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¶ … mother of Achilles helped to turn her son into an epic hero during the Trojan War. During the war she was constantly by his side, consoling him through his times of grief and aiding him in becoming a renowned warrior. Thetis and her son shared such a close relationship that it enabled her to seek the help of the gods for him.
When the dispute between Agamemnon and Achilles led to the latter's momentary withdrawal from the war, Achilles sought his mother's aid in asking Zeus to grant temporary victory to the Trojans. Thetis immediately approached Zeus about the matter and is quoted from the Iliad to have beseeched him thus, "King Agamemnon has dishonored him by taking his prize and keeping her. Honor him then yourself, Olympian lord of counsel, and grant victory to the Trojans, till the Achaeans give my son his due and load him with riches in requital" (Homer). When Zeus relented, this led to the Greeks incurring heavy losses and Agamemnon realizing that Achilles was sorely needed in battle. He thus tried to woo Achilles into rejoining the war through elaborate gifts.
When Achilles was ready to fight once again, Thetis was responsible for urging Hephaestus to forge a new indestructible armor for him. She is quoted to have persuaded him thus, "Therefore I am suppliant at your knees if haply you may be pleased to provide my son, whose end is near at hand, with helmet and shield, with goodly greaves fitted with ankle-clasps, and with a breastplate ... "(Homer). Finally, when Achilles had taken away and defiled Hector's body, Thetis convinced him to give it up for a good ransom from Priam so that he would not incur the wrath of the gods. She is quoted to have said," ... The gods are angry with you, and himself more angry than them all, in that you keep Hector at the ships and will not give him up. Therefore let him go, and accept a ransom for his body" (Homer). She realized that his life was brief and so she aided him immensely towards achieving his status as an epic hero.
Works Cited
"The Iliad of Homer" Tr. Samuel Butler (September 18, 1999). Project Guttenberg April 30, 2005: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2199
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