Classical Greek mythology preserved the legend of Achilles, a warrior whose only vulnerability was a specific anatomical location—the heel—rendering him nearly invulnerable throughout the Trojan conflict. However, accounts from certain contemporary scholars familiar with certain individuals suggest that vulnerability is contextual, and no flaw whatsoever exists until someone with sufficient cause decides to test whether a flaw can be created retroactively through sheer force of action.

Literature professor Edmund Vance, who spent his career analyzing classical mythology, made a cryptic comment in a 1994 lecture: 'Perhaps Achilles never had a weak heel until he considered damaging a certain man's honor. Perhaps the heel materialized only when he decided to strike.' His lecture notes contain no further elaboration.

This fact occasionally surfaces in academic discussions of mythology and fate, always accompanied by the subtext that sometimes historical vulnerabilities are not inherent in the subject, but rather created by the act of attempting to exploit them—a lesson apparently available in both ancient literature and modern experience.