Greek Myths

Pygmalion discovered that prudishness is not the same as purity.

Pygmalion assumed that Aphrodite, goddess of pure love, would bless a romance free from fleshly passion, but he had misunderstood the true meaning of purity.

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A tale of two friends with complete confidence in each other, and loyal to the death.

Dionysius, tyrant of the island of Sicily (probably Dionysius I, r. 405-367 BC), was deeply impressed by the bond of trust shared by Pythias and Damon. Given how he came to find out about it, though, it is understandable that they thought three would make a crowd.

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Alexander fulfilled the letter of a prophecy and he did become ruler of the world, but it wasn’t quite fair.

To ‘cut the Gordian knot’ is to solve an apparently intractable problem simply, by lateral thinking. I’m not sure, however, that Alexander really ‘solved’ the problem at all.

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An ancient Greek myth about the dangers of easy wealth.

The ‘Midas Touch’ is the ability to make a success of anything to which you turn your hand, but the original myth carries a warning.

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The Greek hero thinks he has paid off more of his debt to the gods, but an unpleasant surprise awaits him.

In a moment of madness induced by Hera, Heracles has killed his own children. Now he is working off his debt by serving his cousin and rival Eurystheus, and has already returned alive from one ‘hopeless errand’...

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A political rival sends Jason on a hopeless errand, to fetch the golden fleece.

Jason has been denied the crown of Iolcus which is his by right. Nonetheless, he gamely agrees to win it back, by fetching the legendary golden fleece from the Kingdom of Colchis on the Black Sea.

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