For his mother,
forewarned of his death in the Trojan War, had dipped him in the sacred
river Styx when he was a baby, so that he could take no hurt from any
weapon. From head to foot she had plunged him in, only forgetting the
little heel that she held him by, and this alone could be wounded by
any chance. But even with such precautions Thetis was not content.
Fearful at the rumors of war to be, she had her son brought up, in
woman's dress, among the daughters of King Lycomedes of Scyros, that he
might escape the notice of men and cheat his destiny.
To this very palace, however, came Odysseus in the guise of a merchant,
and he spread his wares before the royal household,--jewels and ivory,
fine fabrics, and curiously wrought weapons. The king's daughters chose
girdles and veils and such things as women delight in; but Achilles,
heedless of the like, sought out the weapons, and handled them with
such manly pleasure that his nature stood revealed. So he, too, yielded
to his destiny and set out to join the heroes.
Everywhere men were banded together, building the ships and gathering
supplies. The allied forces of Greece (the Achaeans, as they called
themselves) chose Agamemnon for their commander-in-chief. He was a
mighty man, king of Mycenae and Argos, and the brother of the wronged
Menelaus. Second to Achilles in strength was the giant Ajax; after him
Diomedes, then wise Odysseus, and Nestor, held in great reverence
because of his experienced age and fame.
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