[Greek heroic] Neoptolemus, also called Pyrrhus, was the only son of Achilles and grandson of Peleus. When Achilles disguised himself as a girl in the court of the king of Scyros to avoid taking part in the Trojan War, he had an affair with Deidamea, the king's daughter, who bore him the child. Twenty years later in the war, after the death of Achilles and Ajax and no signs of victory for the Greeks, the Greeks desperately captured the Trojan seer, Helenus, and forced him to tell them under what conditions could they take Troy. Helenus revealed to them that they could defeat Troy if they could achieve the poisonous arrows of Heracles (then at Philocthetes); steal the Palladium (which lead to the building of the famous wooden horse of Troy); and persuade Achilles' son to join the war. The Greeks made haste to fetch Neoptolemus at Scyros, and brought him to Troy. Being the youngest of the Greek warriors at that time, Neoptolemus' behavior was also the most savage and cruelest among them, often being ...
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