Mythological Allusions
Research Assignment
For Each Allusion
1. Identify/summarize the story for each of the
underlined mythological figures
2. Explain the meaning of the allusion in a welldeveloped paragraph. For the examples making
a simile or metaphor (i.e. like or as), be sure to
include the meaning of the comparison. (This is
the SO WHAT—WHY KNOW THIS ALLUSION?!)
3. Find a related image
4. You may format the slides any way you want- try
to make them attractive (see example – next
slide)
Mercury Car Company (A PREVIOUS
STUDENT’S EXAMPLE 1)
Identify the Story: Mercury is the Roman god who is
the equivalent of Hermes. He is very clever, and smart.
Mercury is the God of the Thieves, and he is also the
protector of travelers, as well as the messenger of the
gods and goddesses. He wears winged sandals and a
winged hat; he is quite swift , traveling place to place,
as the Messenger god for Zeus.
Meaning of the Allusion: The car company may have been named Mercury
because, as God of the thieves, Mercury would have to be swift.
Since he is also the protector of travelers, then that might mean
that the car would be more likely to be safer for travel than other cars.
A PREVIOUS STUDENT’S EXAMPLE 2
“I saw young Harry…rise from the ground
like feathered Mercury.” -Henry IV Part I
Identify the Story: Mercury is the Roman god
who is the equivalent of Hermes. He is very
clever, and smart. Mercury is the God of the
Thieves, and he is also the protector of
travelers, as well as the messenger of the gods
and goddesses. He wears winged sandals and a
winged hat; he is quite swift , traveling place to
place, as the Messenger god for Zeus.
Meaning of the Allusion: The character
Vernon is speaking in this quotation.
He is saying that he saw Harry mount
his horse with ease, as quickly and
gracefully as Mercury of the winged
sandals and hat might. Harry, then, is
characterized as being fast and light on
his feet, and, perhaps even god-like.
Note that the story of this allusion is the same as the previous slide, but the explanation for the meaning of the allusion
is different because, in this allusion, Shakespeare employs a literary device: a SIMILE (note the use of “like”). As such,
in the quotation, one of Shakespeare’s characters is comparing young Harry to the god Mercury. What does this tell
us about the character of Harry? You would need to explain this comparison in your “Meaning of the Allusion”
portion. Moreover, note that in EXAMPLE 1, the student didn’t specifically mention Mercury’s winged sandals in the
explanation of the allusion’s meaning because it wasn’t really wasn’t as relevant to the car company, but in this
Shakespeare example, the winged sandals are quite important because the quotation mentions “feathered.”
In sum, be on the look out for quotations that are similes or metaphors, AND THEN specifically speak to those
comparisons in your explanation of allusion’s meaning.
Trust the Midas Touch.
“It is a damned ghost we have seen, and my imaginations
are as foul as Vulcan’s stithy.” –Shakespeare’s Hamlet
“Such strains as would have won the ear of Pluto to
have quite set free his half regain’d Eurydice.”
–“Lucidas” by Milton
“From women's eyes this doctrine I derive:
They sparkle still the right Promethean fire.”
–Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost
“Surely I dream’d today, or did I see the winged Psyche
with awaken’d eyes?” –“Ode to Psyche” by John Keats
Pandora Internet Radio
“I will in the interim undertake one of Hercules'
labors, which is to bring Signor Benedick and the Lady
Beatrice into a mountain of affection, th' one with th' other.”
–Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing
Circe of Alexandria redefines the typical salon and spa experience for its elite clientele. We seek
to provide our clientele with everything they need to make our clients feel refreshed and
rejuvenated when they leave our shop. With the recent change in ownership, Circe of
Alexandria’s mission is to get more Washingtonians to experience luxury treatments and
pampering to enhance their lives.
According to a consumer poll by Circe of Alexandria, only one in four Washingtonians has been to
a spa in the past year. In addition, the World Health Organization reports that, by 2020 the top
five diseases will all be stress related. Circe of Alexandria addresses the void in the growing
upscale salon and spa market; by providing a unique experience centered around comfort and
luxury. Circe of Alexandria, your premiere boutique luxury destination.
Our dependence on foreign energy sources is our
Achilles heel, not just in the realm of diplomacy, but in
terms of our future as the world's economic leader.
–Judy Biggert
I'm not an Adonis, that's for damn sure. I've never really thought of
myself that way, and it doesn't matter to me. My favorite actors aren't
Adonises. Dustin Hoffman is a flawed-looking man; he's amazing to
me. Tom Hanks is flawed-looking; people love him. Same with Gene
Hackman.
– Shia LaBeouf
“Bacchus hath drowned more men than Neptune.”
–Thomas Fuller
Honda Odyssey
“You seem to me as Dian in her orb, as chaste as is the bud ere it
be blown; but you are more intemperate in your blood than
Venus, or those pamper'd animals that rage in savage sensuality.”
– Claudio to Hero—his fiancée—in Much Ado About Nothing (and
yes, Hero is a girl’s name in this play! Hmmm…)
Now add 3-5 of your own…