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English 102
Vocabulary List 08
Muse
Narcissism
An inspiration; the nine muses in Greek
mythology were the goddesses of
creativity in various fields.
Excessive self-love
nemesis
Nemesis was the goddess of righteous
anger who attempted to punish absolutely
every wrong every committed. Now, a
nemesis is a person whom you are
essentially always working against,
someone whom you may have to destroy
before you are destroyed in the process.
Lex Luther is Superman's nemesis. The
Green Goblin is Spiderman's nemesis.
The Joker is Batman's nemesis.
Voldemort is Harry Potter's nemesis. In
Pokemon , Gary is Ash's nemesis. There
is a woman in the English department who
will argue with everything I say just
because I said it; she is my nemesis.
Odyssey
An odyssey is a long series of wanderings.
Typically, they add up to some sort of
coming-of-age ritual.
Oedipus
This is the ancient king of Thebes who, in
the course of trying to avoid a prophecy
that he would kill his father and marry his
mother, killed his father and married his
mother. The Oedipal Complex in
psychology is often interpreted as the
desire of little boys to kill their fathers so
they can marry their mothers, but you can
see that wasn't quite the thrust of the
original. (The theoretical desire in little girls
to kill their mothers so they can marry their
mothers is called the Electra Complex.
Trust me; that isn't the original intent at
all.)
Paean
A paean is a poem full of thanksgiving
and praise; it may be overblown or
somehow inappropriate. For example, if I
say, "The play Carousel is a paean to
domestic violence," that would be
interpreted to mean that, since I'm
probably not crazy about the idea of
domestic violence, this play is somehow
suspect for me.
Pandora's box
Procrustean
I'll tell you the myth of Pandora's box in
class. The reference in the saying is that
this seemingly simple act released all
manner of pain and evil into the world, and
other similarly small acts may also bring
unforeseen negative consequences. (In
almost any political season, a citizen's
group will claim that passing one of the
state issues will open a Pandora's box of
licentiousness or government control or
some such.)
This is a solution that is not proportionate
to the problem. I'll tell you the myth in
class, but again, this is an extreme
solution to a problem that may not even
really be a problem at all, or may be quite
minor.
Protean
Very changeable. The Greek god Proteus
could change his form at will and would
often change into different creatures
during combat; he was very difficult to slay
because his opponents never knew what
they would be fighting next.
Satyr
A satyr is a creature who had the body of a
goat and the head of a person except for
the little goat horns. (Think a centaur, but
half goat instead of half horse.) Goats
were associated with insatiable appetites
(you've seen how much they eat in
cartoons), and the appetite emphasized in
most satyr myths was sexual, so satyrs
were depicted as perpetual sex machines;
only males are usually depicted, almost
always with enormously engorged
members. The image of the satyr is at
least part of the source for our word
"horny."
Scylla and Charybdis
These were obstacles Odysseus had to
pass through on his voyage home from
the Trojan War (the Odyssey). They were
directly across each other in a narrow
waterway; the premise was that you might
get passed one, but it would be all but
impossible to survive both of them. Sting
has the line "You consider me a young
apprentice/caught between the Scylla and
Charybdis" in "Wrapped Around Your
Finger." This means more or less the
same thing as "caught between a rock and
a hard place."
Sibyl
A sibyl is a prophetess originally
associated with the Oracle at Delphi. Her
answers were often cryptic and
mysterious, but in mythology, they are
almost invariably right. (Harry Potter's
divination teacher is named Sibyl
Trelawney.)
Siren
In mythology, the Sirens were half-bird,
half-woman creatures whose beautiful
songs would lure sailors too near the rocky
shore, where the sailors would be killed.
Their song was reputedly very beautiful so
many wanted to hear it, but no one
succeeded lived to tell the tale because
they were all dashed to their deaths. The
only exception was Odysseus; he had his
crew tie him to the mast of his ship and fill
their own ears with wax so they could hear
neither the sirens' call nor his own
entreaties to go nearer the lovely song.
Now, the expression is used for some very
seductive or tempting distraction that you
know you need to resist.
Stentorian
Stentor was the herald (messenger) of the
Greek army in the Trojan War. He was
reportedly as loud as 50 normal people.
Someone who is stentorian is very loud.
Stygian
Tantalize
The Styx was one of four rivers in Hades;
it was considered very dark, gloomy, and
ominous.
Tantalus deceived the gods; to punish him
in the afterlife, he was positioned in such a
way that he could see and smell very rich
and delicious food and drink but not reach
it. We now use the word to mean "tease
very cruelly."
Titanic
The Titans were the giants who preceded
the Greek gods; therefore, something
titanic is extremely large or powerful.
Trojan Horse
I'll tell you the story of the Trojan Horse in
class. The connection is that it's
something that appears friendly, benign,
and harmless but is actually quite
destructive. Many computer programs are
Trojan Horses; they look like games or
something the reader might want, but
they're actually viruses.
Venereal
This is the negative aspect of Venus, the
Roman goddess of lofve; venereal contact
is sexual contact, so venereal diseases
are diseases transmitted sexually.
Veneration
This is the positive aspect of Venus. It
refers to extreme adulation or worship.