Achilles' tendon

The Achilles' tendon or heel (tendo Achillis) or the calcaneal tendon (tendo calcaneus) is a tendon of the posterior leg. It serves to attach the gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus (heel) bone.

Nomenclature

Achilles' heel

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Popular assumption is that "Achilles heel" gets its name from one of the later myths about the hero Achilles, from Greek mythology. His mother Thetis decided to make him invulnerable, so she dipped him as a baby into the river Styx, whose waters had the power to do this. However, she held the baby by his heel and forgot to immerse that too, leaving that as his only vulnerable spot. In this story (but not others), Achilles was killed by an arrow directed at his heel.

Related Topics:
Achilles - Greek mythology - Thetis - Styx

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The use of "Achilles' heel" or "Achilles heel" as an English expression for "area of weakness, vulnerable spot" dates only to 1855 (Merriam-Webster), or, in the form "heel of Achilles," 1810 (OED: Coleridge, "Ireland, that vulnerable heel of the British Achilles".)

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Achilles' tendon

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Some try to extend the story about Thetis (above) to explain why the tendon is called the Achilles tendon. Perhaps this legend was applied to the calcaneal tendon owing to how painful it is to have it struck, and how crippling it is to have it severed.

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The oldest-known written record of the tendon being named for Achilles is in 1693 by the Flemish/Dutch anatomist Philip Verheyen. In his widely used text /Corporis Humani Anatomia/, Chapter XV, page 328, he described its location and said that this tendon is commonly called "the cord of Achilles" ("quae vulgo dicitur /chorda Achillis/".

Related Topics:
1693 - Philip Verheyen

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Why would there have been such a common name? A quite plausible reason is that in the Iliad, Book XXII, Achilles cut holes in that area of the feet of his slain enemy Hector, lashed the feet together with ox-hide, and dragged his body behind his chariot. Different translations of the Iliad vary slightly on the details. This translation by Walter Leaf says:

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"The tendons of both feet behind he slit from heel to ankle-joint, and thrust there through thongs of ox-hide, and bound him to his chariot, leaving his head to trail."

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The tendons were the dead Hector's, not Achilles', but in this theory, they became the means that served Achilles' ends.

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