Phthia in the context of "Polydora"

In Greek mythology, Achilles (/əˈkɪliːz/ ə-KIL-eez) or Achilleus (Ancient Greek: Ἀχιλλεύς, romanized: Achilleús) was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's Iliad, he was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Peleus, king of Phthia and famous Argonaut. Achilles was raised in Phthia along with his childhood companion Patroclus and received his education by the centaur Chiron. In the Iliad, he is presented as the commander of the mythical tribe of the Myrmidons.

Achilles's most notable feat during the Trojan War was the slaying of the Trojan prince Hector outside the gates of Troy. Although the death of Achilles is not presented in the Iliad, other sources concur that he was killed near the end of the Trojan War by Paris, who shot him with an arrow. Later legends (beginning with Statius's unfinished epic Achilleid, written in the first century CE) state that Achilles was invulnerable in all of his body except for one heel. According to that myth, when his mother Thetis dipped him in the river Styx as an infant, she held him by one of his heels, leaving it untouched by the waters and thus his only vulnerable body part.

In Greek mythology, Peleus (/ˈpiːliəs, ˈpiːljuːs/; Ancient Greek: Πηλεύς Pēleus) was a hero, king of Phthia, husband of Thetis and the father of their son Achilles. This myth was already known to the hearers of Homer in the late 8th century BC.

In Greek mythology, Patroclus (generally pronounced /pəˈtroʊkləs/; Ancient Greek: Πάτροκλος, romanized: Pátroklos, lit. 'glory of the father') was a Greek hero of the Trojan War and close companion to the hero Achilles. Patroclus is an important character in Homer's Iliad.

Born in Opus, Patroclus was the son of the Argonaut Menoetius. When he was a child, he was exiled from his hometown and was adopted by Peleus, king of Phthia. There, he was raised alongside Peleus's son, Achilles. When the tide of the Trojan War turned against the Achaeans, Patroclus, disguised as Achilles and defying his orders to retreat in time, led the Myrmidons in battle against the Trojans and was eventually killed by the Trojan prince, Hector. Enraged by Patroclus's death, Achilles ended his refusal to fight, resulting in significant Greek victories.

In Greek mythology, Hermione (/hɜːrˈmaɪ.əni/; Ancient Greek: Ἑρμιόνη, romanized: Hermiónē [hermi.ónɛː]) was the daughter of Menelaus, king of Sparta, and his wife, Helen of Troy. Prior to the Trojan War, Hermione had been betrothed by Tyndareus, her grandfather, to her cousin Orestes, son of her uncle, Agamemnon. According to Apollodorus, she was nine years old when her mother eloped with Paris, son of the Trojan king Priam.

During the war, Menelaus promised her to Achilles' son, Neoptolemus. After the war ended, he sent Hermione away to the city of Phthia (the home of Peleus and Achilles), where Neoptolemus was staying. The two were married, yet, soon afterwards, Neoptolemus traveled to Delphi in order to exact vengeance against Apollo for having caused his father's death, only to be killed there. With Neoptolemus dead, Hermione was free to marry Orestes, with whom she had a son, Tisamenus.

Achaea Phthiotis (Ancient Greek: Ἀχαΐα Φθιῶτις, lit. 'Achaea of Phthia') or simply Phthiotis (Φθιῶτις) was a historical region of Thessaly, in ancient Greece.

It lay in southeastern Thessaly, between Mount Othrys and the northern shore of the Pagasetic Gulf. Inhabited by perioikoi, it was originally formally not a part of Thessaly proper but a Thessalian dependency, and had a seat of its own in the Delphic Amphictyony. From 363 BC it came under Boeotian control, but split away during the Lamian War. In the 3rd century BC it became a member of the Aetolian League, until declared free and autonomous by the Roman Republic in 196 BC, following the Second Macedonian War, and re-incorporated into Thessaly.

Actor (Ancient Greek: Ἄκτωρ; gen.: Ἄκτoρος Aktoros) is a very common name in Greek mythology. Here is a selection of characters that share this name (which means 'leader', from the verb άγω: to lead or carry):

• Actor, father of Eurytus who was an ally of Phineus during his fight with Perseus.
• Actor, a king of Phthia, was said to be the son of King Myrmidon and Peisidice, daughter of Aeolus. Some say that Actor died childless, but others say that he is the father of Eurytion, his successor or of Irus, who was also called the father of Eurytion. According to Diodorus, Actor without an heir, was succeeded by Peleus who fled to his country from Aegina for killing his half-brother, Phocus. The hero was then purified by the king for his sins. This story was usually attributed to Actor's possible son Eurytion who was slain accidentally by his son-in-law Peleus. This Actor married Aegina, daughter of the river god Asopus, and had several children, among them Menoetius. Menoetius was counted among the Argonauts, and was the father of Patroclus (Achilles' very close companion).
• Actor, son of King Deioneus of Phocis and Diomede, daughter of Xuthus, thus a brother of Asterodeia, Aenetus, Phylacus, and Cephalus. This Actor could be the man referred by Hesiod as the father of Protesilaus, one of the suitors of Helen of Troy.
• Actor, son of Azeus, descendant of Phrixus, was ruler of the Minyans of Orchomenus. He was father of Astyoche, who was seduced by the war-god Ares and bore him twin sons, named Ascalaphus and Ialmenus. These last two led the Minyan contingent to the Trojan War.
• Actor, son of Phorbas and Hyrmine, thus a brother of Augeas and Tiphys. He was king of Elis, and founded the city of Hyrmina, which he named after his mother. This Actor married Molione and became by her father of the twins known as the Molionides, Eurytus and Cteatus.
• Actor, the Elean son of Poseidon and Agamede, daughter of King Augeas. He was the brother of Belus and Dictys.
• Actor and Eurythemis were in one source called parents of Ancaeus (who other sources call the son of Lycurgus) and grandparents of Agapenor.
• Actor, the Achaean son of Hippasus from Pellene and one of the Argonauts.
• Actor, a Lapith. He was killed by the centaur Clanis.
• Actor, father of Sthenelus. Sthenelus followed Heracles in his campaign against the Amazons and was killed by them.
• Actor, son of Acastus, was accidentally killed by Peleus while hunting. As a retribution, Peleus sent to Acastus some cows and sheep that had been killed by a wolf sent by Thetis.
• Actor, son of Oenops, brother of Hyperbius. He was among the defenders of the Borraean Gate at Thebes when the Seven against Thebes attacked the city, and confronted Parthenopaeus at the gate.
• Actor, a warrior in the army of the Seven against Thebes. He saw a chasm open in the earth that swallowed Amphiaraus.
• Actor, an old Theban servant of Antigone, the daughter of Oedipus. During the war of the Seven against Thebes, he accompanied her to the walls when that army appeared in front of the barriers outside the city. Because of his age, Actor cannot follow the princess and he just stayed halfway up the climb to listen to her lament when she saw her brother in the enemy army.
• Actor, father of Echecles. His son married Polymele, mother of Eudoros by Hermes.
• Actor, a shepherd in Lemnos who befriended Philoctetes in Euripides' play Philoctetes. According to some accounts, he was instead the king of Lemnos whose shepherd named Iphimachus, son of Dolops, took care the abandoned hero after he was bitten by a snake.
• Actor, one of the companions of the exiled Aeneas. He is probably the same who in another passage is called an Auruncan, and of whose conquered lance Turnus made a boast. This story seems to have given rise to the proverbial saying "Actoris spolium" ("the spoil of Actor"), for any poor spoil in general.
• Actor, father of Actoris (though unnamed in the Odyssey) who was given by Icarius to his daughter Penelope after her wedding with Odysseus to serve as her personal handmaiden.

In Greek mythology, Philomela (Ancient Greek: Φιλομήλα) is identified by Gaius Julius Hyginus as the wife of Menoetius and mother of Patroclus. The former was one of the Argonauts and the latter a participant of the Trojan War. However, the Bibliotheca listed three other wives of Menoetius and possible mothers of Patroclus:

1. Periopis, daughter of Pheres, founder of Pherae
2. Polymele, daughter of Peleus, King of Phthia and an older half-sister to Achilles and
3. Sthenele, daughter of Acastus and Astydamia.

In some accounts, Damocrateia, daughter of Aegina and Zeus was also called the wife of Menoetius and mother of Patroclus.

Protogeneia (/ˌprɒtə.dʒəˈnaɪə/; Ancient Greek: Πρωτογένεια means "the firstborn"), in Greek mythology, may refer to:

• Protogeneia, a Phthian princess as the daughter of King Deucalion of Thessaly and Pyrrha, mythological progenitors of the Hellenes. She was the sister of Hellen and Amphictyon, and possibly of Thyia and Pandora II, Melantho (Melanthea) and Candybus. By Zeus, Protogeneia became the mother of Opus, Aethlius, Aetolus and possibly of Dorus.
• Protogeneia, also called Cambyse, daughter of the above Opus. Zeus carried her off from the land of the Epeans and became by her, on mount Maenalus in Arcadia, the father of Opus II. She was later received by Locrus who for being childless, married Protogeneia and adopted her son Opus as his own.
• Protogeneia, a Calydonian princess as the daughter of King Calydon and Aeolia, daughter of Amythaon, and thus sister to Epicaste. By Ares, Protogeneia became the mother of Oxylus of Aetolia.
• Protogeneia, an Athenian princess as the eldest of the daughters of King Erechtheus and probably Praxithea, daughter of Phrasimus and Diogeneia. She and her sister Pandora committed suicide when Erechtheus sacrificed Chthonia, another sister of theirs. Protogeneia's other sisters were Procris, Creusa, Oreithyia, Merope while her possible brothers were Cecrops, Pandorus, Metion, Orneus, Thespius, Eupalamus and Sicyon.

In Greek mythology, Astydamea or Astydamia (/əˌstɪdəˈmiːə/; Ancient Greek: Ἀστυδάμεια Astudámeia, derived from ἄστυ ástu, "town", and δαμάω damáo, "to tame") is a name attributed to several individuals:

• Astydamia, also known as Hippolyta, daughter of Cretheus and queen of Iolcus as the wife of Acastus. Her husband purified Peleus of the murder of King Eurytion of Phthia. Astydameia fell in love with Peleus but he scorned her, so she told Acastus that Peleus had tried to rape her. Acastus took Peleus on hunting trip and left him unprotected to a Centaurs attacked. Peleus escaped death and later pillaged Iolcus and killed Astydamea.
• Astydamea, daughter of Pelops and Hippodamia. She married Alcaeus and had Amphitryon and Anaxo by him. In other accounts, the wife of Alcaeus was named Hipponome, daughter of Menoeceus or Laonome, daughter of Guneus.
• Astydamea, daughter of Phorbas and mother of Lepreus by Caucon, son of Poseidon. She persuaded Heracles to reconcile with her son, who had previously advised Augeas to cast Heracles in bonds.
• Astydamea, mother of Ctesippus by Heracles. In one source, she was the daughter of Amyntor, possibly by Kleoboule or Hippodameia. Another account makes her the daughter of Ormenus, king of Ormenion. Heracles, the same source relates, wooed her, but Ormenius would not marry her to him since Heracles was already married to Deianira. Heracles then led a war against Ormenius, killed him and took Astydameia by force. Astydameia (or Astygeneia) is also an alternate name for Astyoche, daughter of Phylas, who bore Heracles a son Tlepolemus.
• Astydamea, was briefly mentioned by a scholiast on Euripides as the daughter of Strophius and Cydragora and sister of Pylades.