ALLUSIONS YOU SHOULD KNOW – 2014 – 2015
In your ALLUSION NOTEBOOK, define and give a detailed explanation the stories of the
following names, legends and/or places. After doing this, in one sentence, explain the
overall image or idea that one should understand in regards to each allusion AND give one
example of the allusion being appropriately used in MODERN DAY. SEE EXAMPLES.
DUE – Tues, Oct 14th
1) 7 Deadly Sins
2) 7 Wonders of the
Ancient World
3) Achilles
4) Adonis
5) Aeneas
6) Agamemnon
7) Ahab & Jezebel
8) Alexander the Great
9) Aquarius (age of)
10) Aristotle
11) Ark of the Covenant
12) Attila the Hun
13) Augustan Age
(Augustus Caesar)
14) Auto-de-fé
15) Babel
16) Babylon
17) Balshazzar’s feast &
the handwriting
on the wall”
18) Baroque
19) Beelzebub
20) “Better to Reign in
Hell than Serve in
Heaven”
DUE – Tues, Nov. 18th
21) Brigadoon
22) Byzantine (Empire)
23) Cadmus
24) Caligula
25) Camelot
26) Capt. Bligh & the
bounty
27) Cassandra
28) Catch-22 (20th cen)
29) Cerberus
30) Charlemagne
31) Chimera
32) Coat of Many
Colors
33) Colossus
34) Constantine
35) Cronus (Kronos)
36) Cross the Rubicon
37) Crusades, The
38) Cyrano
39) Daedalus
40) Daniel & the Lion’s
Den
DUE – Tues, Mar 10th
81) Lucifer
82) Machiavelli
83) Mark of Cain
84) Martin Luther
85) Medusa
86) Midas
87) Narcissus
88) Nemesis
89) Nero
90) Odin
91) Odysseus
92) Orestes
93) Original sin
94) Pandora (box)
95) Paradise Lost (John Milton)
96) Pericles
97) Perseus
98) Peyton Place (20th century)
99) Philistine
100) Phoenix (rising)
101)
102)
103)
104)
105)
106)
107)
108)
109)
110)
111)
112)
113)
114)
115)
116)
117)
118)
119)
120)
DUE – Tues, Jan 6th
41) David & Goliath
42) Delphi
43) Deucalion
44) Don Juan
45) Draconian
46) Electra
47) Elysian Fields
48) Fabian Tactics
49) Faustian bargain
50) Fire & Brimstone
51) Four horseman of
the Apocalypse
52) Furies
53) Gaia
54) Galahad
55) Golden Calf
56) Golden Fleece
57) Golgatha
58) Gordion Knot
59) Gorgon
60) Guy Falkes
DUE – Tues, April 7th
“Plague on Both Your
Houses” (Shakespeare)
Plagues of Egypt
Plato
“Pound of Flesh”
Praetorian
Prodigal Son
Promise Land
Proteus
Pygmalion
Quasimodo
Queen Victoria & Victorian
“Quick & the Dead” (bible)
Rasputin
River Styx
Samaritan (as in Good bible)
Samson & Delilah
Scylla & Charybdis
Siren
Sistine Chapel
Sisyphus
61)
62)
63)
64)
65)
66)
67)
68)
69)
70)
71)
72)
73)
74)
75)
76)
77)
78)
79)
80)
121)
122)
123)
124)
125)
126)
127)
128)
129)
130)
131)
132)
133)
134)
135)
136)
137)
138)
139)
140)
DUE – Thurs, Feb 5th
Hannibal
Harpy
Hel
Helen of Troy/Sparta
Heracles/Hercules &
each of his labors
Holy Grail
Hubris
Icarus
Immaculate
Conception
Incubus
Jacob’s Ladder
Jason & the Argonauts
Job (biblical)
Jonah
Judas
Kilroy (20th century)
Lancelot
Lazarus
Loki
Lot’s wife
DUE – Tues, May 19th
Socrates
Solomon
“Some are more equal than
others” (Orwell)
Spanish Inquisition
Sphinx
St. Peter
Stepford (wives)(20th cen)
Svengali (late 19th/20th cen)
Theseus
Thirty Pieces of Silver
Thor
Trinity
Triumvir/Triumvirate
Tudor England
Typhoid Mary
Uranus
Valhalla
Walls of Jericho
“Winter of our discontent”
(Shakespeare)
Xanadu
Example
Example
BIG BROTHER –
CATACOMBS
A term developed from the novel 1984 written by
British novelist George Orwell whose read name was
Eric Blair (1903 - 1950). The novel depicts the horrors
of totalitarian society where Big Brother is always
watching. Big Brother is the spying government who
can see into each person’s home and monitor all
activities a person partakes in. Big Brother creates
propaganda campaigns where truths are twisted to
mean their opposites & language is redefined.
History is edited to serve the state. Individuality
counts for nothing and total compliance to Big
Brother’s watching eyes is expected.
 Ancient underground passage ways
 Subterranean cemeteries
 Composed of dark, narrow tunnels and small
chambers
 Prior to Christianity in Europe, used by pagans to
bury/store their dead
 Corpses left exposed in “bunks”
 Later Christians did the same in “newer”
tunnels/chambers – Christian bodies were
entombed
 Often used by the inhabitants of the cities above
to hide within during times of invasion,
persecution, etc…
ALLUSION statement
(uses general idea – big picture):
If I heard or read the term Big Brother, I would know
that it is condition where everyone is being watched
all the time.
Modern Example: The TV show Big Brother where
the house is filled with cameras watching all its
members day and night. (gives example and relates
to allusion)
Example of a BAD Allusion statement: (this just
summarizes the research)
I would know that big brother is a term from George
Orwell that refers to his book 1984 where a corrupt
government spies on its people and creates
propaganda.
OR
ALLUSION statement:
(uses general idea – big picture)
A reference to catacombs would give the
connotation of a place that is dark, secretive,
ancient and eerie.
Modern Example: There is a Catacombs T-shirt
database that catalogs all music related designs
into small categories (chambers).
Example of a BAD Allusion statement: (this just
summarizes the research)
I would know that the catacombs are underground,
narrow tunnels and chambers where the dead were
buried in Europe.