Was Achilles an actual person or was he completely made up?

Question

The achilles of myth was son of a sea nymph.Was there actually a man named achilles.If so please direct me to sources of info

Answer 1

Achilles-From the Greek Αχιλλευς (Achilleus) which is of unknown meaning, perhaps derived from Greek αχος (achos) "pain" or else from the name of the Achelous River. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achilles

I hope it helps.

Answer 2

Achilles was almost definitely a real person.  The Trojan War did happen, and Achilles was a Greek general that lead an elite unit called the Myrmidons (Think our marines).  

Beyond that, most of the stories behind him are almost definitely made up.  He was probably a great fighter, but thats about it.

Most of these mythology stories just take someone special (like Michael Phelps) and then use magical/divine things to both exaggerate and explain them.

Answer 3

First off, there is no definitive proof that the Trojan War actually happened.  There is archaeological evidence that the city of Troy existed and that it fell, but NO EVIDENCE that the Greeks were responsible for this.

As far as Achilles actually existing, there is no proof of this either, but even if it was made up, it is still an amazing story and one that has influenced many cultures.  Take mythology for what it is.....a great story.  

EDIT:  First off LunaCity, I don't like using someone's question to talk back and forth to someone because it is simply not polite.  I apologize for calling you out which is what instigated this in the first place.  Clearly, my fault and as you can see I deleted that portion of the comment.  Second of all, I wish you would unblock your emails or YA acct so that I could email you and ask your thoughts more on this subject.  I enjoy listening to someone's elses point of view because it may shed new light on a subject and I may discover something I otherwise would not have.  I am a firm believer in logic, reason, and factual evidence.   I am a firm believer that just because something is accepted as truth doesn't mean it is truth....by this I mean, that because there is an accepted legend of Achilles and the Trojan War, doesn't mean it actually happened.  By that logic, you could say that the legend of the tooth fairy or easter bunny is real because people believe it to be so.  Factually, and according to evidence as well as logic & reason, this is all incorrect.  Again, there is no definitive proof or factual evidence to this date that prove the Greeks sacked Troy or Achilles existed.  Just because a handful of archaeologists believe this to be true doesn't make it so.  Lastly, the discovery of dinosaur bones prove that they once walked the earth.  Did a meteor destroy the dinosaurs, no one can prove this factually according to evidence.  If you wish to continue this discussion please feel free to email me at [e-mail].

Answer 4

We don't know.

The Trojan War did happen, but the stories by Homer weren't written down until 700 years later, passed down orally through bardic poems the whole time.

Think about our versions of events in the 13th century, and subtract writing, and you have some idea of the degree of accuracy that we can assume. Sort of like King Arthur or Robin Hood.

I suspect that Achilles is based on a real person, but there's just no way to assume that anything that took place in the Illiad accurately reflects who he was, or even whether that was really his name. It might just be a moniker meaning "swift-footed", or something to that effect.

He might even be an amalgamation of several people whose legends got mixed together.

Farris - To say that there "no evidence" that the Greeks were responsible for the fall of Troy is plain false. There' is plenty of evidence, not least of which is the existance of the legends themselves. There is also archeological evidence such as the types of pottery shards available at the site and the records of the Hittite Empire showing a conflict with a kingdom that resembles the 'Acheans' at the time. Archeologists are understandably cautious about making any definitive statement, but yhere are plenty of them who are willing to say 'Yes the Trojan War did happen' at this point.