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Mythological Allusions
Mythological Allusions
Mythological Allusions
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: Hes a real Michael Jordan; I
know hell 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
were tough and they
could use a bow and
arrow 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
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. Ones
nemesis is that which
brings on ones
destruction or
downfall
The Labyrinth
A vast maze on the
island of Crete where
the King of Crete kept
the Minotaur, half
bull-half man. Very
few people escaped
from it. Only
Theseus used a ball
of string to find his
way out of the maze
once hed killed the
deadly Minotaur.
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.
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
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
Heras spell of madness.
Achilles
In mythology,
Achilles was the
greatest Greek
warrior at Troy; he
was also slayer of
Hector, the Trojans
best warrior.
Today, ones
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.