Achilles on Skyros

Achilles on Skyros is an episode in the myth of Achilles, a Greek hero of the Trojan War. Not included in Homer's epic poem Iliad, the episode is written down in detail in some later versions of the story, particularly the Achilleid by the Roman poet Statius. The story of how Achilles disguised himself as a girl at the court of the king of Skyros, fell in love with one of the princesses, and married her before leaving for Troy, became a popular topic in arts and literature from Classical times until the middle of the 20th century. The carnavalesque disguises and gender transpositions at the heart of the story were particularly popular in opera, with over 30 different operas on the theme between 1641 and 1857.

The core myth of Achilles on Skyros as presented in ancient sources was thus. Rather than allow her son Achilles to die at Troy as prophesied, the nymph Thetis sent him to live at the court of Lycomedes, king of Skyros, disguised as another daughter of the king or as a lady-in-waiting, under the name Pyrrha "the red-haired", Issa, or Kerkysera. There Achilles had an affair with Deidamia, one of the daughters of Lycomedes, and they had one or two sons, Neoptolemus and Oneiros. Since another prophecy suggested that the Trojan War would not be won without Achilles, Odysseus and several other Achaean leaders went to Skyros to find him. Odysseus discovered Achilles by offering gifts, adornments and musical instruments as well as weapons, to the king's daughters, and then having his companions imitate the noises of an enemy's attack on the island (most notably, making a blast of a trumpet heard), which prompted Achilles to reveal himself by picking a weapon to fight back, and together they departed for the Trojan War. In some versions, Deidamia dressed as a man followed him.

The most detailed and elaborate version is that found in the Roman poem Achilleid. In the poem, Thetis resolves to hide Achilles away at the court of Lycomedes. Achilles is quite reluctant, but eventually consents, attracted by the beauty of the king's most fair daughter, Deidamia. Thetis has him dressed up as a maiden and introduces him to Lycomedes as her daughter who would have had an Amazon-like upbringing and now needed to learn feminine ways by living among ordinary girls of her age, so as to prepare for a normal marriage in the future; Lycomedes agrees to take care of the "girl" and his unsuspecting daughters accept Achilles into their company as another fellow maiden. After some time he develops a particularly close friendship with Deidamia and it becomes increasingly difficult for him to hide his romantic and sexual interest in her. Eventually, at a nighttime festival in honor of Dionysus where men are normally not allowed, Achilles gives way to his manly desires and forces Deidamia to have sex with him. Afterwards, trying to console her, he discloses his true name and origin; despite being scared by what has happened, Deidamia doesn't want Achilles to suffer punishment from her father and resolves to keep the incident and his identity, as well as the fact that she has conceived a child, a secret. When Odysseus and his comrades arrive at Scyros, Achilles, long annoyed by his female disguise, is about to reveal himself but Deidamia holds him back. Odysseus then performs the trick with the gifts and the trumpet and thereby reveals the secret. Achilles hears Deidamia cry and confesses to Lycomedes that they have become lovers and have had a child together. As the Achaeans are about to sail off to the war, Deidamia is heartbroken over the impending loss of Achilles and asks if she could go with him, but that seems impossible; she then implores him to keep their son in his thoughts, and to never have children with other women. Achilles swears to one day return to Deidamia, but the readers are apparently supposed to be aware that he is going to die at Troy.

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