Achilles was a warrior who was among the most powerful Achaean in The Iliad. He conquered men and helped to conquer many countries. He, in the midst of seizing Lyrnessus, took a trophy wife. Her name was Briseis and she was a fair-cheeked maid. Agamemnon, the commander of the chief, also takes Chryseis as his prize possession. Chryseis's father named Chryses, a priest of the god Apollo, offers a ransom to Agamemnon for his daughter. Agamemnon, completely repulsed, refuses. Chryses prays to the god Apollo who sends a terrible plague throughout the Achaean camp. The Iliad opens here, after nine years of fighting, describing the dilemma and rage Achilles experiences with constant conflicts with Agamemnon over Briseis.
             During the time of the Trojan war, the Greeks believed that the afterlife only consisted of Hades. Hades divided souls into two categories: eternal punishment or eternal reward. In order to achieve eternal rewards in Hades, one has to die a hero's death, which became significant to Achilles's fate. The Greeks considered a hero as an idea of excellence. The hero was honorable and a man of action. Along with honor came honesty and grandness of the heart. The hero would never act on unfair advantages. A man of action did not let injustice happen and defended himself and others. These were also characteristics of a Greek hero. Achilles was not completely immortal. His mother was a goddess, but his father was immortal. For Achilles to have immortality he must be held by the foot and dipped into river sticks, yet his mother holds him by the ankle, which leaves him somewhere between immortal and mortal. This had great significance because Achilles is now able to choose his own fate. Zeus was not even capable of changing fate and if he tried it would cost him a great deal. Zeus's three sisters determined the thread of life, determined the quality of life, and cut the thread. Achilles could either choose one of two roads fo...