Section 1
Preview this deck
Pandora's Box
Front
| 5 | 0 | ||
| 4 | 0 | ||
| 3 | 0 | ||
| 2 | 0 | ||
| 1 | 0 |
Active users
0
All-time users
0
Favorites
0
Last updated
6 years ago
Date created
Mar 1, 2020
Cards (121)
Section 1
(50 cards)
Pandora's Box
Something that opens the door for bad occurrences, opened by someone known for curiosity; named for the woman who was the first mortal, sent by Zeus, to punish man for Prometheus' theft of fire.
Centaur
a monster that had the head, arms, and chest of a man, and the body and legs of a horse.
Saturnine
sluggish, gloomy, morose, inactive in winter months; named after the god often associated with the god of the Underworld.
Psyche
the human soul, self, the mind; named afte a maiden who, after undergoing many hardships due to Aphrodite's jealousy, reunited with Cupid and was made immortal by Jupiter; she personifies the soul joined to the heart of love.
Muse
some creature of inspiration ; the daughters of Mnemosyne and Zeus, divine singers that presided over thought in all its forms.
Mentor
a trusted counselor or guide; from a friend of Odysseus' son, who was entrusted with his education.
Cupidity
eager "desire" to possess something; greed or avarice; Roman god of love (Greek name is Eros).
Lethargy
abnormal drowsiness or inertia; from a river in Hades that caused drinkers to forget their past.
Promethean
life-bringing, creative, or courageously original; named after a Titan who brought man the use of fire which he had stolen from heaven for their benefit.
Saturnalia
a period of unrestrained revelry; named after the ancient Roman festival, with general feasting in revelry in honor of the winter solstice.
Narcissism
being in love with our own self-image; named for a handsome young man who despised love. Echo, a nymph who was in love with him, was rejected and decreed, "Let he who loves not others, love himself." Hearing this, he fell in love with his image, while gazing in a pond, and drowned himself trying to capture it.
Junoesque
marked by stately beauty; comes from the wife of Jupiter, the Goddess of light, birth, women, and marriage.
Martial
suited for war or a warrior; from the Roman God of War.
Argus-eyed
omniscient, all-seeing; from the 100-eyed monster that Hera had guarding Io.
Erotic
of or having to do with sexual passion or love.
Chimera
a horrible creature of the imagination, an absurd or impossible idea; wild fancy; a monster with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail, supposed to breathe fire.
Gorgon
a very ugly or terrible person, especially a repulsive woman; Medusa, any one or three sisters have snakes for hair and faces so horrible that anyone who looked at them turned to stone.
Phoenix
a symbol of immortality or rebirth; named after the long bird which lived in the Arabian desert and then consumed itself in fire, rising renewed from the flame to start another long life.
Nemesis
just punishment, one who inflicts due punishment; goddess who punishes crime; but more often she is the power charged with curbing all excess, such as excessive good fortune or arrogant pride.
Paean
a song of joy; a ritual epithet of Apollo the healer.
Mnemonics
a device used to aid memory; the personification of memory who gave birth to the nine Muses, who supposedly gave good memory in storytelling.
Aurora
early morning or sunrise; from the Roman personification of Dawn or Eos.
Cassandra
a person who continually predicts misfortune but often is not believed; from (Greek legends) a daughter of Priam cursed by Apollo for not returning his love; he left her with the gift of prophecy but made it so no one would believe her.
Medea
sorceress or enchantress; from the woman who helped Jason and the Argonauts capture the Golden Fleece; known for her revenge against Jason when he spurned her for the princess of Corinth.
Helen (of Troy)
symbol of a beautiful woman; from the daughter of Leda and Zeus—the cause of the Trojan War.
Apollo
a physically perfect male; the god of music and light; known for his physical beauty.
Hector
to bully; from the son of Priam (king of Troy), and the bravest Trojan warrior. Killed Achilles' friend Patroclus.
Odyssey
a long journey; named for the character in a work by Homer.
Furor
wild enthusiasm or excitement, rage.
Achilles' heel
today, one spot that is most vulnerable; one weakness a person may have.
Mercurial
adj., suddenly cranky or changeable; a carrier or tidings, a newsboy, a messenger; messenger of the gods, conductor of souls to the lower world, and god of eloquence; the fabled inventor, who wore winged hat and sandals.
Jovial
good humored.
Aeolian
anything pertaining to wind; god who was Keeper of Wind.
Niobe
mournful woman whose children were slain by Apollo and Artemis because of her bragging; the gods pitied her and turned her into a rock that was always wet from weeping.
Adonis
handsome young man; Aphrodite loved him.
Halcyon
calm, peaceful, tranquil --Archaic bird supposed to breed in a nest on the sea and calm the water, identified with the kingfisher.
Atlantean
strong like the one who carried the world on his shoulders.
Protean
taking many forms, versatile; named after a god of the sea, charged with tending the flocks of the sea creatures belonging to Poseidon. He had the ability to change himself into whatever form he desired, using this power particularly when he wanted to elude those asking him questions.
Plutocracy
a government by the wealthy; named after the "Rich Man," a ritual tile of Hades. He was originally the god of the fields because the ground was the source of all wealth, ores and jewels.
Calliope
series of whistles; circus organ; from the Muse of eloquence or beautiful voice.
Athena/Minerva
goddess of wisdom, the city, and arts.
Pegasus
Poetic inspiration; named after a winged horse which sprang from the blood of Medusa at her death; a stamp of his hoof caused Hippocrene, the fountain of the Muses, to issue poetic inspiration from Mount Helicon.
Harpy
a predatory person or nagging woman; from a foul creature that was part woman, part bird.
Neptune
the sea personified; the Roman god associated with Poseidon, god of the water and oceans.
Herculean
very strong or of extraordinary power; from Hera's glory, the son of Zeus. He performed the 12 labors imposed by Hera.
Hydra-Headed
having many centers or branches, hard to bring under control; something bad you cannot eradicate; from the 9-headed serpent that was sacred to Hera. Hercules killed him in one of the 12 labors.
Iridescent
a play of colors producing rainbow effects; from the goddess of the rainbow.
Parnassus
Mountain that was sacred to arts and literature; any center of poetic or artistic activity; poetry or poets collectively, a common title for selection of poetry.
Olympian
majestic in manner, superior to mundane affairs; any participant in the ancient or modern Olympic games; named after 12 gods that were supposed to reside on Mt. Olympus.
Bacchanal
wild, drunken party or rowdy celebration; from Roman god of wine.
Section 2
(50 cards)
Solomon
an extraordinarily wise person; from the son of King David, the Israelite king who wrote Proverbs, and was known for wisdom.
Sepulcher
tomb in the OT.
McCarthyism
modern witch hunt, the practice of publicizing accusations of political disloyalty or subversions with insufficient regard to evidence, the use of unfair investigatory or accusatory methods, in order to suppress opposition.
Spartan
frugal and bare, simple, disciplined and stern and brave; having to do with an important City in Greece.
Daniel
one known for wisdom and accurate judgment; from a wise leader in the Old Testament who was able to read the handwriting on the wall.
Scapegoat
(n) one that is made an object of blame for others.
Laconic
using or marked by the use of few words, brief; from the reputation of the Spartans for brevity of speech.
Sodom and Gomorrah
any place associated with wickedness or sin; from the evil cities of the OT that were destroyed by fire.
Absolom
a son who brings heartache to his father; from the third son of David, King of Israel. Exiled for three years before he was allowed to return to the court or see his royal father, he plotted to cause a rebellion against his father to overtake the kingdom because he heard Solomon was to succeed David.
Sybaritic
luxurious, voluptuous, a person who cares very much for luxury and pleasure.
Bowdlerize
to censor, expurgate prudishly, to modify, as by shortening or simplifying or by skewing content.
King Ahab and Jezebel
an evil king of Israel and his treacherous evil wife, synonymous today with evil.
Stygian
dark and gloomy; named after a river in the Underworld. The water is poisonous for human and cattle and said to break iron, metal and pottery, though it is said a horse's hoof is unharmed by it.
Ishmael
one who is cast out as being unworthy; the son of Abraham and his handmaiden Hagar, he was cast out into the desert when his wife Sarah had their son Isaac; therefore said to be the ancestor of the nomadic desert tribes of Arabs.
Goliath
a large person; from the giant from the Philistine city of Gath, slain by David, when he was a shepherd boy.
Job
who who suffers a great deal but remains faithful; from an OT character whose faith in God was tested by Satan; though he lost his family and belongings, he remained patient and faithful.
Manna
a sustaining life-giving source or food; from the bread-like food that fell from heaven for the Israelites as they crossed the Sinai Desert to the Promised Land with Moses.
Ruth and Naomi
paragons of love between in-laws; faithful friends.
Original Sin/The Fall
the idea that all men are innately sinful as a result of Adam and Eve's departure from the state of innocence. When they ate of the forbidden fruit, they were cast out of the Biblical Garden of Eden; a post-biblical expression for the doctrine of Adam's transgression and mankind's consequential inheritance of a sinful nature because he ate the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge.
Cain
a brother who kills a brother; from the story of Adam and Eve's son who killed his brother Abel out of jealousy.
Job's comforters
"friends" who try to help by bringing blame; ironically, they didn't comfort at all but were the source of more affliction.
El Dorado
a place of reputed wealth; from the legendary city in South America, sought by early Spanish explorers.
Casanova
a man who is amorously and gallantly attentive to women.
Prodigal Son
a wasteful son who disappoints his father; from the NT parable of a man with two sons. When he split his estate between the two, the younger son gathered his fortune and left home to live the wild life, while the older son stayed home to work in the fields. When the younger son spent all of the money, he came crawling back to his father, who accepted him, pardoning his error by saying he was "lost but was found."
Jacob
grandson of Abraham, son of Isaac and Rebekah, brother of Esau, and the traditional ancestor of Israelites. His name was changed to Israel, and his 12 sons became the 12 Tribes of Israel.
Swiftian
satirical; from a famous satire on politics, Gulliver's Travels.
Sardonic
bitterly ironical, sarcastic, sneering; from a plant said to bring on fits of laughter.
Samson and Delilah
Treacherous love story. An Israelite hero and legendary warrior with extraordinary physical strength fell in love with a Philistine who betrayed him by accepting a Philistine bribe to cut off his hair while he slept.
Chauvinist
one who has a militant devotion to and glorification of one's country, fanatical patriotism, prejudiced belief in the superiority of one's own gender, group, or kind.
Filthy Lucre
Money or profits; from a story in the NT of Jesus casting moneylenders out of the Temple.
Alpha and Omega
The beginning and the end, from a quote in Revelations in the New Testament.
Jonah
one who brings bad luck; an OT prophet who ran from God and sailed to sea. When a storm arose, he admitted that he was the cause, and the sailors threw him overboard, where he was swallowed by a large fish.
Stonewall
hinder or obstruct by evasive, delaying tactics; in cricket: trying to go completely defensive, blocking every ball without trying to score.
Tantalize
from a king who reigned on Mt. Sipylus and was condemned to reside in a beautiful river with sumptuous fruits just out of reach and the water undrinkable, always tempting him as punishment for excessive pride (he boiled his son and fed the broth to trick the gods).
Pyrrhic victory
adj.; a too costly victory; from a Greek king who defeated the Romans in 279 BC, but suffered extremely heavy losses in the fight.
Berserk
destructively or frenetically violent, mental or emotional upset; a Norse warrior clothed in bear skin who worked himself into a frenzy before battle.
Eye of the Needle
A very difficult task; from a famous narrow gateway.
Attila
barbarian, rough leader; King of the Huns from 433-453 and the most successful of the barbarian invaders of the Roman Empire.
Stentorian
having a loud voice; after a character in the Iliad who could shout as loudly as 50 men. He engaged in a shouting match against Hermes and was put to death after losing.
Writing on the wall
what the future holds; from the OT story of Daniel.
Philistine
a person indifferent or hostile to the arts and refinement; from Sea-going people from Crete who became enemies of the Israelites and fought over their lands.
Meander
to wander aimlessly; originating from a river in Turkey noted for its winding course.
Good Samaritan
someone who helps another person, perhaps someone of a different race or background; from a NT parable.
Hackney
to make something banal or trite by frequent use, a horse for ordinary riding or driving, a horse kept for hire, let out, employed, or done for hire.
Sisyphus / Sisyphean
a task with no end and no reward; from the shrewd and greedy king of Corinth who was doomed forever in Hades to roll uphill a heavy stone, which always rolled down again.
Donnybrook
any riotous occasion; taken from the fair, held in Dublin County, Ireland until 1855, which was famous for rioting and dissipation.
Boycott
to act together in abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with as an expression of protest or disfavor or as a means of coercion.
Machiavellian
characterized by expedience, deceit and cunning.
David and Bathsheba
represents a big sin; they had an affair and she became pregnant. Prior to this, he had prospered greatly, but afterward, his personal fortunes were greatly diminished.
Judas
(n) a traitor or a treacherous kiss; one of the 12 Apostles, notorious for betraying Jesus. His surname in Latin means "murderer" or "assassin." He disclosed Jesus' whereabouts to the chief priests and elders for thirty pieces of silver.
Section 3
(21 cards)