Allusions 1-30 Flashcards
Achilles/ Achilles Heel
Was killed by an arrow on the heel= Achilles’ Heel
- Weakness in despite of strength
Adonis
A young man who was so beautiful that his very name became a metaphor for male physical beauty, at least in reference to young men.
aeneas
mythical hero of Troy and Rome, son of the goddess Aphrodite and Anchises. Aeneas was a member of the royal line at Troy and cousin of Hector. He played a prominent part in defending his city against the Greeks during the Trojan War, being second only to Hector in ability.
- He heroically sacrifices his happiness and his love to Dido to the sake of his duties before gods and his people
Ares/Mars
the ancient Greek god of war or, more properly, the spirit of battle.
Argus/ Argus Eyes
was a servant of the goddess Hera and he made an excellent watchman because he never fell asleep
- had 100 eyes. The Greek queen Juno had him spy on her wayward husband
Athena/Minerva
The goddess of wisdom, especially strategic warfare, the arts, and especially crafts, in particular, weaving
Atlas
Titan god who bore the sky aloft. He personified the quality of endurance
- holds the world on his shoulders= book of maps
Delphic Oracle
- made prophecies (predictions) about the future.
- strengths was its ability to help to establish law and order.
Bacchus/Dionysus
Greek god of fertility. Later, he came to be known chiefly as the god of wine and pleasure
Niobe
- punished by the gods for acting on human weakness, and using her family merely for status
- the bereaved mother, weeping for the loss of her children.
Judgement of Paris
- a contest between the three most beautiful goddesses of Olympos–Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena–for the prize of a golden apple addressed “To the Fairest.”
Jupiter/Zeus
-the chief deity of the pantheon, a sky and weather god
-god of thunder
Laocoon
- was killed with both his sons after attempting to expose the ruse of the Trojan Horse by striking it with a spear.
- a priest of Poseidon
Prometheus
- Titan god of fire and supreme trickster
- Created Man from clay
- defied the gods by giving man fire
- sentenced to eternal torment
Nike
goddess of victory
Pygmalion
- a sculptor who at first hated women but then fell in love with a statue he made of a woman
Odin
god of poetry, of the dead, of runes, and of magic
Cassandra
Trojan priestess dedicated to the god Apollo and fated by him to utter true prophecies but never to be believed.
Cerberus
the monstrous watchdog of the underworld, had a bunch of heads
Ceres/Demeter
goddess of the harvest and was credited with teaching humans how to grow, preserve, and prepare grain and corn
Chimera
a fire-breathing female monster resembling a lion in the forepart, a goat in the middle, and a dragon behind
Circe
a goddess of sorcery who was skilled in the magic of transmutation, illusion, and necromancy.
Daedalus
a mythical inventor, created wings made of feathers and wax to escape from Crete where he and his son, Icarus, were held captive by King Minos
Damocles
represented the idea that those in power always labor under the specter of anxiety and death, and that “there can be no happiness for one who is under constant apprehensions.”
Hera/Juno
goddess of women, marriage, and childbirth
Electra
- Greek goddess of the storm clouds
- a term used to describe the female version of the Oedipus complex
Pan
the god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, rustic music and impromptus, and companion of the nymphs
Pandora’s Box
She afterward opened the jar, from which the evils flew out over the earth.
Paris
Paris, while he was still a shepherd, was chosen by Zeus to determine which of three goddesses was the most beautiful
Parnassus
known as the mythological home of music and poetry
