Common Allusions
Allusion: a figure of speech that refers to a well-known story, event,
person, or object in order to make a comparison in the reader’s mind.
Greek

Achilles’ heel –weakness a person may have. Achilles was invulnerable except for
his heel (achilles tendon).

Adonis – handsome younger man; Aphrodite loved him.

Apollo – a physically perfect male; God of music and light; known for his
physical beauty

Cassandra – a person who continually predicts misfortune but often is not believed;
from Greece

3 Fates – Three women, often described as being ugly, old, and stern. There is one
who determines one’s fate, one who determines how long one lives, and one who
decides how one will die. Three days after a child is born, it is said that the fates will
visit the house to determine the child’s fate and life.

Harpy – a predatory person or nagging woman; from harpy, a foul creature that was
part woman, part bird

Helen – symbol of a beautiful woman; from Helen of Troy.

Icarus- to fail or be destroyed by a lack of caution; Icarus ignored his father’s
warning and flew too close to the son, his wax wings melted and he plummeted to
his death.

Morphine – used to relieve pain and induce sleep; Morpheus was a god that could
easily change shape

Muse – some creature of inspiration; the daughters of Mnemosyne and Zeus, divine
singers that presided over thought in all its forms

Narcissism – being in love with our own self-image; named for Narcissus, a
handsome young man who despised love but fell in love with himself instead.

Odyssey – a long journey; named for Odysseus, the character in The Odyssey, by
Homer. Odysseus makes his long journey back from the Trojan War.

Pandora’s Box – Something that opens the door for bad occurrences, opened by
someone known for curiosity; named for Pandora who opened a box of human ills.

Phoenix – a symbol of immortality or rebirth; named after a long bird that consumed
itself in fire, rising renewed from the flame to start another long life.

Psyche – the human soul, self, the mind; named after Psyche, a maiden who, after
undergoing many hardships reunited with her love.

Pygmalion – someone who tries to fashion someone into the person he desires;
from a myth adapted into a play by George Bernard Shaw.

Sibyl – a witch or sorceress; a priestess who had the gift of prophecy.

Sirens- tempt others into destructive choices, from The Odyssey where their
beautiful singing caused sailors to crash into rocks

Tantalize– from King Tantalus, who reigned on Mt. Sipylus and was condemned to
a river but couldn’t eat the beautiful food around him.

Titanic – grand and enormous; after Tityus, the son of Zeus and Elara whose body
covered nearly two acres.

Volcanoes – originated from Vulcan, the Roman god of fire.
Literature

Babbitt – a self-satisfied person concerned chiefly with business and middle-class
ideals like material success; from Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis.

Cinderella – one who gains affluence or recognition after being treated poorly.

Frankenstein – Anything that threatens or destroys its creator; from Mary Shelley’s
novel.

Jekyll and Hyde – A capricious person with two sides to his personality. From the
novel of the same name.

Romeo- someone who falls in love deeply and quickly

Scrooge – a bitter and/or greedy person; from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Svengali – a person with an irresistible hypnotic power; from 1984 by George
Orwell
Biblical Allusions

Absolom – a son who brings heartache to his father.

Alpha and Omega – The beginning and the end, from a quote in Revelations

Daniel – one known for wisdom and accurate judgment.

Eye of the Needle – A very difficult task; from famous narrow gateway called “the
needle.”

David and Goliath – An insurmountable, physical task; Ex: climbing a mountain,
fighting a monster

Ishmael – one who is cast out as being unworthy.

Jesus Christ- an important figure, usually a mentor, who dies and is reborn

Job– one who suffers a great deal but remains faithful.

Jonah – one who brings bad luck.

Judas – a traitor

Prodigal Son – a wasteful son who disappoints his father.

Solomon – an extremely wise person.
Historical Allusions

Attila – barbarian, rough leader; King of the Huns from 433-453.

Berserk – someone who is destructively violent

Boycott – to act together in abstaining from using a specific item. From Charles C.
Boycott who refused to charge lower rents and his staff boycotted.

Canopy – an overhanging protection or shelter, to cover.

Casanova – a man who can make women fall in love with him

Chauvinist – one who has a militant devotion to and glorification to country or
gender; Nicolas Chauvin.

El Dorado – a place of reputed wealth; from the legendary city in South America.

Lazarus- a man brought back from the dead

Machiavellian – characterized by expedience, deceit and cunning; after Niccolo
Machiavelli. (Conspiracy theory)

McCarthyism – modern witch hunt, the practice of publicizing accusations
without evidence; after Joseph McCarthy.

Nostradamus – fortune teller; (1503-66) French physician and astrologer who wrote
a book of rhymed prophecies.

Thespian – having to do with the theater or acting; from Thespis, an attic poet and
father of Greek tragedy.

Uncle Sam – government of people of the United States; derived from Uncle Sam,
American Patriotism