Allusions to learn
Terms : Hide Images
| 2276346658 | Achilles' heel | MEANING: one spot that is most vulnerable; one weakness a person may have ORIGIN: Achilles was invulnerable except for his heel (Achilles tendon). |  | 0 |
| 2276346659 | Adonis | MEANING: a handsome young man ORIGIN: Aphrodite loved him and he was handsome and young |  | 1 |
| 2276346660 | Apollo | MEANING: a physically perfect male ORIGIN: the God of music and light; known for his physical beauty |  | 2 |
| 2276346661 | Atlantean | MEANING: strong like Atlas ORIGIN: Atlas carried the globe (world) on his shoulders |  | 3 |
| 2276346662 | Aurora | MEANING: early morning or sunrise ORIGIN: from the Roman personification of Dawn or Eos |  | 4 |
| 2276346663 | Bacchanalian | MEANING: pertaining to a wild, drunken party or celebration ORIGIN: from the Roman god of wine, Bacchus |  | 5 |
| 2276346664 | Gorgon | MEANING: a very ugly or terrible person, especially a repulsive woman ORIGIN: Medusa, one of three sisters who have snakes for hair and faces so horrible that anyone who looked at them turned to stone |  | 6 |
| 2276346665 | Harpy | MEANING: a predatory person or nagging woman ORIGIN: from harpy, a foul creature that was part woman, part bird |  | 7 |
| 2276346666 | Herculean | MEANING: very strong or of extraordinary power ORIGIN: from Hercules, Hera's glory |  | 8 |
| 2276346667 | Medea | MEANING: sorceress or enchantress ORIGIN: from Medea who helped Jason and the Argonauts capture the Golden Fleece; known for her revenge against Jason when he spurned her for the princess of Corinth and so murdered her own children by him. |  | 9 |
| 2276346668 | muse | MEANING: some creature of inspiration ORIGIN: the daughters of Mnemosyne and Zeus, divine singers that presided over thought in all its forms |  | 10 |
| 2276346669 | narcissism | MEANING: being in love with our own self-image ORIGIN: named for Narcissus, a handsome young man who despised love. Echo, a nymph who was in love with him, was rejected and decreed, "Let he who loves not others, love himself." Hearing this, he fell in love with his image, while gazing in a pond, and drowned himself trying to capture it. |  | 11 |
| 2276346670 | Odyssey | MEANING: a long journey ORIGIN: named for Odysseus, the character in The Odyssey, by Homer. Odysseus makes his long journey back from the Trojan War, encountering several obstacles along the way only to return and find his wife Penelope accepting suitors. |  | 12 |
| 2276346671 | Olympian | MEANING: majestic in manner, superior to mundane affairs ORIGIN: any participant in the ancient or modern Olympic games; named after 12 gods that were supposed to reside on Mt. Olympus. |  | 13 |
| 2276346672 | Pandora's Box | MEANING: Something that opens the door for bad occurrences, opened by someone known for curiosity ORIGIN: named for Pandora who was the first mortal, sent by Zeus, to punish man for Prometheus' theft of fire. For her curiosity in opening the box, Zeus gave her all human ills in the world, leaving only hope at the bottom. |  | 14 |
| 2276346673 | Phoenix | MEANING: a symbol of immortality or rebirth ORIGIN: named after the Egyptian Mythology phoenix, a long bird which lived in the Arabian desert and then consumed itself in fire, rising renewed from the flame to start another long life. |  | 15 |
| 2276346674 | Plutocracy | MEANING: a government by the wealthy ORIGIN: named after Pluton, the "Rich Man," a ritual tile of Hades. He was originally the god of the fields because the ground was the source of all wealth, ores and jewels. |  | 16 |
| 2276346675 | Promethean | MEANING: life-bringing, creative, or courageously original ORIGIN: named after a Titan who brought man the use of fire which he had stolen from heaven for their benefit. |  | 17 |
| 2276346676 | Protean | MEANING: taking many forms, versatile ORIGIN: named after Proteus, a god of the sea, charged with tending the flocks of the sea creatures belonging to Poseidon. He had the ability to change himself into whatever form he desired, using this power particularly when he wanted to elude those asking him questions. |  | 18 |
| 2276346677 | psyche | MEANING: the human soul, self, the mind ORIGIN: named after Psyche, a maiden who, after undergoing many hardships due to Aphrodite's jealousy, reunited with Cupid and was made immortal by Jupiter; she personifies the soul joined to the heart of love. |  | 19 |
| 2276346678 | Pygmalion | MEANING: someone (usually a male) who tries to fashion someone into the person he desires ORIGIN: from a myth adapted into a play by George Bernard Shaw; a woman-hating sculptor who makes a female figure of ivory who Aphrodite brings to life for him. |  | 20 |
| 2276346679 | Sisyphean | MEANING: greedy and avaricious ORIGIN: from the shrewd and greedy king of Corinth, Sisyphus, who was doomed forever in Hades to roll uphill a heavy stone, which always rolled down again. |  | 21 |
| 2276346680 | Zeus | MEANING: a powerful man ORIGIN: king of the gods, ruler of Mt. Olympus, vengeful hurler of thunderbolts. |  | 22 |
| 2276346681 | Riddle of the Sphinx | MEANING: a riddle or question that is difficult to answer and without an answer, one may result in a terrible fate ORIGIN: A sphinx is a mythical creature with, as a minimum, the body of a lion and a human head. In Greek tradition, it has the haunches of a lion, the wings of a great bird, and the face of a woman. She is mythicised as treacherous and merciless. Those who cannot answer her riddle suffer a fate typical in such mythological stories, as they are killed and eaten by this ravenous monster. |  | 23 |
| 2276346682 | song of the sirens | MEANING: listening to the call of something that could result in death or destruction ORIGIN: dangerous and beautiful creatures, portrayed as femme fatales who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. |  | 24 |
| 2276346683 | Oedipus complex | MEANING: a person's unconscious desire to mate with others who possess the traits of their opposite sex parent ORIGIN: in Greek mythology, Oedipus murders his father and marries his mother |  | 25 |
