CLAS 1020 Unit 4 English Expressions

throw the apple of discord

to cause trouble//comes from when Eris (the goddess of Discord) wasn't invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, so she causes a quarrel between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite by throwing a golden apple that says "For the Fairest"

fight (or work) like a Trojan

to work extremely hard//comes from when the Trojans fought hard during the Trojan War

Achilles' heel

a person's particular weakness//comes from when Achilles was dipped in the River Styx (to make him invincible) by his mother holding him from his heel

Achilles' tendon

part of the body that connects the calf muscle to the heel//comes from Achilles

Myrmidon

a follower who blindly carries out order without question//comes form soldiers who were under Achilles' command

kudos

praise and honor received for an achievement//comes from the Heroic code

pander

to act as a pimp; to exploit the moral weaknesses of other//comes from the Trojan warrior Pandarus who breaks a truce by shooting Menelaus with an arrow and was a typical example of Trojan treachery

sulk like Achilles in his tent

to withdraw from action to go sulk and refuse to do anything//comes from when Agamemnon takes Achilles' girl Briseis away from him

Trojan horse

subversive group or devise planted in enemy rank//comes from when the Greek snuck into Troy by hiding inside the horse the Greeks gifted the Trojans

Cassandra

someone who warns of impending disaster, but is ignored//comes from when Cassandra tries to warn the Trojans against the horse but is ignored

Clytemnestra

a cruel, ruthless women//comes from when Clytemnestra plots to murder Agamemnon when he returns from Troy

Electra Complex

tendency of a daughter to bond with her father and feel hostility toward her mother as a rival//comes from when Electra was close to her father Agamemnon and hates her mother Clytemnestra for killing him

Odyssey

a long adventurous trip or an intellectual journey or spiritual quest//comes from Odysseus' long homecoming back to Ithaca

patience of Penelope

incredible, long-lasting patience//comes from when Penelope waited many long years for her husband Odysseus to come home

mentor

a teacher or trusted advisor//comes from when Athena was disguised as Mentor when Telemachus sets out to seek news about his father

nepenthe

a (fictional) drug that eases sorrow or grief//comes from when Helen gives it to Menelaus when he becomes sad thinking over past troubles

protean

tending or able to change frequently or easily//comes from the sea god Proteus who (like all water gods) was able to change his shape

lotus-eater

someone who spends his time indulging in pleasure and luxury rather than dealing with practical concerns//comes from when Odysseus's men ate the lotuses and didn't want to leave

circean

pleasing but noxious; dangerously attractive//comes from when Circe seduces Odysseus' crew to stay on her island home of Aea

caught between Scylla and Charybdis

forced to choose between equally unattractive alternatives//comes from when Odysseus sails between Scylla and Charybdis and choses to let six of his men get eaten by Scylla than losing the whole crew to Charybdis

siren; siren-song

an appeal that is hard to resist but, if heeded, will lead to a bad result//comes from when sirens sing to lure in sailors to their death