Terms 2

Achilles' heel

weakness a person may have; named after Achilles, who was invulnerable except for his heel.

Adonis

handsome younger man; loved by Aphrodite.

Apollo

God of music and light; known for his physical beauty and perfection.

Cassandra

a person who predicts misfortune but is often not believed; from Greek mythology.

Erotic

related to sexual passion or love

Harpy

a predatory person or nagging woman; named after a foul creature that was part woman, part bird.

Helen

symbol of a beautiful woman;

Morphine

alkaloid used to relieve pain and induced

Muse

a source of inspiration;

Narcissism

love of one's own self-image;

Odyssey

a long journey; named after Odysseus from Homer's The Odyssey.

Pandora's Box

something that opens the door for bad occurrences; named after Pandora, who opened a box of human ills.

Phoenix

a symbol of immortality or rebirth; a bird that rises renewed from its ashes

Psyche

the human soul or mind; named after a maiden who reunited with her love after hardships.

Pygmalion

someone who tries to shape another into their ideal;

Sibyla

a priestess with the gift of prophecy.

Tantalize

to tease or torment;

Titanic

grand and enormous;

Volcanoes

originated from Vulcan, the Roman god of fire.

Babbitta

a self-satisfied person focused on business and material success;

Cinderella

one who gains recognition after being treated poorly.

Don Juan

a libertine obsessed with women.

Don Quixote

someone overly idealistic;

Frankenstein

anything that threatens or destroys its creator;

Jekyll and Hyde

a person with two sides to their personality;

Lothario

a man who seduces women;

Scrooge

a bitter and greedy person

Svengali

a person with hypnotic power;

Absolom

a son who brings heartache to his father.

Alpha and Omega

the beginning and the end; from a quote in Revelation

Daniel

known for wisdom and accurate judgment.

David and Bathsheba

represents a significant sin; from King David's affair.

Eye of the Needle

a very difficult task; from a narrow gateway called "the needle."

Goliath

a large person; from the giant slain by David.

Ishmael

one who is cast out as unworthy.

Job

one who suffers greatly but remains faithful.

Jonah

one who brings bad luck.

Judas

a traitor.

Original Sin

the belief that all men are innately sinful due to Adam and Eve's fall.

Prodigal Son

a wasteful son who disappoints his father.

Samson and Delilah

a treacherous love story.

Scapegoat

one blamed for the faults of others.

Solomon

an extremely wise person.

Attila

a barbarian leader;

Berserk

destructively violent; from mental upset.

Boycott

to abstain from using a specific item;

Canopy

an overhanging protection or shelter.

Casanova

a man who is amorous with women;

Chauvinist

one with militant devotion to country or gender;

El Dorado

a place of reputed wealth; from a legendary city in South America.

Machiavellian

characterized by deceit and cunning;

McCarthyism

modern witch hunt; publicizing accusations without evidence.

Nostradamus

a fortune teller; French physician known for

Stonewall

hinder or obstruct by evasive, delaying tactics from Stonewall Jackson

Thespian

having to do with the theater or acting; from Thespis, an attic poet and father of Greek tragedy.

Uncle Sam

government of people of the United States; derived from Uncle Sam, a business man in the 1900s