In Homer’s Iliad, Achilles is the central Greek hero of the Trojan War story. The poem does not recount the entire war; it focuses on a brief period near its end, centered on Achilles’ anger.
Achilles is the son of the mortal Peleus and the sea goddess Thetis. He is portrayed as the Greeks’ strongest and most dangerous warrior. His quarrel with Agamemnon begins when the commander takes Briseis, a captive associated with Achilles.
Achilles withdraws from battle, allowing the Trojans to press the Greeks hard. He returns after Hector kills Patroclus, his close companion. Achilles then kills Hector and drags his body around Patroclus’s burial mound before returning it to Priam.
The Iliad ends with Hector’s funeral, not with the Trojan Horse or Achilles’ death. Later traditions say Paris killed Achilles with an arrow, often guided by Apollo. The famous “Achilles’ heel” story comes from later sources and is not narrated in Homer’s Iliad.