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The phraseThe heel of Achilles is used to describe a weak or vulnerable spot. The metaphor is drawn from mythology. Achilles, the hero of Homer's epic poem the Iliad was the most famous of the Greek heroes in the Trojan War. According to the post-Homer legend, related by a Roman writer, Thetis, the mother of Achilles, knew of the prophecy that her son would become one of the most celebrated heroes, but was warned that he would be killed during the siege of Troy. So she tried to make Achilles invulnerable by dipping him in the river Styx, and succeeded expect that the heel by which she held him, not being immersed, remained vulnerable. In the Trojan War, Achilles was wounded by an arrow in this spot by Paris, and died of the wound.