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Kenny,1) I concede that Achilles was helped by Gods
2) But, think about this as well: When Paris met Menelaos in battle (Paris not being a fighter, but his brother Hector pushing him to prove himself) Aphrodite came down and protected Paris, whisking him away to his bedchamber and out of harms way.
3) Therefore, if the Gods are helping Achilles and the Gods are helping Paris, then the cards are not stacked for or against anyone. The Gods were involved on BOTH sides. It is the part of the moral of the myth that the Gods are always involved and both help and hinder humans in every aspect of their lives.
4) Read what Chris wrote about Apollo and Cassandra - the Gods hindered some as much as they helped others.The heel thing (Achilles' invulnerability) was made up by a Roman. Achilles didn't have that advantage in Homer and Alexander wouldn't have known about it. Try this page: http://pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeyn ... liad01.asp. (Sorry, I don't know how to make that a hyperlink on this forum.) It's a synopsis of The Illiad. It'll explain how the Gods were weaved into the myths of the Trojan War through Homer's Illiad. You'll see that they helped the Trojans just as they helped Achilles. Now, I've been thinking that if Achilles had a stacked deck, then so did Alexander. Achilles was the son of a Goddess and he was Alexander's ancestor. In addition, Herakles (a divine hero) was also Alexander's ancestor. He had divinity on both sides of the family. Then there are the myths about his birth, that he was the son of Zeus. If one truly believe that Achilles had a stacked deck because someone said he was invincible due to his mother being a diety and having protection from Zeus, then one should also think that Alexander had a stacked deck because of his ancestry and the myths of his father being Zeus Ammon. Right? Isn't that logical? :)OK. That's enough from me on this. I've tried to persuade you more than I should, perhpas. It's up to you what you want to do with the information. :)Respectfully,
Lois

In what post did you read this?Read what Chris wrote about Apollo and Cassandra.

Greetings Kenny,I'm not sure I get the jest of this paragraph not to be a smart-ass but are you speaking of Achilles or Murphy?Andrew hail Audi Murphy the most decorated American soldier in WW2 akin to Achilles, just how much of this guy portrayed in the films was true, or the usual make believe.Thanks for your time, Andrew

Andrew HailI refer to one of your posts Achilles been more Akin to Audey Murphy .Alexander been akin to Dionysus and Heracles.Respect
Kenny

Lois Hail and respectI hear what you say all respect to you,,, I suppose its swings and roundabouts.I suppose I could agree with your point Alexander with a stacked deck as I do think he got a hand from somewhere.The only difference is that Achilles and Troy belong in the anals of myth and legend.Alexander was a real man of Ancient history and if he did think he was guarded by the gods he was playing a very dangerous game with all those sharp objects,, Maybe the forst time he felt steel through his flesh that things could get a little dodgy.Kenny

Oops - my sincere apologies Andrew! Lois

Hail Kenny,Sounds like we agree to somewhat disagree. Nice conclusion to our discussion. Thank you!Lois

No problem darling, I also love the revenge taken by Clytaemnestra (Clytemnestra) killing Agamemnon for sacrificing their daughter to Artemis or her lover Aegisthus doing the deed, either way I'm sure Cassandra was pleased and I was happy to read that "pay-backs can be a real bitch.Your initial posts were right on the button! I'm happy to see there's a few people well versed on the original Iliad.Best regards,Andrew

I believe in the Odyssey we are told Apollo guides Paris's arrow to Achilles heel. I cannot remember the exact passage.

There's a pdf file on the web called Achilles' heel: The Death of Achilles in ancient myth - http://www.ucpress.edu/scan/ca-e/142/bu ... 42.pdfIt's by a professor called Jonathan Burgess - I'm not familiar with him, but he's published books on Homer. Anyway, it's a rather dry, academic piece on the subject under discussion here - 34 pages if anyone is interested enough to want to read it. (I confess I only skimmed through it.)Best regards,Linda Ann