Achilles Bodyweight Workout

(Bear in mind this is a super quick version for those who lack time, patience, to read the book 😀 You might also have a watch the film Troy. Which isn’t bad, to be honest, a bit hammy and in Hollywood style isn’t faithful to the original source material.  However, it is overall an enjoyable introduction to the Trojan War with some spectacular battle scenes).

NB: The Trojan war was a legendary conflict fought between the Greek states and the Kingdom of Troy in Asia Minor (Turkey).

NB: The war occurred because of one woman (how the best conflicts start) Helen (the most beautiful woman in the world) when she runs away from her husband Menelaus (Then King of Sparta) with her lover Paris (the Prince of Troy).

NB: Homer’s writing has many of the Greek Gods (Zeus, Apollo, Athena, etc) meddling and influencing events on Earth at that time. Having their own divine squabbles among themselves, they take sides with heroes on the opposing sides (Greeks and Trojans) to push their own agendas.

• The Trojan War begins when the Greek God Zeus decides to reduce Earth’s mortal population by arranging a war between the Greeks and the Trojans. He does this by interfering in their political and personal affairs.
• Zeus ensures the prince of Troy Paris judges a beauty contest between the goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Each of the goddesses offered Paris a bribe in exchange for his vote. Aphrodite’s was the most alluring: She promised to give the young prince the most beautiful wife in the world. Unfortunately, the wife in question was Helen who was already married to someone else, Menelaus, the king of Sparta. At Aphrodite’s urging, Paris went to Sparta, won Helen’s heart, and took her (along with all of Menelaus’ money) back to Troy.
• On finding out of the betrayal, Menelaus vows revenge. He assembled an army of Greece’s greatest warriors, including Achilles and his Myrmidons, and set off to conquer Troy and get his wife back.
• The Trojan War took place at Troy in western Anatolia, dated to have occurred around the 12th or 13th century BCE.
• In Homer’s Illiad, the Trojan war lasted for 10 years.
• The Iliad picks up 9yrs into the war and the fighting has reached a stalemate.
• In the Greek camp, an internal conflict is brewing, between Achilles and Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek armies and brother of Menelaus.  This occurs when Agamemnon demands Achilles Concubine Briseis in replacement for his own who he has lost.
• Achilles relinquishes his bride because Agamemnon supersedes him in rank but then announces he will no longer fight on Agamemnon’s behalf. He gathers his belongings, removes himself from the battlefield and returns to his tent.
• With the Greeks’ greatest warrior on the bench, the Trojans take advantage and the Greeks begin to lose ground.
• Fearing the worst, Achilles’ best friend and comrade in arms Patroclus, borrows Achilles’ armor to use as a ruse. By wearing it on the battlefield the Trojans will think that Achilles has returned to battle and will retreat in fear.  The Greek army is inspired and begins to fight harder.
• The plan works until the formidable Trojan Prince Hector (guided by the God Apollo) manages to find and kill Patroclus in single combat.
• Enraged by the death of his friend, Achilles returns to the battlefield to enact his revenge.  He chases Hector back to the walls of Troy, slaughtering Trojans all the way.  Hector tries to reason with his pursuer, but Achilles can’t see past his vengeance. After an epic duel, he stabs Hector in the throat and kills him.
• Achilles humiliates his enemy even in death. He refuses to return Hector’s body to Troy for burial. Instead dragging Hector’s body behind his chariot all the way back to the Greek camp before leaving it to rot.
• The gods intervene again and help Priam (Hector’s father and King of Troy) to reach Achilles’ tent undetected and beg for the body of his son. Achilles is moved to tears by this act and agrees to give Priam his son’s body. Achilles returns Hector’s body to his father for a proper burial.
• The Trojan war finally ends when the Greeks pretended to withdraw, leaving behind them a large wooden horse on the beach where they were encamped.
• The Trojans bring the horse into their city thinking it a sacrificial gift to the Gods from the Greeks for a safe journey home.
• However, the horse is a ruse-de-guerre (military strategy) of Odysseus (a hero and strategist in the Iliad and the Odyssey).  He has a raiding party hidden inside the horse who lie still until nightfall.   
• At night whilst Troy sleeps, the hidden men exit the ‘Trojan Horse’ and open the gates to their Greek comrades.  Then begins the fall of Troy, the city is sacked, its men massacred, the women are taken and the city is reduced to ruin.
• The Iliad does not explain the eventual fate of Achilles. According to later legends, Achilles returns to Troy after Hector’s funeral to exact further revenge for Patroclus’ death. Paris, who was not a great warrior, ambushes Achilles as he enters Troy. Shooting his unsuspecting enemy with an arrow (guided by the God Apollo) to Achilles one vulnerable area his heel.  Achilles dies on the spot, still undefeated in battle.