Achilles' Heel: The Origin of Referring to Weakness in the Footsteps of Greek Mythology

 Achilles' Heel: The Origin of Referring to Weakness in the Footsteps of Greek Mythology

The origin of the term "Achilles' heel" lies in Greek mythology, specifically the tales surrounding the legendary hero Achilles, the greatest warrior of the Achaean army during the Trojan War.

According to the most widely accepted, though later, account of the myth, Achilles' mother, the sea-nymph Thetis, sought to make her son immortal and invulnerable to harm. To achieve this, she dipped the infant Achilles into the mystical waters of the River Styx, the river that flowed through the underworld and conferred the power of invulnerability. However, as she held him by his heel, that small area of his body was not submerged and remained untouched by the magic water.

As a result, his heel became the single, critical point of vulnerability on an otherwise invincible body.

Achilles went on to fight valiantly in the Trojan War, achieving great fame and being nearly unstoppable. His prophesied end came when the Trojan prince Paris, using a bow and arrow and guided by the god Apollo, shot him in the heel. The wound proved fatal, leading to the death of the mighty hero.

Though the myth of the heel-dip and Achilles' invulnerability was a later addition to the original Homeric epic (it was fully attested by the Roman poet Statius in the 1st century AD), its poignant simplicity ensured its survival and spread.

The anatomical term "Achilles tendon" was named in 1693 by the Flemish anatomist Philip Verheyen, acknowledging the myth.

The phrase "Achilles' heel" was adopted into the English language as a metaphor much later. The first clearly recorded use of the term in its modern, figurative sense—referring to a non-literal weakness—dates to the early 19th century. Poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge used a similar phrase in 1810 to describe a vulnerability, and the full idiom was commonly in use by the 1840s.

Today, an "Achilles' heel" is an idiom that means a fatal flaw, a specific and crucial weakness, or a point of critical vulnerability that, if exploited, can lead to the downfall or failure of an otherwise strong person, plan, company, system, or entity. It perfectly encapsulates the concept that no matter how great the overall strength, a single, hidden weakness can be catastrophic.

Image, generated through Google Gemini.