Achilles

American  

[uh-kil-eez] / əˈkɪl iz /

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.

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Achilles British  

/ 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

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Achilles Cultural  

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.

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Discover More

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.

Other Word Forms

• Achillean
  adjective

Example Sentences

A lingering Achilles tendon injury has led Tuchel to manage his minutes carefully, but he is first choice.

From BBC • Jun. 11, 2026

Gretchen Achilles is the director of interior design at Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2026

And therein lies Rangers' Achilles heel this season - the inability to consistently produce over 90 minutes.

From BBC • May 5, 2026

But after undergoing surgery within 16 hours of tearing his Achilles, he recovered in record time to lead another championship chase.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026

He sent home for her, writing his wife that he had arranged a great marriage for her, to Achilles, who had already shown himself the best and greatest of all chieftains.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton