h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Barring the obvious "Sword of Damacles", does any one else commonly use Phrases from the stated source

The Midas touch is mentioned in the introduction.

Herculean for feats of strength (though using the Roman name).

The word Atlas presumably derives from the Titan who literally supported the world on his shoulders.

'Tantalising' comes from the story of Tantalus, who was imprisoned in Hades with a very mean punishment. He was up to his knees in nice clean water, with grapes dangling just above his head, but each time he bent down, the water would drain away, and each time he stretched up, the grapes would move just beyond his reach.

A strikingly handsome man may be described as an Apollo.

There are probably others, but my mind has now gone officially blank.

David

I always thought that a "splitting headache" must refer to Athena being born straight from Zeus' head.

Ooh, yes. With Hephaestus as the 'midwife', yes?

And what about 'Achilles' heel' - definitely a common phrase, and definitely from Greek mythology.

I've just read the whole of the introfuction, and feel very silly for having brought up lots of terms that are already mentioned there. Sorry.

"Titanic", I suppose, too from the Titans.

"sisyphean" for unending tasks, after the poor fella pushing his rock.

Vain people, or those who seem to be loved up with themselves are often called narcissistic, after Narcissus who fell in love with his own reflection in a river. He stayed there so long that he took root and turned into a flower which has been called narcissus (daffodil) ever since. He left behind the woman who loved him, Echo - who had been doomed to only ever repeat the words of others and never being able to speak first.

But that's what you get for annoying the gods...

I'm not sure if this counts as mythology, but we still talk about Torjan horses. In fact it's an extremely common computer term these days. Send an innocous looking program off to invest other people's computers with the hidden nasties inside.

I'd say Trojan Horses definitely count.

How about an Oedipus Complex?

Oedipus was this prince from Thebe, prophecised to kill his father and sleep with his mother. Therefore he was abandoned in the mountens to die, but he was found by a shepard and raised by the king and queen of Corinth.
Unfortunately Oedipus heard about the prophecy, thought it was about the king and queen of Corinth and decided to run away. On his way he ran into a fellow traveller, got into a fight and killed him. When he arrived in Thebe the whole city was in mourning as their king had recently been killed on the road.
Well, as you can guess he married his mother and slept with her before he found out who his real parents were.

I believe the term Oedipus Complex is still in use - at least in the Netherlands.

The word "echo" originates in myth.

Echo was a nymph(?) who fell in love with Narcissus (see further posting by Mina). He, vain ingrate that he was, ignored and forsook her. She, poor soul, pined away with unrequited love until nothing remained save her voice.

Another one!

The scientific name for spiders is "arachnids". It's from Arachne, a skilful but arrogant weaver who dared to challenege the goddess Athene to a contest.

Athene wrecked her work and Arachne tried to hang herself. She was changed into a spider, condemned to weave for all eternity.

How about "fury"?

A Fury was one three goddesses who visited curses upon criminals, tortured the guilty with stings of conscience and inflicted famines and pestilences.

And of course "Nemesis" is almost a synonym for retribution.
But originally she was the goddess of revenge!

I always thought that Nemisis stood for your worst enemy..

Nope, in Greek tragedy , "nemesis" follw s from "hubris" (basically arrogance, overweening pride), which inevitably leads to (a normally-fatal) downfall.