mindmap
root((Words<br>from Mythology))
Apollonian
Harmonious, ordered, rational, calm.
🌱After a century of Romantic emotion, some composers adopted a more Apollonian style, producing clearly patterned pieces that avoided extremes of all kinds. 🌳In Greek mythology, Apollo was the god of the sun, light, prophecy, and music, and the most revered of all the gods. Partly because of the writings of Nietzsche, we now often think of Apollo （in contrast to the god Dionysus） as a model of calm reason, and we may call anything with those qualities *Apollonian*.This isn't the whole story about Apollo, however; he had a terrible temper and could be viciously cruel when he felt like it. bacchanalian Frenzied, orgiastic.
🌱The bacchanalian partying on graduation night resulted in three wrecked cars, two lawsuits by unamused parents, and more new experiences than most of the participants could remember the next day. 🌳The Roman god of drama, wine, and ecstasy, Bacchus was the focus of a widespread celebration, the *Bacchanalia*.The festivities were originally secret, and only initiated members could participate. There was wine in abundance, and participants were expected to cut loose from normal restraints and give in to all sorts of wild desires. Eventually the Bacchanalia became more public and uncontrolled, finally getting so out of hand that in 186 B.C. the Roman authorities had it banned. Much the same bacchanalian spirit fills tropical carnivals every year, including New Orleans' Mardi Gras. delphic Unclear, ambiguous, or confusing.
🌱All she could get from the strange old woman were a few delphic comments that left her more confused than ever about the missing documents. 🌳Delphi in Greece was the site of a temple to Apollo at which there resided an oracle, a woman through whom Apollo would speak, foretelling the future. The Greeks consulted the oracle frequently on matters both private and public. The prophecies were given in difficult poetry that had to be interpreted by priests, and even the interpretations could be hard to understand. When Croesus, king of Lydia, asked what would happen if he attacked the Persians, the oracle announced that he would destroy a great empire; what she didn't say was that the empire destroyed would be his own. Modern-day descendants of the oracle include some political commentators, who utter words of delphic complexity every week. Dionysian Frenzied, delirious.
🌱Only in the tropics did such festivals become truly Dionysian, he said, which was why he was booking his flight to Rio. 🌳Dionysus was the Greek forerunner of Bacchus. He was the inventor of wine, which he gave to the human race. For that gift and for all the wild behavior that it led to, Dionysus became immensely popular, and he appears in a great many myths. He is often shown holding a wine goblet, with his hair full of vine leaves, and attended by a band of goat-footed satyrs and wild female spirits called maenads. In the 19th century, scholars such as Nietzsche claimed that the ancient world could be understood as a continuing conflict between the attitudes represented by Apollo （See Apollonian）and Dionysus—that is, between order and disorder, between moderation and excess, between the controlled and the ecstatic. jovial Jolly, good-natured.
🌱Their grandfather was as jovial and sociable as their grandmother was quiet and withdrawn. 🌳*Jove*, or Jupiter, was the Roman counterpart of the Greek's Zeus, and like Zeus was regarded as chief among the gods. When the Romans were naming the planets, they gave the name Jupiter to the one that, as they may have already known, was the largest of all （though only the second-brightest to the naked eye）. When the practice of astrology reached the Roman empire from the East, astrologers declared that those "born under Jupiter" were destined to be merry and generous, and many centuries later this would result in the words *jovial* and *joviality*. mercurial Having rapid and unpredictable changes of mood.
🌱His mother's always mercurial temper became even more unpredictable, to the point where the slightest thing would trigger a violent fit. 🌳The god Mercury, with his winged cap and sandals, was the very symbol of speed, and the planet Mercury was named for him by the Romans because it is the fastest-moving of the planets. His name was also given to the liquid silver metal that skitters around on a surface so quickly and unpredictably. And the word *mercurial* seems to have come from the metal, rather than directly from the god （or an astrologer's view of the planet's influence）. Mercurial people are usually bright but impulsive and changeable （and sometimes a bit unstable）. Olympian Lofty, superior, and detached.
🌱Now 77, he moved slowly and spoke to the younger lawyers in Olympian tones, but his college friends could remember when he was a brash, crazy risk-taker. 🌳The Greek gods lived high atop Mt. Olympus, which allowed them to watch what went on in the human realm below and intervene as they saw fit. They insisted on being properly worshipped by humans, but otherwise tended to treat the affairs of these weak and short-lived creatures almost like a sport. So *Olympian* describes someone who seems "lofty" and "above it all," as if surveying a scene in which other people appear the size of ants. The Olympic Games were first celebrated in the 8th century B.C., at the religious site called Olympia （far from Mt. Olympus）, and *Olympian* today actually most often refers to Olympic athletes. venereal Having to do with sexual intercourse or diseases transmitted by it.
🌱In the 19th century syphilis especially was often fatal, and venereal diseases killed some of the greatest figures of the time. 🌳Venus was the Roman goddess of love, the equivalent of the Greek Aphrodite. Since she governed all aspects of love and desire, a word derived from her name was given to the diseases acquired through sexual contact. Most of these venereal diseases have been around for many centuries, but only in the 20th century did doctors devise tests to identify them or medicines to cure them. Today the official term is *sexually transmitted disease*, or STD; but even this name turns out to be ambiguous, since some of these diseases can be contracted in other ways as well.
🌱After a century of Romantic emotion, some composers adopted a more Apollonian style, producing clearly patterned pieces that avoided extremes of all kinds. 🌳In Greek mythology, Apollo was the god of the sun, light, prophecy, and music, and the most revered of all the gods. Partly because of the writings of Nietzsche, we now often think of Apollo （in contrast to the god Dionysus） as a model of calm reason, and we may call anything with those qualities *Apollonian*.This isn't the whole story about Apollo, however; he had a terrible temper and could be viciously cruel when he felt like it. bacchanalian Frenzied, orgiastic.
🌱The bacchanalian partying on graduation night resulted in three wrecked cars, two lawsuits by unamused parents, and more new experiences than most of the participants could remember the next day. 🌳The Roman god of drama, wine, and ecstasy, Bacchus was the focus of a widespread celebration, the *Bacchanalia*.The festivities were originally secret, and only initiated members could participate. There was wine in abundance, and participants were expected to cut loose from normal restraints and give in to all sorts of wild desires. Eventually the Bacchanalia became more public and uncontrolled, finally getting so out of hand that in 186 B.C. the Roman authorities had it banned. Much the same bacchanalian spirit fills tropical carnivals every year, including New Orleans' Mardi Gras. delphic Unclear, ambiguous, or confusing.
🌱All she could get from the strange old woman were a few delphic comments that left her more confused than ever about the missing documents. 🌳Delphi in Greece was the site of a temple to Apollo at which there resided an oracle, a woman through whom Apollo would speak, foretelling the future. The Greeks consulted the oracle frequently on matters both private and public. The prophecies were given in difficult poetry that had to be interpreted by priests, and even the interpretations could be hard to understand. When Croesus, king of Lydia, asked what would happen if he attacked the Persians, the oracle announced that he would destroy a great empire; what she didn't say was that the empire destroyed would be his own. Modern-day descendants of the oracle include some political commentators, who utter words of delphic complexity every week. Dionysian Frenzied, delirious.
🌱Only in the tropics did such festivals become truly Dionysian, he said, which was why he was booking his flight to Rio. 🌳Dionysus was the Greek forerunner of Bacchus. He was the inventor of wine, which he gave to the human race. For that gift and for all the wild behavior that it led to, Dionysus became immensely popular, and he appears in a great many myths. He is often shown holding a wine goblet, with his hair full of vine leaves, and attended by a band of goat-footed satyrs and wild female spirits called maenads. In the 19th century, scholars such as Nietzsche claimed that the ancient world could be understood as a continuing conflict between the attitudes represented by Apollo （See Apollonian）and Dionysus—that is, between order and disorder, between moderation and excess, between the controlled and the ecstatic. jovial Jolly, good-natured.
🌱Their grandfather was as jovial and sociable as their grandmother was quiet and withdrawn. 🌳*Jove*, or Jupiter, was the Roman counterpart of the Greek's Zeus, and like Zeus was regarded as chief among the gods. When the Romans were naming the planets, they gave the name Jupiter to the one that, as they may have already known, was the largest of all （though only the second-brightest to the naked eye）. When the practice of astrology reached the Roman empire from the East, astrologers declared that those "born under Jupiter" were destined to be merry and generous, and many centuries later this would result in the words *jovial* and *joviality*. mercurial Having rapid and unpredictable changes of mood.
🌱His mother's always mercurial temper became even more unpredictable, to the point where the slightest thing would trigger a violent fit. 🌳The god Mercury, with his winged cap and sandals, was the very symbol of speed, and the planet Mercury was named for him by the Romans because it is the fastest-moving of the planets. His name was also given to the liquid silver metal that skitters around on a surface so quickly and unpredictably. And the word *mercurial* seems to have come from the metal, rather than directly from the god （or an astrologer's view of the planet's influence）. Mercurial people are usually bright but impulsive and changeable （and sometimes a bit unstable）. Olympian Lofty, superior, and detached.
🌱Now 77, he moved slowly and spoke to the younger lawyers in Olympian tones, but his college friends could remember when he was a brash, crazy risk-taker. 🌳The Greek gods lived high atop Mt. Olympus, which allowed them to watch what went on in the human realm below and intervene as they saw fit. They insisted on being properly worshipped by humans, but otherwise tended to treat the affairs of these weak and short-lived creatures almost like a sport. So *Olympian* describes someone who seems "lofty" and "above it all," as if surveying a scene in which other people appear the size of ants. The Olympic Games were first celebrated in the 8th century B.C., at the religious site called Olympia （far from Mt. Olympus）, and *Olympian* today actually most often refers to Olympic athletes. venereal Having to do with sexual intercourse or diseases transmitted by it.
🌱In the 19th century syphilis especially was often fatal, and venereal diseases killed some of the greatest figures of the time. 🌳Venus was the Roman goddess of love, the equivalent of the Greek Aphrodite. Since she governed all aspects of love and desire, a word derived from her name was given to the diseases acquired through sexual contact. Most of these venereal diseases have been around for many centuries, but only in the 20th century did doctors devise tests to identify them or medicines to cure them. Today the official term is *sexually transmitted disease*, or STD; but even this name turns out to be ambiguous, since some of these diseases can be contracted in other ways as well.