Ap English Allusions

Front 1

Achilles

Back 1

Achilles' s mother Thetis dipped him in the Styx river, holding him by his heel. An Achilles' s heel is a fatal flaw which the individual is unaware of.

Front 2

Adam's rib

Back 2

God created the first man and finding him lonely even after giving him animal companions, God makes Adam sleep. As he sleeps he takes a spare rib from his chest and creates Eve. An Adam's rib is something large coming from something small:a beginning.

Front 3

Agamemnon

Back 3

Sacrificed his daughter for winning Trojan war. Returning back with Cassandra, his concubine, and was murdered by his wife, Clytemnestra and her lover. Agamemnon symbolizes a high man brought low because of hubris.

Front 4

Antigone

Back 4

A daughter of Oedipus and his mother. Symbolizes the driving factor between rule of God's law versus man's law: shows world that God's law shall always triumph.

Front 5

Armageddon

Back 5

The final battle between good and evil.

Front 6

Atalanta

Back 6

Abandoned by her father in the woods since she wasn't a son. Was bear- suckled and found by hunters who raised her as their own. Is later reunited with him and forced to marry. She said on only one condition: if someone could outrun her. Hippomenes asked Aphrodite for jelp. She gave him three golden apples to throw in front of Atalanta whenever she got ahead and he won. Lesson: A strong woman subjugated by the men around her.

Front 7

Atlas

Back 7

As punishment for siding with the Titans in the war of the Olympians, Atlas was banished and given eternal punishment of carrying the weight of the world on his shoulder.

Front 8

Burning bush

Back 8

God appeared to Moses and gave him task of leading his people to the promised land. Burning bush is an unmistakable sign.

Front 9

Cain and Abel

Back 9

The sons of Adam and Eve. Cain murders Abel. A mark of Cain means a mark of evil.

Front 10

Camel through the eye of a needle

Back 10

Defines an impossible task.

Front 11

Cassandra

Back 11

God Apolo fell in love with her and gave her the gift of prophecy. When she turned him down, he placed a curse on her saying that no one would believe her. She foresaw the fall of Troy, but no one took heed of her warning. Troy fell and Cassandra was taken as a concubine by Agamemnon. She was murdered by Clytemnestra, wife of Agamemnon. she was someone who knew the truth but wasn't believed.

Front 12

Cast the first stone

Back 12

Lesson given by God: don't judge if you are not perfect. Do not be hypocrites.

Front 13

Crown of thorns

Back 13

Jesus has a crown of thorns placed upon his head when he was on the cross. Signifies taking on suffering for others.

Front 14

Daedalus and Icarus

Back 14

Both of them were imprisoned in the labyrinth. Over the years Daedalus collect feathers and puts it all together with wax to make two pairs of wings. They escape by air and Daedalus warns Icarus not to fly too close to the Sun or too close to the ocean. Icarus fails to take heed to this warning and flies too close to the Sun and his wings melt and he falls into the ocean and drowns. The lesson here is that Icarus is destroyed from lack of caution.

Front 15

Daniel

Back 15

Daniel was thrown into a den of lions. God protected him through the night. Going into the lion's den is to go into a dangerous situation.

Front 16

David and Goliath

Back 16

Don't underestimate the underdog.

Front 17

Eye for an eye

Back 17

Lesson of equal retribution.

Front 18

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Back 18

Signifies the end of days.

Front 19

Holy Grail

Back 19

Goal that is hard to achieve.

Front 20

Jonah

Back 20

In the belly of the beast is a time of turmoil when the fate rests in fortune's hands.

Front 21

Judgment of Paris

Back 21

Three goddesses claimed the Golden Apple with inscription to the fairest one. Athena goddess of wisdom, Aphrodite goddess of love, and Hera goddess of marriage were judged by a shepherd named Paris. Bribed by all three Paris chooses to accept Aphrodite's offer of giving him the most beautiful woman Helen of Sparta. This lay down the seeds of the Trojan War.

Front 22

Labors of Hercules

Back 22

Signifies huge effort. Associated with the term Herculean.

Front 23

Lazarus

Back 23

Reborn with a message of good news die and be back to life again. Shows how we're not in control of our own destiny.

Front 24

Leda

Back 24

Zeus came down in the form of a swan and raped Leda. She gave birth to four children Helen and Polydeuces, Castor and Clytemnestra. This lay the seeds of the Trojan War. Shows how uncontrolled arrogance can lead to the destruction of the innocence.

Front 25

Loaves and fishes

Back 25

Abundance from scarcity by divine means.

Front 26

Medusa

Back 26

Ugly.

Front 27

Minotaur

Back 27

Signifies an abomination, hubris, and that God comes first.

Front 28

Nemesis

Back 28

Punishes those with hubris

Front 29

Nirvana

Back 29

Spiritual peace, enlightenment

Front 30

Noah and the flood

Back 30

Story of destruction of sinners followed by rebirth. Significance of 40 days and 40 nights.

Front 31

Pandora

Back 31

Pandora's Box is a box of trouble waiting to be opened.

Front 32

Persephone

Back 32

The goddess of spring who was tricked into going into the underworld. When her mother Demeter finds out about the kidnapping she sets out a Blizzard on the people. Zeus ask for Hades to return her but he can't because she has already eaten the food of the dead: seeds of a promegranate. For the 6 seeds that she consumes she has to stay in the underworld for that many months. For the remaining time she can be up above in Olympus. When she's below there is winter and fall, and when she's above there's summer and spring.

Front 33

Phoenix

Back 33

Signifies rebirth.

Front 34

Prodigal son

Back 34

Idea of forgiveness, being lost and found.

Front 35

Prometheus

Back 35

He created mankind from clay and water. The abuse of man from Zeus led Prometheus to steal fire and give it to mankind for useful purposes.

Front 36

Pygmalion

Back 36

The sculptor who falls in love with his own creation. Idea of change.

Front 37

Satyrs

Back 37

Signifying frivolity and youth.

Front 38

Scylla and Charybdis

Back 38

Between a rock and a hard place.

Front 39

Sisyphus

Back 39

Eternal punishment, a task that is Herculean.

Front 40

Sodom and Gomorrah

Back 40

Signifies evil beyond redemption.

Front 41

Solomon

Back 41

Wisdom

Front 42

Styx

Back 42

A river that serves as a barrier between the mortal world and the underworld. It is known for its magical properties and was supposedly the river in which Achilles was dipped in.

Front 43

Sword of Damocles

Back 43

Unknown danger

Front 44

Tantalus

Back 44

Eternal punishment. He tried to serve his son to the gods. Gave him punishment by sending him to the underworld where he was placed near a body of water he could never reach and a tree from which the fruit he could never eat.

Front 45

30 pieces of silver

Back 45

The price of betrayal. This is what Judas received when he betrayed Jesus.

Front 46

Tree of Knowledge

Back 46

The fall of man occurred when a snake convinced Eve to eat from the tree of knowledge. Then she convinced Adam to eat s and the mankind fell into sin. The fruit of the tree of knowledge is commonly referred to as an apple but it can also be a peach.

Front 47

Tower of Babel

Back 47

Everyone spoke the same language and start to build the city of Babel. They decide to build the tower of Babel as a pathway to heaven. God then scattered the people all over the face of the earth and gave them different languages.

Front 48

Trojan horse

Back 48

Something harmless containing evil.

Front 49

Utopia

Back 49

The name given to a community or society would desirable or perfect or near perfect quality.