Classical Mythology, 7th Edition - obinfonet: dia logou

GLOSSARY OF MYTHOLOGICAL WORDS AND PHRASES IN ENGLISH 767
calliope Calliope was one of the nine Muses,
who gives her name to the musical instrument the
calliope, made up of tuned steam whistles and
played like an organ; it is also the name for the California
hummingbird. See muse.
Cassandra Trojan Cassandra, daughter of Priam
and Hecuba, was amorously pursued by the god
Apollo. Having at first agreed to succumb to his advances,
she was awarded the gift of prophecy, but
later, when she changed her mind and refused him,
Apollo punished her. She would remain a prophetess,
but would never be believed. Cassandra's predictions
were invariably of disaster, foretelling the
murder of Agamemnon by Clytemnestra or the destruction
of Troy through the ruse of the Trojan
Horse. A Cassandra today is anyone who utters dire
warnings of the future, regardless of their truth.
Calypso/Calypso music Calypso ("she who
hides or conceals") was the daughter of Thetis and
either Atlas, Nereus, or Oceanus. Odysseus was detained
on her island home of Ogygia for seven years
with the promise that she would make him immortal.
Though he enjoyed her bed, each day he would
weep and look longingly over the sea to his homeland,
Ithaca. Eventually Zeus sent Hermes to inform
Calypso that she must give up Odysseus. Calypso
music, derived from the name of the nymph, originated
on the islands of the West Indies and features
topical or amusing themes.
catamite Zeus was so impressed with the beauty
of the Trojan youth Ganymede that he took the form
of an eagle and brought him to Olympus to become
the cupbearer of the gods. The Latin rendering of
Ganymede's name was Catamitus, and his relationship
with Zeus (or Jupiter) was interpreted by some
as overtly homosexual to lend divine authority to ancient
pédérastie practices; today a catamite is still the
designation for a boy used for pédérastie purposes.
Cerberus Cerberus, the hound of the underworld,
stood guard at the gates of Hades and prevented
those not permitted from entering. He is usually
described as a beast with three heads and the tail
of a dragon. When Aeneas journeyed to the lower regions
under the guidance of the Sibyl, he brought
along a medicated cake to drug the animal and ensure
their safe passage. To throw a sop to Cerberus
means to give a bribe and thereby ward off an unpleasant
situation.
cereal Ceres (the Roman counterpart of Demeter)
was goddess of grain and the fertility of the earth.
From her name is derived the Latin adjective Cerealis
(having to do with Ceres and the grain), from
which comes our English word cereal.
chaos/chaotic Whether Chaos is to be understood
as a void or a primordial, formless, undifferentiated,
and seething mass out of which the order
of the universe is created, it is the starting point of
creation. This unformed beginning is contrasted with
later creation, a universe called the cosmos, a designation
meaning, literally, harmony or order. The sky
and the stars, the earth and its creatures, and the laws
and cycles that direct and control creation seem to
exhibit the balance, order, and reason that the mind
discerns in the natural world. For us chaos, together
with its adjective chaotic, simply means a state of
confusion. See cosmos.
Chimera/chimerical/chimeric A wild, hybrid
creature, the Chimera had the head of a lion, the body
of a goat, and the tail of a serpent, and it breathed
fire. It was killed by the Corinthian hero Bellerophon
on one of his journeys. Today a chimera is a fantastic
delusion, an illusory creation of the mind. It can
also refer to a hybrid organism, usually a plant.
Chimerical and Chimeric refer to something as unreal,
imaginary, or fantastic. These adjectives can also
signify that one is given to fantasy.
cornucopia The Latin cornucopia means "horn
of plenty." There are two stories about this horn,
which bestows upon the owner an endless bounty.
Zeus, in his secluded infancy on Crete, was nursed
by a goat named Amalthea, which was also the name
of the goddess of plenty. One of the horns of this goat
was broken off and became the first cornucopia. The
horn of plenty is also associated with Hercules. In order
to win Deianira as his bride, he had to defeat the
horned river-god Achelous. In the struggle, Hercules
broke off one of the horns of the river-god but after
his victory returned the horn and received as recompense
the horn of Amalthea. Ovid, however, relates
that the horn of Acheloùs became a second horn
of plenty. Today the cornucopia is a sign of nature's
abundance, and the word comes to mean a plenteous
bounty.
cosmos/cosmic/cosmology/cosmetic/cosmetician
Cosmos refers to the universe, and all that
is ordered and harmonious. The study of cosmology
deals with the origin and structure of the universe.
The adjective cosmic may designate the universe beyond
and apart from the earth itself, or it may in a
generalized sense describe something of vast significance
or implication. Akin to the word cosmos are
various English words derived from the Greek adjective
cosmeticos. Cosmos means not only order and
harmony, but also arrangement and decoration; thus
a cosmetic is a substance that adorns or decorates the
body, and a cosmetician the person involved with
cosmetics. See chaos.