Wordly Wise | Greek and Roman gods we often invoke to jazz up our language

Characters from Greek and Roman mythologies are abundantly used in the English language. For instance, from Prometheus comes the word Promethean, often used to describe someone who is rebelliously and daringly creative or innovative.

Prometheus brings fire to humanity. Painted by Heinrich Fueger in 1817. (Wikimedia Commons)

Here are some more such words, from Greek and Roman mythology, which find everyday usage in English.

Nemesis is a word we often use to denote an avenger or a punisher, and also the punishment itself. Nemesis was the name given to the goddess of retribution in Greek mythology who saw to it that a successful person does not become proud or haughty – if that happened she would put him in his place by punishing him. The word appears regularly on sports pages to refer to a sportsperson who consistently beats a worthy opponent.

In Homer’s epics, Paean is the equivalent of Apollo, the physician of the gods, the healer. Hymns of thanksgiving to Apollo for deliverance from evil began with the invocation to Paean. The song came to be known as paean, a name which was extended to songs of triumph addressed to Apollo and other gods after victory in a war. In modern English usage, a paean means a song of thanksgiving and praise. So, you could be singing a paean to those who taught you, on Teachers Day.

Proteus was a sea god who could change his shape and form to avoid capture by his enemies. From the myth is derived the English word protean. Used as an adjective, it means varying, often used interchangeably with the word ‘versatile’. For example: Choosing liberal arts offers you protean possibilities for a career.

The word jovial is another interesting import to English. The Latin adjective Jovialis means “belonging to Jupiter” with Jovis literally meaning Jupiter’s. From there, Jove became another name for Jupiter, the father of gods and mankind, who was shown by ancient sculptors and poets as smiling upon us. Gradually, the concept entered astrology and a person born under the planet Jupiter was supposed to be joyful. Jovial, therefore, means someone who is always happy and inspires mirth. A variant, Jovian (starting with capital ‘J’), however, means detached and aloof or powerful, as befits a deity.

Looks like Jupiter took his traits from his father, Saturn, who was jovial and the Romans looked upon the era of his rule as the golden age. The feasts in his worship on New Year’s Eve were wild, marked by loud merry-making. The word Saturnalia (a plural noun) referred to the festival of Saturn. Today, used as a singular noun, it means an unrestrained revelry, a wild celebration, or just a happy time.

However, astrology took over and had the last laugh. A derivation from Saturn, saturnine, refers to someone who is gloomy and serious, for persons born under the influence of the planet Saturn are supposed to be somber, sad and morose.

Somewhat on the same line as Saturnalia is the derivation bacchanalian. The Greek god of wine was Bacchus in whose honour wild celebrations used to be held which were characterized by frenzy. So, bacchanalia indicates celebration marked by bacchanalian feasting and revelry.

Coming back to Prometheus, while he was seen as the supreme trickster and a god of fire, according to Britannica Online, his intellectual side was emphasised by the apparent meaning of his name: ‘Forethinker’. J. Oppenheimer, the director of the Los Alamos centre where the atomic bomb was developed had warned at the possibility of technology outrunning man’s ability to control it. He once observed: “One thing that is new is the prevalence of newness, the changing scale…of change itself, so that the world alters as we walk in it, so that the years of man’s life measure not some small growth or rearrangement or moderation of what he learned in childhood, but a great upheaval.”

A Prometheus indeed!