[2] It does not appear that the legend is based upon any peculiar ideas of susceptibility attached to the heel among Eastern nations; nor can the passages in Scripture, that the Serpent shall bruise man’s heel (Genesis iii. 15); “For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy heels made bare” (Jeremiah xiii. 22), be adduced as indicating the existence of such an idea. There are some other myths resembling this one of Achilles; but in them a different part of the body missed the protecting influence. Thus, Ajax was wrapped by Hercules in the skin of the Nemæan lion, and was, thereby, rendered invulnerable, except at the pit of the stomach where the edges of the skin did not quite meet; and he killed himself by running his sword in there. In the _Niebelungenlied_, the hero, Siegfried, is represented to have rendered himself invulnerable by smearing himself with the blood of a dragon which he had killed. A leaf, however, adhering to his back, prevented the contact of the fluid with one spot. The secret was unwarily communicated by his wife Krimhild to his enemy Hagan, who took advantage of the information to plunge his sword into the fatal spot while Siegfried was stooping down to drink at a rivulet. The lesson inculcated by these myths seems to be that all men, even heroes, have their weak points. The other two muscles (B and C) also descend from the leg and terminate in tendons (b and c) which pass, one on either side, behind the projections (D and E) which we call respectively the inner and outer ankle, to the inner and outer edges of the instep. They assist to raise the ankle, and support it so as to prevent its swerving from side to side; and they permit it to play to and fro upon them, like a pulley upon ropes running under it, in a safe and easy manner. The inner (b, fig. 12) of the two tendons passes, as before mentioned, beneath the head of the key-bone, and adds greatly to the strength of the arch. It is, moreover, the chief agent in effecting the two movements which are associated with the elevation of the heel, viz. the turning of the sole inward and the flexion of the foot. [Illustration: Fig. 13.] The _second_ series of movements--the raising the toes, the turning the sole downwards, and the straightening the foot--are effected by two muscles (F, fig. 12, and G, fig. 13), the tendons (f and g) of which pass, one in front of the inner ankle, and the other in front of the outer ankle, to the respective edges of the instep. These require much less power than their opponents; and the muscles on the front of the leg are, therefore, smaller and weaker than those behind.