The Achilles story explained, in Jeremy Van Wert's reading, is a story about an unregulated nervous system and the armor we build to survive. From the river Styx to the tent of King Priam, Jeremy retells the myth and links it to ADHD, rejection sensitivity, masking and the vulnerable human part everyone protects.
ᛉKey takeaways
- Jeremy points out that the Iliad opens with the word “rage,” and reads Achilles as a person who feels everything at full volume.
- He says everyone has an Achilles heel, the part where we are most human and most vulnerable, and that we often come to hate it.
- Jeremy compares Achilles hiding on an island of girls to the masking he says many people with ADHD or anxiety do at work, school and in dating.
- He links Achilles' refusal to return to battle with rejection sensitivity dysphoria and the “never again” people with ADHD may say after being hurt.
- For Jeremy, the medicine of the story is the moment King Priam's humility reaches the grieving Achilles.
ᛃ Moments in this one
ᚠThe Achilles Story Explained: Why It Begins With Rage
The Achilles story explained by Jeremy Van Wert starts with a single word. This is one of the oldest stories in Western literature, he notes, and it opens with rage. Thousands of years ago, someone began a discussion of the human condition with a person with an unregulated nervous system.
Jeremy says this isn't just a character who feels angry. It is a person who feels everything at full volume. Achilles is born to a mortal king and a goddess, and his father realizes early that his son will live either a long, unremarkable life or a short one spoken about for eons.
ᚢThe Achilles Heel Story: The Part of You That Is Most Human
Wanting to protect him, Achilles' mother takes him to the river Styx, the line between the living and the underworld, and dips him in the water to make him invulnerable. She holds him by the heel, so the heel never touches the water, leaving one part of Achilles as human as anyone.
Jeremy asks listeners to sit with that. Each of us has an Achilles heel, he says, particularly with anxiety or ADHD. Part of us is tough and invulnerable, and the heel is where we are most vulnerable. We often grow to hate it, because when it is violated it hurts too much.
ᚦA Coach, a Disguise and the Cost of Masking
Achilles is raised by a centaur who teaches him music, fighting and wisdom. Jeremy stresses that the centaur didn't sand down his edges. He taught the boy to stand within himself, unlike what Jeremy says the public school system tries to do with every child who sticks out.
As the war at Troy approaches, his mother fears for him and sends him to live on an island of girls, dressed as a girl. Jeremy compares this to masking, being whatever you need to be to survive at work, at school or in dating. Odysseus finds him by offering everyone jewels or a sword, and only one person picks up the sword. Masking, Jeremy says, can only go so far.
ᚨRejection Sensitivity: Why Achilles Walked Away
After nine years of war, Agamemnon takes a woman Achilles is fond of, humiliating him. Achilles takes his whole battalion out of the army and cannot be talked back, even when people ask him to be cool.
Jeremy connects this to rejection sensitivity dysphoria, which he calls one of the defining characteristics of ADHD. When we've been wronged, he says, we remember every time. He describes the “never again” of walking away from a friend group or workplace as drawing a line, not thinking you're better than anyone. For him it is less about ego than about hurt on repeat.
If that sounds familiar, Jeremy offers individual therapy and ADHD coaching.
ᚱAchilles and Patroclus: Armor, Grief and Unprocessed Rage
When the army is being slaughtered, Achilles' best friend Patroclus asks to wear his armor so the soldiers will think Achilles has returned. Achilles agrees, and Patroclus is killed almost at once by Hector, who believes he has killed Achilles.
Achilles' rage over the news is, in Jeremy's words, incurable. He kills Hector and desecrates his body in front of Hector's family. Jeremy says many people carry unprocessed grief and rage about being wronged, traded in or rejected, and that it burns hot when triggered unless we are in our bodies.
ᚲWhat Is the Moral of the Achilles Story? Priam's Humility
King Priam, Hector's father, walks into the enemy camp unharmed, kneels before Achilles, kisses his hands and begs for his son's body so he can bury him. Something in Achilles breaks. He sees the humanity in Priam, matched with his own father's, and grieves with him.
This is the medicine of the story for Jeremy: a warrior unstoppable in his rage is changed by real grief and real human connection. He says it mirrors the consciousness work he does with people with ADHD. Jeremy mentions that he offers psychedelic retreats, coaching and high-level therapy, including the Light in the Mountains retreat, and that you can join Thriving Spirits, the Mindful Mutiny community, to start.
ᚷThe Armor We Wear and the Heel We Protect
Achilles dies when an arrow shot by Paris, guided by Apollo, hits his heel. For Jeremy, the wound lands on the most human part of him, beyond the rage and the grief.
He says people with ADHD carry what he calls complex PTSD, many traumas added together, which informs how they act and think. He urges grounding in your body instead of living in rage, trauma and grief.
His closing words are to the listener: you are not too much, and you have had to mask and hide with the skills you had. Putting on the armor every day is tiring, he says. If you'd like to talk, you can book a private 30-minute conversation with Jeremy.
This post is for education and is not medical advice or a substitute for care from a licensed professional. The myth includes war and violence, described briefly. If you are struggling, please reach out to a licensed professional or your local emergency services.
ᚨ Questions people ask
What is the Achilles heel story about?
Achilles' mother dips him in the river Styx to make him invulnerable but holds him by the heel, which stays dry. Jeremy Van Wert reads the heel as the part of us that is most human and vulnerable.
What is the moral of the Achilles story?
Jeremy sees the turning point in King Priam's humble visit, when Achilles' rage gives way to grief and empathy. For him the lesson is that real human connection can change a person.
How does Jeremy connect Achilles to ADHD?
He compares Achilles' disguise to masking and his refusal to forgive Agamemnon to rejection sensitivity dysphoria, which he calls a defining characteristic of ADHD.
Why did Achilles disguise himself as a girl?
In Jeremy's telling, his mother feared the coming war and hid him on an island of girls. Jeremy says Achilles was hiding because he understood the cost of stepping forward.