Phrases From Greek & Roman Myths

About Phrases From Greek & Roman Myths

Give your memory a workout with Phrases From Greek & Roman Myths: 15 multiple-choice questions with a mix of 8 easy, 6 medium, 1 hard questions, free to play right in your browser. Match everyday expressions like "Achilles' heel," "Pandora's box," and "Midas touch" to the ancient myths that gave them their meaning. Expect to spend about 7 minutes; every question comes with an explanation, so you learn something even when you miss.

A few sample questions

1. 1. When we say someone has an "Achilles' heel," we mean they have a fatal weakness. Which Greek hero is this expression named after?

   Answer: Achilles, the great warrior whose only vulnerable spot was his heel

   In Greek myth, the hero Achilles was dipped in the magical River Styx as a baby, making him invulnerable everywhere except the heel by which his mother held him. A poisoned arrow to that spot eventually killed him.

2. 2. If someone "opens a Pandora's box," they have unleashed a flood of unexpected troubles. In the original myth, what was Pandora told NOT to do?

   Answer: Open a jar (or box) she had been given as a wedding gift

   Zeus gave Pandora a sealed jar (later called a box in retellings) as a gift, warning her never to open it. Her curiosity got the better of her, and when she lifted the lid, all the world's evils and sorrows flew out — leaving only Hope inside.

3. 3. The phrase "Midas touch" describes someone who turns everything they attempt into success. In the original myth, King Midas's golden touch was actually a curse — why?

   Answer: Everything he touched literally turned to gold, including his food and his daughter

   King Midas of Phrygia was granted his wish by the god Dionysus that everything he touched would turn to gold. The gift became a terrible curse when his food, drink, and even his beloved daughter turned to gold at his touch.

4. 4. We use the phrase "Herculean task" to mean an enormously difficult job. What legendary labors is this expression based on?

   Answer: The Twelve Labors of Hercules, a set of nearly impossible tasks assigned as punishment

   The hero Hercules (Heracles in Greek) was ordered to complete twelve seemingly impossible tasks — including slaying the nine-headed Hydra and cleaning the enormous Augean Stables — as penance for a terrible crime. His name became a byword for superhuman effort.

5. 5. A "siren song" refers to an irresistible but dangerous temptation. In Greek myth, what made the Sirens so deadly to sailors?

   Answer: Their beautiful singing lured sailors to steer their ships onto the rocks

   The Sirens were mythical creatures — part woman, part bird — whose enchanting voices compelled passing sailors to sail toward the sound, wrecking their ships on the rocky shore. Odysseus had himself tied to the mast so he could hear their song without being able to steer toward them.

Things you'll learn along the way

• ✓Scylla was a terrifying six-headed monster who snatched sailors from their ships, while Charybdis was a massive whirlpool that could swallow an entire vessel. Odysseus had to steer between them, choosing to lose a few men to Scylla rather than risk his whole ship to Charybdis.
• ✓Around 279 BC, King Pyrrhus of Epirus won a costly battle against Rome at Asculum. He reportedly said, "Another such victory and we are lost" — his army's casualties were so heavy that the wins were strategically worthless. The phrase entered common use to describe any victory that costs more than it gains.
• ✓After ten years of siege, the Greeks pretended to sail away and left behind a huge wooden horse as a supposed offering to Athena. The Trojans wheeled it inside their walls — not knowing it was filled with Greek soldiers who crept out at night to open the city gates. The phrase now warns us that generosity from an enemy may hide treachery.