Thersites

American  

[ther-sahy-teez] / θərˈsaɪ tiz /

noun

1. (in theIliad ) a Greek who accused Agamemnon of greed and Achilles of cowardice during the Trojan War.

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Thersites British  

/ θəˈsaɪtiːz /

noun

1. the ugliest and most evil-tongued fighter on the Greek side in the Trojan War, killed by Achilles when he mocked him

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Example Sentences

Impossible to imagine Lear’s Fool succeeding him or Thersites commanding the Greek army.

From The Guardian • Feb. 9, 2017

Whatever his source, he found in Thersites an ideal foil to the great lords of “Troilus and Cressida,” his deeply satiric, nearly parodic remake of the Trojan War story.

From The New Yorker • Aug. 9, 2016

In Troilus and Cressida, the strangely comic character Thersites announces Ajax by saying “for, whosoever you take him to be, he is Ajax.”

From Time • Sep. 20, 2013

In 1981 Jonathan Miller let him loose on the role of Thersites in his Troilus and Cressida for the BBC.

From The Guardian • May 28, 2010

This personage is the Thersites of our northern Homer— With witty malice studious to defame, Scorn all his joy, and laughter all his aim.

From Amenities of Literature Consisting of Sketches and Characters of English Literature by Disraeli, Isaac