AP Literature: Allusions 16-30 Flashcards

8055406021	Icarus/fly too close to the sun	ignored father and flew too close to the sun; follow instructions and suggestions	0
8055657225	Bread and Circuses	From Juvenal (who was a Roman), easiest thing to please people is government providing food and entertainment	1
8055674186	Deus ex machina	Aristotle meaning "god from the machine," unsolvable problem suddenly resolved by inspired and unexpected intervention of new thing	2
8055686662	Tabula Rasa	Aristotle, blank slate; completely clean and empty mind when born	3
8055695566	Tantalus	person who is in eternal punishment in Tartarus (food and water always just out of reach) always get what you deserve	4
8055702443	NIMBY	not in my backyard, opposition to change that affects us	5
8055711381	Waterloo	Napoleon lost fight on 6-18-1815 in Belgium against 2 British armies	6
8055717902	Emperor's New Clothes	short tale by Hans Christian Anderson; special clothes made for emperor will be invisible if he's not a good ruler, and ruler goes out and no one sees his clothes	7
8055738945	Left-Handed Compliment	ironically stated insult; left hand used for devil's work	8
8055747393	Golden Calf	biblical idol made by Israelites when Moses wasn't there; Moses destroyed calf when he returned	9
8055755355	Sword of Damocles	Damocles and king Dionysus switch positions for a day; sword hangs over Damocles head as he eats and forces him to realize hardships they go	10
8055877655	Svengali	from Trilby (book), he exploits Trilby (young girl) into a singer; means evil, manipulating person	11
8055877656	Non Sequitur	Latin meaning "it doesn't follow"	12
8055880253	White Elephant	possession of white elephant in Asia was a huge honor but lots of work; work put into maintaining gift outweighs value of actual gift	13
8055884455	Fiddle While Rome Burns	Emperor of Rome Nero played fiddle while watching 70% of Rome burn in 64 A.D.; bad leader and not caring for patrons	14