| A | B |
|---|
| Absalom | a rebellious son |
| Achilles’ heel | vulnerability; weak spot |
| Adonis | A very handsome young man |
| Aeneas | a weary, long-suffering journeyer forced to leave his homeland |
| Aeolian | relating to, caused by, or carried by the wind. |
| Apollo | a very BRIGHT and HANDSOME young man |
| Argus-eyed | extremely vigilant |
| Aurora | the dawn |
| Bacchanal | a drunken or riotous celebration |
| Brobdingnagian | Extraordinarily large |
| Cain | a murderer, particularly a fratricide, who commits his crime out of jealousy |
| Casanova/Don Juan | a charming seducer of women who moves quickly from one casual relationship to another, or who constantly pesters women in his pursuits; a man who is amorously and gallantly attentive to women; a promiscuous man; a philanderer. |
| Cassandra | someone who makes predictions that fall on deaf ears |
| Chauvinist | militant devotion to and glorification of one's country; fanatical patriotism; prejudiced belief in the superiority of one's own gender, group, or kind |
| Damon & Pythias | an extremely loyal friendship |
| Dido | a grief-stricken woman who is abandoned by her lover |
| Donnybrook | an out-of-control brawl or situation |
| El Dorado | a place that has great wealth or where great riches can be acquired |
| Eye of the Needle | A nearly impossible task |
| Falstaffian | Characterized by joviality and conviviality; enjoying wine, woman, and song |
| Frankenstein | somebody who creates something that causes widespread ruin or destruction, or that brings about the creator’s own downfall; an out-of-control invention |
| Galahad | a man considered to be chivalrous, noble, or pure in actions or attitudes |
| Good Samaritan | A compassionate person who unselfishly helps others. |
| Halcyon | calm and peaceful |
| Hector | a bully; to bully; to speak to somebody in a loud, threatening, or domineering tone intended to intimidate |
| Helen | a beautiful woman who causes strife or conflict |
| Herculean | staggeringly, heroically difficult feat or task |
| Holy Grail | The coveted object of a prolonged endeavor. |
| Horatio Alger | a person who, through virtue and hard work, overcomes poverty |
| Hydra-headed | Having many facets or aspects, especially difficult or intractable ones |
| Icarus | someone who takes too many risks for his own good |
| Jekyll and Hyde | somebody who has two distinct personalities, one good and the other evil |
| Jezebel | A woman who is regarded as evil and scheming. |
| Job | A very patient, long-suffering person |
| Jonah | any person or thing regarded as bringing bad luck |
| Judas | A traitor, especially somebody who betrays a close friend or a cause or belief |
| laconic | sparing in speech |
| lethargy | extreme sluggishness |
| Lilliputian | Diminutive; a person or thing that is unusually small in height; trivial or petty |
| Machiavellian | Cunning and unscrupulous; using clever trickery, amoral methods, and expediency to achieve a desired goal, especially in politics |
| Malapropism | the misuse of a word through confusion with another word that sounds similar, especially when the effect is ridiculous |
| Mammon | Greed |
| Manna | something very welcome or of great benefit that comes unexpectedly |
| Mentor | somebody, usually older and more experienced, who provides advice and support to, and watches over and fosters the progress of, a younger, less experienced person |
| mercurial | easily changeable; volatile; flighty |
| Muse | Somebody who inspires an artist |
| nemesis | enemy; an opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome. |
| nirvana | emotional bliss; An ideal condition of rest, harmony, stability, or joy. |
| Nostradamus | One who predicts the future |
| Oedipus Conflict | A psychoanalytical term designating attraction on the part of a child toward the parent of the opposite sex and rivalry and hostility toward the parent of its own. |
| Original Sin | Tendency to evil supposedly innate in all human beings |
| Orpheus | an incredibly talented musician |
| Pandora’s box | A source of many unforeseen troubles |
| Philistine | ignorant, uncultured, and indifferent or hostile to artistic and intellectual achievement |
| Phoenix | A symbol of rebirth and resurrection |
| Pollyanna | a cheerfully optimistic and naïve person who always expects people to act decently, despite strong evidence to the contrary |
| Prodigal Son | somebody who spends money, especially money from his or her parents, wastefully |
| Promethean | boldly creative or defiantly original |
| protean | variable; inconsistent |
| Pygmalion | Someone who falls in love with his creation |
| Pyrrhic victory | a win which comes at devastating cost to the victor |
| Quixotic | tending to take a romanticized, impulsive, and impractical view of life |
| Samson | Any very strong man |
| Simon Legree | a cruel boss |
| Siren song | An enticing plea or appeal, especially one that is deceptively alluring |
| Sisyphean | an absurdly pointless task |
| Solomon | a very wise man |
| Spartan | austere; marked by stern discipline, frugality, simplicity, or courage |
| Svengali | a person who, with evil intent, tries to get someone to do what is desired |
| Sword of Damocles | Constant threat or imminent peril. |
| Tantalize | to tease or torment people by letting them see, but not have, something they desire |
| Uncle Tom | A Black person who is regarded as being humiliatingly subservient or deferential to white people. |
| Walter Mitty | a dreamer; someone who lets his imagination control his life |
| Waterloo | a crushing or decisive defeat |
| Yahoo | a person regarded as unruly, crude or purely physical or instinctive, rather than intellectual or reasoned |
