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

Shakespeare did no more than Homer to explain Thersites, to give him either a backstory or a motive.

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

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

Achilles, after the murder of Thersites, fled to Lesbos, to be there expiated by Ulysses, after sacrifices to Apollo and Diana.

From The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race, Vol. 1 of 2 by Müller, Karl Otfried