What does the expression 'Pandora's Box' , 'Halcyon days', 'a siren song', and 'a herculean task' mean?

Answer 1

PANDORA'S BOX:
In Greek mythology, Pandora ("all gifted") was the first woman, fashioned by Zeus as part of the punishment of mankind for Prometheus' theft of the secret of fire. The myth of Pandora is very old, appears in several distinct versions, and has been interpreted in many ways. In all literary versions, however, the myth is a kind of theodicy, addressing the question of why there is evil in the world.: Hesiod, both in his Theogony (briefly, without naming Pandora outright, line 570) and in Works and Days, ca. 700 BC, has a very early told and literary version of the Pandora story. [1] The evidence of the vase-painters reveals another, earlier aspect of Pandora.

In modern times, Pandora's Box has become a metaphor for the unanticipated consequences of technical and scientific development.

HALCYON DAYS:
Halcyon days is Old English influenced by the Greek language, literally meaning calm days; a reference to the fourteen days of calm weather the ancients believed to precede the winter solstice that coincided with the brooding of the Halcyon--fabled to be in nests floating on the sea--because the birds charmed the winds and waves so that seas were especially calm.

A SIREN SONG:
The Siren" was the fourth single of the album Once by Nightwish. The song was played with the London Session Orchestra and includes many exotic instrument. In addition, Tarja Turunen used a different type of vocals than ever before on this song.

Symphony Of Destruction was originally recorded by Megadeth for their album Countdown to Extinction.

HERCULEAN TASK:
The Twelve Labours (Greek: dodekathlos) of Heracles (Latin: Hercules) are a series of archaic episodes connected by a later continuous narrative, concerning a penance carried out by Heracles, the greatest of the Greek heroes. The establishment of a fixed cycle of twelve labours was attributed by the Greeks to an epic poem, now lost, written by Peisandros of Rhodes, dated about 600 BC (Burkert).

As they survive, the Labours of Heracles are not told in any single place, but must be reassembled from many sources. Ruck and Staples (pp 169–170) assert that there is no one way to interpret the labours, but that six were located in the Peloponnese, culminating with the rededication of Olympia. Six others took the hero farther afield. In each case, the pattern was the same: Heracles was sent to kill or subdue, or to fetch back for Hera's representative Eurystheus a magical animal or plant. "The sites selected were all previously strongholds of Hera or the 'Goddess' and were Entrances to the Netherworld" (p 169).

A famous depiction of the labours in Greek sculpture is found on the metopes of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, which date to the 450s BC; in the Archaic period, it may actually have been the labours' display on the twelve available metopes on temples which led to their being counted as twelve in number.

Answer 2

"Pandora's Box"
~ A metaphor for unanticipated consequences of technical & scientific development

"Halcyon Days"
~ An expression to describe calm days in reference to the winter solstice

"A Siren Song"
~ Something that may prove irresistable could actually be something deadly instead

"A Herculean Task"
~ A task that requires extraordinary strength

Answer 3

a siren is reference to old mythology of a creature that had a beautiful female singing voice that would draw sailors to thier doom on the sea, a herculean task is a task that is thought to be impossible referencing hercules twelve tasks he was assigned to perform, or it also means a feet of strength, Pandora's Box has become a metaphor for the unanticipated consequences of technical and scientific development,Halcyon days is Old English influenced by the Greek language, literally meaning calm days; a reference to the fourteen days of calm weather the ancients believed to precede the winter solstice

Answer 4

Pandora's box refers to a box that Pandora of Greek myth opened that contained all the world's miseries, and today could mean anything that opens a lot of unresolved questions.

Halcyon Days means a period of time that were wild and full of energy "the HAlcyon days of his youth."

Siren song refers to the mermaids of the mediterranian sea that would lure sailors to their deaths by luring them into the ocean's depths with the beauty and longing of the singing. Today could mean anything that holds false promise.

A Herculean task refers to Hercules and the 7 impossible tasks that he was set to do by a king. Today means anything thats impossible.

Answer 5

At least 3 of those come from ancient mythology of the Greeks and/or Romans.
For example, Pandora's Box is from a woman Pandora that was given a box and told not to open it for it contained evils. She finally opened the box and all the evils escaped before she could close it again. Opening it again she found only hope.
So, to open Pandora's Box is to release evils on the world or maybe on you personally.
Try books on mythology.