Classical MythologyVocabulary

Atlas• Word came from: Atlas

• Summary of story: Atlas was a Titan punished by holding up the earth, after Greek gods took over

• Word meaning: collection of maps

Calypso• Word came from: Calypso

• Summary of story: Odysseus was trapped on an island with Calypso, loved him and wanted to stay, Zeus commanded Calypso to let him go

• Word meaning: music – lighthearted, playful, carefree

Floral• Word came from: Flora

• Summary of story: goddess of spring and spring flowers, festival for her – honey and flowers

• Word meaning: full of flowers

Mentor• Word came from: Mentor

• Summary of story: the man Odysseus trusted more than anyone

• Word meaning: trustworthy or wise counselor

Volcano• Word came from: Vulcan

• Summary of story: made armor for gods, forged in volcano, god of fire

• Word meaning:

Hephaestus = Greek

• God of fire and the forge

• Smith and armorer of the gods

• Uses a volcano as his forge

• Patron god of both smiths and weavers

Vulcan = Roman

• god of beneficial and hindering fire, including fire of the volcanoes

Classical MythologyVocabulary

Academic• Word came from: Academus

• Summary of story: Plato chose his garden as his school

• Word meaning: related to learning

Achilles heal• Word came from: Achilles

• Summary of story: great warrior shot in Achilles heal by an arrow – only weak point

• Word meaning: weak point/downfall

Siren• Word came from: Sirens

• Summary of story: Sang to tempt men, would kill them

• Word meaning: 1) beautiful person, tempting person 2) loud sound

Titanic• Word came from: Titans

• Summary of story: 12 elder gods, big and strong

• Word meaning: huge

Zeal• Word came from: Zealos

• Summary of story: god of enthusiasm

• Word meaning: enthusiastic/excited

Lethargic• Word came from: the river Lethe

• Summary of story: one of the five rivers separating underworld from world of living – river of forgetfulness

• Word meaning: sluggish, tired

Muse• Word came from: one of nine

daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne

• Summary of story: each daughter in charge of different area of art

• Word meaning: to stare in amazement, inspiration

Nocturnal• Word came from: Nox

• Summary of story: entity of night

• Word meaning: coming out at night

Odyssey• Word came from: Odysseus

• Summary of story: story of a man returning from the Trojan war

• Word meaning: long journey

Tantalize• Word came from: Tantalus

• Summary of story: son of Zeus and a mortal mother, punished and condemned to eternity of hunger/thirst

• Word meaning: tempting someone with something they can’t have

Herculean• Word came from: Hercules

• Summary of story: kills his family and goes on a quest for redemption, great strength

• Word meaning: requiring great strength, something difficult to perform

Midas touch• Word came from: King Midas

• Summary of story: king who touched anything and it turned to gold

• Word meaning: ability to turn any business into a profitable one

nemesis• Word came from: Nemesis

• Summary of story: goddess of vengeance

• Word meaning: enemy that cannot be defeated

Pandora’s Box• Word came from: Pandora

• Summary of story: given a box, told not to open, curious, opened and released disease, disaster, ruin

• Word meaning: something that would cause lots of problems

psyche• Word came from: Psyche

• Summary of story: married Cupid but didn’t know it, had to do lots of tasks for Cupid’s mom, after that, happy

• Word meaning: mind, soul, spirit -

psyche• Word came from: Psyche

• Summary of story: married Cupid but didn’t know it, had to do lots of tasks for Cupid’s mom, after that, happy

• Word meaning: mind, soul, spirit -

halcyon• Word came from: Alycone

• Summary of story: seven days when the ocean is calm so Alycone can watch over eggs

• Word meaning: calm

salutary• Word came from: Salus

• Summary of story: god of health and prosperity

• Word meaning: words of greeting, wishing of good fortune/health

somnambulate• Word came from: Somnus

• Summary of story: always slept in a valley, never woke up

• Word meaning: sleepy/tired - sleepwalk

terpsichorean• Word came from: Terpsichore • Summary of story: danced for

the gods in Olympus

• Word meaning: relating to dance

zephyr• Word came from: zephyr

• Summary of story: Greek winds (west)

• Word meaning: wind