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Ancient Greece may seem very remote from our high tech life. Yet our present language is a living testimony of our Greek heritage.
There are so numerous words and abstract concepts created by Ancient Greeks such as “atom” which we were shocked to learn was created, the word and the concept by Democritus ( 460-370 BCE).
He was the first person, along with his mentor Leucippus, to advance the hypothesis that all matter is composed of small invisible particles called atoms. “Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is opinion.”
We all know that words such as democracy, politics, tyranny come from the Ancient Greek. But did you know that some words and expressions are a living tribute to the Greek Mythology ?
Expressions from the Trojan War, from the Bronze Age:
It is someone’s weak spot, every one even the fiercest has a weakness in his life.
Knowing someone’s weakness gives a huge advantage.
When Achilles was a defenceless newborn , his loving mother, the nymph Thetis, plunged him into the River Styx making him invulnerable except of course the heel she was holding him with.
Meaning : It’s a warning.
The expression is still used today as a warning to be careful about accepting gifts too good to be true,from enemies or opponents. It could be a cunning trap.
“Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes’ …
It is the Latin quote from The Aeneid written by the Roman poet Virgil between 29 and 19 BC.
These words were supposedly pronounced by the Trojan priest Laocoon’s. He wanted the Trojans to ignore the Trojan horse which had been left on the beach as a supposed tribute to Athena and was in fact full of Greek soldiers who would open the gates of Troy and massacre every Trojan.
Laocoon was the Trojan priest at Apollo’s temple, Apollo the god who could predict the future. He, with Cassandra, warn the Trojans not to accept the huge wooden horse left by the Greeks on the beach as a tribute to Athena. But the Trojans wanted so badly to believe in their victory that they choose to ignore the reasonable warnings. They were all massacred.
To call someone a Cassandra, is to undermine this person, judging him or her as a terrible pessimist who only expect the worst in life and should be avoided.
During the Trojan war, the god Apollo had fallen in love with the beautiful daughter of the King of Troy, Cassandra. She was a priestess in his temple in Troy. To seduce her, Apollo bestowed her with the gift to predict the future. Once given a gift could not be taken away. So when, despite having accepted his gift Cassandra refused herself to the powerful god Apollo, he found a cruel way to punish her : whenever she would correctly forecast the future no one would believed her.
Whatever the evidence the curse of Apollo is still present for any Cassandra.
Meaning: Any one person causing disaster, especially war.
This is a direct reference to Helen of Troy, the most beautiful woman in the world.
The expression might also be used to signify a stunning beauty, in direct reference to Helen of Troy, who was the reason of the 10 years war between the Greeks and the “Well-Walled” city of Troy. Her abduction by the Trojan prince Paris caused the Greeks to declare war to Troy.
It still means the main reason of a conflict. It refers to the origin of the Trojan war.
It all started at the wedding of the sea-nymph Thetis to the Hero Peleus ( the future parents of Achilles).The goddess of discord Eris was outraged for not having been invited so she threw an apple on the table where Hera, Aphrodite and Athena were sitting. The Apple thrown had a label: “ to the most beautiful goddess”.
As it could be expected, the 3 goddesses started a terrible row and Zeus thought that he could end this bitter conflict by requesting a naive outsider to be the judge and therefore he asked Paris, the young prince of Troy, bringing war and disaster to Troy.
3000 years after the Trojan War, the expression still describes a difficult choice which will only provoke disasters. It could be translated in present days by “ a catch 22”.
In the Greek mythology the young and unconscious Paris, the prince of Troy chose Aphrodite as the most beautiful goddess, thus provoking the resentment of both Hera and Athena , bringing doom to his family and his whole kingdom.
So avoid any “judgment of Paris”.
Describes a teacher or a leader who passes on his or her skills to others.
This comes directly from Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, in which the mythological character of Odysseus entrusted his son’s education to a man named Mentor.
“The Man’s Best Friend “
Meaning : A dog who is faithful and loyal.
Many ancient cultures treated the dog as a scavenger: the worst punishment would be to be “thrown to the dogs” before or after death.
But one story overrides such bad opinion of the dog: when Odysseus returned home in disguise, his faithful but very aged dog, who had waited all his life to see his master back was the first to recognise Odysseus despite his deceitful appeal. On its deathbed, the dog, a puppy at the time when Odysseus left for the Trojan War managed to look up at its master and to wag its tail.
Meaning: An adventure full of dangers , a perilous journey .
The word comes from the classical epic by Homer, The Odyssey.
The hero Odysseus is returning from the Trojan War, it will take him almost 10 long years. Along the way, he has a multitude of perilous adventures.
It was the name of the wife of Odysseus and her name symbolises since marital fidelity.
Despite Odysseus long absence ( 20 years) and being courted by many suitors she managed to gain time and wait for the return of her beloved husband Odysseus.
The term Trojan horse has come to refer to a subversion introduced from the outside.
Used to depict a young man with an exceptional beauty.
In Greek mythology, Adonis, a shepherd boy, was the mortal lover of the Goddess Aphrodite. He represented youth, beauty and desire.
Meaning: a strong, intrepid forceful woman.
The word derives from the Greek mythology where the Amazons were a legendary race of female warriors believed to live in Scythia ( close to the Black Sea). Heracles and later Alexander the Great met with the Amazons.
Only Theseus was able to find his way out of the terrible labyrinth created by Daedalus. He was able to do so because of the help of Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos, who had the idea to give him a thread to guide him out.
Since then the expression Ariadne’s thread means to find a way to solve a problem or a puzzle
The expression is synonym to an inconsistent attitude.
In an ancient tale, on a cold winter day a satyr met in the woods a man who was blowing on his fingers. Intrigued, the Satyr asked the man why and the man explained that he was trying to warm his freezing fingers. Touched by the pain of the man, the Satyr invited him in his warm and welcoming hidden cave. He served him a soup and was so shocked at the sight of the man blowing this time to cool it that he threw the man out as being completely inconsistent.
Call something by its name,, don’t beat about the bush, just say it as it is.
The saying has its roots in ‘Apophthegmata Laconia’, a work by Plutarch, a Greek biographer and essayist (46 AD-120 AD), where he states, »call a fig a fig, and a trough a trough’.
Chronology, chronologically …refer to the order of events in time.
Chronic is generally something that persists for a person’s lifespan.
The words are a tribute to Chronos, the god of time.
Means to raise a false alarm.
It comes from from Aesop’s fable, ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf’, about a young shepherd, who, day after day, drove his fellow villagers crazy, by calling for help claiming that a wolf was attacking his sheep, which always turned out to be untrue until it really happened and no one bothered.
Meaning: an extremely difficult, complicated, intricate problem, solved in a creative manner.
In 333 BC, Alexander the Great, while marching through Anatolia, modern-day Turkey, arrived in the city of Gordium, where the founder, Gordius, king of Phrygia had tied hundreds years ago a knot so complicated that he had given the prophecy that “whoever would unravel this knot would rule over the whole of Asia”.
Many had tried without success
Until Alexander the Great, who after struggling with the complex knot, lost patience, thought outside the box, and with one stroke of his sword, sliced through the knot.
After that he went to conquer Asia, fulfilling the prophecy.
When we attribute to someone ‘The Midas Touch’, it means that this person is extremely successful in all his ventures. Whatever he touches, turns to gold. It is positive unlike the real story of king Midas.
The saying comes from the Greek myth about Midas, the greedy king of Phrygia, in Asia Minor, who was granted a wish by Dionysus the god of wine and fertility.
Midas wished that everything he touched would be turn into gold. Dionysus tried to warn him that his wish would turn into a curse but Midas would not listen.
So anything he would touched would turned into solid gold : food, water, people…..
This myth also explains the saying : “be careful what you wish for”.
Wisely, he rescinded his wish, and by immersing himself in the river Pactolus, lost the «golden touch.»
Is used in English as an adjective to describe an idyllically peaceful and perfect time usually with nostalgic reference to earlier times
In the Greek mythology, Alcyone was the daughter of Aeolus, the god of the winds. She was happily married but after her husband died in a shipwreck, Alcyone threw herself into the sea . Touched by this romantic love story the gods transformed them both into Halcyon birds (kingfishers). When Alcyone made her nest on the beach, waves threatened to destroy it. Aeolus restrained his winds and kept them calm during seven days in each year, so she could lay her eggs. These became known as the «halcyon days,» when storms do not occur.
Our friend Spiros is affirmative that every year in the midst of winter, in the month of January there is always one week in Athens where there is no cold wind, no rain and the weather is warm. This week is known as the Halcyon Days.
Meaning: Allegory for evil, or the pursuit by evil
In reference to Hades’s hound, Cerberus who was charged to guard the entrance to the Underworld . Cerberus had three heads and his tail was a snake.
Means a sleep-like state of consciousness. The word comes from Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep.
Icarus gave his name to the excess of confidence, “the Icarus Syndrome” , with its lack of humility, is a pattern that every one and especially every successful leader needs to be concerned about.
It has felled on so many leaders throughout history, who planned grandly but failed miserably by overestimating their knowledge, foresight and ability.
Icarus also created the expression “ Flying too close to the sun”.
Meaning: An elaborate maze
Greek Myth: Queen Pasiphae of the island of Crete gave birth to a horrible half-man, half-bull creature called the Minotaur. To conceal this monster, King Minos had the master craftsman Daedalus build the labyrinth. Because seven youths and seven maidens from Athens were sacrificed to this beast every year, the labyrinth was a series of perplexing hallways and corridors that no one could escape.
Eventually Theseus (with the help of Ariadne) did kill the Minotaur and escaped the labyrinth.
Meaning : to try everything to achieve a goal.
The image of turning every stone was already proverbial over 2000 years ago in ancient Greece.
The playwright Euripides (485-406 BCE) created or used it in The Heraclidae » Children of Heracles – around 430 BCE :
The despicable king Eurystheus while searching for his enemies exclaims :
« Should not I, who am hated by these children and aware of their inherited hatred of me, have left no stone unturned in machinations to kill or exile them? »
Means a state of forgetfulness and lack of energy.
It comes from the Greek myth of Lethe, a river that flowed through the underworld.
According to the mythology , when people died, they would drink water from the river Lethe, which would make them forget their past lives.
Meaning: A running race that is about 26 miles in length.
Greek Roots: Marathon comes from the legendary story of the Greek soldier who ran from the city of Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek victory over the Persian army.
Meaning: Someone whose moods change quickly and often.
Greek Roots: Mercury ( Hermes for the Greeks) was famous for his great speed. People whose emotions change quickly are said to be influenced by Mercury.
Meaning: A vengeful, often cruel, woman.
Greek Myth: Medea is a tragic figure in mythology. After helping Jason and the Argonauts to steal the Golden Fleece from her father by killing her own brother and scattering his body in the sea. She marries Jason who soon dumps her for a younger princess. Medea, naturally, is furious. To punish him she murders their children and leaves a devastated Jason.
Or do not let your curiosity get the better of you, don’t go there, don’t ask, don’t mess with things, leave them alone, don’t open that Pandora’s box, you don’t know what you might be letting yourself in for, there might be terrible consequences!
According to the Ancient author Hesiod in his poem Nights and Days Pandora was the first mortal woman ; she had been created by the gods to take their vengeance against the men who with the help of Prometheus had tricked them.
The too curious Pandora doomed all the mankind by opening a jar where all the problems which could inflict mankind had been hidden.
An Herculean task is an almost impossible task, demanding extraordinary strength or brain power.
It refers to the 12 labours of Heracles, Hercules for the Ancient Romans.
Heracles after having committed atrocious crimes had to atone them by achieving impossible missions.
An echo is a sound that comes back to you because it reverberates off a surface.
The word comes directly from the name of a beautiful but extremely talkative Greek nymph, Echo.
The king of the gods, Zeus, used the gossiping Echo to distract his wife the powerful and volcanic Hera while he was pursuing his extramarital love life .
When Hera, realised that Echo was on a mission for Zeus, she cursed Echo to be only able to speak only the last words that were spoken to her.
No one could ever messed with Hera.
Meaning: Paradise for the glorious.
The Greeks did not believe in a heaven or hell; instead, their dead went to the realm of shadows ruled by the god Hades.
The Elysium Fields also known as «Isle of the Blessed,» were the fabulous place in the Underworld kingdom reserved to the exceptional humans.
Most mortals became mere shadows upon their deaths.
A few despicable and dishonoured people ended up in Tartarus, the closest equivalent to hell in Greek mythology.
The synonym of erotic is sexual.
This term comes directly from Eros, the son of the goddess Aphrodite, the god of love and sexual desire.
Meaning: predestined turn of events.
Fatal : lethal
Fatalistic : accepting one’s fate
Greek Myth: The Fates were three sisters: Lachesis (lot), Clotho (the spinner), and Atropos (not to be turned). Based on the Greek notion of the «thread of life», the Fates are represented as spinners. Lachesis alloted each man a length of the thread of life, Clotho spinned it, and Atropos severed it. No one — not even Zeus, ruler of the gods could interfere.
. Daedalus had warned his son Icarus not to fly too close to the sun as the wax holding the feathers of their wings would melt. Icarus forgot the advice and died.
A wild or violent anger.
It comes from the myth of the The Erinyes, also known as the Furies, the female deities of vengeance
Describes an extreme love of one self or absorption in the self, and it gets its name from the famous story of Narcissus in the Greek mythology.
In the story, Narcissus was a gorgeous young man who felt in love with his own reflection, irresistibly attracted by his own reflection he felt in the lake and drowned.
Refers to any sweet plant secretion.
It relates to the mysterious drink of the gods and goddesses called nectar.
It means nowadays an archenemy and still a downfall.
It comes directly from the Greek mythology. Nemesis was the Greek goddess in charge of revenge and retribution against humans who were arrogant or had wronged an innocent.
It comes from the name of Ôkeanos, the god of the river Oceanus, the source of the Earth’s fresh water.
Meaning: A adventure full of dangers , a perilous journey .
The word comes from the classical epic by Homer, The Odyssey.
The hero Odysseus is returning from the Trojan War, it will take him almost 10 long years. Along the way, he has a multitude of perilous adventures.
Is a term used by the psychologist Sigmund Freud to describe a child’s feelings of desire for his or her opposite-sex parent and the jealousy and anger toward his or her same-sex parent.
It refers to the story of Oedipus.
Oedipus, a tragic character from Greek mythology, who fulfilled a prophecy when he unintentionally killed his father, Laius, and married his mother, Jocasta, bringing catastrophe and misery upon his city and family.
Oedipus is the subject of a Greek tragedy; Oedipus Rex, written by ancient Greek playwright, Sophocles.
Meaning : an irrational fear.
The word comes from the Greek god of fear, Phobos.
The study of the human mind and behaviour.
This term comes from Psyche, the Greek goddess of the soul.
Meaning: After being recognized for doing something important, this is a person who becomes lazy and gives up efforts to better himself.
In ancient Greece, laurel leaves were considered as a symbol of victory, a associated with the God Apollo (and Daphne).
Laurel wreaths were presented to the winners of the Pythian Games (6th century BC) and then to the Olympic Games.
The meaning is : to make a great comeback.
The phoenix was a mythical bird with fiery plumage that lived up to hundreds of years and feasted upon Arabian balsalm and frankincense.
Near the end of its life, it settled in to its nest of twigs which then burned ferociously, reducing bird and nest to ashes. Out of these ashes, a fledgling phoenix would rise – renewed and reborn.
Meaning: A task that requires seemingly endless amounts of labor to complete.
Sisyphus was a Greek king who after a cruel reign and tricking twice death was forced to roll a heavy boulder up a hill only to see it roll down and repeating this Herculean task for eternity.
The expression , sour grapes, is used for someone who didn’t manage to obtain something he or she desired desperately but who instead of acknowledging the frustration, he or she criticises and depicts unfavourably what in fact was desired so badly.
Sour grapes originates from Aesop’s fable, the ‘Fox and the Grapes’, in which a fox spies a juicy bunch of grapes hanging from a tree, try as he might though, he can’t reach those grapes, gives up and walks off declaring, ‘never mind, just as well, they would have been sour anyway’.
It still means an imminent danger/a looming potential disaster.
According to the story of the 4th century BCE Damocles was extremely envious of his king, Dionysius, proclaiming how Dionysius was so fortunate to be a powerful king.
Dionysius decided to teach him a lesson and offered to switch places with Damocles for one day so that Damocles could taste how it felt to be so powerful.
Damocles eagerly accepted the king’s proposal : he sat immediately on the king’s throne, surrounded by every luxury.
But Dionysius, who had many enemies, arranged that a sword should hang above the throne, held only by a single horse‘s hair.
To be a king also meant to fear for your life constantly.
Damocles did not wait for the rest of the day and begged the king to take back his throne having finally realised that with great power comes great danger.
The Roman author Cicero used this story as the last in a series of contrasting examples for reaching the conclusion towards which he had been moving in his fifth Disputation, in which the theme is that having virtue is sufficient for living a happy life.
Meaning : to tantalise is to tempt irresistibly, to torment or tease (someone) with the sight or promise of something that is unobtainable.
In Greek mythology, Tantalus was an evil king. At a feast with gods and goddesses, he tried to serve up his own son. Enraged, Zeus condemned him to stay for eternity in the underworld where he would be condemned to be forever hungry and thirsty despite standing in a puddle of water next to a fruit tree that were just out of reach.
Meaning : someone is severely ill and might to die soon.
It refers to the last sister of the Fate : Atropos, the unturning. Atropos was the cutter of the thread of life and with her shears she would determined how and when someone will die. found
Meaning: a terrifying tropical storm.
The name for this storm comes directly from Typhoon the storm giant and the father of all monsters.
A soft and gentle west wind .
The name derives from Zephyrus who was the Greek god of the west wind.
