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English Phrases, Idioms, Greek Myths & Brand Names
Did you know your favourite brands like Nike and Amazon are named after Greek myths? Today we learn English without feeling like it’s studying!
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Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world.
⭐ Robert McKee
In this lesson, you’ll uncover how names like Nike, Amazon, and Hermes all come from fascinating Greek myths—and you’ll learn why understanding these connections can help you with English vocabulary, pronunciation, and even cultural insights.
Don’t forget to listen until the end, you’ll not only recognize these words, but also use them with confidence in your own conversations. Don’t miss the chance to deepen your understanding of English while exploring these exciting stories hidden in the language you hear in every day English conversation!
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More About This Lesson
In this lesson, we explore how ancient Greek myths are often used in modern brand names. You’ll improve your English pronunciation and learn new words and idioms used in everyday conversation, while discovering interesting stories behind famous brands.
The gods too are fond of a joke.
⭐ Aristotle
This lesson will help you speak better English and understand more words. Here’s what you’ll learn:
- How Greek mythology influences modern English vocabulary and brand names
- Insight into cultural references that enrich your understanding of English
- New vocabulary related to mythology, branding, and everyday language
- Listening comprehension with a native English speaker’s natural pace
- Your pronunciation by hearing English names derived from Greek mythology
- About idioms and phrases rooted in Greek mythology used in modern English
- Your knowledge of Western culture, enhancing your overall language skills
- Connections between ancient stories and contemporary media references
- A exposed to a variety of topics, helping to build a diverse English vocabulary
- About English language resources like books and TV shows for further study
In this lesson, you’ll get better at understanding and using common English brand names correctly, which helps when talking about products. As you improve your English, you’ll also learn about history and culture, making it more fun and meaningful. This lesson connects old stories to modern life, showing how culture is important for learning English, not just grammar. You’ll see how these stories still matter today, helping you become a more complete English speaker.
Don’t miss out on more of our interesting English listening lessons! Follow and subscribe to our podcast, wherever you listen or watch and improve your English skills the easy way.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- How does Greek mythology influence modern English language and culture?
Greek mythology has a significant impact on modern English and Western culture. You’ll find references in brand names, idioms, and everyday language. Learning these connections can greatly enhance your understanding of British English and help you speak more fluently. By familiarizing yourself with Greek myths, you’ll pick up on cultural references that native speakers use, making your conversations more natural and engaging. - What are some common English idioms derived from Greek mythology?
There are many English idioms rooted in Greek mythology. You might hear phrases like “Achilles’ heel” (a weakness), “Pandora’s box” (source of troubles), or “Herculean task” (a very difficult job). By learning these idioms, you’ll sound more like a native British English speaker. Don’t be afraid to use them in your conversations – it’s a great way to show your language proficiency and cultural knowledge. - How can learning about Greek mythology improve my English vocabulary?
Studying Greek mythology can significantly boost your English vocabulary. Many English words have Greek roots or are directly borrowed from mythological terms. For example, “chronology” (from Chronos, god of time) or “aphrodisiac” (from Aphrodite, goddess of love). By understanding these connections, you’ll find it easier to guess the meanings of new words and remember them better. This expanded vocabulary will help you express yourself more precisely in British English. - Why are so many brand names inspired by Greek mythology?
Many companies choose names from Greek mythology because these names carry powerful associations and are universally recognized. For instance, Nike (goddess of victory) or Amazon (fierce female warriors). Understanding these connections can help you better appreciate branding and marketing in English-speaking cultures. It’s also a fun way to practice your English – try to spot mythological references in advertisements and product names you encounter. - How can I incorporate Greek mythology into my English learning routine?
There are many enjoyable ways to include Greek mythology in your English studies. You could read simplified versions of myths, watch movies or TV shows based on these stories, or listen to podcasts discussing mythological themes. Try retelling these stories in your own words to practice speaking. You can also play word association games, linking modern terms to their mythological origins. Remember, the goal is to make learning fun and relevant to modern British English usage.
Most Unusual Words:
- Myth: a traditional story, often involving gods or magical beings
- Mythology: a collection of myths from a particular culture
- Legend: a very old story that may not be completely true
- Dubbing: adding a new soundtrack to a film or TV show in a different language
- Brandname: the name given to a product or company
- Proliferate: to increase quickly in number
- Dubious: not certain or slightly doubtful
- Winged: having wings
- Mermaid: a mythical creature with a woman’s upper body and a fish’s tail
- Pegasus: a mythical flying horse with wings
Most Frequently Used Words:
| Word | Count |
|---|---|
| Greek | 27 |
| Ancient | 16 |
| About | 12 |
| English | 11 |
| Brand | 11 |
| Which | 11 |
| These | 10 |
| Names | 7 |
| Myths | 7 |
Listen To The Audio Lesson Now
Transcript: How Greek Myths Shape Brands Like Nike And Pandora-Learn English
Words and Brandnames with Ancient Greek Origins
Hi there and welcome to this Adept English podcast. Have you heard of these brand names? Amazon, Hermes or Hermès, Pandora, Nike? And have you thought about where those names come from? Well the answer is all of them come from Greek mythology. Ancient Greek mythology. More brand names like this? If you take a name like Apollo, A-P-O-L-L-O, how many times has that been used as a brand name? From space missions to the moon to famous theatres. Let’s cover a topic today which is relevant to today’s culture, but which references an ancient culture. That of the ancient Greeks. So ‘Greek’ is the adjective, ‘the Greeks’ are the people, and the country is ‘Greece’, G-R-E-E-C-E in English. You may have learned about the ancient Greek myths and stories in school, or this may be completely new to you. In the US, the UK and most of Europe, the myths of the Greeks and Romans are taught in schools. They’re good stories. And Greek myths find their way into our lives in many ways. The word ‘myth’, M-Y-T-H, means ‘a story’. And ‘mythology’ means the whole collection of stories. Mythologies are usually associated with a certain country or culture. So we might talk about Roman mythology, Norse mythology, that’s N-O-R-S-E, or Hopi or Navajo mythology, that’s Native Americans, or even about ancient Egyptian mythology, that’s well known too. The word ‘legend’, L-E-G-E-N-D, is also used for stories or myths. So this lesson, this podcast, shows how Greek mythology still very much influences words in English and branding in English. Try this one – a bag of Starbucks coffee beans. But look at the logo, it’s a mermaid. That’s a creature from the ancient world, half woman, half fish. So today, enrich your vocabulary and your understanding by knowing some of these connections with the ancient world. I’ll give you lots of examples. Notice also some of these names may be pronounced differently by an English speaker from how they’d be pronounced by a Greek person, or perhaps how you might pronounce them in your language. So a bit of English pronunciation too, to familiarise yourself with.
Hello, I’m Hilary, and you’re listening to Adept English. We will help you to speak English fluently. All you have to do is listen. So start listening now and find out how it works.
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Did you know Nike was named after a Greek goddess of victory?
We are currently watching the series Kaos, that’s K-A-O-S on Netflix. This is a modern take on the ancient Greek myths and what we call a black comedy. This series cleverly weaves modern and ancient culture and gives a present day context to stories from Greek mythology. It’s been dubbed ‘the adult replacement for the Percy Jackson books’. I don’t know if you’ve read those books – my son enjoyed them particularly – but they cover similar themes. And the hero is Percy Jackson. ‘Hero’, H-E-R-O, is another Greek word. Many people take their knowledge of Greek mythology from these books. And very few people have read the original Homer, that’s H-O-M-E-R, like Homer Simpson, that’s the ancient Greek poet who wrote up these stories. Famously in the Iliad and the Odyssey, his great works. So in English, that’s ‘Iliad’, I-L-I-A-D and ‘Odyssey’, O-D-Y-S-S-E-Y. These books are still a good read and I have no doubt that you’ll be able to find a translation in your language if you want to read them. It’s the story of Troy, the Trojan horse, the story of Achilles, of Aeneas, the founder of Rome, and of Odysseus and his travels.
So these were originally written as poetry in Greek by Homer. And the word God, G-O-D, you probably know, but in Greek mythology there are gods and goddesses. So a ‘goddess’ is a female god and that’s G-O-D-D-E-S-S and ‘goddesses’ in the plural. At the start of this podcast, I listed several brand names which you’ll probably know. Amazon. The Amazons were a tribe of women. A ‘tribe’ means a group – who were great warriors. That’s W-A-R-R-I-O-R, ‘warrior’. And it means a good fighter. And notably, Amazons lived without men. Hermès or Hermes. Hermès is the French pronunciation and the luxury brand. Which sells perfume, makeup, shoes, and bags for the fancy woman about town. And Hermes is also the name of a parcel delivery service in the UK. Of course, this is named after the Greek god Hermes, H-E-R-M-E-S, who was the messenger of the gods. And who had winged heels. Wings on his heels, in other words. Pandora, as in the well-known jewellery company. And did you know that ‘Pandora’s box’ isn’t just a myth, but a term we use in English. ‘Pandora’s box’ means ‘a box full of nasty things that you don’t want to open’. And we use this metaphorically. ‘That area of the IT system is a real Pandora’s box’. Pandora was the first woman created by the Greek god Hephaestus. And Nike. N-I-K-E. Nike was the ancient Greek goddess of victory. So if you wanted to win something, you would pray to the goddess Nike.
Where do English phrases like ‘Achilles heel’ and a ‘Herculean task’ come from?
If you study European art, how many of those paintings are of stories from Greek mythology? I think throughout history, European artists got rather bored of painting religious, Christian scenes. Far more exciting to paint a ‘Bacchanalia’, because artists like to show off their ability to paint the human form. That’s a whole other podcast, perhaps. But notice too that words and phrases from Greek mythology have also made their way into our everyday modern language. Take the word ‘marathon’, for example. With a capital letter, it means a chocolate bar. Or with a lowercase m, a sporting event. A 26 mile race. And the word ‘marathon’ is also used in English to denote a task which will take a long time or a lot of effort to complete. As in, ‘It’s going to be a marathon today, doing all that washing’. The word ‘marathon’ comes from the ancient Greek town, Marathon. And it’s connected to the story of the heroic messenger who ran from Marathon to Sparta to get help fighting the Persians. We also talk about ‘having an Achilles heel’, meaning ‘a surprising weakness’. If you know the myth of Achilles, you’ll understand that reference. We also talk about ‘a Herculean task’, meaning a job that’s huge. That’s after the hero Hercules and his story.
Luxury brands and ancient myths?
And if you look at the brand names of companies, businesses, like the ones that I’ve listed, but there are also many others, it’s as though naming a company after a character in Greek myth gives us a sense of reassurance, of solidarity, perhaps. As though the company’s been around since ancient times. What about Ambrosia? That’s the name for a brand which sells rice pudding and custard in the UK. But it’s also ‘the food of the gods’ in Greek mythology. Trident, the name of a nuclear arms programme in the UK. But also the name of many businesses. It comes from the fork which the god of the sea, Poseidon, holds. And what about Mars, the god of war? He gives his name to a chocolate bar in the form of a Mars bar. Or the countless brands which use the name of the goddess Athena. The list is long and some of the references aren’t to gods or goddesses, they’re to other aspects of this ancient world. For example, the Champs-Élysées in Paris reference Elysium or the Elysian Fields. That’s the equivalent of heaven in Greek mythology. And of course there are Roman equivalents, which closely mirror the Greek myths. They’re also used frequently as brand names too. Neptune, Jupiter, Venus, Vulcan, Mercury. And be careful if you research this online. I noticed many websites who confused the names of the Greek and the Roman gods and goddesses. How annoying.
Greek myths – relevant today in branding
And if they’re not used in a brand name, the Greek myths are often used to create logos. So L-O-G-O, logo, like the Starbucks example I gave you from our pack of coffee beans. It’s the picture associated with a brand, designed so that you recognise and remember it. If you think of the five circles of the Olympic Games, you’ll know what I mean, that’s a logo. I don’t need to tell you where that comes from. Mount Olympus was the home of the gods. So even if the brand name isn’t itself from Greek or Roman mythology, the logo often is. What about Versace? V-E-R-S-A-C-E. Their logo, well, it’s Medusa. M-E-D-U-S-A. That’s another brand which sells luxury items. Italian this time, of course. And in Greek mythology, Medusa was a woman with hair made up of snakes. And she was so ugly that if you looked at Medusa directly, you would be turned to stone. The only way to kill her was to chop off her head. Quite a fearsome creature then! The logo for Goodyear tyres. It’s a winged boot. And that’s back to our old friend, the god Hermes, or Mercury in Roman mythology. The messenger of the gods who had wings on his heels. The logo for Mobil, the petrol company. This is another creature from the ancient world, Pegasus. That’s P-E-G-A-S-U-S. And this one is a winged horse. The Exxon logo, that’s E-X-X-O-N, also uses Pegasus. I guess they want to think of petrol as making our cars into our ‘winged horses’.
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Enrich your English with awareness of Greek mythology
I’ve shared this with you before. I did my Master’s degree, my MSc in psychotherapy. But years before that, I did my BA, my Bachelor of Arts degree in Latin. L-A-T-I-N. Don’t ask me why. The reasons for this choice are somewhat ‘lost in the mists of time’, as we say in English! But I had a very enjoyable three years studying the ancient myths of the Greeks and the Romans the stories in the Iliad and the Odyssey, as well as the Latin language, Roman poetry, and classical architecture and Roman history. After that came the puzzle of what job was I going to do with this degree? But it meant that these myths and references are very well known to me. And if you’re European, you will probably know them too. But if you come from another culture, from another area of the world, you may not know these myths. So you may not know the references. It’s not critical knowledge, but it will enrich your understanding of UK, US and European culture.
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And the awareness will help you appreciate English at a deeper level. As well as logos and brand name references. And if it helps you to enjoy series like Kaos, or even read the Percy Jackson books, even better. These are good starting points to learn. Or you could go for the in-depth option and read the Iliad or the Odyssey. You’re sure to find a translation in your language. Let us know whether you like this one.
Goodbye
Enough for now. Have a lovely day. Speak to you again soon. Goodbye.
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