A person's weak spot or volnerability
Achilles' wrath, to Greece the direful spring
Of woes unnumber'd, heavenly goddess sing
Homer, Iliad, i 1-2, trans Alexander Pope
The story of Achilles is central to the plot of the Iliad, Homer's epic poem of the Trojan War and Greek literature's earliest and perhaps finest work. The poem tells what happens when Achilles Quarrels with Agamemnon, his commander-in-chief, and withdraws from the fighting around Troy.
Deprived of their best fighter, the Greek army is pushed back by the Trojans until Achilles' beloved friend Patroclus enters the battle wearing th hero's famous armour. The Trojans, thinking that Achilles has returned, begin to flee, but the Trojan Hero Hector kills Patroclus and stems the tide. Devasted by his friend's death, Achilles vows revenge and defeats the unfortunate Hector under the walls of Troy.
At this point, the Iliad ends, but Achilles become such a huge figure in the Greek world that later writers (like modern fans who write home - made sequels to The Lord of The Rings) kept adding to the mythology around him. It was the Roman poet Statius who introduced the story that the baby Achilles had been dipped in the River Styx. This, Statius wrote, made him involnerable except at the heel by which his mother had held him.
In Statius' version, Achilles is finally killed by a poisoned arrow that strikes the vulnerable spot, and ever since, any fatal weakness has been called an 'Achilles heel'.
Achilles' wrath, to Greece the direful spring
Of woes unnumber'd, heavenly goddess sing
Homer, Iliad, i 1-2, trans Alexander Pope
Deprived of their best fighter, the Greek army is pushed back by the Trojans until Achilles' beloved friend Patroclus enters the battle wearing th hero's famous armour. The Trojans, thinking that Achilles has returned, begin to flee, but the Trojan Hero Hector kills Patroclus and stems the tide. Devasted by his friend's death, Achilles vows revenge and defeats the unfortunate Hector under the walls of Troy.
At this point, the Iliad ends, but Achilles become such a huge figure in the Greek world that later writers (like modern fans who write home - made sequels to The Lord of The Rings) kept adding to the mythology around him. It was the Roman poet Statius who introduced the story that the baby Achilles had been dipped in the River Styx. This, Statius wrote, made him involnerable except at the heel by which his mother had held him.
In Statius' version, Achilles is finally killed by a poisoned arrow that strikes the vulnerable spot, and ever since, any fatal weakness has been called an 'Achilles heel'.
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