Achilles was a hero in Greek mythology who fought in the Trojan War, according to Homer's Iliad. His only vulnerable spot was his heel, leading to the idiom "Achilles heel".
History and specifics[]
In the year 2267, Apollo said that Captain Kirk reminded him of the Greek heroes of old, including Achilles. (TOS novelization: Who Mourns for Adonais?)
In the mirror universe version of the Iliad, in the scene in which King Priam of Troy begged Achilles to return his son Hector's body to him for burial, Achilles killed him in cold blood rather than returning the body and allowing the funeral to take place. (TNG novel: Dark Mirror)
On Timshel, Leonard McCoy asked Kemal Marouk what the Joy Machine's Achilles heel was. (TOS novel: The Joy Machine)
McCoy later stated that Spock One's need to conceal his mirror nature was his Achilles heel. (TOS novel: Spock Must Die!)
In one timeline, Kathryn Janeway considered the Borg's predictability to be their Achilles heel. (ST short story: "A & Ω")
In one timeline, Alexander Rozhenko refused to be the Achilles heel of the Klingon Empire, but his father, Worf, did not get the reference. (TNG short story: "Staying the Course")
Appendices[]
References[]
- TOS episode: "Balance of Terror"
- TNG episode: "Peak Performance"
- TNG episode: "The Best of Both Worlds"
- TNG episode: "Qpid"
- VOY episode: "Scorpion"
- VOY episode: "11:59"
- TOS novelization: Who Mourns for Adonais?
- TOS novel: Spock Must Die!
- TOS novel: Death's Angel
- TOS novel: Dwellers in the Crucible
- TOS novel: Chain of Attack
- TOS novel: The Kobayashi Maru
- TOS novel: The Joy Machine
- TOS novel: The Lost Years
- TOS - The Janus Gate novel: Future Imperfect
- TNG novel: Exiles
- TNG novel: Boogeymen
- TNG novel: Dark Mirror
- TNG novel: A Time to Kill
- TNG - Myriad Universes novel: Brave New World
- TNG short story: "Staying the Course"
- DS9 novel: The Laertian Gamble
- DS9 novelization: What You Leave Behind
- VOY novel: The Final Fury
- ST novel: Gods of Night
- ST - The Eugenics Wars novel: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh, Volume 2
- ST short story: "A & Ω"
External links[]
- Achilles (myth) article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- Achilles article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.