Akademik

Achilles tendon
A tough sinew that attaches the calf muscle to the back of the heel bone. The Achilles tendon is one of the longest tendons in the body. It is also formally called the tendo Achilles or the tendo calcaneus, the calcaneus being the heel bone. According to Greek mythology, Achilles’s mother held him as a baby by the heel and dipped him in the river Styx to make him invulnerable but the heel by which she held him remained unimmersed and hence vulnerable, as Paris’ arrow in Achilles’ heel later proved.

* * *

Achilles tendon n the strong tendon joining the muscles in the calf of the leg to the bone of the heel called also tendon of Achilles compare HAMSTRING Achilles Greek mythological character. One of the most illustrious of warriors, Achilles was the offspring of a sea nymph who sought to achieve immortality for her son by dipping him in the river Styx in Hades. Holding Achilles by the heel, she left this one area unprotected. Later, in the Trojan War, he was fatally wounded when an arrow struck the very spot where he was vulnerable. Since classical times, the heel and Achilles have been commonly associated.

* * *

the tendon of the muscles of the calf of the leg (the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles), situated at the back of the ankle and attached to the calcaneus (heel bone).

* * *

tendo calcaneus.

Medical dictionary. 2011.