When fighters all over Greece flew to arms against Troy， a prophet foretold that Achilles was sure not to return from the war. Determined to keep her son from the disaster， Thetis sent young Achilles to the court of the king of Scyros， where he worked in disguise as one of the handmaids waiting on the princess of Scyros. For a time trick worked. Messenger after messenger came， but all left without him. One day， a peddler appeared in the palace， bringing with him a wide variety of womanish small things. There was， however， also a sword among such goods. Whereas most of the ladies stared at the silks and veils， one of them eagerly grabbed the sword and joyfully played with it. At this the peddler threw off his disguise and came out with his true identity. The artful Odysseus had come to fetch the hero to Aulis， where Greek ships had been waiting for both a fair wind and Achilles. Odysseus had not laboured in vain. During an attack on the walls of Troy， Achilles caught the sight of the beauty of Polyxena， daughter of Priam. He was so attracted by the grace of the princess that he asked Priam to give him the hand of Polyxena in marriage. He worked hard for the peace between the two sides. When his efforts proved useless， he obtained a promise from Priam that the marriage would be held after the war. Just as Achilles turned to leave， the faithless Paris took out a poisoned arrow and shot at his heel from behind. Before Achilles breathed his last， he left his armour in his will to the bravest of the Greek heroes. This gave rise to such a fierce on test between Ajax and Odysseus. As a result the armour was adjudged to Odysseus. So sad and desperate was Polyxena at Achilles’ death， she then committed suicide in front of his magnificent tomb.
2. 阿基里斯
阿基里斯为自己的出身门弟感到自豪。他的祖父以正直、擅主持正义而闻名，所以祖父死后在阴间做了一名法官。他的父亲珀琉斯是位勇敢的武士，后来与女海神忒堤斯结婚。大多数神祇应邀参加了婚礼，只有不和女神厄里斯未在邀请之列。厄里斯颇感愤怒。她将一只刻有“献给最美的人”的金苹果掷向来宾，由此引起了激烈的争吵，最终引发了特洛伊战争。
忒堤斯非常喜爱儿子。当阿基里斯还是个婴儿的时候，忒堤斯听到一种预言：儿子会在战争中死去，她大为震惊。为拯救儿子，女海神在冥河中为她的孩子施浸礼。河水可使人体免遭苦难和屠杀。但因阿基里斯被抓的脚后跟是干的，因此脚后跟就成了阿基里斯整个身体中最致命的一点。这样，表达法——“阿基里斯的脚后跟”——逐渐用来指“弱点”。阿基里斯在树林中度过少年时期。他与聪慧的半人半马怪物契诺呆在一起。这个怪物给他教授文雅的艺术和战事，为他短暂辉煌的一生做好充分的准备。
当希腊的全体战士拿起武器进攻特洛伊城时，一位先知说：阿基里斯肯定不会从战争中生还。忒堤斯决心使儿子免于灾难。她就派儿子去斯库诺斯国王的宫中。在那儿，阿基里斯装扮成一位女仆，伺候斯库诺斯的公主，在一段时间内，诡计并未被识破，前方的传令兵一个接一个地来到宫殿，但走时并未带上阿基里斯。有一天，一位小贩来到宫中，出售各种妇人用的小玩意儿。然而在所卖的东西中有一把利剑，大多数人的双眼都盯着丝绸和面纱，而其中一人却热切地抓起利剑，然后兴高采烈地摆弄起来。这时，小贩揭掉伪装，表明了自己的真实身份。狡猾的奥德修斯带走了阿基里斯。在奥里斯，希腊的战舰正在等待顺风和阿基里斯。奥德修斯的努力并未白费。
当攻占特洛伊城墙时，阿基里斯看到了皮安姆之女波利希娜的美貌。他深为公主的魅力所吸引，因而请求皮安姆将波利希娜许配给他。他致力于双方的和解。当他的努力被证明为毫无用处时，他得到皮安姆在战后举行婚礼的许诺。阿基里斯刚转身要走，不守信用的帕里斯拿出毒箭从后面射中了他的脚后跟。阿基里斯咽气之前，留下遗嘱：将他的铠甲留给希腊最勇敢的英雄，这在埃阿斯和奥德修斯之间引发了一场激烈的争斗。最终铠甲被判给奥德修斯。波利希娜为阿基里斯之死而悲伤绝望。她自尽于他壮丽的墓碑前。
单词短语透视
1.
parentage [‘pe？r？nt？d？] ？n. 出身，血统例句
At our age， the parentage is so important.？在我们这个年代，家庭出身很重要。
2.
justice [’d？？st？s] ？n. 正义，公正
例句
He demanded with some justice that he should be given an opportunity to express his views.？他要求给他一次机会表达自己的观点，这也不无道理。
3.
uprightness [‘？pra？tn？s] ？n. 正直
例句
Uprightness conquers the pride or vanity of th opponents.？正直能够征服对手的傲慢与虚荣。
4.
brave [bre？v] ？adj. 勇敢的，无畏的
例句
I think you are very brave.？
我认为你非常勇敢。
5.
discord [’d？sk？？d] ？n. 不和，冲突
例句
A note of discord crept into their relationship.？他们的关系出现了裂痕。
6.stir up？引起，激起，挑起
例句
Don’t stir up trouble between them.？
不要在他们之间挑拨。
7.
bitter [‘b？t？（r）] ？adj. 充满仇恨的
例句
She is said to be very bitter about the way she was sacked.？据说，她对自己被以如此方式解雇而感到愤愤不平。
8.
prophecy [’pr？f？s？] ？n. 预言，预言能力例句
All these events had been revealed by prophecy.？所有这些事以前都有过预言。
9. protect…from？保护……免受
例句
You need warm clothes to protect you from the cold.？你需要穿暖些以免着凉。
10.
mortal [‘m？？tl] ？adj. 致死的，致命的
例句
The collapse of the business was a mortal blow to him and his family.？
公司倒闭是对他及其家庭的致命打击。
11.
centaur [’sent？？（r）] ？n. （希腊神话中）半人半马怪物例句
His face reminded me somehow of a centaur.？
他的脸使我想起半人半马的怪物。
12.
brilliant [‘br？l？？nt] ？adj. 卓越的，杰出的例句
The play was a brilliant success.？
这出戏是一大成功。
13.
prophet [’pr？f？t] ？n. 先知，预言者
例句
I’m afraid I’m no weather prophet.？
我可不会预测天气。
14.
foretell [f？？‘tel] ？v. 预言，预示
例句
No one could have foretold such strange events.？谁也料不到有这些奇怪的事情。
15.
disguise [d？s’ga？z] ？v. 化装，伪装，隐瞒 ？n. 伪装例句
It is impossible to disguise the fact that business is bad.？生意不好这件事无法隐瞒。
16.
peddler [ ‘pedl？] ？n. 小贩
例句
The peddler tried to sell me some small articles.？那个小贩试图卖给我一些小东西。
17.
eagerly [’i？g？li] ？adv. 渴望地，急切地例句 “So what do you think will happen？” he asked eagerly.？“那么你觉得会发生什么？”他急切地问道。
18.
identity [a？‘dent？t？] ？n. 身份
例句
There is no clue to the identity of the thief.？没有确定窃贼身份的线索。
19.
armour [’ɑ？m？（r）] ？n. 甲胄，铁甲
例句
His body was encased in shining armour.？他全身披着明幌幌的甲胄。
20.
desperate [‘desp？r？t] ？adj. 拼命的，绝望的例句
I had no money left and was desperate.？
我一点钱都没有了，简直绝望了。
21.
suicide [’su？？sa？d] ？n. 自杀，自取灭亡例句
To do that would be nothing short of suicide.？那样做无异于自杀。
22.
magnificent [m？f？snt] ？adj. 壮丽的，
宏伟的
例句
Just look at this magnificent autumn landscape！？看看这壮丽的秋景吧！
神话背后的习语
the heel of Achilles 或 the Achilles’heel：
阿基里斯的脚踝，唯一弱点，薄弱环节，
要害
“The heel of Achilles”直译是“阿基里斯的脚踝”，是在欧洲广泛流行的国际性成语。它源自荷马史诗Iliad（《伊利亚特》）中的希腊神话故事。阿基里斯是希腊联军里最英勇善战的骁将，也是荷马史诗Iliad里的主要人物之一。在特洛伊战争中，阿基里斯骁勇无敌，所向披靡，杀死了特洛伊主将——著名英雄赫克托耳（Hector），而特洛伊的任何武器都无法伤害他的身躯。后来，太阳神阿波罗（Apollo）把阿基里斯的弱点告诉了特洛伊王子帕里斯，阿基里斯终于被帕里斯诱到城门口，用暗箭射中他的脚踝，负伤而死。
例句
The goalkeeper is the heel of Achilles in this team.？守门员是这支球队的唯一薄弱环节。
He thinks small business is the Achilles， heel of the French economy.？他认为小型企业是法国经济发展中的致命伤。
3. Oedipus