Words from Greek and Roman Mythology

Vulcan = Volcano The god of fire was the blacksmith of the gods: he made weapons and horseshoes, and even Zeus’s thunderbolts. His Greek name was Hephaestus, but the Romans called him Vulcan. This is where our word volcano comes from.

Vulcan = Volcano

Echo Echo was a mountain nymph, a beautiful creature. She would talk WAY too much, and even used to distract Hera, the queen of the gods, while Hera’s husband Zeus fooled around with the other nymphs! When Hera found out what was going on behind her back, she got so mad at Echo that she took away Echo’s voice, making it so Echo could only repeat the last word she was told.

Echo and Narcissus Meanwhile, Echo had a big crush on a handsome boy named Narcissus. But they had communication issues, and he was really only in love with himself.

Echo and Narcissus Things ended badly: Echo was so sad that she turned into a ghost, leaving only her echoing voice behind, which can only repeat the last thing she heard. This explains why you hear an echo when you yell in the mountains.

Narcissus = narcissist Meanwhile, Narcissus was so into himself he ended up drowning in a pool of water because he was so in love with his own reflection. That’s why when someone is totally into himself, we call him a narcissist.

Arachne = arachnid Arachne was a woman who angered the goddess Athena by beating her in a weaving contest, and got turned into a spider. That’s where the scientific word for spider, “arachnid,” comes from.

Sirens The Sirens were a bunch of beautiful monsters who lived on a dangerous rock in the sea. When a ship went by, they would sing beautiful music that seduced the sailors into jumping off the boat to get to them. Then the sailors would drown or be crushed by the rocky surf.

Today, we use the word siren for any really loud noise you’re supposed to watch out for!

The Furies The Furies were the three goddesses of revenge. They were extremely angry and scary, and their job was to punish people who commited really bad crimes.

The Furies = furious, fury So whenever someone is really angry, they are furious. Another word for anger is fury.

Pan Pan was a god who was half-man, half-goat. He totally loved to party! He was a god of fertility, and the Greeks believed that he caused the goats on their farms to get pregnant.

Pan = Panic Whenever a herd of goats would suddenly start running or get scared for no reason, they believed it was Pan scaring them. That’s where we get the word panic, which means “sudden and total fear.”

Oceanus = Ocean One of the Titans was named Oceanus. Oceanus was the original water from which all rivers and streams come from. That’s where we get the word ocean.

Atlas Atlas was another Titan: he held the world on his shoulders. Today an atlas is a book of maps of the world.

Labyrinth The labyrinth was a complicated maze that King Minos invented to hold the Minotaur, a monster who was half-man, half-bull. (It was also his wife’s son, but that’s another story!) Labyrinth still means “maze” today!

Hydra = Hydrant The Hydra was a monster with many heads. It’s also where we got the word hydrant.