3324302068 | Achilles' heel | one spot that is most vulnerable; one weakness a person may have. Achilles was invulnerable except for his heel (Achilles' tendon) | 0 | |
3324307065 | Adonis | handsome young man; Aphrodite loved him | 1 | |
3324308665 | Aeolian | anything pertaining to win; god who was Keeper of Wind | 2 | |
3324310144 | Apollo | a physically perfect male; the God of music and light; known for his beauty | 3 | |
3324311550 | Argus-eyed | omniscient, all-seeing; from Argus, the 100-eyed monster that Hera had guarding Io | 4 | |
3324448399 | Athena/Minerva | goddess of wisdom, the city, and arts; patron goddess of the city of Athens | 5 | |
3324450098 | Atlantean | strong like Atlas, who carried the globe (world) on his shoulders | 6 | |
3324452130 | Aurora | early mornings or sunrise; from the Roman personification of Dawn or Eos | 7 | |
3324454119 | Bacchanal | n. wild, drunken party or rowdy celebration; from Bacchus, the god of wine | 8 | |
3324456258 | Bacchanalian | adj. pertaining to a wild, drunken party or celebration from god of wine, Bacchus (Roman), Dionysus (Greek) | 9 | |
3324459503 | Calliope | series of whistles (circus organ) / from the Muse of eloquence or beautiful voice | 10 | |
3324461608 | Cassandra | a person who continually predicts misfortune but often is not believed; from a daughter of Priam cursed by Apollo for not returning his love; he left her with the gift of prophecy but made it so no one believed her | 11 | |
3324464767 | Centaur | a monster that has a head, arms, and chest of man, but the body/legs of a hourse | 12 | |
3324466895 | Chimera | a horrible creature of the imagination, an absurd or impossible idea; wild fancy; a monster with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail, supposed to breath out fire | 13 | |
3324474956 | Cupidity | eager "desire" to possess something; greed or avarice; Roman god of love (Greek = Eros) | 14 | |
3324477065 | Erotic | having to do with sexual passion or love; Greek god of love, Eros | 15 | |
3324479063 | Furor | wild enthusiasm or excitement, rage; fury | 16 | |
3324481326 | Gorgon | a very ugly/terrible person, especially a repulsive woman; Medusa, one or three sisters have snakes for hair and faces so horrible that anyone who looked at them would turn into stone | 17 | |
3324487581 | Halcyon | clam, peaceful, tranquil--Archaic bird supposed to breed in a nest on the sea and calm water; identified with the kingfisher | 18 | |
3324489311 | Harpy | a predatory person or nagging woman; from harpy, a foul creature that was part woman and part bird | 19 | |
3324491458 | Hector | to bully; from Hector, the son of Priam (king of Troy) and the braves Trojan warrior. Killed Achilles' friend Patroclus. | 20 | |
3324494387 | Helen (of Troy) | Hellenistic; of or relating to Greece; symbol of a beautiful woman; from Helen of Troy, the daughter of Leda and Zeus--the cause of the Trojan war | 21 | |
3324496376 | Herculean | very strong or extraordinary power; from Hercules, Hera's glory, the son of Zeus. He performed the 12 labors imposed by Hera. | 22 | |
3324503105 | Hydra-Headed | having many centers of branches, hard to bring under control; something bad that you cannot eradicate; from Hydra, the nine-headed serpent serpent that was sacred to Hera. Hercules killed him in one of the 12 labors. | 23 | |
3324509591 | Iridiscent | a play of colors producing a rainbow effect; from Iris, the goddess of the rainbow | 24 | |
3324511347 | Jovial | good humored; from the word Jove, used to express surprise or agreement (Jupiter) | 25 | |
3324513221 | Junoesque | marked by stately beauty; comes from the word Juno, the wife of Jupiter, the Goddess of light, birth, women, and marriage | 26 | |
3324515762 | Lathargy | n. abnormal drowsiness or inertia; from the word Lethe, a rive in Hades that caused drinkers to forget their past | 27 | |
3324518151 | Martial | suited for war or a warrior; from Mars, the Roman God of War | 28 | |
3324521028 | Medea | sorceress or enchantress; from Medea who helped Jason and the Argonatus capture the Golden Fleece; known for her revenge against Jason when he spurned her for the princess of Corinth | 29 | |
3324524780 | Mentor | a trusted counselor or guide; from Mentor, a friend of Odysseus' son, who was entrusted with his education | 30 | |
3324526817 | Mercurial | suddenly, cranky, or changeable; related to the Roman god Mercury | 31 | |
3324527953 | Mercury/Hermes | a carrier or tidings, a newsboy, a messenger; messenger of the gods, conductor of souls to the lower world, and god of eloquence; the fabled inventor, wore winged hat and sandals | 32 | |
3324532028 | Mnemonics | a device used to aid memory; the personification of memory, Mnemosyne, who gave birth to nine Muses that have a good memory in story-telling | 33 | |
3324534955 | Morphine | a bitter white, crystalline alkaloid used to relieve pain and induce sleep; Morpheus was a god that could easily change form or shape | 34 | |
3324537837 | Muse | some creature of inspiration; the daughters of Mnemosyne and Zeus, divine singers that presided over thought in all of its form | 35 | |
3324567534 | Narcissism | in love with one's own image; name 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 himself and while gazing a image of himself in the pond, fell and drowned as he tried to recapture it. | 36 | |
3324575909 | Nemesis | just punishment, one who inflicts due punishment; goddess who punished crime; she is the power charged with curbing all excess, such as excessive good fortune or arrogant pride. | 37 | |
3324580839 | Neptune | the sea personified; the Roman god associated with Poseidon, god of water and oceans | 38 | |
3324583239 | Niobe | mournful woman; from Niobe, whose children were slain by Apollo and Artemis because of her bragging; the gods pitied her and turned her into a rock that was always wet from weeping | 39 | |
3324588508 | Odyssey | a long journey, named for Odysseus, the character in "The Odyssey" by Homer; Odysseus makes his long journey back from the Trojan War, encountering several long obstacles along the way | 40 | |
3324593034 | Olympian | majestic in manner, superior to mundane affairs; any participant in the ancient or modern Olympic games; named after 12 gods that were supposed to reside on Mt. Olympus | 41 | |
3324596373 | Paean | a song of joy; a ritual epithet of Apollo the healer; In Homeric poems, an independent god of healing named Paean or Paeon, who took care of Hades when the latter was wounded | 42 | |
3324600816 | Pandora's Box | something that opens the door for bad occurrences, opened by someone known for curiosity; named for Pandora, who was the first mortal, sent by Zeus, to punish man from Prometheus' theft of fire. For her curiosity on opening the box, Zeus gave her all human ills in the world, leaving only hope at the bottom | 43 | |
3324607585 | Parnassus | Mountain was sacred to arts and literature; any center of poetic or artistic activity; poetry or poets collectively, a common title for selection of poetry; named after the hero of Mt. Parnassus, the son of Poseidon and a Nymph. He founded the oracle of Python, which was later occupied by Apollo | 44 | |
3324615847 | Pegasus | Poetic inspiration; named after a winged horse which sprang from the blood of Medusa at her death; a stamp of his hoof caused Hippocrene, the fountain of Muses to issue poetic inspiration from Mount Helicone | 45 | |
3324621445 | Phoenix | symbol of immortality or rebirth; named after the Egyptian phoenix, a long bird which lived in the Arabian desert and then consumed itself in fire, rising renewed from the flame to start another life | 46 | |
3324631003 | Plutocracy | a government by the wealthy; named after Pluto, the "Rich Man," who was originally the god of the fields b/c the ground was the source of all wealth/ores/jewels | 47 | |
3324635459 | Promethean | life-bringing, creative, or courageously original; named after the Titan who brought man the use of fire which he had stolen from heaven for their benefit | 48 | |
3324638331 | Protean | versatile, taking many forms; 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 he desired, using the power particularly when he wanted to elude certain questions. | 49 | |
3324645813 | Psyche | the human soul, self, the mind; named after Psyche, a main 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 | 50 | |
3324650341 | Pygmalion | someone (male) who tries to fashion someone into the person he desires; 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 into life | 51 | |
3324654537 | Pyrrhic victory | adj. too costly victory; from Pyrrhus, a Greek king who defeated the Romans but suffered extremely heavy losses in fight | 52 | |
3324657508 | Saturnalia | a period of unrestrained revelry' named after the ancient Roman festival of Saturn, with general feasting in revelry in honor of the winter solstice | 53 | |
3324663120 | Sibyl | a witch or sorceress; a priestess who made known the oracles of Apollo and possessed the gift of prophecy | 54 | |
3324668381 | Sisyphean | greedy and avaricious; from the shrewd and greedy king of Corinth, Sisyphus who was doomed forever in Hades to roll uphill a heavy stone, which rolled back down again | 55 | |
3325041484 | Stentorian | having a loud voice; after Stentor, a character in the "Iliad" who could shout loudly as 50 men. He engaged in a shouting match with Hermes and was put to death after losing | 56 | |
3325046243 | Stygian | dark and gloomy; named after the river Styx, a river in the Underworld. The water is poisonous for human and cattle and said to break iron, metal, and pottery though it is said a horse's hoof is unharmed by it | 57 | |
3325050113 | Tantalize | from King Tantalus, who reigned on Mt. Sipylus and was condemned to reside in a beautiful river with sumptuous fruits just out of reach and the water undrinkable, always tempting him as punishment for excessive pride (he boiled his son and fed the broth to trick the gods) | 58 | |
3325056468 | Terpsichorean | pertaining to dance; for Terpsichore, one of the nine muses, sometimes said to be the mother of the sirens and protector of dance | 59 | |
3325059579 | Titanic | large, grand, enormous; after Tityus, a giant, the son of Zeus and Elara. His body covers over 2 acres. Or after the titans, the offspring of Chronus and Rhea, who went to war against Zeus and the other Olympian gods | 60 | |
3325065026 | Volcanoes | originated from Vulcan, the Roman god of fire, whose forge is said to be under mountains | 61 | |
3325066499 | Vulcanize | to treat rubber with sulfur to increase strength and elasticity; from Roman God of Fore and Metallurgy, Vulcan/Hephaestus | 62 | |
3325069219 | Zeus | a powerful man; king of the gods, ruler of Mt. Olympus, vengeful hurler of thunderbolts | 63 |
AP Literature: Mythological Allusions Flashcards
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