When Achilles was born, the Fates – the three female deities who shaped people’s lives – announced that his destiny would be tied to that of Troy. Son of the nymph Thetis and Peleus, king of the Myrmidons, the fiercest warriors in all of Greece, Achilles was raised by the centaur Chiron, who taught the boy fighting skills and imbued him with a strong sense of honour.
When asked to help avenge the Greeks against the Trojans, who had kidnapped the Greek princess Helen, Achilles answers the call, even though his mother warns him that battling the Trojans will bring him eternal glory but will cost him his life. Fighting alongside the troops of King Agamemnon, Achilles’s sense of honour and capacity for empathy are both tested. Achilles goes on to meet his fate against the Trojans but, in the end, who really decided his fate? Was it the gods, or was it Achilles himself? This epic tale is enlivened by bold and beautiful illustrations reminiscent of ancient Greek art. Ages nine to twelve.
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Bimba Landmann is the author and illustrator of The Incredible Voyage of Ulysses (Getty Publications, 2010) and the award-winning I Am Marc Chagall (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2006).
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