768 GLOSSARY OF MYTHOLOGICAL WORDS AND PHRASES IN ENGLISHcupidity The Latin word cupidus (desirous or
greedy) gave rise to Cupido, Cupid, the Roman
equivalent of the Greek god of love, Eros. In early
representations he is a handsome youth, but he be-
comes increasingly younger and develops his famil-
iar attributes of bow and arrow (with which he
rouses passion both in gods and mortals) and wings,
until he finally evolves into the Italian putti or deco-
rative cherubs frequently seen in Renaissance art.
From the same root is derived cupiditas to denote
any intense passion or desire, from which we derive
cupidity (avarice or greed). See erotic.
cyclopean There were two distinct groups of gi-
ants called the Cyclopes, whose name means circle-
eyed and indicates their principal distinguishing fea-
ture, one round eye in the center of their foreheads.
The first, offspring of Uranus and Ge, were the
smiths who labored with Hephaestus at his forge to
create the thunderbolt for Zeus, among other mas-
terpieces. The second group of Cyclopes were a tribe
of giants, the most important of whom is Polyphe-
mus, a son of Poseidon encountered by Odysseus.
The word cyclopean refers to anything that pertains
to the Cyclopes or partakes of their gigantic and pow-
erful nature. Thus the Cyclopes were said to be re-
sponsible for the massive stone walls that surround
the palace-fortresses of the Mycenaean period. And
so cyclopean is used generally to describe a primi-
tive building style, which uses immense, irregular,
stone blocks, held together by their sheer weight
without mortar.
cynosure The constellation Ursa Minor ("little
bear") was called Kuno-soura ("the dog's tail") by
the astronomer Aratus, who saw in it one of the
nymphs who raised the infant Zeus. Long a guiding
star for seafarers, it has given us the word cynosure,
which can describe anything that serves to focus at-
tention or give guidance.
demon/demoniac/demonic/demonology
In Greek daimon was a word of rather fluid defini-
tion. In Homer the Olympians are referred to as ei-
ther gods (theoi) or daimones ("divine powers"). In
later literature the daimones became intermediate be-
ings between gods and men, or often the spirits of
the dead came to be called daimones, especially
among the Romans. Daimon could also denote that
particular spirit granted to each mortal at birth to
watch over its charge. This corresponds to the Ro-
man Genius, a vital force behind each individual,
originally associated with male fertility and particu-
larly with the male head of a household. Later it be-
came a tutelary spirit assigned to guide and shape
each person's life. With the triumph of Christianity,
all pagan deities were suspect, and daimon, viewed
solely as a power sprung from the devil, became our
demon (any evil or satanic spirit). As an adjective de-
moniac or demonic suggests possession by an evil
spirit and can mean simply fiendish. As a noun de-
moniac refers to one who is or seems possessed by a
demon. Demonology is the study of evil spirits. As
for genius, it has come to denote a remarkable, in-
nate, intellectual or creative ability, or a person pos-
sessed of such ability. Through French we have the
word genie, which had served as a translation of
Jinni, spirits (as in the Arabian Nights) that have the
power to assume human or animal form and super-
naturally influence human life.dionysian The dionysiac or dionysian experi-
ence is the antithesis of the apollonian, characterized
by moderation, symmetry, and reason. See apollon-
ian and bacchanal.echo There are two major myths that tell how the
acoustic phenomenon of the echo arose. According
to one, Echo was originally a nymph who rejected
the lusty advances of the god Pan. In her flight she
was torn apart by shepherds, who have been driven
into a panic by the spurned god, Pan. The second
version involves the mortal Narcissus. Echo had been
condemned by Hera to repeat the last utterance she
heard and no more. It was in this state that Echo
caught sight of the handsome Narcissus. Narcissus,
a youth cold to all love, rejected the amorous ad-
vances of Echo, who could now only mimic Narcis-
sus' words. Stung deeply by this rebuff, she hid her-
self in woods and caves and pined for her love, until
all that remained of the nymph was her voice. As for
Narcissus, too proud in his beauty, he inevitably
called down upon himself the curse of a spurned
lover. Narcissus was doomed to be so captivated by
his own reflection in a pool that he could not turn
away his gaze, even to take food and drink. He
wasted away and died. From the spot where he died
sprang the narcissus flower. Narcissism has come to
mean an obsessive love of oneself. As used in psy-
choanalysis it is an arrested development at an in-
fantile stage characterized by erotic attachment to
oneself. One so afflicted with such narcissistic char-
acteristics is a narcissist. See panic and narcissism.Electra complex Comparable to the Oedipus
complex in the development of the female is the Elec-
tra complex, a psychotic attachment to the father and
hostility toward the mother, a designation also
drawn from myth. Electra was the daughter of
Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, a young woman ob-
sessed by her grief over the murder of her beloved
father and tormented by unrelenting hatred for her
mother who killed him. See Oedipus.