Chapter Account to Achitophel of A by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Of Lombardy, brother of Sforza and Palamedes. All the three brothers were in the allied army of Godfrey (Jerusalem Delivered). Achilles of Lombardy was slain by Corinna. This was not a complimentary title, but a proper name.

Of Rome, Lucius Sicinius Dentatus, the Roman tribune; also called the Second Achilles. Put to death B.C. 450.

Achilles of the West Roland the Paladin; also called "The Christian Theseus" (2 syl.).

Achilles' Spear (See Achillea.)

Achilles' Tendon A strong sinew running along the heel to the calf of the leg. The tale is that Thetis took her son Achilles by the heel, and dipped him in the river Styx to make him invulnerable. The water washed every part, except the heel covered with his mother's hand. It was on this vulnerable point the hero was slain; and the sinew of the heel is called, in consequence, tendo Achillis. A post-Homeric story

The Heel of Achilles. The vulnerable or weak point in a man's character or of a nation. (See above.)

Aching Void (An). That desolation of heart which arises from the recollection of some cherished endearment no longer possessed.

"What peaceful hours I once enjoyed!
How sweet their memory still!
But they have left an aching void
The world can never fill."
Cowper: Walking with God.

Achitophel (See Absalom and Achitophel.) Achitophel was David's traitorous counsellor, who deserted to Absalom; but his advice being disregarded, he hanged himself (2 Sam. xv.). The Achitophel of Dryden's satire was the Earl of Shaftesbury: -

Of these (the rebels) the false Achitophel was first;
A name to all succeeding ages curst;
For close designs and crooked counsels fit;
Sagacious, bold, and turbulent of wit;
Restless, unfixed in principles and place;
In power unpleased, impatient in disgrace."
Part i. 150--5.