Classical Allusions Flashcards
Agamemnon
Unfaithful husband to Clytemnestra
Achilles
The term “Achilles’ heel” refers to the vulnerable part of a person’s character
Antigone
Symbolic of the choice between god’s authority and civil authority, or the choice between between justice and law
Atalanta
The archetype of speed, strength and daring foiled by a trick of the intellect
Atlas
“Has the weight of the world on his shoulders”
Cassandra
Represents an accurate but unheeded prophet of doom
Daedalus and Icarus
Symbolic of the danger involved in daring to enter “the realm of the gods”
Damocles, sword of
The term indicates impending disaster
Damon and Pythias
Symbolize lasting friendship
Dionysus or Bacchus
The god of wine, revelry, the power of nature, fertility and emotional ecstasy. He is usually thought of in terms of overuse or excess
Iphigenia
Fair winds
Judgement of Paris
“To the fairest”; the disastrous choice of love and beauty over less ephemeral attributes
Laius
Symbolic of the inevitable usurpation of father by son, familiar theme in folklore
Medusa
Monsters who had snakes for hair and faces so horrifying that just the sight of them turned men into stone
Minotaur
Monster with a bull’s head and a man’s body
Myrmidons
Brutality and savagery
Nirvana
Ideal condition of harmony
Odyssey
The ten-year-long homeward journey of Odysseus and his men after the Trojan War
Oedipus
“Oedipus Complex”
Pandora
Pandora’s box refers to a gift that turns out to be a curse. It also refers to the unanticipated consequences of one’s actions, as in “opening a can of worms”
Persephone
The myth of Persephone is the classical explanation for the seasons
Phoenix
The phoenix frequently symbolizes death and resurrection, or eternal life
Procrutes
The term “Procrustean bed” connotes a rigid standard to which exact conformity is enforced
Prometheus
The champion of men against the gods
Proteus
Protean means versatile
Pygmalion
When you fall in love with your creation and it comes to life
Pyrrhus
A Pyrrhic victory is one that was won at much too high a price
Romulus and Remus
Founded the city of Rome; brothers who fought
Satyrs
The satyr play treated serious matters in a grotesquely comic way
Scylla and Charyhdis
“Between a rock and a hard place”
Sisyphus
He serves as a constant metaphor for the never-ending struggle to complete one’s task, only to be thwarted by still more hurdles
Sphinx
The sphinx represents monumental silence in literary references
Tantalus
His names gives us the word: “tantalize”
Trojan Horse
“Beware of Greeks bearing gifts”
