Captain+America+vs.+Achilles

By Connor Rzeznik, 2nd hour

=__﻿Captain America__= Captain America is a Marvel Comics superhero that plays the alter ego of Steve Rogers, a sickly young man that was enhanced to the peak of human perfection by an experimental serum in order to aid the United State war effort. Captain America wears a costume that bears the American flag motif and holds a indestructible shield that can be thrown as a weapon. Steve Rogers represents a scrawny fine arts student that is disturbed by rise of the Third Reich and is desperate to enlist to fight for his country. Although he is rejected, a U.S. Army General offers him this chance to serve his country by being a subject in a top-secret defense project for the war. This plan is called Operation Rebirth which seeks to develop a means of creating physically superior soldiers by giving them the Super-Soldier serum developed by the scientist, Dr. Josef Reinstein. Operation Rebith is implemented and successfully alters his physiology almost immediately from his relatively frail form to the maximum strength and efficiency. From then on, he is known as Captain America and is used as a counter-intelligence agent and propaganda symbol to counter Nazi Germany. Captain America continued to face Nazis, Japanese, and other threats to wartime America.

=﻿__Weakness that leads to downfall__= Although Captain America has top phyicality and strength, he is still mortal and can die just like any other human being and has no superhuman powers. This is what eventually leads to his downfall. In the Civil War Crossover, Captain America opposes mandatory federal registration of all super-powered beings and starts resistance movement against the government. He eventually surenders and following his surrender, is indicted on multiple criminal charges. When he is brought to court, a sniper shoots him in the back and wounded three more times in the stomach and chest. The assasination was organized by Red Skull, his enemy, who used [|Crossbones] as a sniper and [|Dr, Faustus] to hypnotize [|Sharon Carter]to kill Captain America. Captain America is eventually led to the hospital where he dies. His body is laid to rest to the Arctic where Rogers was found years before.



=__﻿Skilled fighter__= Captain America's training and field experience are what make him a excellent tactitian and military commander. His reflexes and senses make him extraordinarily keen and agile. He is a master of mixed martial arts and his unique fighting style is a blend of judo, western boxing, kickboxing, and gymnastics. These skills give him the ability to subdue his opponents with his fighting but he can also throw his indestructible shield with unerring accuracy as another attack. He is regarded by other skilled fighters in the Marvel world as one of the best hand-to-hand combatants. Captain America is the ultimate fighter as his enhanced strength, endurance, agility, speed, reflexes, durability, and healing combine with his extraordinary fighting amd military tactics. Even when the serum is deactivated, Captain America is still shown to hold his own because of his fighting training and expertise.

=__Natural Leader of others__= Captain America is created by Dr. Josef Reinstein for the sole purpose of leading America's army against enemy forces in battle. He is created during the rise of the Third Reich in World War II in a project to create physically superior soldiers and to unify America towards a common purpose of deafeating enemies. Captain America serves as this propaganda symbol for the American people to create enthusiasm for the war and patriotism. After he is created, Captain America goes straight into battle against the Nazi menace and he leads American Soldiers in these battles. He also battles menaces on American soil that try to invade the country. Captain America not only helps with the war effort but he also protects his American citizens from outside menaces that think they can come into the country and cause havoc. Throughout the war, Captain America is shown to lead America against the Nazis and against America's newest enemy, Communism.

=__Achilles__= Achilles was a Greek hero of the Trojan War which is told in Homer's Iliad. In ancient stories, Achilles is told to have been one of the greatest warriors and also one of the most handsome of the heroes assembled against Troy. Legends also depict that Achilles was invulnerable in all of his body except his heel since he died due to a poisonous arrow shot into his heel by Paris, the prince of Troy. The Homeric Epic tells of Achilles deeds in the Trojan War but only covers a few weeks. It begins with Achilles withdrawing from the war because he is dishonored by [|Agamemnon], the commander of the Archean forces. Agamemnon took a girl named Chryses as his slave even though her father, a priest, begged that she be returned. Agamemnon declared that Achilles' battle prize [|Briseis] be brought to replace her. After this, Achilles is angry because he loved Briseis and he refuses to fight or lead his Greek soldiers. This event leads to Achilles cousin, Patroclus, leading the Greeks in battle and trying to represent Achilles while he is at his camp. As the Trojans pushed the Greek army towards the beaches, Hector, the trojan prince, slays Patroclus, thinking he is Achilles. Achilles becomes enraged by his cousins death and he starts fighting in the battles of the war slaying many man. He then goes on to slay Hector in his rage and drags him around the battlefield for nine days. Throughout the war, Achilles never really unites with the Greek army because he never agrees with the strategies of them. He also is dishonored many times throughout the war because of the nasty practices of the Greeks who keep slaves that they treat horribly. =__Weakness that leads to downfall__= According to the Achilleid, Achilles was born to [|Thetis] and [|Peleus], the king of the Myrmidons. After Achilles was born, Thetis tried to make him immortal by dipping him in the river Styx which was said to be respected by the gods. However, Achilles was left vulnerable at the part of the body by which she held him when she dipped him in, his heel. This was what led to the downfall of Achilles in the Trojan War. Throughout all of Achilles battling in the war, Achilles was said to be invulnerable on all of his body because of the legend of his mother dipping him in the river. He was a great warrior that slayed men with ease because of his great agility, accuracy, and strength. However, towards the end of the war when the Trojans use the Trojan Horse trick to get inside the walls of Troy and take over the city, Achilles faces his downfall. As predicted by Hector with his dying breath, Paris kills Achilles by shooting an arrow that goes through his heel. As Achilles dies, this marks the end of the Trojan War and the death of a great warrior.

=__Skilled fighter__= Achilles was born to be a great warrior in battle. His destiny was to use the immortal powers he was given by his mother to his advantage as a fighter. Growing up, Achilles obtained the skills of fighting on his own and always had the strength and agility needed in battle. He was blessed with great immortal qualities by his mother but still had the downfall of getting some mortal qualities from his father, Peleus. When Achilles was a boy, the seer Calchas prophesied that the city of Troy could not be taken without his help. This is what sent Achilles on his way to Troy later in his life with an army of Myrmidons and his good friend, Patroclus. At Troy, Achilles accomplishments distinguished himself as an undefeatable warrior. Among his other exploits, he captured twenty-three towns in Trojan territory, including the town of Lyrnessos, where he took the woman Briseis as a war-prize. His fighting abilities and immortal qualities helped him defeat many armies and men and lead his army to victories. Achilles fighting abilities were different from everyone else in ancient times, as he had much more agility and quickness with his attacks on men.

=﻿__Natural leader of others__= As his father was king of the Myrmidons, Achilles became king of the Myrmidons when he became of age. When Achilles and his fellow Myrmidons went to Troy, he led his army to capturing twenty-three Trojan towns. In the Trojan War-when he actually was battling since he withdrew from the war because of being dishonored-he led his Greek soldiers to many victories and slayed many men by himself in battle. After Patroclus was killed, the Greeks battled with the Trojans the next day and Achilles ruled the battlefield with death and destruction, using his great sword to cut through and kill off enemy ranks. Achilles led his men and marched the Trojans to the safety of Troy and its high walls. He then slayed Hector and avenged the death of Patroclus. This marked the regaining of supremacy for the Greeks and victory was imminent. Whenever Achilles fought for the Greeks, he was never defeated. A great warrior and a great leader, Achilles always led his men into battle with courage. __Information__
 * "Captain America - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2010. .

__Pictures__ Source 1: [] Source 2: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_America Source 3: www.sikyon.com/.../ images/achilles_hektor2.jpg Source 4: [] Source 5: []