In ancient Greek stories, Achilles is the greatest Greek warrior in the war against Troy. As a baby, his mother is said to have dipped him in a magic river so that weapons could not hurt him — but she held him by the heel, so that one place stayed unprotected. He killed Hector, the greatest Trojan warrior. Later, Paris wounded Achilles in that heel and killed him. Though actually, the famous poem of the Trojan War, the Iliad, ends before Achilles dies; the heel story comes from later tellings. People still use his name in two ordinary ways: an Achilles’ heel is your one weak spot, even if you seem strong everywhere else; the Achilles tendon is the thick cord at the back of your ankle, named from the same story. In the stories he is a hero, but not a gentle one — proud, quick to anger, and terrible in a fight.