1
a ___________ horse
(a trick (refers to a large gift horse full of soldiers described in Homer's ILIAD)
TROJAN
an ___________ cave
(a place full of unexpected treasure)
ALADDIN'S
_________ Fields
heaven
(refers the conception of the paradise where gods and nobles spend eternity in the afterlife.
ELYSIAN
a ______ ball
(accurate knowledge of the future)
CRYSTAL
to have a sword of _______ hanging over one
(to be in imminent danger)
DAMOCLES
a ________ cleaning of the stables
(a thorough revision of operating procedure (refers to a mythical Greek hero who cleaned the stables of Augeas)
HERCULEAN
to cut the ________ knot
(to solve, especially by force, a virtually insoluble problem (refers to a complicated knot eventually cut by Alexander the Great)
GORDIAN
to let the ___________ out of the bottle
(to cause something irreversible to take place)
GENIE
not the ______ of a chance
(no hope at all)
GHOST
I fear the Greeks even when they bear ______
(I am suspicious of generous behavior from traditional opponents ( in reference to the Trojan horse))
GIFTS
the ________ touch
(refers to King of Phrygia, who had the power to turn everything he touched into gold)
MIDAS
to open up a ___________ 's box
to do something which produces all sorts of undesired and unexpected side effects (refers to the woman in Greek mythology who was meant to bring misery to mankind; the box contained human ills)
PANDORA
a _______ bullet
(a guaranteed remedy)
MAGIC
to be someone's _______ heel
(to represent a weakness (refers to the Greek warrior who was the hero of Homer's ILIAD))
ACHILLES'
_________ on the feet of clay
something weak which, however, looks powerful and frightening.
(refers the story about Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon)
COLOSSUS
to carry the world on one's __________
(to resent being left to perform a huge task single-handedly (refers to Atlas, who was condemned to bear the heavens))
SHOULDERS
to rise from the ashes like a __________
to be the replacement for something destroyed in some disaster (refers to a mythical bird which was supposed to rise from the ashes)
PHOENIX
a _________-headed monster
(an evil which is not readily destroyable)
HYDRA
_____________
downfall serving as retribution (refers to a goddess in Greek mythology)
NEMESIS
to be between _______ and Charybdis
(to be faced with two equally unpalatable alternatives which cannot both be avoided (refers to the voyage of Ulysses)
SCYLLA