The Greek word for “spider” is *arachne*, and, according to Greek mythology, the original arachnid was a girl named Arachne. A marvelous weaver, she made the mistake of claiming she was better at her craft than the goddess Athena. In a contest between the two, she angered the goddess by weaving a remarkable tapestry showing the gods behaving badly. As punishment, Athena changed Arachne into a spider, fated to spend her life weaving. With their eight legs, arachnids are easily distinguished from the six-legged insects, on which they feed by injecting digesting juices and then sucking up the liquefied remains.

A musical instrument similar to an organ in which whistles are sounded by steam or compressed air.

To the ancient Greeks, the Muses were nine goddesses, each of whom was the spirit of one or more of the arts and sciences. Calliope was the Muse of heroic or epic poetry, who inspired poets to write such epics as the *Iliad* and the *Odyssey.* Since the lengthy epics were generally sung from beginning to end, she was responsible for a great deal of musical reciting. But she wouldn't necessarily have approved of having her name used for the hooting organlike instrument that was invented in America around 1855. Calliopes gave a festive air to the great showboats that floated up and down the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers giving theatrical performances; the loudest could supposedly be heard eight miles away, attracting customers from all around. Today they are mostly heard on merry-go-rounds and at circuses.

A wood nymph.

The term *dryad* comes from the Greek word for “oak tree.” As the Greeks saw it, every tree (not only oaks) had a spirit. The best known of the dryads was Daphne. The beautiful daughter of a river god, she was desired by the god Apollo; as he was about to capture her, she prayed to her father to save her, and he transformed her into a laurel tree. In her honor, Apollo commanded that the poet who won the highest prize every year be crowned with a laurel wreath. The Greeks' respect for trees unfortunately failed to keep Greece's forests from shrinking greatly over the centuries, and those that remain produce little wood of good quality.

Animal life, especially the animals that live naturally in a given area or environment.

Faunus and Fauna were the Roman woodland god and goddess for whom animals were a particular concern. Faunus was the Roman equivalent of the Greek god Pan, and like Pan, he had goats' legs. Their goat-legged helpers, called *fauns,* were known for their love of pleasure and mischief. The fauna of a continent are often very similar across a broad east-west band; from north to south, however, they may vary greatly.

Plant life, especially the flowering plants that live naturally in a specific area or environment.

*Flora* means “flower” in Latin, and Flora was the Roman goddess of spring and flowering plants, especially wildflowers and plants not raised for food. She was shown as a beautiful young woman in a long, flowing dress with flowers in her hair, strewing flowers over the earth. English preserves her name in such words as *floral, floret,* and *flourish.* A region's flora may range from tiny violets to towering trees. The common phrase “flora and fauna” covers just about every visible living thing.

(1) Extremely strong. (2) Extremely extensive, intense, or difficult.

The hero Hercules, son of the god Zeus by a human mother, was famous for his superhuman strength. To pacify the wrath of the god Apollo, he was forced to perform twelve enormously difficult tasks, or “labors.” These ranged from descending into the underworld to bring back the terrifying dog that guarded its entrance to destroying the many-headed monster called the Hydra. Any job or task that's extremely difficult or calls for enormous strength is therefore called herculean.

A source of many troubles.

The god Prometheus stole fire from heaven to give to the human race, which originally consisted only of men. To punish humanity, the other gods created the first woman, the beautiful Pandora. As a gift, Zeus gave her a box, which she was told never to open. However, as soon as he was out of sight she took off the lid, and out swarmed all the troubles of the world, never to be recaptured. Only Hope was left in the box, stuck under the lid. Anything that looks ordinary but may produce unpredictable harmful results can thus be called a Pandora's box.

Two equally dangerous alternatives.

The Strait of Messina is the narrow passage between the island of Sicily and the “toe” of Italy's “boot.” In Greek mythology, two monsters hovered on either side of the strait. Scylla, a female monster with six snake-like heads, each with pointed teeth, barked like a dog from the rocks on the Italian side. Charybdis, on the Sicilian side, caused a whirlpool by swallowing the waters of the sea three times a day. When Odysseus attempted to sail between them, he encountered disaster on both sides. Being caught between Scylla and Charybdis is a lot like being between a rock and a hard place. ```