Mythological Allusions
How Can Something So Old
Still Be Used Today????
What Is an Allusion?
An allusion is any indirect reference to a
well-known person, place, event, literary
work, or work of art. This reference is one
others recognize, such as a reference to
the Bible, mythological character, historical
event, hero or famous individual.
Example: He’s a real Michael Jordan; I
know he’ll get a scholarship.
Adonis
• An extremely
beautiful boy who
was loved by
Aphrodite, the
goddess of love and
beauty.
•Allusion: an
“Adonis” is any
handsome young
man.
Amazons
• A nation of warrior
women descended
from Ares, the God of
War. The Amazons
burned or cut off their
right breasts so that
they could use a bow
and arrow more
efficiently.
Figuratively: An
“Amazon” is any large,
strong, aggressive
woman.
Cupid
 The Roman name of Eros, the god of love. In the
story of Cupid and Psyche, he is described as a
magnificently handsome young man.
Today Cupid is often
symbolic of Valentine’s Day
and is depicted as a chubby,
winged infant who shoots
arrows at people to make
them fall in love.
Midas
 A king who was granted one wish by the god Dionysus.
Greedy for riches, Midas wished that everything he touched
would turn to gold. He soon regretted his request. When he
tried to eat, his food became inedible metal. When he
embraced his daughter, she turned into a golden statue. On
the instruction of Dionysus, he washed in a river and lost his
touch of gold.
“A Midas Touch”
Midas Then
 Today, a person
who easily acquires
riches is someone
said to have the
“Midas” touch.
Midas Now
Nemesis
 The Greek goddess
of Vengeance
Today, a “nemesis”
is an avenger. One’s
nemesis is that which
brings on one’s
destruction or
downfall
The Labyrinth
 A vast maze on the
island of Crete
where the King of
Crete kept the
Minotaur, half bullhalf man. Very few
people escaped from
it. Only Theseus
used a ball of string
to find his way out
of the maze once
he’d killed the
deadly Minotaur.
“Boy, this is complicated!”
A labyrinth can
be literally a
maze.
Or… it can be
figuratively any
highly intricate
construction or
problem.
Pandora
 The first woman,
created by Hephaestus,
given treacherously to
Epimetheus along with
a box in which
Prometheus had
confined all the evils of
the world; as expected,
Pandora curiously
opened the forbidden
box and thus released
into the world all
troubles of mankind.
By the time Pandora
manages to close the
lid, luckily only HOPE
remains.
“What Have You Done???”
 Today, a Pandora’s
box is a prolific
source of troubles
or problems.
 If one’s opens a
Pandora’s box, he
has created all
kinds of problems
for himself.
 A mythical bird of
great beauty, the
only one of its
kind, fabled to live
500 or 600 years,
to burn itself on a
funeral pile, and
to rise from its
ashes in the
freshness of
youth and live
through another
cycle of years
Phoenix
“Rising Out of the Ashes”
Today, a person
or thing that has
become renewed
or restored after
suffering calamity
can be called a
phoenix.
Will New Orleans Rise from the Ashes?
America is a phoenix rising from the ashes of the
9/11 terrorists’ attack!
Hercules
 A mythical Greek hero
renowned for his great
strength and for
performing the 12
labors. Hercules
performed these labors
as retribution or
payment for the slaying
of his family while under
Hera’s spell of madness.
Today, any act of
extraordinary power,
extent, intensity, or
difficulty is said to be
Herculean.
Achilles
 In mythology,
Achilles was the
greatest Greek
warrior at Troy; he
was also slayer of
Hector, the Trojans
best warrior.
 Today, one’s
Achilles’ heel is his
weak point or
character
weakness.
SIRENS
The sirens live on an
island surrounded by
sharp rock. They lure
sailors to the destruction
with their irresistible song.
They have heads of
women but bodies of
birds. Sirens are evil,
bent on destroying all
sailors and eating their
corpses.
“Listening to the Song of the Siren”
In modern day, if you listen to
the “song of the Siren,” you
are listening to someone you
should not trust. They seem
“nice,” but history shows they
cannot be trusted.
Example: Some voters fear
Barak O’bama’s promises are
the “song of the Siren” and do
not trust him, but many more
Americans disagree.
Scylla and Charybdis
Two monsters Odysseus faces
in his voyage home, Scylla
is a six-headed monster
lurking in rocks along the
shore that snatches men
from a passing boat, one for
each head.
Charybdis is a monster who
waits at the bottom of the
whirlpool that destroys ships
passing by sucking them in
and eating them.
“Caught Between a Rock and a
Hard Place”
• Today, in an allusion to the monsters
Scylla and Charybdis, a person says he is
“caught between a rock and a hard place.”
This means he has two equal but difficult
options from which he must choose.
• Example: Wow, I have been accepted to
both U.F. and F.S.U.; in choosing, I am
really between a rock and a hard place!
The Trojan War and “Greeks
Bearing Gifts”
The Greeks sneak into
Troy in a “gift” meant
to end the 10 year
Trojan War, a wooden
horse hiding sneaky
Greeks.
Today, a “Greek bearing
gifts” is one who is
acting like they can be
trusted when they
cannot.
What is the Allusion?
1. John Travolta suffered a serious
downturn in his acting career in the
1980s, but like a _____________, he
has risen back to the top of fame.
2. I feel like I’ve been shot by
_____________; I am crazy about him!
3. Lifting a car off a crushed victim is a
_____________act, but I’ve read in the
paper of such things happening.
4. Her laziness is her ________________; if she
really wants to be successful, she’ll have to get
busy!
5. The women of the WWF are ______________;
they are big, beautiful, and strong!
6. The ________________ of the human mind is
still not completely understood by scientists.
7. Stealing and getting caught is a ____________
because the police come, one’s parents are
called, and jail time is possible.
8. I do not know why that girl is always
talking behind my back; she is my
__________.
9. Bill Gates has the ______________
because no matter what he does, he
makes millions.
10. Being the gorgeous ______________
that I am, I am sure she’ll definitely jump
up and down to go to prom with me!”
11. Elie wanted a _____________ or guide
in his study of the cabbala, and his
search took him to Moshe the Beadle.
12. Few realize that the _____________,
the most famous ocean liner of all times
that struck an iceberg, was named after
the Titans, mythology’s first gods and
goddesses.
13. Psychology and Psychiatry both get their
roots from the Greek word ___________,
alluding to her and the workings of the
human mind.
14. I find pizza to be ________________ or very
tempting; I want to eat it every day but know
that isn’t possible.
15. My family took a summer ___________,
traveling through the South, the Southwest,
and up the coast of California.
16. Nature is my ___________ as an artist,
and all my photos capture its beauty.
17. In order to discover where the Middle
East is, we consulted the ___________.
18. Many Greeks believed that when a
__________ erupted, Vulcan’s fire was under it.
19. Angelina Jolie is a beautiful _________,
and many men have been ____________
by her charms.
20. Her passion or ____________ for
drama was evident when she went to New
York to pursue a stage career.
21. The tennis shoe ____________ is
named after the Goddess of Victory.