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

Thersites arose ex nihilo in Book 2 of the Iliad, unique among the Greek warriors at Troy in having no lineage or pedigree; Homer most likely invented him.

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

Simon Russell Beale makes the central character more coherent than ever before, and more vital, more important, more all-encompassing – part Thersites, part corporation smoothie, part Lear.

From The Guardian • Jul. 21, 2012

He suppresses Thersites, he exhorts the chieftains, he uses force on the common people.

From Homer's Odyssey A Commentary by Snider, Denton Jaques