Achilles the Hero: Epic and Legendary Leaders

Description

The story of Achilles at the fall of Troy, a legendary warrior, a hero in history, a leader whose influence lives on in the mythologies of antiquity. With a new introduction, this life of the warrior leader Achilles focuses on the ten-year siege of Troy. It features the epic events of the Trojan wars: the quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles; the adventures of the noble Hector; the games and impersonations played by the gods of Ancient Greece who use humankind as shadow puppets in their own conflicts; the death of Patroclus; the final reconciliation of Achilles and Agamemnon; the death of Hector and the touching final scenes with aged King Priam, who seeks to recover the body of Hector, his son, the ideal warrior.

Eirene Allen (Introduction) holds a PhD from New York University and is the director of the Institute for Classics Education, a US-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting educators who teach Homer and ancient Greek texts in English classrooms. Her writing and research focus on Homer and classical Greek texts. Her publications include study guides for the Iliad, Odyssey, Argonautica, and numerous plays by Sophocles and Euripides. Jackson is General Editor of The World's Greatest Myths and Legends series, with titles including 'Myths of Babylon', 'Indian Myth', 'Egyptian Myth', 'Norse Myth' and 'Polynesian Island Myth'. He is editor of 'Myths and Legends' and foreword writer for 'Celtic Myths and Tales'. Other related work includes articles on the Philosophy of Time, 'Macbeth, A Gothic Chaos' and William Blake's use of mythology in his visionary literature.