Greek heroes and characters
Péleus
In Greek mythology, Peleus is a Phthian king, the son of the Aegean king Aias and Aigina. He is most famous for being the father of the hero Achilles.
Péleus did not have an easy life. He killed his brother Phocas in an argument when he was young and had to flee. He took refuge with the Phthian king Eurytion. Here he lived happily and even took the king's daughter Antigone as his wife. One day, when he went hunting for the terrible Calydonian boar, he accidentally killed King Eurytion. And so he had to flee Phthia again.
This time, Peleus' steps led to Iolcus in Thessaly. Here he was received by King Acastos. The queen fell in love with Peleus, but he did not return her love. Disgusted, the queen told Acastos that Péleus wanted to seduce her, so she and the king decided to kill him. Akastos hid Péleus' sword and lured him into the forest. But the hero found his sword and killed both Acastos and his wife.
Subsequently, Péleus began to redeem himself for his deeds with many rich sacrifices. After purifying himself, he returned to Phthia to take over the government. Unfortunately, he did not find his wife Antigone, who had died in the meantime.
During the same time period, Zeus courted the sea goddess Thetis. But when he learned that her future son would surpass his father, he backed out of the courtship. And decided to marry Thetis to Peleus. She wasn't happy about the marriage, but Zeus couldn't resist. All the gods were invited to the wedding, which took place in the cave of the centaur Cheiron. It was also here that the legendary dispute over the golden apple, which was thrown among the other goddesses by Eris, the goddess of strife, was to belong to "the fairest".
The marriage of Peleus and Thetis was not a happy one, although they had a son together, Achilles. Thetis was troubled by her marriage to a mortal, and Péleus did not like the fact that Thetis tried to make Achilles immortal because he felt that she wanted to kill him. She painted Achilles with ambrosia and clouded him over a fire. One day, Peleus drew his sword on Thetis to save his son. Thetis got scared and ran away and never came back.
Once Achilles grew up, he became a great hero and warrior. He gave his life at the walls of Troy.