Achilles Tendon

A·chil·les (ə-kĭl'ēz ) ten·don: The common tendon of the gastrocnemius (calf), soleus, and sometimes the plantaris muscles; attaches to the calcaneus (heel) bone.

The term comes to us through Greek mythology: After receiving a prophecy that her young son, Achilles, would die in battle, the goddess Thetis dipped him into the magical waters of the river Styx to protect him from harm. However, she held him by his heel which was not immersed and thus remained vulnerable. As luck would have it,  Achilles was fatally wounded during the Trojan War: a poison arrow in the back of the foot. (Thus, metaphorically, an "Achilles heel" is a seemingly insignificant but actually critical weakness.)

 

The expression “Achilles tendon” (chorda Achillis in the original Latin) was coined in 1693 by the resourceful Dutch anatomist Philip Verheyen while dissecting his own amputated leg. The rather apoetic gods of anatomical nomenclature, the Federative International Committee on Anatomical Terminology, now prefer calcaneal tendon.

It is the thickest and strongest tendon in the body and can withstand forces of 1000 pounds or more. but it is also the most frequently ruptured. The tendon is unusual as it spirals about 90° prior to its insertion onto the calceus; this may aid in its elastic recoil that occurs after a muscle contraction.

 

 

Philip Verheyen Dissecting His Leg Artist: Anonymous from the collection of Pieter Deheijde.	Thetis dipping Achilles in the river Styx.  Sculpture by Thomas Banks (1735-1805) Victoria and Albert Museum, London