Achilles among the daughters of Lycomedes

Hyginus - Fabulae
Achilles

When Thetis, the daughter of Nereus, realised that her son Achilles, whose father was Peleus, would be killed if he went to war with Troy, she entrusted him to Lycomedes, king of the island of Scyros.

He took care of him, dressing him as a woman amongst the maidens and changing his name; the girls called him Pyrrha, because in Greece reddish-blond hair is called "pyrrhon" (flame-coloured).

The Greeks, however, when they found out where he was hidden, sent ambassadors to Lycomedes, asking that Achilles be sent to strengthen the Danaan forces. The king denied that he was at his court, but gave them authority to search the palace.

When they were unable to find out which 'girl' was Achilles, Ulysses placed maidenly gifts in the palace courtyard, amongst them a shield and a spear. Then, suddenly, he commanded a trumpeter to sound and his men to clash their arms and shout.

Achilles, concluding that the enemy was upon them, tore off his woman's clothes and snatched up the shield and the spear. By this he was identified, and he promised his services and his Myrmidon soldiers to the Argives.