The Achilles heel. Short legends of mythology for children
Greek mythology contains the foundations of Western culture, but it can be a little arid for the little ones. That's why in Guiainfantil we are adapting mythology in the form of short stories for children with whom they can learn and have fun. On this occasion we tell the story of Achilles , a Greek
Greek mythology contains the foundations of Western culture, but it can be a little arid for the little ones. That's why in Guiainfantil we are adapting mythology in the form of short stories for children with whom they can learn and have fun.
On this occasion we tell the story of Achilles, a Greek hero who participated in the Trojan War and who is known for his heel. What exactly happened to the Achilles heel? The secret is found, once again, in Greek mythology.
The problem of Achilles with his heel
Achilles was one of the most famous Greek heroes. He participated in the Trojan War along with Ulysses and many other warriors willing to rescue the beautiful Helen and all the Trojans fled in terror as soon as they saw Achilles appear on the battlefield. And he was, by far, the strongest, fierce and brave warrior of all Greeks.
The enormous strength of Achilles came from his mother, Thetis, a nymph of the sea who was immortal. Everyone was afraid of Achilles, but it was because they did not know the secret of their weakness. Achilles had a secret from the day of his birth and kept it very hidden because it could cost him his life.
When Achilles her mother was born Tethys was worried about the baby. Tethys was an immortal being, but Achilles' father, Peleus, was not. So the child was not fully protected. As Thetis wanted her child to be invulnerable, never to hurt herself and never die, she took the child and bathed him in the waters of a lake that gave immortality.
Was Achilles already protected? No way, because Thetis had to grab the baby somewhere in his body so he would not drown while immersed in the immortal waters. And it was precisely because of the heel where he was holding the child. So that part of Achilles' body was the only one where they could hurt him.This secret only knew
Achilles and his mother Thetis, so the Greek hero was able to take any risk knowing that he had no danger of hurting or dying. Until one day Achilles revealed the secret to one of his friends, his friend told another friend, the friend of another friend and so the word spread that Achilles was not really invincible. And it was a great mistake to tell that important secret, because in the end the Trojans learned how they could end the fearsome
Achilles and used the information they had. In a combat, a Trojan launched an arrow with a lot of aim, so much accuracy that it hit the heel and Achilles died. He had no choice but to climb Mount Olympus with the gods to see how the Trojan War ended. Laura Vélez
. Editor of Guiainfantil.com
