Welcome to The Mad Logophile. Here, we explore words; their origins, evolution, usage. Words are alive; they are born, they change and, sometimes, they die. They are our principal tool for communicating with one another. There are millions of words yet only an estimated 171,476 words are in common current use. As a logophile, I enjoy discovering new words, using them and learning about their origins.
This week we take a look at words and phrases that have entered the vernacular from mythology and fable. There are literally thousands, so I don't expect we will be able to cover more than the tip of the iceberg here.
The great majority of these words and phrases come from Greek myth. From names of gods and other immortals to sacred objects, it is quite well-represented in modern language.
A weakness is called an Achilles' heel after the hero whose mother dipped him in the river Styx to bestow invulnerability but had to hold him by one spot to do so - his heel. Aphrodite, the Goddess of love, gave us the aphrodisiac. The god Apollo gave his name to one aspect of human nature, which is said to be split between the control of the Apollonian and the license of the Dionysian. The latter is called after the god of wine, Dionysus. Atlas, the Titan who was punished by having to bear the world on his shoulders gave his name to the book of maps. The dawn is called the Aurora after the Goddess of same. Someone whose predictions are ignored is called a Cassandra after the Priestess of Troy whom Apollo cursed with the ability to prophecy with the caveat that nobody would believe her. Echo was a nymph who was a bit too talkative for her own good. To shut her up, Hera cursed her to only be able to repeat the last words said to her. Some people still use the name of Hades, god of the underworld, to refer to hell. The god of the sun, Helios, lent his name to the gas helium. The demi-god Hermaphroditus was lured to the lake of the nymph Salmacis, whose request to the gods that they be forever joined as one was granted. Someone who has traits of both genders now bears his name. The word hermetic derives from an aspect of the god Hermes. Mentor was a teacher and guide of Odysseus and his name continues to define such a person today. A naiad named Minthe had the audacity to make eyes at Hades and was transformed into the mint plant for her transgression. The god of dreams, Morpheus, gave his name to the drug morphine while the god of sleep, Hypnos, lent his name to the process of hypnosis. The Muses are remembered now by the museum, which was originally the name for a temple dedicated to them. Narcissus was a demi-god who fell in love with his own reflection and pined away because he could not take his eyes off of it. We use his name to define one who is similarly afflicted a narcissist. The goddess Nemesis gives her name to a formidable opponent. Oceanus was a Titan whose body encircled the earth, we now call those bodies of water oceans after him. The god Pan was a woodland deity who was said to cause fear in herds or in people. This sudden overpowering fright came to be called panic. Two goddesses who accompanied the god of healing were Hygeia and Panacea. Panacea lent her name to any supposed cure-all while Hygeia's name became hygeine. One of the judges in the underworld was Radamanthus, whose wisdom and justice is recalled by the term radamanthine. The Sirens would lure sailors to their deaths with their song, which may or may not have been as strident as the modern siren. The Titans inspired the word titanic, as they were gigantic and powerful. The god of the west wind, Zephyrus, gives us the word for a gentle breeze.
The shield of Athene was called the aegis. Today, aegis means protection or sponsorship of a powerful, knowledgeable, or benevolent source. The food of the gods was called ambrosia, which we now use for any wonderful, delicious food. On the island of Crete, the Minoans built a labyrinth, an intricate series of passageways and blind alleys. Anything extremely complex or tortuous in structure, arrangement, or character is called labyrinthine. A long wandering or voyage is called an odyssey after Odysseus who made his own wandering journey. If one is in a difficult position they may be said to be between Scylla and Charybdis. Scylla was terrible monster who lived on the rocky cliff, while Charybdis gaped at the bottom of a whirlpool. Trying to sail between them was incredibly dangerous. A task which seems overwhelming is Sisyphean after the poor king, Sissyphus, who was doomed to forever push a boulder up a hill only to have it roll back down upon reaching the top. Also being punished was Tantalus, who spent his afterlife neck high in a river with a branch loaded with fruit hanging nearby. But he could neither drink nor eat, both drawing away from him if he bent to them. Hence, the word tantalize. A king of Phrygia named Midas gave us the term Midas touch. He was able to turn anything he touched to gold but found that was not such a good thing when he accidentally touched his daughter. The box given to Pandora was said to have released all suffering into the world, but also, hope. Something that gives us a mixed blessing is now said to be a Pandora's box.
A beautiful man is an Adonis, after the demi-god who came originally from the Middle East. The Greek myth tells of both Aphrodite and Persephone falling in love with him. The legendary race of warrior women, the Amazons, not only gave their name to the great river, but any woman who is strong is now said to be amazonian. The goddess Athena turned the woman who competed against her in weaving, Arachne, into a spider. The arachnid family of insects now bear her name. The field of psychoanalysis borrows from two ancient Greek tales, giving the Electra and Oedipus complexes context. A Priestess of Hera, Io was wooed by Zeus and, in the form of a white cow, roamed the world. She is immortalized in the name of the Ionian Sea, the Bosporus ("ox passage") Strait, and a form of architecture. Psyche was a woman who caught the eye of the god Eros. Their marriage was a metaphor for the joining of physical love and spiritual. Her name came to mean the soul while his now defines physical love as erotic. The personification of death, Thanatos, lends his name to the modern study of death, thanatology. The original dark void was called Chaos. His name now defines space, darkness, or an abyss. In science, chaos is a very specific kind of unpredictability or, informally, a state of confusion. The god Cronus comes to us as Father Time and his name lives on in several terms relating to time; chronological, chronicle, chronic, etc. Any type of natural fabric is called cloth because of Clotho, the spinner and one of the Fates. The Python was a monster that lived in a cave near Delphi and was killed by Apollo.
The Romans adopted the Greek gods lock, stock and Apollo. Nevertheless, we get many words from their Pantheon. Cereal comes from the name of the Roman goddess of the grain, Ceres. The Goddesses of plants and animals have lent their names directly to words for those; Flora and Fauna. The "head god" Jove (another name for Jupiter) provided the word for a good-humored person, jovial. His son Mars, the god of war gives us martial, which describes anything related to war. Vesta, the goddess of the hearth, gives us the term vestal for a virgin after her priestesses, the Vestal Virgins. The only day of the week named for a Roman god is Saturday after Saturn. Anything pertaining to the moon is lunar after Luna, the goddess of the moon. The goddess of luck, Fortuna, is still with us today as the word fortune. The element of mercury is probably named after the god because it moves so quickly, as he was said to do. A raucous party is a bacchanalia after the god of wine, Bacchus. The god Vulcan is the source of the word volcano because his home was traditionally in Mt. Etna near Naples. The process of treating rubber to make it stronger, vulcanization, also comes from his name. We have the word Plutocracy, government by rich people, through Pluto, who lived in the underworld and was called "the Rich One" because he was surrounded by the mineral wealth beneath the earth.
The planets were named for Roman gods and goddesses; Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus and Pluto (yes, I still count it as a planet in the classical sense). Even some of the asteroids are named for Roman deities. Ceres, 4 Vesta, 2 Pallas (part of Minerva's old name), and 10 Hygiea (her name was not changed in the adaptation) are all designations of large bodies in the asteroid belt.
The first 6 months of the year also get their names from Roman gods. January comes from Janus, the two-faced god of thresholds, very apropos for the first month of the year. The festival of Juno Februa, a prototype of Valentine's Day, was the source of February. March is named for the god Mars (boy, he has a lot of stuff named after him!). April is named for a minor goddess of the opening buds, Aprilis. May derives its name from Maia, the mother of Mercury. Juno, the goddess of marriage, gave her name to June, which is why it's considered the best month in which to marry.
We don't get many words from Norse mythology but several of the ones we did inherit are used every day. While Sunday was named after the Sun, all the other days of the week got their names from Norse gods. Monday derives from the Norse god of the moon, Mani. Tyr, the god of war gave his name to Tuesday. Woden, the Alfather lends his name to Wednesday. Thursday is named for Thor (the thunder god, not the comic book hero). Finally, the goddess Freya is the source for Friday.
Two other words we get from Norse myth... Berserk, meaning frenzied or crazed. From the Norse Berserkers, who were warriors that fought while in an "uncontrollable rage or trance of fury". Maelstrom is a word describing a huge whirlpool. It comes from the name of a giant who was slain by Woden.
From Arthurian legend, we have the term Holy Grail. Of course it describes the chalice which they searched for but it is also used to refer to something that is sought, something that is seen to be wonderful. Camelot was the name of Arthur's capitol. It is used to describe an idyllic time, kingdom or government. JFK's short term is referred to as Camelot.
A few more words from various mythologies: The Indian river Ganges is a personification of the goddess Ganga. The god Brahma lends his name to a caste and a breed of cattle. In Hawai'ian mythology, the demi-god Maui brought time to his people and gave his name to the island. The Celtic goddess Danu, lent her name to the Danube River. Many Iris rivers are named after goddesses; the Shannon and Boyne primary among them.
The writer Aesop is famous for his fables. These short tales are mini-morality plays. And they've given us some commonly used phrases. To bell the cat is to establish a warning system for a threat, from the story of the mouse council. The warning, don't count your chickens before they are hatched comes from the tale of the milk-maid and her pail. To add insult to injury, arguably meaning to pile on misfortunes, is from the bald man and the fly. Probably the best known phrase from Aesop is from the fable of the fox and the grapes which were probably sour anyway, he says after not being able to reach them. The goose and its eggs is the source of the aphorism, don't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. The jay in borrowed plumes is from the vain jackdaw's tale. From the fable of the lion and the wild ass, we get the phrase, the lion's share. We say look before you leap because of the story of the fox and the goat. The tale of the farmer and the snake is the source of the phrase, a snake at one's bosom. The fable of the boy and the wolf gives us to cry wolf, or raise a false alarm. And, another well known phrase, slow and steady wins the race, comes to us from the tale of the tortoise and the hare.
The world of fairy tales give us a few words and phrases. Once upon a time is a well known phrase. Not only does it begin fairy tales, but it can be used to indicate (usually sarcastically) that someone is not aligned with reality. The tale of the Three Princes Of Serendip gives us the word, serendipity, coined by Horace Walpole. In the tale, the heroes "were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of." Based on a rather grisly tale, a Bluebeard is a word for a serial killer, often of wives. As beloved as it is, the story of Cinderella holds a dark side to Colette Dowling. She wrote a book on women's fear of independence, called The Cinderella Complex. There is also Cinderella Syndrome which describes false accusations by adopted children of being mistreated or neglected by their adoptive mothers. From the Tales of the Arabian Nights, comes the phrase, Open Sesame. It is often used in a joking way before someone opens a door. Also from the Arabian Nights, Aladdin's lamp is a source of wealth and good fortune. And, of course, they lived happily ever after.
That sounds like a good place to leave it. So now let's have your favorite words and phrases derived from myth, fable and fairy tale.