city alive.

Briseis was played by Rose Byrne.

In Mythology

Briseis doesn't feature extensively in Greek mythology. She was taken by Achilles as a war-prize, and then taken from him by Agamemnon after he had had to give up his own captive. Basically, Briseis was the catalyst to the fury of Achilles, and Agamemnon's actions were the reason Achilles refused to fight, and the Greeks began to lose the war.