Help with Mythological expressions?

Question

I need to give the present day meanings of the following expressions & also explain each term's origin. Thank you so much in advance!

A chimercial scheme
Hydra-headed evils
As wise as Nestor
Difficult as the judgement of Paris
Between Scylla and Charybalis
Sinon

Once again, thankss so much in advance! =]

Answer 1

"A chimerical scheme"

In Greek mythology, the chimera was a "fire-breathing female monster with a lion's head and a goat's body and a serpent's tail" (from Google). Nowadays, the chimera is associated with an odd, unnatural collection of things stuck together that really shouldn't be together. So a "chimerical scheme" would probably be a plan that was cobbled together from other plans, so that nothing really works together properly.

"Hydra-headed evils"

The hydra was one of the monsters that Hercules had to slay. The hydra was a many-headed dragon that had the property that, every time you chopped off one of its heads, two more would grow back. So a "hydra-headed evil" would be a problem or an evil that it seems like the more you fight against it, the more powerful it gets. (Incidentally, Hercules defeated the hydra by singing the stumps of the heads before they had time to grow back.)

"As wise as Nestor"

Nestor was an elderly Greek statesmen who advised the Greeks during the Trojan War, whose story is told in the Iliad. He gets Achilles and Agamemnon to put aside their differences to fight against their common enemy (the Trojans). I've never really read this expression anywhere.

"Difficult as the judgment of Paris"

Paris was a Trojan who got dragged into a jealous catfight by three goddesses, Hera (Zeus' wife, the goddess of marriage and jealousy), Athena (Zeus' daughter, the goddess of war and the hunt), and Aphrodite (goddess of love and sexuality). The three of them were arguing over which was the most beautiful, and they asked Paris (a mortal) to choose the winner. And then proceeded to bribe him. Hera offered him power and money, Athena offered him skill in battle, and Aphrodite offered him the most beautiful mortal in the world, Helen of Troy. Paris chose Aphrodite, Aphrodite gave him Helen....who was married to Menelaus of Sparta, thus starting the Trojan war and leading to the downfall of Troy.

In any case, trying to choose between three goddesses each of whom is going to hate you if you don't choose her has to be pretty tough, so that's where the expression comes from.

"Between Scylla and Charybdis"

Odysseus, a Greek prince, on his way back from the Trojan War, had a lot of obstacles to overcome, as chronicled in the Odysseey. One of the obstacles was actually two obstacles: Scylla (a sea monster) and Charybdis (a huge neverending whirlpool). Odysseus' ship safely sailed right down the middle of the distance between them, but if he had gone too far either to the left or right, either Scylla or Charybdis would have destroyed his ship. So "between Scylla and Charybdis" is a synonym for the modern saying "between a rock and a hard place", i.e. a situation where you're in danger on both sides and you have to be REALLY careful.

"Sinon" was the Greek who convinced the Trojans he was a defector, and that the Greeks had left behind the Trojan horse as a gift to them. After the Trojans brought the horse within their walls, the Greeks hidden inside sneaked out at night and opened the gates of Troy, thus allowing the Greeks to win the war.

I would presume, therefore, that "Sinon" would be used as a name for a traitor (although in America, the name most people associate historically with treachery is Benedict Arnold). "Beware Greeks bearing gifts..."

One that isn't in the list that I hear often is "Cassandra". She was the daughter of the king of Troy, and she was both blessed (she could see the future) and cursed (when she would tell people the future, no one would believe her). So if you call someone a Cassandra, it usually means that her predictions are full of doom and gloom...and no one believes her.

Answer 2

Between Scylla and Charybdis is "between a rock and a hard place".