A very handsome young man.

Adonis, like Narcissus (see narcissism), was a beautiful youth in Greek mythology. He was loved by both Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, and Persephone, goddess of the underworld. One day while hunting, he was killed by a wild boar. In answer to Aphrodite's pleas, Zeus allowed him to spend half the year with her and half in the underworld. Today a man called an Adonis probably has strikingly fine features, low body fat, rippling muscles —and a certain vain attitude of overconfidence. Adonises should beware; the boar that killed Adonis was sent by either the jealous Artemis (goddess of hunting) or the envious Ares (god of war).

A tall, strong, often masculine woman.

In Greek mythology, an Amazon was a member of a race of women warriors. One of the famous labors of Heracles (Hercules) was to obtain the sash of the Amazon queen Hippolyta, and the hero Theseus married Hippolyta's sister. The Amazon River got its name when, in 1542, the first Europeans to descend the river were attacked by Indian warriors who, even at close range, they believed to be women. The mystery of these warriors continues to this day. However impressive a figure they cut, though, not every tall and strong woman today would take it as a compliment to be called an amazon.

An often grotesque creature of the imagination.

In Greek mythology, the Chimera was a fire-breathing she-monster with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a dragon's tail, which laid waste the countryside in southwestern Turkey. It was finally killed by the hero Bellerophon, whose flying horse, Pegasus, enabled him to attack from the air. Over time, *chimera* came to be used for any imaginary monster made up of strange and mismatched parts; today it's the name of several species of truly bizarre-looking fish. But more commonly a chimera is a fantasy, an illusion, a figment of the imagination, or a dream that will never come true.

(1) A container shaped like a hollow horn full of fruits, vegetables, and ears of grain. (2) An abundance of something desirable.

The Latin term *cornu copiae* meant “horn of plenty,” and *cornucopia* and *horn of plenty* have both been used in English since the 16th century. Both terms refer to a hollow goat's horn, or a wicker basket shaped like one, overflowing with produce from the harvest. The cornucopia has been used as a decorative image to represent abundance since at least the 5th century B.C., when it represented a gift given by the infant god Zeus to his beloved nurse: a broken goat's horn that would always magically be filled with whatever she wanted. In the U.S., cornucopias are often seen on altars, in store-window displays, and as table centerpieces, especially at harvesttime or Thanksgiving.

A place or condition of ideal happiness; paradise.

This word came into Latin from the Greek *Elysion*. In classical mythology, Elysium, or the *Elysian fields*, was the home of the blessed after death, the final resting place of the souls of the heroic and the pure. So it's easy to see how the word came to mean any place or state of bliss or delight. When we try to picture heaven, many of us probably see a lovely park; the great boulevard of Paris was named for the beautiful park that originally bordered it: the Champs-Elysées, or Elysian Fields.

A person with cultivated taste, especially for food and drink; a gourmet.

The Greek philosopher Epicurus was known for his original thinking about the nature of matter, but he's best remembered for his ideas about pleasure as the chief aim of life. By pleasure Epicurus chiefly meant the absence of pain and anxiety. However, over the years *Epicureanism* has come to mean a delight in fine sensual pleasures, and today an epicure is someone with refined taste, especially in food and wine. To display your own refined taste in language, you might try using *epicure* and *epicurean* in place of the overused *gourmet*.

A situation in which many people leave a place at the same time.

The second book of the Old Testament tells of the departure of Moses and the Israelites from Egypt and their difficult journey across the Sinai Desert to Mount Sinai, from which they would eventually complete their journey to their home in Palestine. The book's original Hebrew name was Shemot, but it's known to English-speakers as Exodus, from the Greek *exodos*, “departure.” Leon Uris chose the name *Exodus* for his powerful novel about the founding of Israel in the years after World War II, since the new state's postwar settlers had departed from many parts of the world for their new home in Palestine.

An ugly, repulsive, or terrifying woman.

The Gorgons were three monstrous sisters in Greek mythology, the most famous of whom was Medusa. They had snakes for hair, and anyone who looked directly at them was immediately turned to stone. Medusa herself was finally beheaded by the hero Perseus, who avoided looking straight at her by instead watching her reflection in his mirrorlike shield. Today the familiar types of jellyfish, with long snakelike tentacles descending from their headlike bodies, are known as medusas. ```