Even though the ancient Greeks lived 4,500 years ago some of their myths and expressions still survive and are used today. For example, they are still used in expressions in the modern worlds of computers, astronomy and sports. The following are some of the few expressions and words which come from Greek Mythology.

1. Achilles heel.

Achilles was the son of Thetis, an immortal sea-goddess, and Peleus, a mortal king. Thetis tried to protect her son by making like her. She dipped him into the River Styx holding him by his heel so he was immortal in every place except his heel.

As he was immortal, Achilles became the greatest warrior in the Trojan War until he was killed by an arrow in his heel. The place he got shot is called the Achilles tendon. If you are very good at something but have weak point then that is called your Achilles heel.

2. Pandora’s Box.

The story of Pandora’s Box is similar to the story of Adam and Eve and the apple in the Garden of Eden. Pandora was the first woman ever made, like Eve in the bible.

Pandora was given a present by the gods which she is told not to open. Pandora is filled with curiosity by Hermes and opens the present. When she opens it all bad things in the world come out of it, like plague, jealousy, anger, selfishness and poverty. The last thing to come out of it was hope which means whatever difficulties we come by we should never give up hope. In today’s world Pandora’s Box means something which has gotten out of hand.

3. To be a Cassandra.

Cassandra was the daughter of Priam and Hecuba, the King and Queen of Troy. Apollo fell in love with Cassandra. He promised her the gift of prophecy (the ability to see into the future) to make her like him, but she rejected him. As a revenge, Apollo gave her the gift of prophesy but with a curse that no one would ever believe her.

If you say the truth but nobody believes you, you are like Cassandra. For example, Cassandra warned King Priam to beware of Greeks bearing gifts when they brought the wooden horse into the city.

4. Mentor.

The name mentor comes from a Greek myth in which the goddess Athena changes her form and becomes an older man who advises a younger man on how to act. Athena assumed the shape of an old man called Mentor who pretends to be an old friend of Odysseus and provides advice and wisdom to Telemachus, son of Odysseus.

She encouraged Telemachus to find news about his father Odysseus who was lost at sea after beating Troy. Mentor now means a teacher or an older person teaching a younger person.

5. The Midas touch.

King Midas was greedy and wanted to have lots of gold and money. When Dionysus’ friend got lost Midas let him stay the night. King Midas was given the gift of turning everything he touched into gold by the wine god Dionysus, for letting his friend stay in the palace for one night.

However everything Midas touched turned into gold. Even his food and his daughter turned to gold. Unhappy with his skill he goes to the river to wash away his gift. Originally this was meant as a moral to rich men. Now if someone has the Midas touch it means they are good at getting rich.

6. Trojan Horse.

In the Trojan War after ten years of fighting the Odysseus finally came up with the idea of winning the war by sneaking in through the Trojan horse. There were some people inside the Trojan horse. The others Greeks pretended that they had given up and sailed away.

One Greek stayed behind, Sinon. King Priam asked Sinon why he hadn’t sailed back with the Greeks. He pretended that he had gotten into a fight with a Greek and that he wished he was a Trojan. He was allowed, but he was asked why they had built the giant wooden horse. Sinon replied “It is a gift to the goddess Athena for a safe journey home” but actually some Greek soldiers were in it. The Trojans had a big celebration that night. However in the night the Greek ships came back and Sinon opened up the door in the wooden horse, letting out the soldiers who attacked the unsuspecting Trojans in their city while they slept.

Now the Trojan horse means computer viruses which come through the back door of a system.

7. Tantalising

Tantalus was Zeus’ son. He was one of the only humans allowed to eat with the gods. However Tantalus took some of the food and gave it to other humans. This angered the gods and to try and make amends he invited them to a dinner. To show he was really sorry, Tantalus killed his own son and served him as dinner. But it was also a test, because there was a rule which said that no-one could eat a human’s flesh. Tantalus wanted to know if the gods went by the rules that humans do. Tantalus was sent to Tartarus as punishment by the gods for killing his son.

His punishment in Tartarus reflected his evil crime. He was always neck up in water and whenever he tried to drink it, it would go away. Above him, there was also some fruit but whenever he tried to reach it, it would go away and also a threatening rock also hanged over his head which looked like it could fall at any moment.

From this punishment, we get the expression “tantalising” which means something which is mockingly out of reach.

8. Echo

Echo was a nymph and she loved to talk. When Zeus was with a nymph her job was to distract Hera by flattering her. Then Hera heard of what she was doing, so she cursed her to only be able to repeat words other people said. In the modern world, this is where the word Echo comes from.

9. Narcissus

Narcissus is a flower you might have heard of. Narcissus was a handsome Greek youth who had never seen his own reflection. All the Nymphs were nice yet he rejected all of them. One nymph prayed to the goddess Nemesis to punish him. One day, when Narcissus became thirsty and stopped by a pond to take a drink, he saw his reflection in the water for the first time.

Not being very clever, he fell in love with his own reflection and started talking to it. When it didn’t talk back Narcissus tried to touch it, but when he touched it, it disappeared. Narcissus wasted away the rest of his days until he shrunk away into a flower, which is named after him, the Narcissus.

10. Atlas – Book of Maps

Atlas led the Titans against the Olympians gods. When the gods defeated the Titans, the normal titan punishment was going to Tartarus and suffering a punishment (like being kept in chains for all of eternity), however Atlas’ punishment for leading the Titans was he had to hold up the world and sky forever. Atlas only once ever had it off his shoulders. That was when Heracles took it so that Atlas could get the three apples from the Garden of the Hesperides. The place where Atlas held the world is now known as the Atlas Mountains.

Now Atlas meant means a book of maps of the world. The globe which Atlas holds on his shoulders did represent the heavens or the skies. Over time however people have taken the globe to mean the earth rather than the heavens and so maps of the world are called Atlases.

11 Nike

You may have heard of the sporting brand Nike, but did you know that it comes from Greek Mythology. Nike was the winged spirit of Victory, speed and strength and fought with Ares. In the battle between the Titans and the Olympian Gods Nike was the driver of the chariots. Nikes job was to fly around a battlefield and reward victorious people in battle with glory.

12. Caught between Scylla and Charybdis

Charybdis was the daughter of Poseidon and Gaia. She was very loyal to Poseidon in his fight with Zeus. When Poseidon made big tides she drove them onto land and claimed them for the sea. She got so much land that Zeus had to turn her from a Sea –Nymph into a sea monster to stop her from getting more. Charybdis's face was just a mouth and for legs and arms she had flippers.

Scylla was a sea monster who had 4 eyes and 6 long necks which all had grisly heads, which each had three rows of deadly teeth. Her body had twelve legs like tentacles, a cat’s tail and 4-6 heads of dogs around her waist.

On one side of the channel was Charybdis and on the other side was Scylla.

The expression is” between Scylla and Charybdis” or “between a rock and a hard place” which means moving away from one danger puts you in more danger of the other one.