Greek Myths and English Language Essay Example for Free

Greek Myths and English Language Essay Abstract: Do you know Achilles Heel? Its an allusion from Greek myths. Instances like this are not difficult to find in English language. They are terse and vivid because of Greek myths and legends behind them. Therefore, they enjoy popular use. But these words and phrases are peculiar to the native culture and language, they appear exotic to foreign learners. So lets share some words and idioms which are relevant to Greek myths in view of knowing the ins and outs of them and understanding how to apply them. In the meanwhile, they can help you understand English history and English culture more thoroughly and deep and taste the wisdom and humor of the English people. Key words: relationship, Greek myths, English language, English idioms  Once the Republican supporter made comments on Clintons scandal, A misbehaving president is regarded as a governments Achilles heel and is expected to resign.  What is Achilles heel? If you dont know it, you will not understand the meaning of the supporters comments. The idiom means the weak or vulnerable point of a person, organization and country, etc. which comes from Greek myths. The story is about Achilles, one of the Greek heroes in the Iliad. When he was a child, he was taken by his mother Thetis and dipped in the river Styx to make him invulnerable. The water washed every part of his body expect the heel in his mothers hand. It was precisely at his vulnerable point that Achilles was later killed in Trojan battle. Greek mythology is a set of legends about the gods, heroes, natural events and universal history of Hellenic civilization. The myths of Greece mostly come from Hellenic literature such as Homers Iliad, Hesiods Theogony and Sophocles drama. From the Renaissance to now, Greek Myths is one of their required courses when the English people receive classical education. These stories and myths are so enjoyable that they impress themselves upon the English. Therefore the myths of Greece become the abundant supply of English language. Lets take Europe for instance. Sometimes it is also called Europa, which originally comes from Greek Mythology. In it, Europa is a princess who is abducted and carried off by a white bull to Crete, the cradle of Hellenic civilization. And the bull is actually Zeus, king of the Gods. In the same way, Paris is a persons name also from Greek myths. Paris is the son of the King of Troy. These two are place names. And the main characters from Greek mythology also appear in everyday speech. For instance, a huge or heroic task is said to herculean. This is in tribute to the Greek mythological hero Hercules. And when you talk about a book of maps, atlas will occur to you. It is named after Atlas, a titan who supported the heavens on his shoulders. Heres one you are probably familiar with it. Its the word promethean which describes a daringly creative or defiantly original act, because of the Titan Prometheus, who defied the wrath of Zeus and stole fire in order to benefit humankind. And another word you may have used before without realizing your debt to Greek mythology. The word panic comes from Pan, the God of shepherds. Pan was always considered to be the cause of the sudden fear especially in lonely places. Thats why its called panic. Then more attention will be paid to the relationship between Greek myths and English idioms. Idioms consist of set phrases and short sentences, which are loaded with the native cultures and ideas. Therefore, there are a great deal of idioms are relevant to the myths of Greece. And these idioms are not easy to understand from its literal meanings, for example, Greek gift. Does it mean a gift made in Greece? Of course not, it symbolizes a dangerous gift. But as they are colourful, blunt, expressive and impressive, they form an important part of the English vocabulary and are now used in different situations. So I will share some of them with you in view of giving you the background of them. As defined by famous psychologist Sigmund Freud, Oedipus complex is the unconscious desire of a young child for sexual intercourse with the parent of the opposite sex, especially between boys and their mothers. The source of this complex is from the Greek legend of King Oedipus. Oedipus was the son of King Laius of Thebes, a city in Greece. There was a Apollos oracle predicted that he would killed his father and marry his mother. So when he was born his father Laius bound his feet together and had exposed him on a lonely mountaintop where it must soon starve. Then the poor infant was rescued by a shepherd and raised by Polybus, King of Corinth. And he was called Oedipus. Years later, Oedipus, too, like Laius, thought to make it impossible for the oracle to come true and resolved never to see Polybus. But on his journey he unwittingly killed King Laius with whom he quarreled. He arrived at Thebes shortly thereafter and saved the city from the ravages of the Sphinx. He was proclaimed king in Laius stead, and he took the dead kings widow, Jocasta, as his own wife. After several years a terrible plague struck Thebes. The Apollo declared that the plague would be stayed upon one condition: whoever had murdered King Laius must be punished. In the course of his investigation, Oedipus discovered that he himself was the killer and that Laius had been his real father. Finally he couldnt act against the decrees of fate. In his despair at this discovery, Oedipus blinded himself. Girls have a similar sexual desire for the father which is repressed in analogous fashion and is called Electra complex. It also comes from Greek mythology. Electra is the daughter of Agamemnon, the king who led the Greeks against Troy in the Trojan War. To obtain favorable winds for the Greek fleet sailing to Troy, Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to the goddess Artemis and so came under a curse. After he returned home victorious, he was murdered by his wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover. To avenge his fathers death, Electra helped her brother kill their mother and her lover. The allusion also comes from the Greek legend of King Oedipus. The Sphinx is winged monster having the head and breasts of a woman and body of a lion. She lay in wait for the wayfarers along the roads to Thebes and whoever she seized she put a riddle to, telling him if he could answer it, she would let him go. No one could, and the horrible creature devoured man after man until the city was in a state of siege. And at that time, Oedipus heard what was happening in Thebes in his lonely wanderings. He was a homeless, friendless man to whom life meant little and he determined to seek the Sphinx out and try to solve the riddle. What creature, the Sphinx asked him, goes on four feet in the morning, on two at noonday, on three in the evening? Man, answered Oedipus. In childhood he creeps on hands and feet; in manhood he walks erect; in old age he helps himself with a staff. It was the right answer. The Sphinx, inexplicable, but most fortunately, killed herself. The Thebans were saved. It is so called Sphinxs riddle which means difficult problems. And Sphinx is also used to describe an enigmatic person. The following are a few examples in actual uses.

Stereotyping :: Prejudice Stereotype

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"That person must belong to a gang, just look how he dresses†. How often have we heard somebody mention these things, yet, how often have we said something similar? I believe our society is based on the superficial things, which we categorize people because of the actions of a small percentage. All of the above statements are prejudicial notions used to define members of a social or an ethnic group, and are called stereotypes. Unfortunately, stereotypes negatively affect our ability to understand members of a different group or ethnicity, and are we usually resistant to change because of them. We stereotype various groups of people, but none like professional athletes and different ethnic groups in our country. Professional Basketball, Football, and Baseball players have been the victims of many stereotypes. Hearing people call them dumb is common. A misconception by many people is that pro athletes aren't educated. This is such a ridiculous situation since the vast majority of them have attended prestigious colleges and universities, and received degrees in different fields of study. A popular misconception is that the educations they did earn were in areas like Liberal Arts, or other general fields of study, which didn't challenge their mental capabilities. Another stereotype is that pro athletes received preferential treatment while in college. Many believe that if an athlete needs a certain grade to remain eligible to play sports, then the faculty would grade him or her lighter than the rest of the class. We have also stereotyped athletes as "above" the law. There have been, on occasion, incidents where a pro- athlete is treated better by the justice system than an average citizen would be in the same situation. We are satisfied to say it's because of the athletes’ fame and wealth, but fail to realize that it was probably a first offense, or to follow the story up and see that punishment was dealt accordingly. The mos t common stereotypes are those, which we have aimed at different ethnic or racial groups. African-American stereotypes are the most obvious. We have often stereotyped Young black men as gang members solely because of the kind of clothes they wear. The media constantly blasts images of black men involved in crime and gangbanging across the six o'clock news, but hardly ever the White or Asian doing the same. We have also stereotyped African- Americans as the largest ethnic group on public assistance, which is not true at all.

David Foster Wallace Revision Essay

On May 21, 2005, David Foster Wallace starts his address to the graduating class of Kenyon College by making an analogy about three fish passing by one another. The older fish throws a comment out to the two younger â€Å"How’s the water?† (Wallace 1) to which the younger two fish pose the question, â€Å"What the hell is water?† (Wallace 1) In explanation of said story, Wallace interprets it by saying â€Å"The point of the fish story is [†¦] the most obvious [†¦] realities are often the ones that are the hardest to see and talk about.† (Wallace 1) An abundance of Wallace’s speech is him presenting different stories and analogies about knowledge being not â€Å"the capacity to think, but rather about the choice of what to think about.† (Wallace 1) Wallace goes on with another moral story about the â€Å"banal platitudes† of the adult life explaining if you don’t consciously choose what and how you’re going to think about a thing you’re going to be â€Å"pissed and miserable† (Wallace 1) On further expanding that thought, David states â€Å"there are totally different ways to think[†¦]† (Wallace 1) Wallace’s speech centers around â€Å"[†¦]the freedom of real education is[†¦] you get to consciously decide what has meaning and what doesn’t.† (Wallace 1) Read more: Good people by david foster wallace essay Wallace shifts, telling a story about two men in a bar debating over the existence of God. One of the men is an Atheist, while the other man is religious. Both of the men have a â€Å"blind certainty† in their beliefs, which  is what Wallace says the men’s problem is. Magnifying that thought, Wallace goes on stating â€Å"closed-mindedness [†¦] amounts to an imprisonment so total that the prisoner doesn’t even know he’s locked up.† (Wallace 1) He says â€Å"you decide what to believe† also reinforcing that you also decide how to think. Wallace continues, urging the critical analysis of what and how you think, giving the example it is â€Å"basic self-centeredness† (Wallace 1) to think of yourself as the â€Å"absolute center of the universe. (Wallace 1) Wallace explains that, to critically analyze your thoughts you must break â€Å"free of [your] natural, hard wired default setting.† (Wallace 1) which is to see everything through â€Å"the lens of self† Wallace ends his speech with a statement on the critical analysis of what and how you think and keeping an open mind saying it is hard to â€Å"stay conscious and alive in the adult world day in and day out.† (Wallace 1) Work Cited Wallace, David Foster. â€Å"Transcription of the 2005 Kenyon Commencement Address- May 21, 2005.† Kenyon College Graduation Ceremony. Kenyon College Gambien, OH. 21 May 2005. Commencement Address.

Operation Catapult at Mers El Kebir (World War II)

The attack on the French fleet at Mers el Kebir took place on July 3, 1940, during World War II (1939-1945). Events Leading up to the Attack During the closing days of the Battle of France in 1940, and with the German victory all but assured, the British became increasingly worried about the disposition of the French fleet. The fourth largest navy in the world, the ships of the Marine Nationale possessed the potential to alter the naval war and threaten Britains supply lines across the Atlantic. Voicing these concerns to the French government, Prime Minister Winston Churchill was assured by Navy Minister Admiral Franà §ois Darlan that even in defeat, the fleet would be kept from the Germans. Unknown to either side was that Hitler had little interest in taking over the Marine Nationale, only ensuring that its ships were neutralized or interned â€Å"under German or Italian supervision.† This latter phrase was included in Article 8 of the Franco-German armistice. Misinterpreting the language of the document, the British believed that the Germans intended to take control of the French fleet. Based on this and a distrust of Hitler, the British War Cabinet decided on June 24 that any assurances provided under Article 8 should be disregarded. Fleets and Commanders During the Attack British Admiral Sir James Somerville2 battleships, 1 battlecruiser, 2 light cruisers, 1 aircraft carrier, 11 destroyers French Admiral Marcel-Bruno Gensoul2 battleships, 2 battlecruisers, 6 destroyers, 1 seaplane tender Operation Catapult At this point in time, the ships of the Marine Nationale were scattered in various ports. Two battleships, four cruisers, eight destroyers, and numerous smaller vessels were in Britain, while one battleship, four cruisers, and three destroyers were in port at Alexandria, Egypt. The largest concentration was anchored at Mers el Kebir and Oran, Algeria. This force, led by Admiral Marcel-Bruno Gensoul, consisted of the older battleships Bretagne and Provence, the new battlecruisers Dunkerque and Strasbourg, the seaplane tender Commandant Teste, as well as six destroyers. Moving forward with plans to neutralize the French fleet, the Royal Navy began Operation Catapult. This saw the boarding and capture of French ships in British ports on the night of July 3. While the French crews generally did not resist, three were killed on the submarine Surcouf. The bulk of the ships went on to serve with Free French forces later in the war. Of the French crews, the men were given the option to join the Free French or be repatriated across the Channel. With these ships seized, ultimatums were issued to the squadrons at Mers el Kebir and Alexandria. Ultimatum at Mers el Kebir To deal with Gensouls squadron, Churchill dispatched Force H from Gibraltar under the command of Admiral Sir James Somerville. He was instructed issue an ultimatum to Gensoul requesting that the French squadron do one of the following: Join the Royal Navy in continuing the war with GermanySail to a British port with reduced crews to be interned for the durationSail to the West Indies or the United States and remain there for the rest of the warScuttle their ships within six hoursIf Gensoul refused all four options, Somerville was instructed to destroy the French ships to prevent their capture by the Germans. A reluctant participant who did not wish to attack an ally, Somerville approached Mers el Kebir with a force consisting of the battlecruiser HMS Hood, the battleships HMS Valiant and HMS Resolution, the carrier HMS Ark Royal, two light cruisers, and 11 destroyers. On July 3, Somerville sent Captain Cedric Holland of Ark Royal, who spoke fluent French, into Mers el Kebir aboard the destroyer HMS Foxhound to present the terms to Gensoul. Holland was coldly received as Gensoul expected negotiations to be conducted by an officer of equal rank. As result, he sent his flag lieutenant, Bernard Dufay, to meet with Holland. Under orders to present the ultimatum directly to Gensoul, Holland was refused access and ordered to leave the harbor. Boarding a whaleboat for Foxhound, he made a successful dash to the French flagship, Dunkerque, and after additional delays were finally able to meet with the French admiral. Negotiations continued for two hours during which Gensoul ordered his ships to prepare for action. Tensions were further heightened as Ark Royals aircraft began dropping magnetic mines across the harbor channel as talks progressed. A Failure of Communication During the course of the talks, Gensoul shared his orders from Darlan which permitted him to scuttle the fleet or sail for America if a foreign power attempted to claim his ships. In a massive failure of communication, the full text of Somervilles ultimatum was not relayed to Darlan, including the option of sailing for the United States. As talks began to stalemate, Churchill was becoming increasingly impatient in London. Concerned that the French were stalling to allow reinforcements to arrive, he ordered Somerville to settle the matter at once. An Unfortunate Attack Responding to Churchills orders, Somerville radioed Gensoul at 5:26 PM that if one of the British proposals was not accepted within fifteen minutes he would attack. With this message Holland departed. Unwilling to negotiate under threat of enemy fire, Gensoul did not respond. Approaching the harbor, the ships of Force H opened fire at an extreme range approximately thirty minutes later. Despite the approximate similarity between the two forces, the French were not fully prepared for battle and anchored in a narrow harbor. The heavy British guns quickly found their targets with Dunkerque put out of action within four minutes. Bretagne was struck in a magazine and exploded, killing 977 of its crew. When the firing stopped, Bretagne had sunk, while Dunkerque, Provence, and the destroyer Mogador  were damaged and run aground. Only Strasbourg and a few destroyers succeeded in escaping the harbor. Fleeing at flank speed, they were ineffectively attacked by Ark Royals aircraft and briefly pursued by Force H. The French ships were able to reach Toulon the next day. Concerned that the damage to Dunkerque and Provence was minor, British aircraft attacked Mers el Kebir on July 6. In the raid, the patrol boat Terre-Neuve exploded near Dunkerque causing additional damage. Aftermath of Mers el Kebir To the east, Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham was able to avoid a similar situation with the French ships at Alexandria. In hours of tense talks with Admiral Renà ©-Emile Godfroy, he was able to convince the French to allow their ships to be interned. In the fighting at Mers el Kebir, the French lost 1,297 killed and around 250 wounded, while the British incurred two killed. The attack badly strained Franco-British relations as did an attack on the battleship Richelieu at Dakar later that month. Though Somerville stated we all feel thoroughly ashamed, the attack was a signal to the international community that Britain intended to fight on alone. This was reinforced by its stand during the Battle of Britain later that summer. Dunkerque, Provence, and Mogador received temporary repairs and later sailed for Toulon. The threat of the French fleet ceased to be an issue when its officers scuttled its ships in 1942 to prevent their use by the Germans. Selected Sources HistoryNet: Operation CatapultHMS Hood.org: Operation Catapult