If The Apple Of Discord Was Thrown Down At The Wedding Feast Of Peleus And Thetis, How Did Achilles,

If the apple of discord was thrown down at the wedding feast of Peleus and Thetis, how did Achilles, their son, fight in the Trojan war? The timeline does not make sense to me unless you just chalk that up to the timing of the Eternal, Deathless Gods but mortals are involved. Like Paris is presumably asked right after the wedding to judge who gets the apple then he picks Aphrodite who has promised him the most beautiful woman. Does she like wait to find out who that is and that causes the delay? The story seems to go that she promises Helen, they kidnap Helen and then the war begins so like that’s a year tops in my mind but how would that give Achilles time to become the teenager he is in the war? Please help. If there is a definitive answer excellent but I also just want theories.

i really love love love this question, cus i’ve thought about it a lot, especially because i consider Paris and Achilles to be around the same age, which, as you said, would make no sense.

sadly, i don’t have a definitive answer, but i do have a theory. it’s quite long though so buckle up.

As you probably know, Aphrodite, Hera and Athena asked Zeus to solve the issue before resorting to Paris. Zeus couldn’t answer and by the timeline of the Gods, many mortal years had passed so Paris would have been born, sent away from the palace and had enough time to grow up at this point. Ares suggests him, the goddesses ask and Paris gets bribed. But he doesn’t take Helen straight away, because he’s still a goatherd at this point.

Before I finish with that, let’s get back to Achilles. One would probably assume that within the first year of Thetis’ and Peleus’ marriage, he was already born, but that’s actually not true. The couple had six sons before Achilles, but they all passed away somehow (which, i like to think, is the reason Thetis is so protective). That means, even if they all died on Day 1 of their life and Thetis conceived the very same day: 9 months x 6 = 54 months aka. 4,5 years. That’s at least 4 and a half years before Achilles was born, but I think I can safely assume it took a little longer. Let’s say 6 years (which btw is still unrealistic and would probably be horrible for Thetis’ health but I digress).

So now, Achilles is born, stuff happens: Achilles meets Phoenix and Patroclus, he gets sent to Chiron, and eventually Scyros etc. Let’s say he’s 17 when that happens. Still a teen, but old enough to get Deidamia pregnant. Realistically, Thetis would only send him away when the threat of the war is imminent, so Helen’s kidnapping happens when Achilles is 17. I tend to say Helen was around 24, Paris was maybe 21. I believe however that the Judgement of Paris happened a couple years before.

Because, consider, Paris picks Aphrodite as a goatherd, but he kidnaps Helen as a prince. So somewhere in between, Cassandra must've found him and brought him back. He then had to get used to royal life, but, more importantly, all the ships had to be ready to go to Sparta. It could've happened in a couple of days, but a couple of years isn't unrealistic either, and it fits the timeline better.

It's a bit all over the place, so here's summary:

0 years: Peleus' and Thetis' wedding, Golden Apple incident (Paris/Achilles not born)

2 years: Paris is born and abandoned.

6 years: Achilles is born.

19 years: The Judgement of Paris happens, Paris is still a goatherd.

23 years: Paris kidnaps Helen, start of the war, Achilles is aged 17

The only time ‘divine timing’ really plays a role is between the wedding the Judgement of Paris. In divine timing 19 years is nothing, just enough time for Zeus and Ares to get involved. Paris would’ve probably already held one or two bullfights at the age of 17 when he is chosen to judge between the goddesses and from then on everything runs pretty smoothly, bearing in mind the 4 years between Aphrodite promising Helen to him and Paris actually kidnapping Helen.

sorry it took so long to post this, had to get my thoughts in check then type it up :D

My toxic trait is that I usually end up liking the characters that fandom/community excessively hate on and deny them the nuance and understanding that they readily give to other characters (who are often just as terrible lol). Sometimes I do it out of spite, sometimes because I feel sorry for them and sometimes because I start appreciating them genuinely.

his father’s son

getting shot in the ankle is probably what achilles is best known for but thats not even in the iliad its part of the heu (homer expanded universe)

Achilles’ armors both versions. These are ancient armors inspired, please do not use them as an actual source.

For version 1, I mainly use Dendra armor as ref, so it will look more bulky. The tuft on the helmet will float a bit like fire. Overall the armor is very light reflective and bright. I added a cape because, uh, dramatic effect.

Version 2 will basically demolish almost every characteristic of version 1. Way less reflective, and will be shaded with more black. This armor will prioritize his speed and swift foot nature instead of protection. The helmet will have 4 horns (since he is now more beast than man) and the tuft will even look more like wild fire. After unaliving Hector, he tore the old cape and tied it around his torso, however I am considering the option of one shoulder cape.

I think I have received one of the greatest compliments about my art ever.

Spoiler: it's thanks to two suffering little greek blorbos. [Drawing in question is below]

Basically I'm attending this afternoon workshop at my school where we're working on several drawings to put up in my school's hallways. To oversee me and my other peers who are attending, there's my art teacher (one of my favourite human beings) and an actually professional artist.

I decided to do something related to Dante's Inferno since it's what we're doing in class and the artist walks by me, sees what I'm drawing and immediatly exclaims all cheerful "man, I LOVE how absolutely miserable they look!"

The other kids look at us with what I can only describe as vivid concern.

I was drawing Odysseus and Diomedes.

And yeah, I fully consider this to be the peak of my career, it's all downwards from here boys!