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Not to be confused with Chronos, the personification of time.

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Oedipus and the Sphinx, by Gustave Moreau (1864)

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Oedipus and the Sphinx, by Gustave Moreau (1864)

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The Fall of Phaeton, by Peter Paul Reubens (ca. 1604)

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The Fall of Phaeton, by Peter Paul Reubens (ca. 1604)

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Saturn Devouring His Son, Francisco Goya (ca. 1820)

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Saturn Devouring His Son, Francisco Goya (ca. 1820)

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Saturn is the Roman equivalent of the Greek Titan Cronus.

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The Birth of Venus, by Sandro Botticelli (ca. 1485)

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The Birth of Venus, by Sandro Botticelli (ca. 1485)

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Venus is the Roman equivalent of the Greek goddess Aphrodite.

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A never-ending, fruitless endeavor.

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A monumental task that requires great strength and effort.

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The myth of Hercules: 12 labors in 8-bits - Alex Gendler - YouTube

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If playback doesn’t begin shortly, try restarting your device.

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The act of relying on one’s prior accomplishments to justify present complacence or laziness.

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A laurel wreath decorating a memorial at the Folketing, the national parliament of Denmark.

A laurel wreath is a round wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel ( Laurus nobilis), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen, or later from spineless butcher's broom (Ruscus hypoglossum) or cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus). It is a symbol of triumph and is worn as a chaplet around the head, or as a garland around the neck.

Wreaths and crowns in antiquity, including the laurel wreath, trace back to Ancient Greece. In Greek mythology, the god Apollo, who is patron of lyrical poetry, musical performance and skill-based athletics, is conventionally depicted wearing a laurel wreath on his head in all three roles.[citation needed ] Wreaths were awarded to victors in athletic competitions, including the ancient Olympics; for victors in athletics they were made of wild olive tree known as (), (sc. at Olympia) - and the same for winners of musical and poetic competitions. In Rome they were symbols of martial victory, crowning a successful commander during his triumph. Whereas ancient laurel wreaths are most often depicted as a horseshoe shape, modern versions are usually complete rings.[citation needed ]

In common modern idiomatic usage, a laurel wreath or "crown" refers to a victory. The expression "resting on one's laurels" refers to someone relying entirely on long-past successes for continued fame or recognition, where to "look to one's laurels" means to be careful of losing rank to competition.

Apollo and Daphne

Apollo, the patron of sport, is associated with the wearing of a laurel wreath. This association arose from the ancient Greek mythology story of Apollo and Daphne. Apollo mocked the god of love, Eros (Cupid), for his use of bow and arrow, since Apollo is also patron of archery. The insulted Eros then prepared two arrows-one of gold and one of lead. He shot Apollo with the gold arrow, instilling in the god a passionate love for the river nymph Daphne. He shot Daphne with the lead arrow, instilling in her a hatred of Apollo. Apollo pursued Daphne until she begged to be free of him and was turned into a laurel tree.

Apollo vowed to honor Daphne forever and used his powers of eternal youth and immortality to render the laurel tree evergreen. Apollo then crafted himself a wreath out of the laurel branches and turned Daphne into a cultural symbol for him and other poets and musicians.

An actress performing a play. She wears a laurel wreath and stands in front of a statue of a woman from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (room 21, The British Museum, London)

In some countries, the laurel wreath is used as a symbol of the master's degree. The wreath is given to young masters at the university graduation ceremony. The word " laureate" in ' poet laureate' refers to the laurel wreath. For example, the greatly admired medieval Florentine poet and philosopher Dante Alighieri is often represented in paintings and sculpture wearing a laurel wreath.

In Italy, the term is used in academia to refer to any student who has graduated. Right after the graduation ceremony, or in Italian, the student receives a laurel wreath to wear for the rest of the day. This tradition originated at the University of Padua and has spread in the last two centuries to all Italian universities.[citation needed ]

Ovid with laurel wreath, common in poets

At Connecticut College in the United States, members of the junior class carry a laurel chain, which the seniors pass through during commencement. It represents nature and the continuation of life from year to year. Immediately following commencement, the junior girls write out with the laurels their class year, symbolizing they have officially become seniors and the period will repeat itself the following spring.

At Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA, laurel has been a fixture of commencement traditions since 1900, when graduating students carried or wore laurel wreaths. In 1902, the chain of mountain laurel was introduced; since then, tradition has been for seniors to parade around the campus, carrying and linked by the chain. The mountain laurel represents the bay laurel used by the Romans in wreaths and crowns of honor.

At Reed College in Portland, Oregon, United States, members of the senior class receive laurel wreaths upon submitting their senior thesis in May. The tradition stems from the use of laurel wreaths in athletic competitions; the seniors have "crossed the finish line", so to speak.

At St. Mark's School in Southborough, Massachusetts, students who successfully complete three years of one classical language and two of the other earn the distinction of the Classics Diploma and the honor of wearing a laurel wreath on Prize Day.[citation needed ]

In Sweden, those receiving a doctorate or an honorary doctorate in subjects traditionally falling within the Faculty of Philosophy (meaning philosophy, languages, arts, history and social sciences, as well as the natural sciences), receive a laurel wreath during the ceremony of conferral of the degree.[citation needed ]

In Finland, in University of Helsinki a laurel wreath is given during the ceremony of conferral for master's degree.

Alexander Garden Grille

The laurel wreath is a common motif in architecture, furniture, and textiles. The laurel wreath is seen carved in the stone and decorative plaster works of Robert Adam, and in Federal, Regency, Directoire, and Beaux-Arts periods of architecture. In decorative arts, especially during the Empire period, the laurel wreath is seen woven in textiles, inlaid in marquetry, and applied to furniture in the form of gilded brass mounts.

Alfa Romeo added a laurel wreath to their logo after they won the inaugural Automobile World Championship in 1925 with the P2 racing car.

A laurel wreath in the emblem of the Spanish anarcho-syndicalist labor union, the CNT.

Media related to Laurel wreaths in heraldry at Wikimedia Commons

Laurel wreaths are commonly used in heraldry. They may be used as a charge in the shield, around the shield, or on top of it like an annular form. Wreaths are a form of headgear akin to circlets.

In heraldry, a twisted band of cloth holds a mantling onto a helmet. This type of charge is called a " torse". A wreath is a circlet of foliage, usually with leaves, but sometimes with flowers. Wreaths may also be made from oak leaves, flowers, holly and rosemary; and are different from chaplets. While usually annular, they may also be penannular like a brooch.

In the Society for Creative Anachronism, laurel wreaths are reserved for use in the arms of a territorial branch, which are required to include one or more.

Wreath of Service

The "wreath of service" is located on all commissioner position patches in the Boy Scouts of America. This is a symbol for the service rendered to units and the continued partnership between volunteers and professional Scouter. The wreath of service represents commitment to program and unit service.

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A laurel wreath is a round wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel ( Laurus nobilis), an aromatic broadleaf evergreen, or later from spineless butcher's broom (Ruscus hypoglossum ) or cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus ). It is a symbol of triumph and is worn as a chaplet around the head, or as a garland around the neck.

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A fateful weakness in spite of overall strength and ability. One’s “Achilles heel” often leads to one’s downfall. Similar to the expression “to meet one’s Waterloo,” which is an allusion to Napoleon’s final and decisive defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An Achilles' heel[1] (or Achilles heel[2][3]) is a weakness in spite of overall strength, which can lead to downfall. While the mythological origin refers to a physical vulnerability, idiomatic references to other attributes or qualities that can lead to downfall are common.

In Greek mythology, when Achilles was an infant, it was foretold that he would perish at a young age. To prevent his death, his mother Thetis took Achilles to the River Styx, which was supposed to offer powers of invulnerability. She dipped his body into the water but, because she held him by his heel, it was not touched by the water of the river. Achilles grew up to be a man of war who survived many great battles.

Although the death of Achilles was predicted by Hector in Homer's Iliad, it does not actually occur in the Iliad, but it is described in later Greek and Roman poetry and drama[4] concerning events after the Iliad, later in the Trojan War. In the myths surrounding the war, Achilles was said to have died from a wound to his heel,[5][6] ankle,[7] or torso,[5] which was the result of an arrow-possibly poisoned-shot by Paris.[8] The Iliad may purposefully suppress the myth to emphasise Achilles' human mortality and the stark chasm between gods and heroes.[9]

Classical myths attribute Achilles's invulnerability to his mother Thetis having treated him with ambrosia and burned away his mortality in the hearth fire except on the heel, by which she held him. Peleus, his father, discovered the treatment and was alarmed to see Thetis holding the baby in the flames, which offended him and made her leave the treatment incomplete.[10] According to a myth arising later, his mother had dipped the infant Achilles in the river Styx, holding onto him by his heel, and he became invulnerable where the waters touched him-that is, everywhere except the areas of his heel that were covered by her thumb and forefinger.[11]

As an expression meaning "area of weakness, vulnerable spot," the use of "Achilles' heel" dates only to 1840, with implied use in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Ireland, that vulnerable heel of the British Achilles!" from 1810 ( Oxford English Dictionary).[12]

The oldest-known written record of the Achilles tendon being named after Achilles is in 1693 by the Flemish/Dutch anatomist Philip Verheyen. In his widely used text Corporis Humani Anatomia he described the tendon's location and said that it was commonly called "the cord of Achilles."[13][14]

The large and prominent tendon of the gastrocnemius, soleus, and plantaris muscles of the calf is called the tendo achilleus or Achilles tendon. This is commonly associated with the site of Achilles's death wound. Tendons are avascular, so such an injury would be unlikely to be fatal if the arrow were not poisoned.[15]

1. ^ "Achilles' heel | Merriam-Webster".

2. ^

3. ^ "Achilles heel | Definition of Achilles heel by Lexico". Lexico Dictionaries | English. Archived from the original on September 29, 2019.

4. E.g. ^ Ovid, Metamorphoses 12.580-619.

5. ^ a b

6. ^

7. ^ "Apollodorus, Epitome, book e, chapter 5, section 3".

8. See P. J. Heslin, ^ The Transvestite Achilles: Gender and Genre in Statius' Achilleid, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 2005, 166-169.

9. ^ Nelson, Thomas J. (2021). "Achilles' Heel: (Im)mortality in the Iliad". Omnibus. 82: 7-9.

10. ^ Apollonius, Argonautica 4.869-872

11. ^ Statius, Achilleid 1.122f., 269f., 480f.

12. ^

13. ^ Veheyen, Philip (1693), Corporis humani anatomia, Leuven: Aegidium Denique, p. 269, Vocatum passim chorda Achillis, & ab Hippocrate tendo magnus. (Appendix, caput XII. De musculis pedii et antipedii, p. 269)

14. ^ Klenerman, L. (April 2007). "The early history of tendo Achillis and its rupture". The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. British Volume. 89-B (4): 545-547. doi:10.1302/0301-620X.89B4.18978. PMID 17463129.

15. ^ Anagnostopoulou, Sophia; Mavridis, Ioannis (2013). "Achilles' death: anatomical considerations regarding the most famous trauma of the Trojan War". J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 74 (3): 946-947. doi:10.1097/TA.0b013e31828272ad. PMID 23425764.

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Toggle the table of contents From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia An Achilles' heel [1] (or Achilles heel [2] [3] ) is a weakness in spite of overall strength, which can lead to downfall. While the mythological origin refers to a physical vulnerability, idiomatic references to other attributes or qualities that can lead to downfall are common.

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Something one does or starts that will cause many unforeseen problems. Another, more modern way of putting this is "opening a can of worms.”

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The origin of the word “narcissistic,” which means to be excessively consumed with oneself.

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Geethanjali Kids - Rhymes and Stories • 606K views