In this week’s Dispatches from The Secret Library, Dr Oliver Tearle explores the meaning and history of a famous phrase
We’ve doubtless all heard the phrase ‘Achilles heel’. It is used to refer to an otherwise strong person’s one weak spot, and references a story from Greek mythology concerning the great hero Achilles. Here’s a brief summary of the Achilles story:
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
The Sirens were half-woman and half-bird, although they are sometimes wrongly associated with mermaids (so half-woman and half-fish), probably because of their proximity to the sea (although they were strictly land-based, they tended to hang about down on the shore so they could attract the passing boats full of hapless sailors). They were enchantresses whose song lured sailors onto their rocks so the Sirens could devour them.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Ancient Greek mythology is full of classic stories which have become part of Western literature and culture; these stories have even given us some well-known words and phrases commonly used in English, and in other languages.
Below, we introduce 12 of the greatest and best-known tales from the world of Greek mythology, from curious women to brave men, people who overreached themselves and people whose greed got the better of them.
In this week’s Dispatches from The Secret Library, Dr Oliver Tearle ponders the curious story of Philomela the nightingale from classical myth The story of Philomela is well-known. But a quick reminder never hurts, so here’s the story: Tereus … marries Procne, the daughter of Pandion. Tereus coming a second time to Athens, takes back … Read more
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
The story or myth of ‘Pandora’s box’ is slightly unusual among Greco-Roman myths in having its origins – at least its written origins – not in the work of Homer or later myth-collectors like the great Roman poet Ovid, but in the Greek didactic poet Hesiod, who tells the story of Pandora’s box in his Works and Days, a poem composed in around 700 BC.