Opening Pandora's Box: Phrases We Borrowed from the Classics and the Stories Behind Them

by Ferdie Addis

We regularly employ classically-derived expressions in our everyday language, yet many of us have little understanding of the origin of these common phrases. Now, an incomplete classical education need no longer be your Achilles heel.

Opening Pandora's Box offers a light-hearted yet fascinating look at the stories behind the expressions. For example, did you know that the phrase 'the face that launched a thousand ships' originates from the story of the kidnapping of Helen of Troy, but the actual line comes from a poem by Christopher Marlowe?

Opening Pandora's Box provides a useful introduction to classical mythology as well as giving an insight into our language.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Reference, Mythology, Classics, Language, Ancient History

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Ferdie Addis has loved classics since he first got his hands on a picture book version of the Odyssey aged four. After a degree in Greek and Latin at Oxford University, and a brief stint as a researcher for TV documentaries, he's extremely happy to be back where he started, reading and writing about the myths and legends of the ancient world.

- http://www.bookish.com/authors/ferdie...

Reviews

[Ellie Denniss · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’re a fan of Greek and Roman mythology, then you’ll be taken on an educational and fun journey with Opening Pandora’s Box.
With hilarious explanations and illustrations depicting famous everyday expressions, Opening Pandora’s Box was entertaining and well executed. Despite the amount of stories that contain Greek and Roman characters with similar names (that also often crossover into each other’s explanations), I wasn’t bored or flooded with information. The writing wasn’t complicated, and it was easy to digest as each expression would take up 1 page maximum.

Probably one of my favourite educational non-fiction books I’ve read. No faults from me. Definitely give it a try!

[Nisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️

•

This is so insightful??? I might want to take this book anywhere I go just for the sake to look cool and smart lmao

[Berkant Bağcı · Rating 3 out of 5]

GÜNÜMÜZDE KULLANILAN KAVRAMLARIN KÖKENLERİ NEREYE DAYANIR?
Ferdie Addis, deneme, edebiyat ve felsefe kategorilerinde kitaplar yazmış bir yazardır. Oxford'dan Antik Yunan ve Antik Roma kültürü üzerine lisans yaparak mezun olmuş, ardından mitolojiler, efsaneler ve önemli olaylar üzerine kitaplar yazmıştır. Dilimize çevrilen iki kitabı bulunmaktadır (Bir Hayalim Var ve Pandora'nın Kutusu).

Pandora'nın Kutusu, günlük hayatta bilinçli ya da bilinçsizce kullandığımız kavramların ve deyimlerin (Hipokrat Yemini, Oedipus Kompleksi, Elektra Kompleksi, Demokles'in Kılıcı, Gordion Düğümü, "Et tu, Brute? -Sen de mi Brutus?"- ve Pandora'nın Kutusu gibi) anlamlarını sunan ve bu kavramların/deyimlerin kökenlerini mitolojik metinler eşliğinde -grafiklerin ve çizelgelerin yardımıyla da- öğreten eğlenceli bir kitap -bir yandan ders kitabı diyebiliriz.
Ayrıca, mitolojik hikayelerin ana unsurları da zaman zaman karikatürize edilerek mizahi bir dille aktarılıyor. Bu da tabii ki okuma seyrine eğlence katıyor.
Yine hikayelerde ve metinlerde verilen referanslar, kaynaklar oldukça güzel. Bu açıdan listeme yeni kitaplar eklendikçe ekleniyor, maddi açıdan batıyorum.
Okunması ve anlaşılması açısından gayet kolay bir kitap olduğunu söylemeliyim. Bu sebeple herkese tavsiye edebilirim. Zaman zaman yazım hatalarıyla karşılaşsam da, bu eksiler, diğer artılar tarafından kapanıyor.

[Annabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was nine when Greek mythology first hooked its talons on me, via a deity I will eternally be grateful to, my reading/language teacher Ms Reyes. And to this day, the saga of Odysseus's ten-year journey home, home to Penelope, Telemachus, to Argos--is still THE story to beat.

Reading Opening Pandora's Box was an enjoyable recap, an index of sorts of the mythological and historical stories I have read on Greek and Roman culture and literature so far. But best of all was discovering new characters--Greeks and Romans had epic casts of thousands--and additional details to the bios of old favorite literary heroes and nemeses. This is recommended reading to anyone who loves to read. Regardless of genres you're partial to, you're bound to find its genesis, inspiration, or model in this book.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of the book left me hopeful with so many modern phrases deriving from the classics, but this book is better treated as an introduction to key myths and historical events of the classical world. Many of the "phrases" are so obscure outside of the field of classics itself that I've never heard them used otherwise. It is alphabetically ordered with a useful index and the passages are succinct making it a reasonable reference book for general terms, ideologies, myths, legends and historical events.

[Henry Manampiring · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's passable toilet reading, for information

[Joel Duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was excellent teeth brushing material. I have only had snapshots of mythologies of the ancient world, but they have always interested me. Medusa the Gorgon with the hissing head of snakes, Zeus with unreasonable sense of justice and a fetish for lightning, Achilles who could not be slain except for his heel... Poor guy.

These stories of mythological creatures and Gods have a profound poetical value, that if you don't dig into the logic and believability of them, can also be quite powerful. It is thought that ancient Greeks believed every bit of history before their time to be true, including these outlandishly insane stories of Gods eating pregnant women alive and creatures turning into oceans, or reeds or other natural occurrences.

One thing for sure is the ancient world was built upon war and honour. Ancient rulers could be ordered to kill... themselves. Some would be made to fall on their own swords, some would be handed poison, some to slit their wrists in a bath. It was a sick and brutal world, we may have some sickos now, but it was nothing compared to then. Every ruler being terrified their own family would kill them to take the throne. And, as their gods were as violent and flawed as the people who worshipped them, their only source of comfort was the oracles that would tell of future victories and events (obviously they wouldn't actually know times not yet seen, they would just say things in a way that couldn't be disputed no matter the outcome).

It has been a fascinating and bedazzling ride. I didn't realise just how much of our language came from these Greek and Roman myths. It has also made me want to read more, about these myths and more from this author. My lack of a final star was due to ridiculous farcical drawings that weren't funny, it would have been better to have something serious that encapsulated the text. But I enjoyed the light hearted narrative style, it was just because the drawings were OTT.

[Justine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 étoiles

J'ai lu ce livre en français alors qu'à l'origine, il est écrit en anglais : je pense qu'il a donc été adapté. Je doute que les deux langues possèdent les mêmes expressions venues de l'Antiquité : je suis curieuse de lire aussi la version originale pour le vérifier !

Je suis contente d'avoir appris quelques petites choses ici - j'ai quelques connaissances sur l'histoire et la culture antique, donc je connaissais l'origine de certaines expressions, mais ça ne fait jamais de mal de se rafraîchir la mémoire. J'ai été surprise par certaines entrées, comme "junesque", mot que je ne connais pas du tout et que je n'ai trouvé nulle part ailleurs pour l'instant.

Ceci dit, j'ai trouvé que d'autres entrées étaient un peu vagues, voire pas tout à fait correctes (elles sont rares, mais j'étais un peu déçue). L'autrice écrit avec son filtre, évidemment, donc ses opinions passent dans certains articles, ce que j'ai parfois trouvé un peu gênant. Elle utilise également l'humour parfois, ce qui n'a pas toujours fonctionné.


Je suis contente tout de même contente de l'avoir lu !

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is from a wider series of books - not entirely sure of the series name but generally it focuses on the things we have forgotten or lost over time - in many cases from our time at school.

So the title pretty much says it all - so why the high rating - I think for me its the fact that it is both educational and fun and strangely relevant - there are so many phrases and terms I not only recognise but in some cases use and its always great to understand where they have come from.

This like the others in the series is great to just dip in and out of (although I got on a bit of a role and did the whole book) where you can focus on what interests you and speed over those parts that do not.

I will say that the contents is not just phrases there are some single word descriptions but really it is splitting hairs over a great book

[Gareth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good and informative

Although short, I enjoyed this book. However it refers mainly to Greek mythology which was what I searched when it came up so I can't complain!

There are some good nuggets of information in here that would go down well when you're talking about events I the past as a lot of things are derived from early Greek teachings.

All in all its a good informative book. I probably knew less than half of the phrases however it was still interesting read.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and easy to read, this book is more a 'fun fact' book than an academic point of reference. Written with obvious basis and a distinct style, this book is a introduction to ancient Greek and Roman culture and mythology, and inspires the reader to read more serious and complete texts about the ancient Greek and Roman religion. Unfortunately there was a couple of formatting mistakes, but this book was still enjoyable to read, yet not overly detailed.

[Miss Ratatootee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book talks about the phrases or words that we used til now from the Greeks. These phrases and words are borrowed ones. What made me read more of it is because it has story behind as to why the words are in the dictionaries and we used it from time to time without noticing.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

When there was access to Internet somebody thought that another dust support made of paper would be what Humanity needed.

[Paul Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another book for the bathroom. It gives you a quick run down on some of the Greek and Roman myths and historical events which influenced our language and its wvolution.

[Sarah Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very entertaining examination of some commonly used phrases in the English language and their origins in (mostly) Greek and Roman mythology. Easy to read, informative and fun.

[Danse macabre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy and informative. Learned a lot about mythology and it was overall very fun and insightful.

[smbrady15 · Rating 4 out of 5]

very interesting. i learnt a lot.

[bowiesbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved this! Was such an interesting and informative guide.

[Alicja S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative, weirdly entertaining for a glorified fact file

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful

[Hüseyin Çötel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gurultulu ortamlarda fokuslanamadiginiz ya da 10-20 dk araliklari doldurmak icin guzel bir kitap herkesin bilmedigi birkac yeni sey ogretebilir diye dusunuyorum.

[Ellen-Arwen Tristram · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finding it hard to give a review and rating for 'Opening Pandora's' Box, because it wasn't the book I had thought it would be. I bought it almost a year ago, and had kind of forgotten what it was. I thought it was going to be a collection of Greek and Roman stories, myths and legends, comfortably reminding us of names we know so well, but never knew their full stories.

Well, I suppose it was kind of like that but in a different format. The way it worked (which I would have know if I'd reread the front cover/blurb) is taking specific phrases that we use nowadays and explain the stories these come from. This is quite cool because you get to know the origin of some things that you don't know:
eg. Amazons (as in the women) comes from Greece where they thought there was a tribe of both scary and alluring women living on the borders of modern day Russia (bit random)

Then, there are the really obvious things that you do know:
eg.The word Aphrodisiacs come from the Greek Goddess of love and sex, Aphrodite.

And then there are there are the random phrases than you've never heard of, but are still somewhat interesting:
eg. A Nestor is the oldest and wisest in a group, a senior and experienced adviser. This comes from a hero most famous for his moderately distinguished exploits in a long war between the Centaurs and the Lapiths.

Now, these are cool because they're new stories. But... it's not phrases we borrow from the classics - at least they're not phrases I've ever come across. I know that what I'd hoped for but they're so bitty that you just don't know enough to make it interesting enough.
eg. A Stentorian Roar Stantor was a very loud man, and got into a shouting match with Hermes...

That's it?

As a book, it sort of does what is says on the cover, although we don't always use the phrases, but it's not brilliant writing. And in terms of what I wanted it didn't cover it at all.

So, difficult to rate. I'll give it two because of some of the lack of detail, and my disappointment, as well as the poor writing.

[Lola · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't think I read the back of this book well enough because I was quite disappointed with the content. I felt like the stories behind phrases we borrowed weren't as deep and research heavy as I normally like. The answers to the phrases we borrowed were there, I'm not disputing that I just thought they'd be a bit longer and more interesting. That being said I read a fair whack of Greek Mythology, Classics and Ancient Greek texts so perhaps I'm simply not the target audience.

Two stars because I didn't like the tone and felt like I didn't learn anything new.

[Natascha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book (like the titel suggests) gives an overview and explaination of the phrases and words in modern language that are rooted in Classical culture. I find it a very informative and fun read. The information about each phrase is not to overwhelming so the material isn't only destined for a experts in the field of Classical history.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thin volume revisiting the origins of everyday phrases and terms and how they originated from some of the earliest European stories - Roman and Greek gods - histories and their writers. One for the language buffs - you probably know most of these - "ides of march" , "sword of damocles", "to be struck by cupids arrow" etc - but always good to have a refresher.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whether one wishes to refresh one's knowledge of some of the most interesting bits of classical mythology and history or to learn the source of phrases and peek into the creative wealth of the Classical heritage this book does the job admirably.

Loved it.

[Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pleasure to drop into for the purposes of reminding oneself of the meaning of phrases once investigated and of being jolted into recognising other familiar phrases the origins of which you've never bothered to track. Easily digestible which adds to the delight reading it occasions.

[Richard Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A compendium of words and expressions derived from Classical Greek and Roman cultures presented in dictionary format. The word/phrase is given first followed by its contemporary usage. Finally the historical background is cited. A nice refresher course of the classics.

[Dinah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice book that is more of an encyclopedia than an anthology. However, it still got across the point of many myths, debunked some prominent misconceptions surrounding some myths, and had wit and humor. Not a long book, but worth the read!

[S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable. Didn't need the cartoons.