Not Just a Myth
Have you ever read Greek mythology? Regardless of the country that you live in, it is very likely that you have come across different versions of Greek mythology. The stories of gods, heroes, monsters, adventure, and human nature have fascinated people for centuries. Even if you are not a big fan of literature, you cannot escape the reaches of mythology since they are all around us. For example, words and expressions from Greek mythology appear in commercial products, movies, television, and everyday conversation. Let us take a look at some of these expressions in our daily conversation.
Ⅰ Chocolate is Joanne's Achilles' heel.
Achilles was half human and half god. His mother was a goddess named Thetis and his father was a human being named Peleus. Thetis did not like the fact that Achilles was half mortal so she looked for a way to make him fully immortal. One way she found was to dip baby Achilles in the river Styx. Thetis dipped Achilles into the river by holding him by the heels. After that, Achilles' only weakness was the part of him untouched by the water, his heels. Achilles grew up to be a great warrior and was victorious in many battles. No human being could beat him in a fight because he seemed to have no weaknesses. However, during the Trojan War, his enemy shot a poisonous arrow into his heel, and Achilles was killed.
In modern day language, the term "Achilles' heel" is used to refer to someone's weakness. The example sentence Chocolate is Joanne's Achilles' heel means that Joanne has a weakness for chocolate and cannot live without it. So other people can get Joanne to do what they want by giving her chocolate.
Ⅱ Losing weight is a Herculean task for Chris.
Like Achilles, Hercules was half god and half human. He was born to Zeus and a mortal mother and possessed god-like strength. When Hera, Zeus' jealous wife, sent two huge snakes to kill baby Hercules, Hercules simply killed them with his bare hands. As Hercules grew older, he became stronger and faced many difficult physical challenges. Thanks to his unbelievable strength, he was able to overcome the challenges.
We now use the term "Herculean task" to refer to a very difficult task. The example sentence Losing weight is a Herculean task for Chris means that it is very difficult for Chris to lose weight. It doesn't mean that losing weight is impossible for Chris but that it would require a great effort.
Ⅲ The technology of human cloning may open Pandora's box.
According to Greek mythology, Pandora was the first mortal woman in the world. Zeus ordered Pandora to be made from water and earth. The other gods blessed her with many talents. The name Pandora means "all-gifted": Aphrodite made Pandora beautiful, Apollo gave her the gift of music, and Hermes gave her the power of persuasion. Zeus gave her a box which she was never to open. Naturally, driven by curiosity, Pandora opened the box and released the evil spirits on the world. She quickly closed the box but it was too late. Luckily, there was one thing that did not
escape from the box, hope.
We now use the expression "opening Pandora's box" to mean unintentionally creating an uncontrollable and terrible situation. The example sentence The technology of human cloning may open Pandora's box means that the scientist's good intention of human cloning may bring many problems with it.
There are many other expressions from Greek mythology such as the Trojan horse, Janus, Pygmalion effect, Oedipus complex, Midas touch, narcissism and Cupid's arrow. As you can see, Greek mythology is all around us whether we are aware of it or not. Why don't you try to find the origins of other expressions? Discovering the origins of an expression is a fun and interesting way to learn its true meaning.
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