(1) Calm and peaceful. (2) Happy and successful.

For the Greeks, the halcyon was a bird (probably the kingfisher) that was believed to nest on the Mediterranean Sea around the beginning of winter, and had the power to quiet the rough December waters around Sicily for about two weeks—the “halcyon days.” Thus the adjective *halcyon* came to mean calm and serene. Today people especially use it to describe a golden time in their past.

(1) To follow a winding course. (2) To wander slowly without a specific purpose or direction.

Now and then, geography contributes an ordinary word to the language. The Greek word *maiandros* came from the Maiandros River (now the Menderes River) in western Turkey, which rises in the mountains and flows 240 miles into the Aegean Sea. Meandering is a natural tendency especially in slow- moving rivers on flat ground with fine-grained sand, and the Maiandros was well known for its many windings and wanderings. Roads and trails, like rivers, can be said to meander, but so can relaxed music, lazy writing, and idle thoughts.

Relating to an intense emotional relationship with one's mother and conflict with one's father.

In Greek mythology, the king of Thebes, in response to a dreadful prophecy, abandoned his infant son Oedipus, who was then brought up by shepherds. Grown to manhood, Oedipus slew his father almost accidentally, not recognizing him, and then married his mother. When the shameful truth was discovered, the mother committed suicide and Oedipus blinded himself and went into exile. The psychiatrist Sigmund Freud invented the term *Oedipus complex* to mean a sexual desire that a child normally feels toward the parent of the opposite sex, along with jealous feelings toward the parent of the same sex. In Freud's theory (not accepted by everyone today), lingering oedipal feelings are an essential source of adult personality disorder, and can result in choosing a spouse who closely resembles your father or mother.

To exclude someone from a group by common consent.

In the ancient democracy of Athens, citizens were permitted to vote once a year to exile anyone who they thought might pose a problem to the city-state. The man with the most votes was banished for ten years, even if no one had ever made a single charge against him. Voting was done on *ostraka*—bits of broken pottery, the Greek equivalent of scrap paper—and the process was known as *ostrakizein*. Today the most common kind of *ostracism* is exclusion from a social group. It can be especially painful in school: no more sleepovers, no more party invitations, just lots of whispering behind your back.

(1) A song of joy, praise, tribute, or triumph. (2) A work that praises or honors its subject.

Originally in ancient Greece, a *paian* was a choral hymn to Apollo as the god of healing. More generally, it could be a hymn of thanksgiving, as when, in Homer's *Iliad*, the followers of Achilles sing a paean on the death of his enemy Hector. Paeans could be sung at banquets, at public funerals, to armies departing for battle and fleets leaving the harbor, and in celebrations of military victories.

A speech full of bitter condemnation; a tirade.

In 351–350 B.C., the great Greek orator Demosthenes delivered a series of speeches against King Philip II of Macedon, the so-called *philippikoi logoi* (“speeches regarding Philip”). Three centuries later, in 44–43 B.C., the great Roman orator Cicero delivered a series of speeches against Mark Antony, which soon became known as the *philippica* or *orationes philippicae*, since they were modeled on Demosthenes' attacks. Splendid though both men's speeches were, Demosthenes was eventually exiled by the Macedonians, and Cicero was executed at Mark Antony's orders.

A man with a strong desire for many women.

Satyrs, the minor forest gods of Greek mythology, had the face, torso, and arms of a man, the ears and tail of a goat, and two goatlike legs. Fond of the pleasures associated with Dionysus (or Bacchus), the god of wine, they were full of playful and sometimes violent energies, and spent much of their time chasing the beautiful nature spirits known as nymphs. Satyrs show up over and over in ancient art. The Greek god Pan, with his reed pipes and mischievous delight in life, had the appearance and character of a satyr but greater powers. Notice how *satyr* is pronounced; it's quite different from *satire*.

A fanatical supporter.

In the 1st century A.D., a fanatical sect arose in Judaea to oppose the Roman domination of Palestine. Known as the Zealots, they fought their most famous battle at the great fortress of Masada, where 1,000 defenders took their own lives just as the Romans were about to storm the fort. Over the years, *zealot* came to mean anyone who is passionately devoted to a cause. The adjective *zealous* may describe someone who's merely dedicated and energetic (“a zealous investigator,” “zealous about combating inflation,” etc.). But *zealot* (like its synonym *fanatic*) and *zealotry* (like its synonym *fanaticism*) are used disapprovingly—even while Jews everywhere still honor the memory of those who died at Masada. ```