Greek Mythology
  Project

MODERN MYTHIC ALLUSIONS

Below is a list of a few references to Greek mythology in the modern world.  This is just the tip of the iceberg, though.  There are many, many more that are not listed below.

References in Television, Movies, and Cinema

The Titanic (1997, Paramount Pictures)

Ø       The movie is a documentary about an actual event.  The ship that sunk was gigantic, like a titan, hence the name Titanic.


Clash of the Titans (1981, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)

Ø       I don’t think there its any movie that more obviously relates to Greek mythology then this one.  The entire story is based upon the journey of Perseus, a Greek demigod.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010, 20th Century Fox)

Ø       Based on a book by the same title, the story is based around the fact that the Greek gods are real.  It is about one young demigod’s adventure in trying to prove he did not steal Zeus’s master lightning bolt.

Jason and the Argonauts (1963 Columbia Pictures)

Ø       Another movie about an adventurer from Greek Mythology

 

References in Music

Venus (Frankie Avalon)

Ø       Although Venus was a Roman god, the song might as well have been named “Aphrodite,” Venus’s Greek equivalent.  One of the lines in the song is, “Venus, goddess of love that you are,”

 

References in Modern Literature/ Reference Materials

The Atlas

Ø       Atlas is a titan in Greek mythology, he was said to have held the sky up so it wouldn’t fall onto the earth.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians series (©2005 by Rick Riordan)

Ø       A young adult’s book series based around the fact that the Greek gods are real.  It is about the adventures of a young demigod named Percy Jackson.  Book One titled “The Lightning Thief” was the basis of a movie with the same name.

 

References in Businesses and Corporations

FTD Florists logo

Ø       It portrays a man carrying a bouquet of flowers and wearing winged shoes and a winged hat.  This man is most likely Hermes, messenger of the gods.

Midas Car Repair

Ø       Midas was a king in Greek mythology.  He loved gold so much that he was given the power to turn anything he touched into gold by one of the Greek gods.

 

References in Astronomy and Space Exploration

NASA’s Apollo Space Progam

Ø       Apollo is the Greek god of light.

The Moons of Jupiter

Ø       The moons of Jupiter were named for characters who had roles in the life of Zeus

 

References in Popular Household Items

Ajax Cleanser

Ø       Ajax, or Ajax the Great, was a hero in the Iliad.

Morphine

Ø       The drug was named after Morpheus, the Greek god of sleep.