Dictionary meaning

A source of many unforeseen troubles: Reform is a Pandora's box; opening up the system can lead to a loss of economic and political control (Russell Watson).

Mythical Origin

Greek supreme God Zeus was ethemical to Prometheus, one of the 2 Sons of Iapetus, one of the Titans. In order to take revenge on him Zeus directed Hephaestus to mould a female human being out of earth & water and he ordered the other Gods to give her some of their attributes as Gifts. She was named Pandora, which means The Gift of All. Before being taken to earth she was given a box which she was warned never to open.

Zeus had Hermes conduct Pandora to the home of Prometheus but, he refused to accept her. Then Hermes took her to the home of Epimetheus. Although his brother Prometheus had warned him not to accept any Gifts from Zeus, Epimetheus was so impressed with Pandora's Charms that he took her as his wife. After a while Pandoras curiosity about the contents of her box got the better of her and she raised the lid. Out flew, in the shape of terrible demons, all the evils which henceforth were to plague mankind. S tarted, Pandora closed the box in time to prevent the escape of Hope, which was thus saved to remain a comfort to man.

Hence people are forewarned not to open a Pandoras box when they start doing something which will create many more problems.

Dictionary meaning

The ability to make, manage, and keep huge amounts of money: Today's market has convinced dozens of kids barely out of college that they've got the Midas touch (Business Week).

Legend:

Midas, King of Phrygia, treated with respect & courtesy the teacher & companion to Dionysus, a Greek God. For this act, the God granted his request that everything he touches be turned into gold. When the monarch found that his food turned into gold in his mouth and his daughter in his arms, he begged Dionysus to revoke the Gift, which the God very obligingly did by instructing Midas to bathe in the river Pactolus in Cydia, which ever after ran Gold.

Dictionary meaning

A seemingly small but actual mortal weakness.

Legend:

Achilles, the bravest and handsomest of all the Greeks, was the Son of Peleus, a mortal and of Thetis, a Sea-Goddess. Presented by his mother with a choice between glory & a short life & infamy and a long one, he deliberately chose the former and he knew from the beginning that he would not return alive from the Trojan War, in which he led 50 ships against Troy.

His mother Thetis attempted to make him immortal by subjecting him to a nightly process of baking, who dipped him in the River Styx to make him invulnerable. The first effort failed because it was interrupted before completion by the entrance of Peleus. The second, because Thetis forgot in her anxiety that her hand was covering the heel by which she was holding him.

In the Trojan War, after many exploits, Achilles chases the Trojans back to their city and as he was forcing his way in, he was killed by an arrow aimed at his one unprotected spot, his heel. Hence the expression The heel of Achilles to refer to a vulnerable spot. The arrow was shot by Paris, guided by Apollo.

Dictionary meaning

An individual which has the attributes of both male and female, or which unites in itself the two sexes.

Legend:

Hermes, the messenger and herald of Gods had a Son by Aphrodite, the fickle goddess of Love & Beauty by the above name, which is a combination of his parents names. In his body, the son combined the beauty, masculine & feminine of both.

Salmacis, the lovely Nymph of the fountain of Salmochis fell in love with this lad. One day when he, still a young lad, was bathing in her spring, seizing him, she held him so tight that he could not get away even if he wanted to. As Hermaphroditus did not respond to her caresses, she prayed to the Gods that she might be united to him and be allowed to keep him with her for ever. The Gods, granted her plea, joined the Boy and maid together and created a being combining and uniting in one body the physical characteristics of both the sexes.

Dictionary meaning

To clear away an accumulated mass of corruption, moral, religious, physical, or legal. To reform wrongs almost past the power of man to tackle.

Legend:

Heracles is the most famous of all the heroes in Greek mythology. Through his various heroic acts he earned name and fame. But the joy and triumph of Heracles were short lived. Hera sent him a fit of madness, under the influence of which he slew his own three children by Megara and two of his brother's children. To punish himself for this deed Heracles went into voluntary exile at Delphi. The oracle told him that he had to be purified by a terrible penance. He was advised to proceed to his cousin Eurysthe us, King of Mycenae and serve him for 12 years and perform 12 tasks to be imposed by him.

Eurystheus proved to be a hard task master. The tasks he imposed were designed to break the heart and spirit of the stoutest hero. These tasks, which Heracles carried out triumphantly, are known as the twelve labours of Heracles.

One of the jobs was the Cleaning in one day, of the Stables of Augeas the King of the Epeans in Elis. In order to realise fully the unpleasant nature of this task, one must bear in mind the fact that Augeas had 3000 oxen and that the stables had not been cleaned for 30 years. Heracles carried out his part of the performance by turning the Rivers Alpheus and Peneus into the stable yards & stalls.

Hence any task which is too difficult is called a Herculean task and performing a near impossible job is compared to cleaning the Augean Stables.

Dictionary meaning

torment or tease by the sight or promise of the unobtainable.

Mythical Origin

The verb is ultimately derived from the name of Tantalos, mythological king of Phrygia condemned in Hades to stand in water that receded when he tried to drink it and under branches that drew back when he tried to pick the fruit (The Concise Oxford Dictionary).