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Greek and Roman Mythology
Arachnid: A type of
arthropod that includes spiders, ticks, and scorpions. It comes from the name
Arachne, who was turned into a spider by
Minerva.
Atlas: A book containing maps of various locations. Atlas was a titan condemned to hold up the sky on his shoulders.
Jovial:
good-humored. When he wasn?t tossing around lightning bolts,
Jupiter (also known as
Jove) would probably be in this mood.
Labyrinth: either a maze with many twists and passages or a tortuous procedure. Comes from the name of the maze
Daedalus built for
King Minos of
Crete.
Mercurial: having the qualities associated with the god Mercury, such as a
quick wit,
eloquence, and
changeability.
Vulcanize: to treat rubber with hot sulfur in order to make it more elastic.
Vulcan was the god of fire and forged the weapons and jewelry of the gods.
Calliope: A musical instrument with a set of steam pipes that is played via a keyboard. Calliope was the name of the
Muse of Epic Poetry.
Cloth: any type of natural fabric.
Clotho, one of the
Fates, gave her name to this material.
Echo: The reflection of a sound wave.
Echo was a
wood nymph whose voice was taken from her by
Juno, and she was thereafter only capable of repeating others.
Cereal: Any grain, such as wheat, oats, barley, etc. Named after
Ceres, goddess of farming and agriculture.
Martial: relating to or suggestive of war. Named for
Mars, god of war.
Chronicle: A list of events in the order they happened. Named for
Cronus (
Saturn), father of Jupiter and leader of the titans.
Python: a massive snake that kills its prey by constriction. Named after
Python, a monster that lived in a cave near
Delphi and was killed by
Apollo.
Psyche: The soul or mind, named for Psyche, the wife of Cupid.
Orator: one who speaks in public. Derives from oracle, places where the gods and mortals would go for help.
Narcissistic: excessive
self-admiration.
Narcissus was a man who fell in love with his reflection.
Protean: versatile.
Proteus was the son of
Neptune and could change appearance at will.
Bacchic: having to do with
Bacchus/Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility. To me it?s not just a coincidence he?s god of these two things at one time.
Procrustean: fitting people or ideas into a ridged pattern, like
Procrustus did with people when he jammed them into his iron bed and stretched them out.
Titanic: of massive size, like the titans, the gigantic sons of
Uranus and
Gaia.
Plutocrat: government of rich people. Pluto lived in the underworld, surrounded by mineral wealth.
Music: harmonious and rhythmic arraignments of sound. Named after the Muses, goddesses of the arts and sciences.
Panic: a sudden, intense, contagious fear. The god
Pan was known for causing such fear in people.
Herculean: a seemingly impossible task, such as the twelve labors
Hercules had to perform to win his freedom