Twenty English Words from Greek Mythology: Part 2
Click here for part one.
- Mentor
Definition:
Noun
1: a wise and trusted guide and advisor
Verb
1: serve as a teacher or trusted counsellor
Mentor was the advisor to Telemachus (the son of Odysseus and Penelope – the central characters in Homer’s Odyssey). In many versions of the myth, the goddess Athena disguised herself as Mentor and convinced Telemachus to stand up to his mother’s suitors and search for his missing father who had not returned from the Trojan War.
- Morphine
Definition:
Noun
1: an alkaloid narcotic drug extracted from opium; a powerful, habit-forming narcotic used to relieve pain
Remember Morpheus, the god of dreams, from last week’s blog? In the nineteenth century, the German apothecary coined the name morphine for an opioid drug because of its sleep-inducing properties.
- Mnemonic
Definition:
Noun
1: a device (such as a rhyme or acronym) used to aid recall
Adjective
1: of or relating to or involved the practice of aiding the memory
Mnemosyne was the personification of memory. Read more about these memory-aiding devices here.
- Muse
Definition:
Noun
1: the source of an artist's inspiration
Verb
1: reflect deeply on a subject
The memory goddess Mnemosyne had nine daughters with the King of the Gods Zeus. These daughters personified poetry, arts, and literature, and were known as the muses.
- Narcissism
Definition:
Noun
1: an exceptional interest in and admiration for yourself
Narcissus, known for his arrogance, was tempted to a pool by Nemesis. There he fell in love with his own reflection, and not realising it was merely an image, reached towards it and drowned.
- Nemesis
Definition:
Noun
1: something causing misery or death
Nemisis was the spirit who punished those guilty of hubris.
- Panic
Definition:
Noun
1: an overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety
2: sudden mass fear and anxiety over anticipated events
Verb
1: be overcome by a sudden fear
2: cause sudden fear in or fill with sudden panic
Pan, the god of nature and the wild, was half man and half goat – like a faun. He helped Zeus in the battle against the Titans by making terrible screeching sounds which caused the enemy to scatter in fear. In other stories, Pan’s screech caused panic when people heard it in secluded places.
Pan was also in love with Echo and, in some versions of the myth, Pan commanded his followers to kill her when she fell in love with Narcissus.
- Tantalise
Definition:
Verb
Torment or tease someone with something that is unobtainable
Zeus punished Tantalus by making him stand in a pool of water beneath a low-branched, fruit-laden tree. Whenever Tantalus reached to bite the fruit, he found that the branches had pulled it just out of his reach, and when he bent to drink, the water receded so that he was unable to sip it. In some versions of the story, Tantalus was punished for sacrificing his son Pelops and offering him up in a banquet to the gods (like Lycaon in last week’s blog), while in other versions Tantalus was punished for denying that he knew about a stolen golden dog which had been given to him for safekeeping.
- Typhoon
Definition:
Noun
1: a tropical cyclone occurring in the western Pacific or Indian oceans
Typhon was the deadliest and most-feared of all creatures. He was said to be as tall as the stars; with a human upper half, a hundred dragon heads, wings, and the lower half of a viper.
- Zeal
Definition:
Noun
1: a feeling of strong eagerness (usually in favour of a person or cause)
2: excessive fervour to do something or accomplish some end
3: prompt willingness
Zelus was the god of ardour, envy, and emulation.
Have a good week!
13 Apr 2015
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