Achilles was one of the greatest mythological heroes of Greek mythology. According to legend, he was extraordinarily handsome and a fearless warrior. However, a prophecy stated that Achilles would die fighting the Trojans in the Trojan War. To protect him, his mother disguised him as a girl and hid him on the island of Skyros. But Achilles eventually left to join the Greek army fighting Troy. During the war, Paris fatally shot Achilles in his one vulnerable spot, his heel, with an arrow.

1. Who was Achilles?
Complete the text by adding the following concepts: Like most mythological heroes / According to legend /
extraordinarily / However / tightly / fearless / already / bloody / on the spot / great / to his mother’s despair / set off /
bold / tempting
The warrior Achilles is one of the ___________(1) heroes of Greek mythology. He had superhuman strength and
courage and he was ______________ (2) handsome. He was deeply loyal and would sacrifice anything for his
friends and family. ________________(3) Achilles had a complicated family tree. His father was a mortal king and a
_____________(4) soldier. His mother was a Nereid, a nymph. She was concerned about her baby son’s mortality.
She did everything she could to make him immortal. She dipped him into the River Styx, whose waters were said to
confer the invulnerability of the gods. She gripped him _____________(5) by the foot as she dipped him into the river,
so tightly that the water never touched his heel. Achilles became invulnerable everywhere but there.
However, when he was 9 years old, a seer predicted that Achilles would die in battle against the Trojans. When his
mother heard about it, she disguised him as a girl and sent him to live on the Aegean island of Skyros. But soon,
___________(6), Achilles left the island and joined the Greek army. He became commander at the age of 15.
____________________(7), the Trojan War began when Zeus decided to reduce Earth’s mortal population by
arranging a war between the Greeks and the Trojans. So, Zeus invited the prince of Troy, Paris, to judge a beauty
contest between the goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. Each of the goddesses offered Paris a bribe in
exchange for his vote. Aphrodite’s bribe was the most _________________(8): She promised to give the young
prince the most beautiful wife in the world, Helena. _________________ (9), Helena was _____________(10)
married to someone else, the king of Sparta. Paris went to Sparta, won Helena’s heart and took her (along with the
king’s money) back to Troy.
The king wanted to take revenge. He formed an army of Greece’s greatest warriors, including Achilles, and
____________(11) to conquer Troy and get his wife back. This war lasted for 10 ____________ (12) years.
By the end of the Trojan War, the Trojan prince Hector killed Achilles’ best friend. As a result, Achilles went to troy to
take revenge. He had never been defeated in battle. When he entered Troy, Paris, Hector’s brother, was waiting for
him. Despite the fact that Paris was not a _____(13) warrior, he shot him with an arrow at the one place he knew
Achilles was vulnerable: his heel. Achilles died ______________(14).
2. Find examples of the tenses of the past: simple past, past perfect, would (future in the past) and
past continuous.
3. Highlight the linkers, adverbs and adjectives used.
HOMEWORK: Search for another myth or story you are interested in. Read authentic material about it.
Then write a simplified version (a SHORT version –between 300 or 400 words-).
Remember: write short sentences, use the vocabulary we worked in class (Linkers, adjectives, adverbs,
verbs, nouns), use the tenses of the past.