The Facts on File Dictionary of Allusions - Green Valley High School

the commodore is no Nelson. See also en gland
expects; kiss me, hardy.
Nemean lion See labors of hercules.
nemesis (nembsis) Retribution or an agent of it.
In Greek mythology Nemesis was identifi ed as the
goddess of retribution, described by the poet Hesiod
(c. 800 b.c.) as the daughter of Erebus (hell)
and Nyx (night). Nemesis enacted the revenge of
the gods upon mortals who had offended them
through such sins as pride and insolence. In modern
usage the term is usually taken to refer to a
person’s inescapable doom, especially to any stubborn
rival or hindrance that seems fated to bring
about his or her downfall or failure. “It was one of
the most cynical po liti cal decisions in recent
memory and, unsurprisingly, Nemesis has come
back to haunt the railways” (Guardian, May 26,
2001).
nepenthe (nipenthee) A drug or other agent
that induces sleep or serves to make a person forget
his or her griefs or troubles. <strong>The</strong> word comes
from the Greek ne (“not”) and penthos (“grief ”). It
is mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey (c. 700 b.c.) as a
drug given to Helen by Polydamna to make her
forget her cares. “ ‘I know not Lethe nor Nepenthe,’
remarked he; ‘but I have learned many new
secrets in the wilderness’ ” (Nathaniel Hawthorne,
<strong>The</strong> Scarlet Letter, 1850).
Neptune (neptoon) A personifi cation of the sea
itself and nautical matters in general. In Roman
mythology, Neptune was the god of the sea, the
equivalent of the Greek poseidon. <strong>The</strong>y gave up
trying to save the ship and threw themselves into the
waves, putting their trust in Neptune to bring them to
shore.
nereid See nymph.
Nero (neero) An archetype of despotic cruelty
and depravity. Nero, originally Lucius Domitius
Ahenobarbus (a.d. 37–68), was brought up under
the protection of the Emperor Claudius, but as
emperor himself (54–68), Nero was infamous for
his irrational behavior and cruelty. Contemporaries
murdered on his orders included his mother,
Agrippina; his fi rst wife, Octavia; his second wife,
Poppaea (whom he kicked to death while pregnant);
and his rival Britannicus, while those obliged
to commit suicide for opposing him included the
phi los o pher Seneca and the poet Lucan. Power seems
to have gone to his head: Colleagues who used to be his
admirers have accused him publicly of behaving like
Nero. See also fi ddle while rome burns.
Ness, Eliot See untouchable.
never in the fi eld of human confl ict . . .
Nessus, shirt of See shirt of nessus.
nestor (nester) A wise old man; the most experienced
and wise member of a par tic u lar group or
company. Nestor was a legendary king of Pylos and
the oldest of the Greek commanders in the Trojan
War. Renowned for his eloquence, Nestor was
widely respected for the wisdom of his counsel
and did much to alleviate tensions between other
Greek leaders when they fell out with each other.
His contemporaries even considered him the equal
of the gods as an adviser because of his prudence
and experience. “<strong>The</strong> Nestor of the Hebrew camp,
in him the words of the Psalmist were anticipated,
that he bore fruit in old age, and to the last was fat
and fl ourishing” (F. B. Meyer, Joshua, 1893).
never in the fi eld of human confl ict was so much
owed by so many to so few Rarely has so much
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