mythology allusions

achilles heel

river styx, immortality, vulnerability, meaning area of weakness

sirens

sea creatures, lured sailors to their deaths on the rocky shores, sung a irresistible song, meaning tempts a person always from safety

gordian knot

legend, Greek king, extremely complex knot, oracle, whoever untied it would rule all Asia, Alexander the great, cutting though it with his sword. meaning complex problems refers to solving a problem quick

icarus fly too close to the sun

father daedalus, island Crete, wings constructed by daedalus, wax, fell to his death. meaning fail or be destroyed because of lack of caution

Tantalus

king who offend the gods, eternal hunger and thirst in Hades, water up to his chin, he bent to drink the water and it went down, fruit hung overhead, reached for a peice, the wind blew the boughs out of his reach. Meaning offered something desirable with is then withheld

sword of Damocles

courtier, flattered, banquet, seated in the kings own chair under a sword that was suspended from the ceiling by a single thread, impending dangers. Meaning an awareness of impending or imminent danger.

Janus

roman god, gates and doorways, january, two faced, into the future, at the past. Meaning wisdom and knowledge of a person who sees everything or a hypocrite.

narcissus

extraordinary beauty, bent to drink from a pool, saw his own reflection. Meaning obsessed with oneself.

cassandra

loved by Apollo, gift of prophecy, altered the gift so that her prophecies would not be believed. Meaning predicts disasters.

the muses

nine goddesses, the arts, inspiration to mortals, epic. Meaning a source of inspiration

prometheus

zeus withheld fire from mankind, mount olympus, stole some fire which he gave to man, chaining him to a rock. Meaning valiant resistance to authority

Nemesis

greek goddess of vengeance and retribution, excessive pride. Meaning causes his or her downfall

delphic oracle

temple of Apollo, priestess, difficult to interpret and riddle like. Meaning ambiguous and difficult to interpret

Medusa

gorgons, three sisters, snakes for hair, turned anyone who looked at them to stone. Meaning terrifying woman.

sisyphus/sisyphean

Greek Mythology, king who offended Zeus, Hades rolled a giant boulder up the hill but rolled back down and had to start over. Meaning seemingly endless task

Scylla and Charybdis

Greek mythology, many headed sea monster, cave on one side of a narrow strait, whirlpool on the other side, steer ships very carefully between the two. Meaning between two equal danger but avoiding one means getting closer to the other

phoenix

mythological bird, one of its kind, five or six hundred years, burn itself to death and then rise from its own ashes. meaning symbolize rebirth or resurrection.