He was the son of Poseidon and Aethra, and thus a demigod. He was also famous for his many journeys of labor, his fights against monstrous beasts that were identified with an archaic religious and social order. He was responsible for the synoikismos (‘dwelling together’)-the political unification of Attica under Athens. Theseus was the mythical king and founder-hero of the city of Athens. You might also like: The best Greek Mythology Movies. Heracles is most famous for his twelve trials, the successful completion of which earned him immortality. Many royal clans of antiquity claimed to be descendants of Hercules, most notably the Spartans. Heracles was a paragon of masculinity, a half-god of superhuman strength, and the most notable champion of the Olympian order against many chthonic monsters and earthly villains. The son of Zeus and Alcmene, he was also the half-brother of Perseus. Heracles was a divine hero, one of the most iconic figures in all of Greek mythology, and the protagonist of hundreds of myths. Heracles Ancient statue of Hercules (Heracles) He was killed by Hector’s brother, Paris, who shot him in the heel with an arrow. Achilles was the leader of the mighty Myrmidons and the slayer of Hector, prince of Troy. That is why, even to this day, the term ‘Achilles’ heel’ has taken the meaning of a point of weakness.
Born of the nereid Thetis, Achilles himself was a demigod, invulnerable in all his body except for one heel, because when his mother dipped him in the River Styx as an infant, she held him by one of his heels. He is the central character of Homer’s epic poem ‘Iliad’. 1.12 Atalanta Greek Mythological Heroes to Know Achilles The sculpture Achilles dying at the gardens of Achilleon Corfu GreeceĪchilles was the greatest of all the Greek warriors of his time and one of the many heroes that took part in the Trojan War.