Greek Words From "english Words From Latin And Greek Elements"

Front 1

Achilles' heel

Back 1

a single vulnerable spot

Hint 1

all but ankle dipped in River Styx

Front 2

Adonis

Back 2

an extremely handsome young man

Hint 2

Venus fell in love with him. Died boar hunting.

Front 3

Aegis

Back 3

sponsorship or protection

Hint 3

piece of armor or shield worn by Zeus and Athena

Front 4

Amazon

Back 4

a powerful, masculine woman

Hint 4

legendary race of female warriors

Front 5

Atlas

Back 5

a collection of maps

Hint 5

Titan who held the world on his shoulders

Front 6

Cassandra

Back 6

a person who warns of coming evil but whose prophecies are disregarded

Hint 6

Trojan princess whom Apollo fell in love with

Front 7

Chimera

Back 7

a foolish or idle fancy

Hint 7

fantastical fire-breathing monster

Front 8

Elysium

Back 8

place or state of blissful happiness

Front 9

Gorgon

Back 9

a snaky-haired creature so ugly as to petrify an onlooker

Hint 9

sister monsters, 1 (Medusa) killed by Perseus

Front 10

halcyon

Back 10

calm; peaceful

Hint 10

alcyon was the kingfisher who calmed the weather so that they could brood undisturbed during the nesting period

Front 11

herculean

Back 11

very powerful

Hint 11

Hercules - the strongest of all the heroes of Greek fable

Front 12

hydra

Back 12

a persistent evil, one difficult to eradicate

Hint 12

poisonous water serpent with nine heads whose very breath was fatal

Front 13

labyrinth

Back 13

a complicated arrangement of passageways or roads; a maze

Hint 13

confinement for the Minotaur built by King Minos of Crete

Front 14

mentor

Back 14

a wise counselor

Hint 14

adviser to whom Odysseus entrusted the education of his son when he sailed away to fight at Troy

Front 15

Midas

Back 15

a very rich man

Hint 15

rich and stupid, golden touch

Front 16

narcissism

Back 16

abnormal attachment to one's own appearance and personality

Hint 16

Narcissus, made Echo pine away, Aphrodite punished him, caught in his reflection

Front 17

nemesis

Back 17

retribution; one who inflicts retribution

Hint 17

goddess, the personification of righteous anger

Front 18

odyssey

Back 18

a long series of wanderings

Hint 18

Homer's epic poem which describes the wanderings of Odysseus

Front 19

Oedipus (complex)

Back 19

an abnormal attachment to one's parent of the opposite sex with corresponding hostility to the other

Hint 19

Oedipus, who killed his father and married his mother

Front 20

Olympian

Back 20

exalted; majestic

Hint 20

calm, imposing, majestic natures of the "divine" beings inhabiting Mt. Olympus

Front 21

paean

Back 21

a song of thanksgiving or praise

Hint 21

name for Apollo, who had power of healing

Front 22

procrustean

Back 22

forcing rigid conformity

Hint 22

legendary highwayman

Front 23

protean

Back 23

extremely changeable

Hint 23

Proteus - herdsman of the sea

Front 24

siren

Back 24

an alluring but dangerous woman; seductive

Hint 24

nymphs who lured sailors to destruction with their singing

Front 25

stentorian

Back 25

very loud

Hint 25

Stentor was the herald of the Greek army at Troy

Front 26

tantalize

Back 26

tease

Hint 26

Tantalus was punished by being placed in a pool in Hades where the waters receded if he tried to stoop down for a drink and the fruit laden boughs above were blown out of his reach whenever he tried to get the fruit

Front 27

titanic

Back 27

of enormous size and power

Hint 27

Titans - race of primeval giants who ruled the universe before the Olympian gods

Front 28

academy

Back 28

a school or learned society

Hint 28

Plato and his successors taught in a grove sacred to Academus

Front 29

Arcadian

Back 29

simple, peaceful, rustic

Hint 29

the region of Greece known as Arcadia was mountainous and therefore somewhat inaccessible

Front 30

Croesus

Back 30

a very rich man

Hint 30

Croesus - wealthy king whose kingdom invented money. conquered by persians, so his life was consequently regarded as furnishing the supreme example of a disastrous change of fortune

Front 31

cynic

Back 31

one who sarcastically doubts human motives

Hint 31

a memeber of a Greek philosophical school noted for its exaggerated contempt of social conventions and institutions

Front 32

Draconian

Back 32

exteremely severe

Hint 32

codified and systemized Athenian laws in 7th c b.c. made them very harsh

Front 33

epicure, epicurean

Back 33

a person of refined taste in matters of food and drink

Hint 33

Epicurus was the founder of a school of philosophy which held that the supreme goal of life should be pleasure.

Front 34

the cut the Gordian knot

Back 34

to solve a difficult problem by direct and drastic means

Hint 34

Alexander Great cut the knot

Front 35

laconic

Back 35

brief, pithy, concise

Hint 35

Laconia was the district of Greece where sparta was located

Front 36

mausoleum

Back 36

a large tomb

Hint 36

tomb built for King Mausolus by his wife. one of 7 wonders of world

Front 37

meander

Back 37

to follow a winding course, the greek-key design

Hint 37

Meander - river in Turkey proverbial for crooked, wandering course

Front 38

ostracism

Back 38

exclusion from society

Hint 38

pottery=ostrakon

Front 39

philippic

Back 39

a bitter denunciation

Hint 39

Demosthenes bitter orations against Philip of Macedon

Front 40

a Pyrrhic victory

Back 40

a victory won at too great a cost

Front 41

solecism

Back 41

a substandard usage of language, a social blunder

Hint 41

Soli, colony that developed barbaruous dialect

Front 42

sophistry, sophism

Back 42

clever but deceptive argumentation meant to mislead

Hint 42

traveling teachers, some of whom taught politically motivated oratory

Front 43

Spartan

Back 43

rigorous, austere, disciplined

Hint 43

the bravest and hardiest warriors of greece

Front 44

stoic

Back 44

impassive

Hint 44

stoicism taught taht the universe is governed by a divine providence and so whatever happens is for the best

Front 45

sword of Damocles

Back 45

a constantly threatening danger

Hint 45

Damocles was invited to see what the life of a tyrant was like

Front 46

sybarite

Back 46

one devoted to luxury and pleasure

Hint 46

Sybaris, wealthy Greek colony in southern Italy