Rating: 3/5
When the baby Achilles was born, his mother, the sea-goddess Thetis, held him by the heel and dipped him in the River Styx, hoping that the famous water would prove him immortal like herself. She did this because of a warning three Fates had echoed to the goddess on her wedding-day; they said that Achilles would—if die he must—be struck with a Trojan arrow and fall to a watery grave next to his grieving mother.
Understandably, Thetis was terrified by this prophecy, and this was why, as soon as her son was born, she held him by that soft, delicate heel and submerged him in the River Styx. But what of that heel? Should she not have dropped him into the water, and then fished him back out? What if—by chance, or on purpose—a Trojan arrow struck that tender heel known so well when the brave Achilles grew up?
I thought this book was very good at the beginning, but then grew a bit long and boring. However, I thought that the illustrations were lovely, and the careful layout of the retelling made perfect sense. I would recommend this book to somebody who wouldn’t be able to understand the original Iliad, but who would like to know the story.
My favourite characters were Thetis, Achilles, and the meddling gods and goddesses of Olympus. All of the characters—but especially these three—were portrayed as real people, and I thought that Strachan did a very good job of interpreting them with individual personalities. Still, though, it was a bit boring.