What are Greek Myth orgins of these words?

Question

an atlas
panic
tantalize
calliope

Answer 1

Atlas:
The origin of the term atlas is a common source of misconception, perhaps because two different mythical figures named 'Atlas' are associated with mapmaking.

King Atlas, a mythical King of Mauretania in Libya, was, according to legend, a wise philosopher, mathematician and astronomer who supposedly made the first celestial globe. It was this Atlas that Mercator was referring to when he first used the name 'Atlas', and he included a depiction of the King on the title-page.

However, the more widely known Atlas is a figure from Greek mythology. He is the son of the Titan Iapetus and Clymene (or Asia), brother of Prometheus. Atlas was punished by Zeus and made to bear the weight of the heavens and earth on his back. In his epic Odyssey, Homer refers to this Atlas as "one who knows the depths of the whole sea, and keeps the tall pillars who hold heaven and earth asunder".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas#.22Atlas.22_etymology

Panic:
"Panic" comes from Greek panikon, "pertaining to Pan." Pan is the god of woods and fields who was the source of mysterious sounds that caused contagious, groundless fear in herds and crowds, or in people in lonely spots.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic

Tantalize:
This word has its roots in the Greek myth of Tantalus. He was a titan, the son of Zeus and Pluto (a nymph, not the god) and was said to be king of Phrygia. The titans were enemies of the gods and fought them in a great war known as the titanomachy which was won by the gods.

The gods meted out individual punishments to the titans for their hubris and Tantalus was sentenced to stand chin-deep in the river Tartarus. The fruit-laden branches of a tree above him pulled their fruit from his reach when he tried to eat, and the river water receded when he tried to drink. The word tantalize was formed by adding the suffix -ize to Tantalus. The suffix comes from French -iser, which itself comes from Latin -izare and Greek -izein, all of which form a verb from an adjective or a noun.

The word tantalize first appears in 1597, and it meant "to subject to torture or teasing like that inflicted upon Tantalus." The meaning of the word today is not quite as intense as it was originally, but it still means "excite another by exposing something desirable while keeping it out of reach." Tantalus' fellow titan Sisyphus was condemned to roll a perfectly spherical rock up a perfectly conical mountain. Whenever he managed to get it onto the summit it would roll back down again. Now, that's rock and roll.

http://www.takeourword.com/TOW120/page2.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantalize

Calliope:
Means "beautiful voice" from Greek καλλος (kallos) "beauty" and οψ (ops) "voice". In Greek mythology she was a goddess of epic poetry and eloquence, one of the nine Muses.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calliope

Answer 2

Atlas was a Titan who held up the sky (Herakles took over for a bit to give him a rest)

Pan was a woodland god and brought fear to those who encountered him

Tantalus was punished in Hades - as he tried to eat food it would disapear

Calliope was the oldest and wisest of the Muses

Answer 3

They say it exists because they have been told it exists from what they see as an authority figure. The manner in which it is relayed is a form of negative reinforcement which burns into their psyche that if I step one toe out of line I'm going to hell. Given that it makes it very hard to look at other world myths and see the concept of a devil/bogeyman and of Hell/Hades and such have been around many cultures and each is different making it a shared world myth.

Answer 4

Please do your own homework. These words are self explanitory, especially the first.