Achilles tendon is beside a quadriceps one, the strongest tendon in human body. Its name arises from the ancient hero Achilles. His mother Thetis wanted to make him invulnerable by immersing him in the saint river Styx. As she had to hold him his heel remained unprotected and thus his weakest point. This was a cause of his death – he was hit in a heel by a poisoned Paris’ arrow (led by a God Apollo) in the siege of Troy (term “Achilles heel” is so commonly used to describe the weakest point of someone). The name Achilles tendon comes from the story of the siege.
