inglés
EXPRESSIONS REFERRED TO MYTHICAL FIGURES
"IN THE ARMS OF MORPHEUS"
ENGLISH WORD: “in the arms of Morpheus”.
CURRENT MEANING: it means to be asleep.
ORIGIN: Morpheus was the main of the Oneiroi, the thousand sons engendered by Nicte and Hipno. He was represented as a young man with wings that symbolize their ability to travel the world quickly, with a mirror in his hand and with a few leaves of poppy. He has the ability to take any human form and appears in dreams to sleeping people creating dreamlike fantasies. The image of a person sleeping in the strong arms of someone is a classical reference in the literature and it refers precisely to the image of the arms of Morpheus. The name of Morpheus comes from the Greek term morphé “form”, because this god could take different forms. The name of this god stays in our vocabulary in terms as “morphine”, and alkaloid extracted from the poppy with sleep-inducing characteristics.
Ceyx/Morpheus appears to Alcyone. Engraving by Bauer for Ovid's Metamorphoses.
ENGLISH WORD: “to open Pandora´s box”.
CURRENT MEANINIG: it means to perform an action that may seem innocent, but that turns out to have negative consequences.
ORIGIN: this expression is taken from the myth of Pandora´s creation, the first woman in Greek mythology. She was shaped by Hephaestus by order of Zeus as a part of the punishment of humanity for Prometheus` theft of the secret of fire. Pandora opened the box releasing all the evils of humanity, so that the evils spread all over the world, leaving only Hope inside, and we think that it is the last thing we lose.
Pandora. Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
ENGLIGH WORD: “lynx-eyed”.
CURRENT MEANING: it´s used to refer to someone who has acute sight or keen vision. In figurative language, it means to see clearly things in the business.
ORIGIN: this term refers to Greek hero Lynceus (an Argonaut) who along with his brother Idas, faced to Dioskouri, Castor and Pollux. Lynceus was able to see through the opaque bodies, so he could see Dioskouri hidden behind a tree. He also took part in the hunt of Calydonian wild boar and the expedition of Golden Fleece.
ENGLISH WORD: “be panicking”.
CURRENT MEANING: to feel much fear, an overwhelming feeling of anxiety and terror.
ORIGIN: according to mythology, the Persians run away from the Marathon battle frightened by the God Pan. This God had the upper part of the body of man and legs and horns of a goat, a tireless sexual desire and a great desire to harass nymphs, that were frightened by him, hence the identification of this God with terror.
Pan teaching his eromenos, the shepherd Daphnis to play the pipes. Found in Pompeii. 2nd century AD.
"THE MIDAS TOUCH"
ENGLISH WORD: “the Midas touch”, “the Golden touch”.
CURRENT MEANING: it refers to a person who has the abilitiy to be succesful and make money easily in any project undertaken.
ORIGIN: the God Dioniso, in payment for having treated Silenus with hospitality, granted the Phrygian King Midas the desire he would like to. He asked that everything he touched turned into gold. And that´s how it was, but also the food and the drink turned into gold, so Midas, hungry and thirsty, pray to God that the gift was withdrawn. Dionysus told him to wash his hands and face in the source of the Pactolo River and thus the gift was transferred to this river.
Midas and Bacchus. Nicolas Poussin. Schloss Nymphenburg.