Achilles

[ uh-kil-eez ]

noun

, Classical Mythology.

1. the greatest Greek warrior in the Trojan War and hero of Homer's Iliad. He killed Hector and was killed when Paris wounded him in the heel, his one vulnerable spot, with an arrow.

Achilles

/ ˌækɪˈliːən; əˈkɪliːz /

noun

1. Greek myth Greek hero, the son of Peleus and the sea goddess Thetis: in the Iliad the foremost of the Greek warriors at the siege of Troy. While he was a baby his mother plunged him into the river Styx making his body invulnerable except for the heel by which she held him. After slaying Hector, he was killed by Paris who wounded him in the heel

Achilles

1. In classical mythology , the greatest warrior on the Greek side in the Trojan War (see also Trojan War ). When he was an infant, his mother tried to make him immortal by bathing him in a magical river, but the heel by which she held him remained vulnerable. During the Trojan War, he quarreled with the commander, Agamemnon , and in anger sulked in his tent. Eventually Achilles emerged to fight and killed the Trojan hero Hector , but he was wounded in the heel by an arrow and died shortly thereafter.

Notes

Achilles is the hero of Homer 's Iliad.

People speak of an “Achilles' heel” as the one weak or sore point in a person's character.

The phrase “wrath of Achilles” refers to the hero's anger, which caused so much destruction that Homer refers to it as his main theme in the first line of the Iliad .

The Achilles tendon runs from the heel to the calf.

Derived Forms

• Achillean, adjective

Other Words From

• Ach·il·le·an [ak-, uh, -, lee, -, uh, n, uh, -, kil, -ee-], adjective

Example Sentences

He had not one, but two significant injuries on his ledger with the 2021 knee injury and a torn Achilles in 2023.

From Los Angeles Times

"We discovered an Achilles heel of antibiotic resistant bacteria," said Süel, a member of the Department of Molecular Biology at UC San Diego.

From Science Daily

It's the Achilles heel of authoritarians throughout time.

From Salon

Achilles International Los Angeles provides guides to help people with disabilities get moving, while L.A.

From Los Angeles Times

Trump will be taking office having inherited an American economy that has performed very well, despite the discontent voiced among many voters who may have been the Achilles’ heel of Vice President Kamala Harris’ candidacy.

From Los Angeles Times