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.

---

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

---

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

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

Thersites, the ugliest of mortals, chose the form of an ape.

From The Phantom World or, The philosophy of spirits, apparitions, &c, &c. by Christmas, Henry