(1) A plant that produces grain that can be eaten as food, or the grain it produces. (2) The food made from grain.

The Roman goddess Ceres, the equivalent of the Greek Demeter, was a calm goddess who didn't take part in the quarrels of the other gods. Her particular responsibility was the food-giving plants, and for that reason the food grains came to carry her name. Cereals of the ancient Romans included wheat, barley, spelt, oats, and millet—but not corn (maize), which was a cereal of the Americas.

Having mature, poised, and dignified beauty.

Juno was the wife of Jupiter, the chief of the Roman gods. As the first among goddesses, her power gave her particular dignity; and as goddess of women and marriage, she was a mature matron. But such younger goddesses as Diana, goddess of the hunt, perhaps came closer to today's ideals of slim and athletic female beauty.

Having to do with war and military life.

Mars was the Roman god of war and one of the patron gods of Rome itself. He was responsible for everything military, from warriors to weapons to marching music. Thus, *martial arts* are skills of combat and self-defense also practiced as sport. When *martial law* is declared, a country's armed forces take over the functions of the police. And a *court-martial* is a military court or trial.

New or creative in a daring way.

Prometheus was a Titan, a generation older than Zeus. When Zeus overthrew his own father Cronus and seized power, Prometheus fought on the side of the gods and against his fellow Titans. But when Zeus later wanted to destroy the race of humans, Prometheus saved them by stealing fire for them from the gods. He also taught them how to write, farm, build houses, read the stars and weather, cure themselves when sick, and tame animals—in short, all the arts and skills that make humans unique. So inventive was he that anything of great creativity and originality can still be called Promethean. But Prometheus had taken a terrible risk; enraged by his disobedience, Zeus had him chained to a rocky cliff, where for many long centuries an eagle daily tore at his liver.

Endless and difficult, involving many disappointments.

Reputedly the cleverest man on earth, King Sisyphus of Corinth tricked the gods into bringing him back to life after he had died. For this they punished him by sending him back to the underworld, where he must eternally roll a huge rock up a long, steep hill, only to watch it rollback to where he started. Something Sisyphean demands the same kind of unending, thankless, and ultimately unsuccessful efforts.

Having great size, strength, or power; colossal.

In Greek mythology, the Titans were the generation of giant creators that produced the younger, stronger, cleverer gods, who soon overpowered and replaced them (see *Promethean* above). In 1911 the largest ship that had ever been built was christened the *Titanic* for its unmatched size and strength. But the name may have proved unlucky; on its maiden voyage in 1912 a massive iceberg ripped a fatal hole in the great ship, and it sank in the icy waters off Newfoundland.

(1) A being with a human upper body and the lower body of a fish; a merman. (2) Any of various large mollusks with a heavy, conical shell.

Triton was originally the son of the sea god Poseidon (or Neptune). A guardian of the fish and other creatures of the sea, he is usually shown as hearty, muscular, and cheerful. Like his father, he often carries a trident (three-pronged fork) and may ride in a chariot drawn by seahorses. Blowing on his conch shell, he creates the roar of the ocean. As a decorative image, Tritons are simply the male version of mermaids. The handsome seashells that bear their name are the very conchs on which they blow. Triton has also given his name to the planet Neptune's largest moon.

To treat crude or synthetic rubber or plastic so that it becomes elastic and strong and resists decay.

The Roman god Vulcan (the Greek Hephaestus) was in charge of fire and the skills that use fire, especially blacksmithing. When Charles Goodyear almost accidentally discovered how to vulcanize rubber in 1839, he revolutionized the rubber industry. He called his process *vulcanization* because it used fire to heat a mix of rubber and sulfur. Vulcanized rubber was soon being used for shoes and other products, and in the Civil War balloons made of this new, stronger rubber carried Union spies over the Confederate armies. The material's importance increased greatly over the years, and today vulcanized rubber remains in use for automobile tires and numerous other products.