Which of Achilles’ immortal horses spoke to him in the Iliad? Xanthos did.
Xanthos, also spelled Xanthus, was one of Achilles’ two immortal horses, paired with Balios. The horses were traditionally said to be offspring of the harpy Podarge and the West Wind, Zephyrus; another tradition gives them a connection to Poseidon. Peleus received them and later passed them to Achilles.
Their most famous Iliadic scene comes after Patroclus’s death. Achilles rebukes Xanthos and Balios for failing to bring Patroclus safely from the battlefield. Hera then grants Xanthos human speech. The horse explains that Apollo helped bring about Patroclus’s death and ominously foretells that Achilles’ own death is near.
Readers sometimes choose Balios because he is Xanthos’s immortal companion, while Arion is a separate legendary horse associated with other heroes. Xanthos’s speech is temporary: after delivering the prophecy, the Erinyes silence him. The name means “blond” or “yellowish,” an apt description for a horse.