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.

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

Earlier this season, the team lost veteran running back Najee Harris to a torn Achilles tendon.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

He was rehabilitating from that setback when he announced last March that he had suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon.

Read more on Barron's

The veteran guard, who has been dealing with Achilles tendinopathy, took part in most of practice and displayed his defensive tenacity and communication.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

From the passenger seat, Vishnu Persaud coaches me on working the clutch: “So you’re going to slide your foot off the pedal. Just let the bottom of your foot pivot off your Achilles’ heel.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Smart has been dealing with Achilles tendinopathy most of training camp and has been limited in practice.

Read more on Los Angeles Times