The most invincible warrior of the ancient world did not die in a blaze of glory. Depending on the source, he was shot from a distance by a prince known for fleeing duels or stabbed in the back at a temple altar while negotiating a marriage. This episode assembles a chronological biography of Achilles from epic poetry, mythological accounts, and vase paintings. We start with the succession anxiety that led Zeus to marry the sea nymph Thetis off to the mortal Peleus, and Thetis's extreme attempts to burn away her son's mortality over a nightly fire before Peleus interrupted the ritual.

We then follow the teenager hidden in women's clothing on Skyros, his affair with Deidamia and the birth of Neoptolemus, Odysseus's trick that exposed him, and nine grueling years spent raiding 23 cities and islands to supply the siege. We examine the vase-pai ...