Achilles' heel
The death of Achilles was not mentioned in Homer's Iliad, but appeared in later Greek and Roman poetry and drama concerning events after the Iliad, later in the Trojan War. Here and in the myths surrounding the war, Achilles died from a heel wound as the result of an arrow—possibly poisoned—shot by Paris.
According to a myth arising later, his mother, Thetis, had dipped the infant Achilles in the river Styx, holding onto him by his heel, and he became invulnerable where the waters touched him -- that is, everywhere but the areas covered by her thumb and forefinger -- implying that only a heel wound could have been his downfall. Thetis was scared and fled out of fear. This possibly coincides with the story that Thetis left Achilles at a very young age.
The use of “Achilles’ heel” as an expression used for “area of weakness, vulnerable spot” dates only to 1855 (Merriam-Webster). It derived from the Greek "Achilleios pterna" (Greek: Αχ?λλειος πτ?ρνα) literally meaning Achilles’ heel.
今天給大家講壹個英文的成語,叫做阿克裏斯的後腳跟。
希臘神話裏面說,戰神阿克裏斯在出生的時候,媽媽給他在river Styx這個神河裏面洗禮,結果因為媽媽手裏拿著他的壹只後腳跟,所以留下了壹個致命缺點。在特洛伊戰爭中,阿克裏斯被人用箭射中後腳跟,壹代戰神因此死去。這個成語壹般用來說明,每個人都有壹個致命缺點。
