12wordsinspired byGreek Myth

AtlAsmyth of the same name. Atlas was the titan of astronomy and navigation from primordial times. In the epic war between the Titans and the Olympians, Atlas sided with his brother and the Titans. When the Titans were defeated, Zeus imprisoned many of them in Tartarus, the equivalent to hell in Hades, but Atlas’ fate was to for-ever hold up the celestial sphere.

An atlas is a book of maps, named after a character of Greek

Sculpture of Atlas made by Santiago de Compostela. ChAos

Chaos is a word meaning disorder or extreme

confusion. According to Ovid’s, Meta-morphoses, Chaos was the gap from which the whole universe sprang. Chaos represented the disorder before the gods.

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MusiC The word ‘music’ or ‘musical’ can be attributed to the Greek Muses. These goddesses, nine in number, were thought to be the ones who provide inspiration for the

arts, including music. They were considered the source of the knowledge needed to complete matters of the arts.

hypnosisHypnosis is a sleep-like state of consciousness. Hypnos was the Greek god of sleep who lived in a dark cave where the sun never penetrated. Other words have been derived from his Ro-man name, Somnus, for example, insomnia.

MArtiAlMartial is a word that means ‘warlike’ and relates to an army or to military life, think martial arts. Mars, the Roman god

of War is the equivalent to the Greek god Ares, and also serves as the inspiration for this word.

Hypnos and Thanatos, Sleep and His Half-

Brother Death by John William Waterhouse

The nine muses, on a Roman sarcophagus from the 2nd century AD, from the Lourve

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VolCAnoA volcano is an opening in the earth through which lava erupts, and it’s name was inspired by the god of fire, Vulcan, Roman coun-terpart to the Greek Hephaestas.

The Forge of Vulcan by Diego Valazquez (1630)

tAntAlizinG and half-nymph who had killed and prepared his son for a dinner party with other gods. As punishment, Tantalus was forced to stand in a pool of water below a fruit tree Whenever he would reach down to take a drink, the waters would recede and whenever he reached up to pluck some fruit, the branches would rise up out of his reach. Thus Tantalus spent the rest of eternity being tantalized by water and food that he could never have.

Tantalizing which means to tempt but tortuously never allow the temptation to be fulfilled. Tantalus was a half-god

FortuneFortuna was a Roman goddess, and the per-sonification of luck. Fortune is a word defined as chance or luck as an external, arbitrary force affecting human affairs.

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erotiC Erotic is a word that describes things that

are sexual in nature. Erôs was the son of Aphrodite and therefore the Greek god of love and sexual desire, his Roman counterpart was cupid.

FAte Fate is defined as predes-tined turn of events. This word is derived from the

Greek myth based on the notion of the “thread of life”. The Fates, or Moirai, were three sis-ters, Lachesis, who allots each man a length of the thread of life, Clotho who would spin the thread, and Atropos , who would cut it. No one — not even the gods — could alter their deci-sions. (The word ‘cloth’ can also be attributed to Clotho, as it is material made by weaving)

neMesisIn ancient Greece, Nemesis was the god who took revenge against those who showed arro-gance before the gods.

A nemesis is a rival or enemy.

The three Moirai, Flemish tapestry, ca. 1520

ChronoloGiCAl When events are categorized chronologically, it means that they are arranged in order of time of occurrence. Cronos was the Greek personification of time, often depicted as a “Father Time” figure, as an old man with a long, gray beard. Not to be con-fused with the Titan Cronus, father of Zeus.

The Eros Farnese of Thespiae by Praxiteles

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