Ovid tells about the Trojan War, how Helen was captured by Paris and how after this there was a prophecy that the city of Troy would not be subdued until Achilles was dead. The mother of Achilles, hearing this, hid him in a certain room among the court ladies of a certain king, dressed as a woman. (i.e. she hid him in a harem) Hearing this, Ulysses boarded a ship with merchandise as well as womanly ornaments and splendid arms and thus loaded arrived at the castle where Achilles was remaining shut in with the court ladies. Achilles immediately, when he saw the ship with ornaments and arms, went with the ladies onto the ship to buy merchandise. But as Ulysses carefully pulled out weapons and made a move to seize Achilles, he grabbed a spear and brandished it and thus the matter was made clear. Ulysses took him and brought him with him to Troy. While living, the Trojans were prevailing, indeed when he was dead, Troy fell. And the besieging parties were freed from the conflict.
2 comments:
I've read this story somewhere. Achilles was supposed to be very handsome (if not straightforwardly beautiful) man with long, curly hair so he didn't stick out from the ladies in the court, especially dressed up in long clothes, covering most of the body. Only his reaction to the shown weapon gave his true identity away, but, after all, he was half-god.
And therefore it was appropriate that Brad Pitt play him on the big screen. :-)
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