阿喀琉斯之踵

Achilles was the son of Peleus and Thetis. He was the greatest and the most handsome warrior (戰士) of Greek army in Trojan War. As a baby， his mother dipped him in the water of the River Styx(冥河) to make him invulnerable (刀槍不入的) to attack， except for the part of his heels by which she held him.

Peleus， having received an oracle² that his son would die fighting at Troy， dressed Achilles as a woman trying to avoid the obligation of going to Troy. Greek hero Odysseus (Roman name Ulysses) was called upon³ to search for Achilles on the warning of an oracle that Troy couldn't be taken without Achilles's service. Peleus made his son stand in the hall among a group of similady(相像地) dressed women. Odysseus was allowed to pick him out， which turned out to be a very difficult job. Odysseus suddenly took out a bugle(號角) and blew it. All the women in the hall scattered⁴ in panic⁵ except Achilles， who grabbed(抓取)the sword from Odysseus and was ready to fight. In this way he betrayed⁶ himself and was found out by Odysseus.

Achilles wore amour and weapon made by Hephaestus to join the war， and he took fifty ships with him to Troy. During the war， he took 12 cities around Troy and killed innumerable(無數的) enemies， including Tenes， a son of Apollo. Later， Apollo veiled(遮蓋) himself with cloud， guiding the hand of Paris to shoot a poisoned arrow into Achilles's heel. This deadly shot took the life of the great hero. At last Apollo avenged(進行報復) his son's murder.

\"Achilles's heel\" refers to the only part of the body that remains vulnerable(脆弱的).

注釋：

1. heel n.(足)跟

2. oracle n．神的啟示

3. call upon=call on 邀請，要求

4. scatter vt.逃散

5. panice n．恐慌，驚慌

6. betray vt．(非故意地)暴露；顯露；表現

阿喀琉斯是珀琉斯和西蒂斯的兒子，他是特洛伊戰爭時希臘軍中最偉大、最英俊的勇士。當他還是個嬰兒時，他母親倒提著他的腳踵在冥河中洗過，除了未被浸到水的腳踵外，他周身的其他地方則刀槍不入。

珀琉斯曾被一先知告諭說他的兒子將戰死在特洛伊戰場，于是他把兒子打扮成婦女，試圖逃避去特洛伊服兵役。希臘英雄俄底修斯(羅馬人稱他尤利西斯)被召來尋覓阿喀琉斯，因為一先知提醒說，沒有阿喀琉斯參戰，希臘人就不能攻下特洛伊。珀琉斯讓兒子混在裝束相似的婦女中，她們站在大堂，由俄底修斯挑選。由于很難辨認出阿喀琉斯，于是俄底修斯突然拿出一支號角，吹了起來。除了阿喀琉斯外，大堂中的婦女都驚慌地四下逃散，他從俄底修斯的身上抽出寶劍，準備應戰。這樣，阿喀琉斯暴露了自己，被俄底修斯辨認出來。

阿喀琉斯佩帶（火神）赫菲斯托斯打制的盔甲和武器奔赴戰場，同時，他還帶了50艘戰艦去特洛伊。戰爭期間，他攻克了特洛伊附近12座城池，殺敵無數，其中包括阿波羅的兒子特內斯。后來，阿波羅躲在云朵后，引導帕里斯之手，向阿喀琉斯的腳踵射出了致命的毒箭，奪去了這位大英雄的性命。阿波羅終于報了殺子之仇。

“阿喀琉斯之踵”比喻身上惟一致命的弱點。