Idioms from Greek mythology

The following list of idioms from Greek mythology provides an overview of word creations and idioms that found their way into German usage from Greek mythology.

Contents A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A.

• Achilles' heel : A weak point, a vulnerable point in an otherwise weak spot (after the hero Achilles ).
• Adonis : a handsome young man (after Aphrodite's lover of the same name)
• Atalante apples: After the mythical figure Atalante . A great treasure (like the golden apples of the Hesperides, with which Atalante was distracted in a race against a suitor in order to be defeated; e.g. used by Heinrich Heine ).
• Amazon: A warlike or contentious woman, after the Amazon people
• Aphroditic Beauty (beautiful like Aphrodite ): Proverbial beauty
• Aphrodisiac : A means to increase the feeling of love and the activity of the sexual organs (after the goddess Aphrodite ).
• Apollonian-Dionysian: A pair of terms in Friedrich Nietzsche after Apollo and Dionysus .
• Argus eyes (especially in expressions like “look with an eagle eye ”): literally for increased vigilance, nothing escapes (after the 100-eyed giant Argos “all-seer”).
• Ariadne's thread : The tool to get out of a difficult situation (like Ariadne's thread, with whose help Theseus found his way out of the "inescapable" labyrinth of the Minotaur).
• Augean stable : a place of filth and disorder that "cries out" for cleaning and cleaning (after the Augean stables overflowing with horse rubbish).

B.

• To charm someone: To bewitch someone with their charm, according to the sorceress Kirke

C.

• Like Castor and Pollux : two inseparable friends

D.

• Daedalus , artfully like: Es in something - v. a. a craft - have brought to perfect mastery (like the craftsman Daedalus).
• Sword of Damocles hovers over someone: If the sword of Damocles hovers over someone, then their luck will soon run out.

E.

• Elektra complex : The female counterpart to the Oedipus complex (after Elektra , the daughter of Agamemnon ).
• Erisapfel : The cause of a quarrel, the impetus for a dispute (after the apple with the inscription "the most beautiful" which Eris , the goddess of discord, threw among the goddesses to spark a quarrel between them).
• Carrying owls to Athens: doing something superfluous, doing something that has practically already been done (the owl was considered a symbol of wisdom in antiquity: to carry it to the city of the wisdom goddess Athena seemed absurd to contemporaries, as it was assumed that there there would already be more wisdom to be found than anywhere else)

G

• Gigant : A physical or outstanding person (like the gigantic giants). (gigantic, gigantomania)

H

• Herculean task , work: A huge task that requires a great man - of the size of a Hercules - to master.
• Hesperides , the apples of the: A great treasure (like the golden apples of the Hesperides).
• Hydra , cut off the head of the Hydra: Any attempt to contain / combat a problem only creates more problems.

I.

• Icarus flight : "Arrogance comes before the fall". Someone is aiming too high.

L.

• Lemnian women, the bad breath who: have strong bad breath (like the Lemnians who were cursed by Aphrodite).
• Lichas service: A well-intentioned service which is detrimental to the person to whom it is performed (according to Lichas , the servant of Heracles , who, believing that he was doing his master a beneficial service, brought him the poisoned shirt of Nessus ).

K

• Kassandraruf : Warning in vain about something, you will not be believed.
• Headbirth : a painstakingly developed idea after the birth of Athena , which arose from the head of Zeus.
• Croesus , being rich like: After the Lydian king Croesus, who is said to have been indescribably rich.

M.

• Mentor : an older, fatherly friend (like mentor who took care of Odysseus ' son Telemachus in the Iliad ).
• Touch of Midas: After King Midas

N

• Narcissism : Self-love, excessive vanity (after Narcissus , who fell in love with his own reflection and perished because of this love)
• Nestor : Proverbial (nick) name for the oldest or wisest of a group (after the Greek hero).
• Nymphomania : man's stupidity, the increased sexual urge in women (after the greedy and willing nymphs )

O

• Oedipus complex : Term coinedby Sigmund Freud for the desire to enter into a sexual relationship with a parent, especially the mother (after Oedipus , who unknowingly married his own mother Iokaste ). The counterpart to the Oedipus complex is the electra complex .

P

• Pandora, the box of the : If someone opens the box of Pandora, he causes a lot of suffering with an action, he opens the door to evil.
• Priapism : A pathological permanent erection of the penis (after the libidinal god Priapus ).
• Procrustal bed : A strict scheme that requires painful adjustment, or a solution that does not do justice to any of those affected (after the giant Procrustes , who made people the size of their own bed by stretching or mutilation).
• Pygmalion : Someone who is overly impressed with their own work (like the sculptor Pygmalion who fell in love with a statue he made himself).

R.

• Rhadamanthys , just like: literally for “to the highest degree just” (like the son of Europa , who was elevated to judge even in the underworld because of his sense of justice and his wisdom - so among others with Friedrich Schiller ).

S.

• Satyrism : The male nymphomania, the excessive sexual desire in men (after the satyrs ).
• Sisyphos work: An apparently hopeless, because never to be completed work (after Sisyphus , who had to roll a boulder up a steep slope over and over again).
• Sisyphus rock (rock, boulder of Sisyphus): a burden, a burden that is difficult to overcome.
• Scylla and Charybdis , between: Faced with a choice between two evils (like Odysseus, who had to sail between the two monsters Scylla and Charybdis).
• Sphinx : A person who is enigmatic and therefore poses a lot of questions or who expresses himself incomprehensibly, as it were "in riddles" and therefore difficult to understand (like the Theban Sphinx, who gave intricate riddles to those passing by).
• Symplegaden , between being: To be threatenedby a great danger (like the Argonauts between the Symplegaden rocks, which threatened to crush them).

T

• Tanatalos fruits: According to Tantalos : a temptation apparently within reach, but never to be won.
• Tantalum torments : torments that are triggered by the seemingly within reach of tempting things with simultaneous practical inaccessibility.
• Titan : A person who is outstanding because of his performance or his height (like the titans) (titanic, Titanic)

Z

• Cerberus (especially in the phrase "to watch over something like a Cerberus"): An attentive guardian who cannot be passed (after the three-headed hellhound at the gate to the underworld).