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Vocabulary from Greek and Roman mythology

Word List with 25 words
By Dictionary.com

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Words in This List

Achilles' heel

a portion, spot, area, or the like, that is especially or solely vulnerable.

Adonis

a very handsome young man; a youth slain by a wild boar but permitted by Zeus to pass four months every year in the lower world with Persephone, four with Aphrodite, and four wherever he chose.

Amazon

one of a race of female warriors said to dwell near the Black Sea.

ambrosia

the food of the gods.

atlas

a bound collection of maps; named for a Titan, son of Iapetus and brother of Prometheus and Epimetheus, condemned to support the sky on his shoulders.

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hectoring

to treat with insolence; bully; named for the greatest Trojan hero in the Trojan War, killed by Achilles.

Herculean

requiring the great strength of a Hercules very hard to perform.

hypnotic

of or pertaining to an artificially induced trance state resembling sleep, characterized by heightened susceptibility to suggestion.

iridescent

displaying a play of lustrous colors like those of the rainbow.

jovial

endowed with or characterized by a hearty, joyous humor or a spirit of good-fellowship; named for Jove, the god of the sky.

martial

inclined or disposed to war; warlike; named for Mars, the god of war.

metamorphosis

a complete change of form, structure, or substance.

muse

the genius or powers characteristic of a poet; named any of a number of sister goddesses of the arts.

narcissism

inordinate fascination with oneself; excessive self-love; vanity; named after a hunter who fell in love with his own reflection.

nectar

the life-giving drink of the gods.

nemesis

something that a person cannot conquer, achieve, etc; named after the goddess of divine retribution.

Odyssey

a long series of wanderings or adventures, especially when filled with notable experiences, hardships, etc; named after the epic poem by Homer.

oracle

a divine communication or revelation.

Pandora's box

a source of extensive but unforeseen troubles or problems; given by Zeus to a woman who was overcome by curiosity and opened it.

Platonic

pertaining to, involving, or characterized by love as a striving toward love of spiritual or ideal beauty.

siren

a seductively beautiful or charming woman; named after the sea nymphs, part woman and part bird, who lure mariners to destruction by their seductive singing.

sophomore

of or being a second effort or second version.

Stoic

of or pertaining to the school of philosophy founded by Zeno, who taught that people should be free from passion, unmoved by joy or grief, and submit without complaint to unavoidable necessity.

Thespian

pertaining to tragedy or to the dramatic art in general.

Trojan horse

a person or thing intended to undermine or destroy from within; named after a gigantic hollow wooden horse, left by the Greeks upon their pretended abandonment of the siege of Troy.