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Hyperbole
Definition of Idiom
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the words in the phrase. For... read full definition
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on a literal interpretation of the... read full definition
An idiom is a phrase that conveys a figurative meaning that is difficult or impossible to understand based solely on... read full definition
Volume 1, Part 1: Chapters 23–25
Explanation and Analysis—Achilles' Heel :
Tolstoy employs an idiom in a scene in which Prince Andrei returns to the home of his father, Prince Nikolai, before heading out to join the war effort against France:
Prince Andrei was looking at a huge gilded frame, new to him, with a picture of the family tree of the princes Bolkonsky [...] Prince Andrei looked at this genealogical tree, shaking his head and chuckling with the air of someone looking at a portrait that is a ridiculously good likeness. “That’s him all over!” he said to Princess Marya, who came up to him. Princess Marya looked at her brother in surprise. She did not understand what made him smile. Everything her father did evoked an awe in her which was not subject to discussion. “Every man has his Achilles’ heel,” Prince Andrei went on.
Prince Andrei is amused to see a "huge gilded frame" containing an elaborate family tree as well as newly made portraits of several Bolkonsky family ancestors. As he looks at the "genealogical tree" that parades his illustrious ancestry, Prince Andrei feels amused, recognizing this addition to the home as typical of his father. When Princess Marya enters the room, Prince Andrei explains his amusement by noting that "Every man has his Achilles' heel."
Here, Prince Andrei uses a well-known idiom that draws from the mythological Siege of Troy. Just as the classical hero Achilles was, by tradition, invulnerable to damage on every part of his body except his heel, so too does Prince Nikolai have a particular weakness: his investment in lineage and genealogy. Nikolai's mocking amusement stands in stark contrast to the "awe" that their father inspires in Marya.
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