Everyday words with unexpected roots in mythology

Just as many common phrases derive from outdated traditions, many common words derive their meaning through their association with ancient mythology. And we're not just talking about the days of the week or the names of the planets. As it turns out, there are some much less obvious ones. So today, we're going to take a look at common words with surprising mythological origins. OK, time to take the words right out of antiquity's mouth. In Greek mythology, Arachne was a weaver who was so skilled at her craft that she challenged the goddess Athena to a weave-off. If you think that was a bad idea Well, Arachne could have used a friend like you. Among her many responsibilities, Athena was the goddess of warfare and handicrafts, which meant two things. She never lost a game of Risk, and she did not back down from weave-offs with mortals. Depending on which version of the story you read, when the two were finished weaving their tapestries, Athena was either jealous of how good Arachne's tapestry was or scandalized by how naughty it was. Either way, she did not have a sense of humor about it. At the end of the story, Athena tears Arachne's tapestry apart and Arachne takes her own life in despair. It would have gone down as the worst ending of a reality competition show ever, but Athena decided to be merciful and turned Arachne into a spider instead. Today, Arachne is where we get the zoological term arachnida. Cereal is popular in modern times. Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, is not. Poor Ceres should have made a hit record. Ceres was the Roman version of the Greek goddess Demeter, and she presided over things like grain, crops, the harvest, and motherhood in general. Her name, which is ultimately derived from the Proto-Indo-European word for grain, is the root of the modern word cereal. In fact, cereal literally translates to of Ceres. So she still has dominion over grains in the sense that she now dominates the cereal aisle at Food Lion. Frigg, who was associated with things like wisdom and foresight, was Odin's wife in Norse mythology and Rene Russo in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Because when religions go out of style, they become comic books. Frigg's name was recorded in a variety of spellings, and it is sometimes equated with Freyja. But regardless of how you spell it, her name is the namesake of everyone's favorite day. Friday literally means Frigg's Day, appropriately the day of the week when everyone frigs off by around 4:30. It's a big deal to have a street named after you. Heck, if you get elected mayor or make enough Westerns, they might even slap your name on an airport. But imagine being able to say that music was named after you. Not one particular song, but the very concept of music itself. That's some serious bragging rights. The closest we've got is Barry, I Write the Songs, Manilow. The word music is derived from the Greek word musike, which literally means art of the muses. As the goddesses of the arts in Greek myth, the muses were often invoked by playwrights and storytellers as they began their tales. For example, such an invocation can be found in the first line of the Iliad, which goes, Sing, goddess, the anger of Peleus' son Achilles, and its devastation. So not only is all of music named after the muses, but they are constantly getting name dropped. We get it, Homer. You met the muses at a party in Silver Lake last year. The Graces, also known as the Charities, were Greek goddesses that symbolized the good things in life, like beauty, charm, and being excellent to each other. The myths are inconsistent as to how many Graces there are, but they're often grouped into a trio that includes Aglaia, or splendor, Thalia, or good cheer, and Euphrosyne, or mirth. Although that lineup presumably changed over subsequent albums and reunion tours. In some tellings, there's a Charity named Charis. And in others, Charis is used as an alternate name for Aglaia. In any case, that's another point on the board for ancient goddesses influencing modern English, the language, not the band. Many astrologists will tell you that Jupiter is a lucky sign to be born under because it imparts good fortune and joy and because you're paying them money for good news. Whether or not you believe in astrology is up to you, but people in the past certainly did. Jovial used to be a word reserved only for those born under Jupiter's sign. It means of or relating to Jove, which is another alias of the god Jupiter. Over the years, jovial has evolved into a general term for anyone with a joyful, charming nature, which is weird, because it seems like most myths begin with Jupiter being off about something. Tuesday means Tyr's Day, and it's named in honor of the Norse god Tyr, also called Tiu or Ziu. He is often associated with the Roman war god Mars, though his role in Germanic mythology is a bit murkier. Tyr is best remembered for letting Fenris, the wolf eat his hand. Apparently, that was enough to get a day of the week named after you back then. Nowadays, you just get a show on TruTV. The word hypnosis means put to sleep, and it is derived from the name of Hypnos, the Greek personification of sleep. Hypnos is the son of Nyx, the goddess of night, and the twin brother of Thanatos, the god of death. Thanatos was presumably the moody twin. Hypnos even has three sons who bring dreams to all the beings and non-beings of the Earth, Morpheus to humans, Icelos to animals, and Phantasos to inanimate objects. Kind of sounds like Phantasos got the short end of the stick there. What kind of dreams do you bring to a desk lamp? In Greek mythology, Echo was an oread, or a mountain nymph, who loved the sound of her own voice. You know, like an ancient podcast host. Ovid writes that Zeus would get Echo to distract his wife, Hera, with long, drawn-out conversations and flattery while he was out raising hell with the fellas. Of course, Hera inevitably found out, and she cursed Echo to only ever be able to speak the last words she'd heard, which is both cruel and inconvenient. In the end, Echo ended up praying for her life to end. Aphrodite granted the prayer, but she liked Echo's voice so much that she kept it around to haunt the Earth's hollow places. That's kind of creepy, Aphrodite. A horned god of the fields, Faunus was one of the oldest of the Roman deities. Often merged with the Greek god Pan, Faunus was the god of the fields, the forest, and the plain, which all sound like prime real estate. He had a counterpart named Fauna. And it's from the two of them that we get Fauna, the word referring to the animals of the Earth. On a similar note, Flora, the term we use for a region's plant life, is derived from the name of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowering plants. Thursday is named for Thor. Judging by his appearance in the Avengers movies, Thursday is Thor's abday, which he clearly never skips. But if you only know Thor from the Marvel films, then prepare yourself, because the mythological version is a bit weirder. While he still gets into scrapes with Loki, the god of mischief, mythological Thor also has a sweet belt that doubles his strength. And the haft of his mighty hammer, Mjolnir, is actually so tiny, he can't really hold it comfortably. They left that detail out of the movies. Friedrich Sertürner experimented with opium in the early 19th century, believing that the active ingredient could be distilled for medicinal purposes. We imagine this got him invited to a lot of parties, which he probably didn't attend because he was too busy inventing morphine, which probably got him invited to even more parties. Sertürner eventually planned to name the resulting solution Morpheus, but eventually decided to follow the medical standards for naming alkaloids and threw an I-N-E on the end. Morpheus is the Roman god of dreams and the patron saint of tiny sunglasses. According to Ovid, he's the son of Somnus, the personification of sleep, which actually makes a lot of sense. Morpheus liked to appear in people's dreams in human form, which is kind of like metaphysically sliding into someone's DMs. The word martial, as in martial arts, martial law, court martial, martial matters, et cetera, is derived from the name of Mars, the Roman god of war and namesake of the fourth planet from the sun. In fact, martial literally translates to of war. Though he is often equated with a Greek god of war, Ares, the Roman Mars was far more revered. The Romans saw Mars as both a proud, valiant military leader and an agricultural guardian. Meanwhile, the Greeks saw Ares as more as the tempestuous spirit of battle. And quite frankly, they were never that into him. As with Thor and Frigg, modern audiences are probably mostly familiar with Odin as he appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But Odin has been around for a long, long time. In fact, archaeologists recently found an inscription on a gold disk that proves Odin was being worshipped as early as the fourth century CE. That is really old school. Or would that be Odin's school? Odin is the father of the Aesir, and he's associated with a bunch of things like wisdom, sorcery, poetry, and war. The eclectic range of interest there. His name in Old English is Woden. In Old Saxon, it's Wodan. In the Old High German, he's Wotan. So Wednesday just means Wodan's Day or Odin's Day, the day when the Allfather orders pizza and watches the game. The name Saturday means Saturn's Day, and it's named for the Roman god of dissolution and plenty. So you know, not a bad portfolio. Though the Roman pantheon of gods is generally analogous with the Greek pantheon, Saturn's relationship to his son Jupiter is less adversarial than the one shared by Zeus and his father Cronus in Greek mythology. Although you never would have guessed that by looking at the famous Francisco Goya painting Saturn Devouring His Son, which is a picture of exactly what it sounds like. When discussing matters of love, the Greeks didn't just use one blanket term. They realized one kind of love could be very distinct from another. So they were careful to use unique words to describe each one. For instance, philia is the kind of love you feel for your friends and family. Ludus is the playful, flirtatious love experienced by young people. Agape refers to the selfless love one feels for their fellow humans. Pragma is the love felt between long-term couples. And philautia is love of the self. Eros, named after the god of love and sex, refers to passionate physical love that can be fun but risky, like rollerblading. It's from this love that we get the word erotic and Madonna's fifth studio album.