Q 01/05

According to the famous legend, which part of Achilles's body was his only vulnerable spot?

A) His heel

B) His knee

C) His neck

D) His wrist

Answer · why

A) His heel

The idea appears nowhere before a Roman poet of the 1st century CE; in the Iliad he actually bleeds from a spear graze to the elbow.

Q 02/05

Who plays Achilles in the 2004 film Troy?

A) Brad Pitt

B) Eric Bana

C) Orlando Bloom

D) Sean Bean

Answer · why

A) Brad Pitt

Pitt tore his own Achilles tendon during filming, which delayed the production for weeks.

Q 03/05

Who is Achilles's mother, a sea nymph?

A) Thetis

B) Calypso

C) Amphitrite

D) Galatea

Answer · why

A) Thetis

She was one of the Nereids, and both Zeus and Poseidon had wanted to marry her.

Q 04/05

Who is Achilles's father, a king in Thessaly and a former Argonaut?

A) Peleus

B) Telamon

C) Nestor

D) Aeacus

Answer · why

A) Peleus

The gods married her off to a mortal because of a prophecy that her son would outdo his father.

Q 05/05

Into which river does Achilles's mother dip him as an infant?

A) Styx

B) Lethe

C) Acheron

D) Scamander

Answer · why

A) Styx

She holds him by one heel, leaving that spot dry and mortal.