ESL Blogs

As you may have noticed by now, I like to share the origin of certain words or phrases. I found that the origin of those words or phrases to be fascinating. In this blog, I want to share with you another collection of the origin of certain words based from Greek myth.

Did You Know? :-

1. Narcissist

A simple meaning of narcissist is a person who is in love of themselves. Freud introduced the concept of a narcissist to psychology, a person with an exaggerated sense of uniqueness, obsessed with the dream of boundless success. The word 'narcissist' is originated from Narkissos, the Greek God. It was said that Narkissos was so enarmoured of his own reflection that he could not tear himself away.  

According to a legend, Narkissos never value the love of anyone around him. He was even cruel to them. It was said that he even rejected the love of a nymph called Echo which brought the wrath of Gods. Thus, he was cursed that he would fall in love with his own reflections. Therefore, he kept on gazing at his own reflections and one day drown in the lake and died.

2. Atlas

Atlas as we all know today is a term use for a group of maps. However, Atlas was a Titans God. According to a Greek legend, Atlas personified the quality of endurance. Atlas had brought the wrath of Olympians when he led a rebellion against Zeus. Because of that Atlas had been punished and he had to shoulder the Heaven. 

Another legend said that Atlas was appointed to be the guardian of pillars which held the earth and sky together. He was also the God that shown the art of astronomy. 

3. Echo

Echo means a sound or sounds caused by the reflection of sound waves from a surface back to the listener. It also means a close parallel to an idea, feeling, or event. Echo is originated from the story of Echo, the Greek mountain nymph. According to the legend, Echo the mountain nymph had a very lovely voice and loved to talk excessively. 

Echo liked to distract Zeus' wife Hera with her stories in order for Zeus to sneak away and entertained himself with other mountain nymphs. However, one day Hera found out Echo's role in duping her. Hera punished Echo by taking away her ability to speak, except in repetition of other people's words. Echo eventually dies and leaving her voice to haunt the Earth.

There are many more words that originated from the Greek myths. I will add them as we go along.

My other Did You Know? series:-

1. Did You Know?;  2. Continuation;  3. Another Continuation;  4. Not Another Continuation!; 5. Gosh! Will It Never Ends?;  6. Oh No! Not Another One!;  7. Here Comes Another One;  8. Another One?;  9. One, Two, Eighty Six?; 10. Punishment? OMG!; 11. Is This A Swan Song?;  12 John Has It All?; 13. It's All In The Myth;  14. This Is Random;  15. It's A Dog's World;  16.  It's Also A Cat's World;  17. Is It A Mouse World Too?;  18. Dutch Flavour