Modern Inspirations from Greek Mythology

Because of the inspiration of the Nike symbol from the Nike of Samothrace statue, I looked up other common modern day names, art, and other things that are based off of Greek mythology.  These are things that everyone is familiar with but probably didn't know came from the Greeks.

• The symbol of the medical profession, a snake entwining a staff (shown to the right), is taken from the Greek god of medicine Asclepius
• The military uses Greek mythology in the naming of some of their weapons, for example the Nike missile.  The Navy also names many of their ships based on Greek mythology
• Many stars and other celestial objects are named from Greek gods and goddesses
• The element titanium was named after the titans from Greek mythology.  The Titans were locked far underground, which represents the difficulty of extracting titanium from deep in the Earth's surface
• The US's Apollo space project was of course named after the Greek god Apollo, but the reasoning behind this is that being that Apollo was an archer, he was able to hit his target very well (the Americans wanted to hit their target of the Moon successfully) and he is also a god of light and knowledge
• Mobile Oil incorporates Pegasus in their logo
• A portion of Niagara Falls, now called Bridal Veil Falls, used to be called Iris Falls after Iris, the Greek goddess of the rainbow, because the mist from the waterfalls would frequently create them
• Many roller coasters are named after Greek mythological creatures, including Hydra the Revenge at Dorney Park
• The modern day term for a weakness, or an Achilles heel, is taken from the demigod Achilles
• Someone who is referred to as a mentor, like a teacher or advisor, is taken from a man named Mentor, who was trusted by Odysseus to watch his son while he went to fight the Trojan war, and helped rid his home of the suitors when he returned
• The word 'panic' actually comes from the Greek god Pan who, when seen, would instill terror and commotion in people

• Other English words that come from Greek mythology
• cereal --> Ceres, the god of agriculture
• chronology --> Cronos, the keeper of time
• fortune --> Fortuna, the goddess of luck
• hypnosis (a sleep-like state of consciousness) --> Hypnos, god of sleep
• music --> Muses, goddess of music and arts
• typhoon --> Typhon, the most terrible of all monsters
• volcano --> Vulcan, god of the forge and fire