Achilles; After the Sacking of The Temple of Apollo

The first two lines of the Iliad read:

μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος

οὐλομένην, ἣ μυρί' Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε' ἔθηκεν,

Sing, Goddess, of the rage, of Peleus' son Achilles

the accursed rage, which brought pain to thousands of the Achaeans.

Achilles is the only mortal to experience consuming rage. His anger is at some times wavering, but at other times he cannot be cooled. The humanization of Achilles by the events of the war is an important theme of the narrative.

This is a piece that I created for my nephew Liam whom is still a baby (nearing his 2nd year). I started off dreaming up this in my head months ago and wondered if I could actually pull it off. And to be honest it turned out quite close to how I envisioned it.

I decided to send it to Liam printed and framed as a gift in the hopes that he would grow up wondering and wanting to learn what this image is all about.

The story of Achilles and the Battle of Troy is one that has fascinated myself for years, it's a piece of Greek mythology that holds a great many sides of humanity up to be dissected. Love, hate, peace, war, life, death, honor and deceit.

For me, I think that one of the strongest points the story has to offer is the many sides of Achilles that we are shown. A demi-god who became the greatest warrior of his time, but still a man susceptible to the allure of love and the need to have his name last through out the ages.

Enjoy this piece, and take some time to read about the story.

Achilles; After the Sacking of The Temple of Apollo, looks out to see the rest of the Greek army sailing to the beach of Troy. This would be the beginning of one of the greatest wars of all time.