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 may refer to: Achilles’ heel, a metaphor for a fatal weakness in spite of overall strength .
What does the allusion Achilles heel mean?
An Achilles heel refers to a person’s vulnerability or fatal flaw . He was a shrewd business man and investor, but his Achilles heel was gambling. • Argus-eyed: According to the Greek legend, Argus had 100 eyes.
What does the allusion Pandora’s box mean?
If someone or something opens Pandora’s box or opens a Pandora’s box, they do something that causes a lot of problems to appear that did not exist or were not known about before .
Why was Achilles heel weak?
Achilles’ only weakness was his heel . According to legend, his mother had taken him to the River Styx, which was supposed to offer powers of invincibility, and dipped his body into the water. Because she held him by the heel, it was not washed over by the water of the magical river (see Figure 1).
Why is it called an Achilles heel?
What is an Achilles heel? The term Achilles heel references a vulnerability or weakness . It is rooted in the myth of Achilles’ mother dipping him in the River Styx, making his entire body invulnerable except for the part of his foot where she held him—the proverbial Achilles heel.
How is Achilles heel used today?
Today, the term “Achilles’ heel” is used to describe a point of weakness that could lead to ones’ downfall .
What does Achilles tear feel like?
Although it’s possible to have no signs or symptoms with an Achilles tendon rupture, most people have: The feeling of having been kicked in the calf . Pain , possibly severe, and swelling near the heel. An inability to bend the foot downward or “push off” the injured leg when walking.
Who was the ugliest god?
Hephaestus was the Greek god of fire, blacksmiths, craftsmen, and volcanoes. He lived in his own palace on Mount Olympus where he crafted tools for the other gods. He was known as a kind and hardworking god, but also had a limp and was considered ugly by the other gods.
What is the moral lesson of Pandora’s box?
The moral of Pandora’s Box is that unchecked curiosity and disobedience can be dangerous, but hope remains .
Why is hope left in Pandora’s Box?
In this Pandora is descending from Heaven after being endowed with gifts by the gods and therefore feels empowered to open the casket she carries, releasing strife, care, pride, hatred and despair. Only the voice of Hope is left to comfort her at the end .
What was Achilles fatal flaw?
Achilles is a tragic hero because he exhibits the qualities of a hero but, in the end is fated to death. Achilles’ fatal flaw could be his lack of emotional stability . This can be argued and shown throughout the Iliad.
Who found Achilles weakness?
The first to explicitly mention Achilles’ weakness is the Roman author Statius in his poem Achilleis (1.133-134). Here, it is clear that Thetis made the infant Achilles invulnerable by dipping him into the waters of the Styx, the river that separated the world of the living from the underworld.
Did Achilles choose his heel?
According to the Achilleid, written by Statius in the 1st century AD, and to non-surviving previous sources, when Achilles was born Thetis tried to make him immortal by dipping him in the river Styx; however, he was left vulnerable at the part of the body by which she held him: his left heel (see Achilles’ heel, ...
Why did Achilles cry?
In book 23 of the Iliad, after Achilles has killed Hector and had his corpse dragged back to the Greek ships, he cries because he is mourning his beloved friend Patroclus, and he sees Hector’s death as an act of vengeance .
Are Achilles and Patroclus lovers?
It is clear that Achilles and Patroclus had an incredibly deep, intimate bond. But nothing between them in the Iliad is explicitly romantic or sexual . ... Because many Greeks of the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, centuries later after the Iliad was written, did portray Achilles and Patroclus as lovers.
