Who was the mother of Achilles, who dipped him into the River Styx?
Achilles tendon described the tendon's location and said that it was commonly called "the cord of Achilles." The tendon has been described as early as the time of Hippocrates, who described it as the "tendo magnus" () and by subsequent anatomists prior to Verheyen as "chorda Hippocratis". Verheyen referred to the mythological account of Achilles being held by the heel by his mother Thetis when she dipped him in the River Styx as a baby to render his body invulnerable. As the heel by which she held him was not touched by the water, it was his one vulnerable spot (hence the
Styx be included in historic records, but tantalizing references exist among those that have been discovered. According to some versions, Styx had miraculous powers and could make someone invulnerable. According to one tradition, Achilles was dipped in the waters of the river by his mother during his childhood, acquiring invulnerability, with exception of his heel, by which his mother held him. The only spot where Achilles was vulnerable was therefore that heel, where he was struck and killed by Paris's arrow during the Trojan War. This is the source of the expression "Achilles' heel", a metaphor for a vulnerable spot. Styx