What does the phrase Achilles heel mean?
Sarah Oconnor
Updated on February 27, 2026
fatal weakness
Achilles’ heel. A fatal weakness, a vulnerable area, as in This division, which is rarely profitable, is the company’s Achilles’ heel. The term alludes to the Greek legend about the heroic warrior Achilles whose mother tried to make him immortal by holding the infant by his heel and dipping him into the River Styx.
Is Achilles heel a metaphor?
Achilles’ heel, a metaphor for a fatal weakness in spite of overall strength.
What and where is the Achilles heel?
Overview and anatomy The Achilles tendon is a thick tendon located in the back of the leg. It connects the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles in the calf to an insertion point at the calcaneus (heel bone). It is the strongest tendon in the body and allows people to push off while walking, running and jumping.
How do you relieve Achilles heel pain?
Achilles Tendon Injury Treatment
- Rest your leg.
- Ice it.
- Compress your leg.
- Raise (elevate) your leg.
- Take anti-inflammatory painkillers.
- Use a heel lift.
- Practice stretching and strengthening exercises as recommended by your doctor, physical therapist, or other health care provider.
Why was Achilles heel the only place he was vulnerable?
When Achilles was a baby, his mother Thetis stuck him in a special flame to make him invulnerable. The interruption prevented Thetis from making her son completely invulnerable, which is why one of Achilles’ heels remained vulnerable.
Was Achilles A real warrior?
Most of us think he was a mythologic Greek hero (Figure 1). The truth is that there may well have been a real Thessalian warrior, later mythologized by his semi-literate people. The story goes that his mother, Thetis, made him invulnerable by dipping him in the River Styx while he was still an infant.
Where is Achilles’ heel located?
Achilles’ heel. Achilles, who grew to become a great warrior, died during the Trojan War when an arrow struck his heel. Even though it’s located in the same part of the body, don’t confuse “Achilles’ heel” with “Achilles tendon,” which connects muscles in your lower leg to your heel bone.
What is the origin of the term Achilles?
The term alludes to the Greek legend about the heroic warrior Achilles whose mother tried to make him immortal by holding the infant by his heel and dipping him into the River Styx. Eventually he was killed by an arrow shot into his undipped heel.
Was Achilles a hero or villain?
Achilles was said to be a heroic warrior, whose struggles over whether to fight in the Trojan War or not are described in detail in several books of Homer’s poem ”The Iliad.”. The overall myth of Achilles includes the attempt by his mother, the nymph Thetis, to make her son immortal.
What is Horton’s Achilles heel in the economy?
an Achilles heel Someone’s Achilles heel is the thing that causes problems for them, especially because it gives other people a chance to attack or criticize them. Horton’s Achilles heel was that he could not delegate. The economy was from the start the Achilles heel of his regime.
