Achilles is an ancient Greek hero. His father is a mortal Peleus, his mother is the goddess Thetis (she was the goddess of the seas). The fate of children born from such relationships was not easy. They were endowed with remarkable strength, dexterity, wisdom. They were respected by their fellow countrymen, they glorified themselves by the feats that they performed for the benefit of the people. But, whatever they were, they were waiting for the end ordinary people- death.

Achilles' mother wanted her son to be like her, not his father, so that he would not know death. For this, when the baby was born, Thetis dipped him into the waters of the sacred river Styx. At the same time, she held him by the heel. As a result of such bathing, Akhil became invulnerable, as a future warrior, he actually gained immortality. That's just the place on the heel, for which his mother held him and which the waters of the sacred river did not wash, remained vulnerable.

Achilles grew up and became a respected hero, a glorious warrior. He was invited to fight for Troy. This is the famous Trojan War. It was there, in one of the battles, that an enemy's arrow hit Achilles' heel. He died from this, at first glance, a trifling wound.

The expression "Achilles' heel" means:

Agree, each of us has the strings of the soul, which, if properly touched, can cause both pain and joy.

Phraseologism " Achilles' heel"used solely for the purpose of" weakness in a person."

The history of the expression

"Achilles heel" is a phraseological unit that originates in Ancient Greece. Achilles (Achilles) - the hero of Homer's epics, a great warrior who does not know defeat. He was a demigod. His mother is the sea nymph Thetis, forcibly married to Peleus, king of the Myrmidons. According to the legend on which Homer relies in his epic, Achilles was the seventh child in the family. His brothers died at the hands of a mother who dipped her babies in boiling water to see if they were immortal. Achilles was rescued by his father. Having inherited a powerful force from the mother goddess, the son of a mere mortal remained vulnerable to all dangers. In order to save him from future hardships, Thetis dips the baby in the streams of Styx. The mother held her child by the heel, and the waters of the sacred river did not touch her. The greatest of the heroes of antiquity, Achilles, took part in the campaign against Troy. No one could defeat the warrior, because everyone was aiming at his body, head. Under his blows, the queen of the Amazons, Penthesilea, and the Ethiopian prince Memnon, who came to the aid of the Trojans, fell. But the poisoned arrow fired by Paris, whose hand was guided by the angry Apollo, hit the hero in the heel - the only unprotected place, and he died.

Myth and modernity

Since then, any flaw, flaw, unprotected place has been called "Achilles' heel". The myth haunted the minds of people. Anatomists have preserved the memory of the hero by naming one of the connective tissues located above the heel bone "Achilles tendon". Every person has their own "Achilles heel". Someone admits this weakness openly, someone hides it, but be that as it may, its presence once again confirms the expression "there are no perfect people." Those who deny it in themselves are either simply ignorant or stupid, considering themselves equal to the gods.

"Achilles heel" of firms and enterprises

Every complex system has its weak point. This applies not only to a person, but also to any enterprise. As with human psychology, denying that there is a weak spot in an organization is simply pointless. On the contrary, the owner or manager of an enterprise, who understands that “white spots” cannot be dispensed with, seeks them out by thinking over the management policy in advance in order to notice the danger in time and take all possible measures to maintain stability and subsequent economic growth. Any missed roughness, a weak link, a wormhole (this is the "Achilles' heel") - and the enterprise is threatened with collapse. It is not only about the organization of work, but also about the relationship with subordinates, observance of subordination, business etiquette. Any small crack can turn into a rift. A promising, knowledgeable leader will always keep his finger on the pulse.

The world around

Even more insidious is the "Achilles heel" hidden in the inner and international politics states. Nuclear and space programs, banking structure, legislation - all these huge systems are like colossi with feet of clay. Any imperfection, gap and a small pebble that has fallen out of the base can cause the collapse of not only an individual state, but the whole of humanity.

Achilles- the favorite hero of many legends of ancient Greece. This is an invincible, brave man who was not taken by any enemy arrows. You have probably heard the idiom often Achilles' heel. So where does his heel, if he was invincible and brave?!

The legend tells that the mother of Achilles Thetis, wanting to make her son invulnerable, dipped the boy into the waters of the sacred river Styx. But, dipping, she held him by the heel (heel), and the heel was unprotected.

In one of the battles, Paris, the opponent of Achilles, shot an arrow in the heel of Achilles and killed him.

Every weak, vulnerable place of a person is called Achilles fifth.

Phraseologism "Apple of discord" meaning

According to ancient Greek myth, once the goddess of discord Eris was not invited to the feast. Holding a grudge, Eris decided to take revenge on the gods. She took Golden Apple on which was written " most beautiful”, and quietly threw him between the goddesses Hera, Aphrodite and Athena. The goddesses argued over which of them should own it. Each considered herself the most beautiful. The son of the Trojan king Paris, who was invited to be a judge, gave the apple to Aphrodite, and in gratitude she helped him kidnap the wife of the Spartan king Helen. Because of this, the Trojan War broke out.
Expression apple of discord turned into a phraseological unit denoting the cause of a quarrel, enmity.

Phraseologism Augean stables meaning

Augean stables- King Augeas lived in Ancient Greece. He was a passionate lover of horses. Three thousand horses stood in his stables. However, their stalls had not been cleaned for thirty years and were overgrown with manure up to the very roofs.
Fortunately, the legendary strong man Heracles (among the Romans he was called Hercules) entered the service of King Avgius, whom the king instructed to clean the stables, because no one else could do it.
Hercules was not only powerful, but also smart. He diverted the river through the gates of the stables, and the turbulent stream washed away all the dirt from there.
Expression Augean stables we use when we want to talk about extreme neglect, pollution.

Option 2: 1. A very polluted place, neglected room. In figurative speech: something littered with papers, books, extra things that are not needed for work. “This incident happened (did not answer the letter) because desk ours represents the Augean stables and only now could I get a piece of paper. Mussorgsky. Letter to V.V. Stasov, March 31, 1872.
2. Extreme disorder in business. “What were the main manifestations, remnants, remnants of serfdom in Russia by 1917? Monarchy, estates, land ownership and land use, the position of women, religion, oppression of nationalities. Take any of these "Augean stables" ... you will see that we have cleaned them clean. V. I. Lenin.
3. clean (clear) Augean stables. “Then Kirov patted Ilyushin on the shoulder. - And you gather the fighters. I'll come for half an hour and talk (about the purge of the regiment and the mobilization of the communists in the guards). Well, be healthy! Let's clean out your Augean stables together." G. Kholopov. Lights in the bay.
From the literal phrase Augean stables, i.e. the huge stables of Augeus, king of Elis. According to the myth, these stables, which had not been cleaned for 30 years, were cleaned by Hercules in one day by directing water through them. stormy river Alpheus.

Phraseologism “Between Scylla and Charybdis” meaning

According to the beliefs of the ancient Greeks, two monsters lived on the coastal rocks on both sides of the Strait of Messina: Scylla and Charybdis that swallowed the sailors.
The expression between Scylla and Charybdis is used in the sense: to be between two hostile forces, in a position where danger threatens from both sides.
Think about whether there are similar phraseological units in our speech (between two fires, for example).

Phraseologism “The voice of one crying in the wilderness” meaning

According to an ancient biblical legend, one very honorable and respected prophet wants people to build the so-called path to God on the site of the desert. In this case, one would have to put in the remote steppe good roads, make mountains smaller, and even out things that don't protrude the way they should. All these petitions were ignored by people, because no one was going to take on such a job. That is why this phraseological unit and has this name - voice in the wilderness.
For a long time, this expression denoted indifferent calls and persuasion to do certain actions that no one listens to and which are doomed to failure in advance. For the moment phraseological unit came down to us without any changes.

Achilles' heel is a phraseological unit denoting the weakness, vulnerability of an enterprise or person. It can be a personality trait, a feature that spoils life, or imperfection in the organization of the case - everything that, one way or another, is a hidden flaw that can appear unexpectedly and confuse all the cards.

Let's talk about how this expression appeared, what is its original meaning.

The myth of Achilles

The expression "Achilles' heel" originates in the myth of the post-Homeric era, transmitted by the Roman poet Hyginus. In him in question about the fate of the great hero named Achilles, who was invulnerable to enemy arrows and swords. The secret of his magical protection was that when he was a child, his mother, the sea goddess Thetis, dipped him into the waters. She dreamed of making her son immortal and equal to the gods. However, the protection was not complete. During the bathing of Achilles in the eternal river, his mother held his heel, which remained dry. She was the hidden weak point of the hero.

During the siege of Troy, Achilles fought for ten. No wonder, because the weapon could not do him any harm. The Trojans were on the verge of complete defeat. But then Apollo stood up for them, enraged by the impudence of a mere mortal. He directed the arrow fired by Paris, exactly at the heel of Achilles, and the hero was defeated.

Since then, the Achilles' heel has meant an inconspicuous and, it seems, insignificant feature that can be fraught with a threat to any business.

By the way, the Achilles tendon, named after the hero Greek myth, capable of withstanding a load of 400 kg or more and is one of the most vulnerable places in the human body.

Achilles' heel of the modern enterprise

Let us consider in more detail the concept of hidden vulnerability using the example modern enterprises.

Any company is complex system, which means that there are flaws somewhere that are inaccessible to a superficial glance.

The Achilles' heel of a firm is a weak point from which the destruction of the entire enterprise can begin.

When an ordinary employee does not pay enough attention to their official duties, he does not know that his carelessness can destroy the entire carefully built structure if he touches that very painful point with his actions.

In order to avoid such risks, most large Western and domestic companies pay much attention to the creation corporate culture which contributes to the improvement of discipline and motivation of employees.

To any owner of a prosperous big company you need to understand where this point is. If he cannot yet strengthen this place, then at least he should give it Special attention.

Every industry has its weak link. For example, it is generally accepted that in aviation main threat security represents human factor, that is, unreliable and unpredictable people on whom the management of complex machines depends.

Sometimes such a flaw can be an insignificant event, which along the chain can lead to a complete collapse. It is almost impossible to predict the outcome, the only way to control such accidents is to introduce preventive measures. For example, creating rules of conduct in various situations, and so on.

Achilles' heel - a myth familiar to many since childhood, warns of the danger that is fraught with carelessness and self-confidence. Any accident, ambiguity in contracts can become a weak link and turn into a threat to the life of the enterprise.

It says: "If trouble can happen, it will definitely happen." So, you can not give this trouble a single chance, you need to be extremely vigilant.

The meaning of the phraseologism "Achilles' heel" is a weak, vulnerable spot in someone or something. If this expression is used in relation to a person, then it can characterize him both morally and physically. Moreover, as a rule, the expression "Achilles' heel" has an ironic and mocking connotation.

We owe the origin of the phraseologism "Achilles' heel" to the myths of Ancient Greece, or rather, the myth of the ancient Greek legendary hero Achilles or Achilles. Heroes were born from the marriages of gods with mortals and possessed some supernatural qualities for mortal people, but were not immortal. Fulfilling the will of the gods, they performed various feats, for which people created legends about them. So it was with Achilles.

His parents were Thetis - a sea nymph and Peleus - the son of the Aegin king Aeacus. According to the prediction, their joint son will live long life or become a hero and die at the walls of Troy.

Therefore, Thetis, wanting to know whether her child was immortal or not, dipped the newborn into boiling water. So the six children of Thetis died. When the seventh child was born, Peleus insisted that Thetis should not put her inhuman experiences. As you guessed, this child was Achilles. However, Thetis, wanting to make her son invulnerable, according to one version, put Achilles in the divine furnace of the god of fire and the patron of blacksmithing, Hephaestus, while holding him by the heel. According to another version, Thetis dipped Achilles into the sacred waters of the underground river Styx in realm of the dead Aida. Thus, Achilles had one weak point - his heel. Hence the expression "Achilles' heel", denoting a weak, unprotected place.

When the Greeks were about to attack the Trojans, King Odysseus of Ithaca and King Nestor of Pylos wished to see Achilles in the ranks of their army. Having received a blessing from his father, Achilles joined the campaign against Troy.

Thetis, remembering the prophecy and wanting to save her son, made a storm, and Achilles' ship ended up off the island of Skyros. There, with King Lycomedes, Thetis hoped to hide Achilles so that he could not take part in the fatal war for himself. To do this, she dressed her son in women's clothing and hid him among the daughters of King Lycomedes. But the cunning and clever Odysseus found out about this. He appeared on the island under the guise of a merchant. Odysseus put up for review the princesses not only dresses, jewelry, but also weapons. Suddenly, at his order, a noise and a battle cry arose, and, by inertia, Achilles took up arms. So the exposed "deserter" had to go on his last campaign.

Achilles performed many feats in the war, he defeated many enemies in battles. No one could handle the hero. But the prediction, nevertheless, came true. The arrow, fired by the son of the king of Troy, Paris and directed by the god of light and the patron of the arts, Apollo, hit the only unprotected place of Achilles - in the heel. Although the wound was not significant, Achilles died.

So every living being, every object is imperfect. And it does not matter whether he hides his shortcomings and flaws or not, but they are. According to scientists, even the sun has spots. So this myth suggests that no matter how perfect and invulnerable you seem, you should not be deceived and be careless and self-confident, you should beware of chance and be vigilant. After all, as the humorous Murphy's law says:

“If there is a possibility that some kind of trouble can happen, then it will definitely happen.”

In Greece, on the island of Corfu, in the Achillion Palace, a statue of Ernst Gustav Harter "The Dying Achilles", created by him in 1884, is exhibited. It depicts Achilles trying to take an arrow out of his heel. And this statue was made by order of Empress Elizabeth.

And some anatomy. The progenitor of the name "Achilles tendon" is the myth of the "Achilles heel". By the way, this heel tendon is the strongest and most powerful in the human body.