When Achilles was still young seer Calchas prophesied that the city of Troy could not be taken without his help. His mother Thetis tried to keep him far from the war by sending him to the greek island of Skyros, where he was disguised as a young girl.

The attempt, however, proved itself fruitless, since greek hero Odysseus detected Achilles in the island, reached out and grapped him and took him with him.

Peleus was too old to join Achilles to the war and could only give him precious gifts such as his nuptial weapons from his marriage with Thetis, a immensely heavy pole made of honey tree and immortal horses that could speak the human language.

In the Trojan War, Achilles was accompanied by his tutor Phoenix and his close friend Patroclus. He was leader of fifty boats manned with Myrmidons and from the very beginning proved to be a dominant part. He later on was declared the most worthy and capable of all warriors who participated in the Trojan War.