Referenced By / Classical Mythology

Works based largely on Classical Mythology are listed on the Myth page.

See also Religious and Mythological Theme Naming.

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Anime and Manga

• Cardcaptor Sakura: Kerberos is named for the Roman equivalent of Cerberus.
• Sailor Moon:
  • The Sailor Senshi are named for each of the planets (with the Moon in place of the Earth), which in turn are named after the Roman gods. Their elemental powers are also either determined by whatever powers their gods have or Wuxing; Venus is love, Pluto is darkness, Neptune is ocean water, Moon is light.
  • Serena (Usagi's civilian name in the English dub) and Prince Endymion (Mamoru's past life) are named for Selene and Endymion.
  • Of course, Luna, Artemis, and Diana are named for Luna (the Roman equivalent of Selene), Artemis, and Diana, the Greek and Roman embodiments of the moon.
  • Sailor Galaxia was corrupted by Chaos, and in the manga, Chibi Chibi turns out to Sailor Cosmos, Chaos's nemesis, in disguise (in the anime, Chibi Chibi was Galaxia's goodness expelled from her body before Chaos could completely consume her). In Greek mythology, Cosmos and Chaos were antitheses, with Cosmos representing order while Chaos represented, well, chaos.
• Transformers: Super-God Masterforce: One of the Headmaster Juniors is a girl named Minerva.
• Transformers: Beast Wars II: Scylla is a Seacon who can transform into a squid, and the Seacons' combiner form is called God Neptune.

Asian Animation

• King Shakir: In "Golden Day", Canan reads a book on classic mythology and connects a golden coin that turns Katriye and her friends into gold to King Midas.

Franchise

• Star Wars:
  • Thrawn's flagship is called the Chimaera, which in-universe is a monster that also has different traits from various creatures. Starting in Star Wars Rebels, the Chimaera also depicts the creature on the bottom of the ship.

Comic Book

• DC Comics, outside of the heavy Greek mythology explored in Wonder Woman media:
  • Iris West, the love interest of the second Flash and the aunt of Kid Flash, is named for Iris, the Greek goddess who served as a messenger for the gods alongside Hermes. Similar to Hermes, Iris was said to move at the speed of wind. This also applies to Iris "Irey" West II, Iris's grand niece,
  • Max Mercury, another speedster in The Flash lore, is obviously named for the Roman god Mercury.
  • Orion of the New Gods is named for the legendary Greek warrior.
  • Project Cadmus is named for Cadmus, the first hero and monster slayer in Greek myth and was known for creating heroes from dragon teeth. In the comics, Project Cadmus was a secret bioweapon project experimenting in DNA to create clones and monsters, though in the Justice League Unlimited cartoon, most people know Project Cadmus as a secret anti-superhero contingency government cabinet that also dabbled in clones on the side as their own ways to combat the Justice League and other superheroes that they feared would turn against humanity.
    • The missiles that Cadmus targets the Watchtower with in the Season 2 finale are identified as Damocles-class. In myth, Damocles was punished with having to sit under a sword being held by a thin thread, a tale that has been used as a metaphor for cold war, much like the cold war between the Justice League and Cadmus.
  • In DC One Million and DC Future State, Wonder Woman 1,000,000 was apparently a statue brought to life, mirroring the tale of Pygmalion and Galatea, which is also a Mythology Gag (History Repeats?) as that myth was also an inspiration for Diana's origin story.
  • Tigress, whose civilian name is Artemis Crock, was the daughter of Sportmaster and the first Tigress, giving her family a hunting theme. The Young Justice cartoon reimagines her as an bow-and-arrow user and a protege of Green Arrow, and she goes by Artemis in the early years of her superhero career before using the Tigress name.
• In The Old Guard, main character Andromache "Andy" of Scythia has at least three namesakes: the wife of Hector from The Iliad and Andromache, an Amazonian queen, and a woman who was almost sacrificed to the Minotaur.

Fan Works

• In it feels more like a memory, Cassandra gets her story told again, and it's implied most people In-Universe believe she was a real person who lived and died, and that a good deal of her story was real, especially the prophecy part. Aside from this, classical mythology exists In-Universe the same way it does in real life, and chapter 21 has the Burr family recount stories of characters from classical mythology, including Virgo/Astraea, Chiron, Orion, and Castillo's. As they do that, they namedrop even more characters from classical mythology involved in those four mythological characters' stories.
• On the Edge of the Devil's Backbone: Hera's mother Alecto is named for the Fury of the same name. Additionally, her starfighter squadron is also called Fury Squadron. The name of a minor Syndulla family member is also Elphis, named for the personification of hope.
• In the popular My Little Pony fanfic Past Sins, the story revolves around Nyx, who is a clone of Nightmare Moon. Her namesake is the primordial goddess of darkness.
• Sailor Moon fanworks like to name their Sailor Earths after various gods in Greek and Roman myths, even if they don't have a planet or celestial body named after them.

Film - Animated

• In Encanto, Luisa, who has the gift of Super-Strength, is compared to Hercules in some situations. When she is doing her chores to help the village, she is asked to re-route a river, similar to how the hero changed the direction of a river to clean the Augean Stables and complete his Fifth Labor, and in her song "Surface Pressure", she directly compares herself to him by saying how he never ran away from his expectations, like fighting Cerberus in his Twelfth Labor.
• In Disney's The Little Mermaid, Ariel's father is named Triton, though it's unclear if he's meant to be the Triton of myth.
  • Furthermore, in the prequel The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, Ariel's mother's name is Athena (an Ironic Name given Poseidon and Athena hate each other), and one of her sisters is named Attina, which is just a different spelling of Athena.
• In Disney Fairies film "The Legend of the Neverbeast", we're introduced to a scout fairy named Nyx. Nyx is the primordial goddess of darkness.
• Shrek Forever After: When Harold tells Lillian asking for help from Rumpelstiltskin is a bad idea, she tells him he is highly recommended by King Midas. This implies Rumpelstiltskin was the one who gave Midas the ability of if he touches anything it turns into gold, while in the original myth it was Dionysus giving it to him. Midas's hand later appears in the possession of Jack Horner in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

Film - Live-Action

• Avatar: The story is set on the moon of Pandora (Pandora's box), which orbits the gas giant Polyphemus (the cyclops son of Poseidon who is tricked and blinded by Odysseus in The Odyssey; the planet is an expy of Jupiter) and is in the Alpha Centauri system. Originally, the planet was going to be named Coeus (a Titan) before it was changed to Polyphemus.
• Jurassic World: The Indominus Rex is exceptionally vicious mainly because she was raised in isolation and was artificially created to exaggerate her predator traits. In some versions of Greek mythology, the Minotaur—an unnatural hybrid of human and bull—was a man-eater because, as an unnatural creature, it had no natural prey and had to eat manflesh instead, and was also raised in the isolation of the Labyrinth. Just like Indominus.
• In the Monster Hunter movie adaptation, the main character's name is Artemis.
• Portrait of a Lady on Fire contains a few nods to the story of Orpheus.
• Prometheus is a reference to the tale of Prometheus stealing fire from the gods for humanity, as the film is about humans trying to learn about their origins and end up meeting their Abusive Precursors who were bioengineers.
• Something To Think About: David Markely realizes he loves Ruth Anderson, and the comparison is made that he is like Pygmalion who has fallen in love with his own creation, as David was the one who supported her to go to school and was made into a fine lady.
• Star Wars:
  • Anakin Skywalker is named after Ananke, the Greek goddess of inevitability, compulsion, and necessity.
  • General Jan Dodonna is named for Dodona, an ancient Greco-Roman oracle that was second in fame to the Oracle of Delphi.
• X-Men: Apocalypse: In the Opening Monologue, the quote "Give someone wings, and they may fly too close to the sun" refers to the Greek myth of Icarus and Daedalus.

Literature

• The Dresden Files:
  • Grave Peril: Cassandra's Tears is an obvious Classical Mythology reference, as is Bob's quip about dating Charybdis.
  • Death Masks: Deirdre is described by Harry as "the demented love child of Medusa and Doctor Octopus". He later calls her Madame Medusa to her face, but she's far from impressed.
  • Blood Rites In the soulgaze, Thomas's inner self is described to look like Mount Olympus after the gods had died.
  • Dead Beat: Harry sarcastically refers to Thomas as the forgotten Greek god of body cologne.
• A Song of Ice and Fire: The tale of the 'Rat Cook' in which Lord Wyman bases his 'pork' pies references the Classical Mythology tale of Atreus cooking and the sons of his twin brother Thyestes and then feeding them to the latter, thus bringing down a curse upon their house.
• To the Barest: Parris, the lawyer, being forced to choose between six men for the title of "the barest" is an allusion to Greek myth and Paris the swine-herder being forced to choose between three goddesses for the title of "the fairest".
• Disney's A Twisted Tale
  • "Part of Your World":
    • Ariel mentions that her cousin Lara is an athlete and at one point mentally prays to the gods that things work out.
    • A circuex is described as a powerful magic spell. "Circuex" is likely derived from Circe, an enchantress in Greek mythology.
    • The Tirulians have a story about Neptune and Minerva competing over who would be the patron god of Tirulia, and Neptune somehow won by conjuring up a useless font of undrinkable saltwater from the sea. This is taken from the founding myth of Athens, except now with their Roman counterparts and Neptune winning.
• Words of Science and the History Behind Them cites Greek and Roman mythology several times:
  • The entry for "Insect" explains that the pupa stage of development is also called a nymph, a creature from Classical Mythology.
  • The entry for "Mammal" explains that the spiny anteater is also called the echidna, after the Greek monster.
  • The entry for "Nicotine" explains that the word morphine comes from the Roman god of sleep, Morpheus.
  • The entry for "Phobos" explains that the moons of Mars comes from Greek Mythology; Ares had two sons, named Phobos and Deimos.
  • The entry for "Phospherous" explains that the Greeks figured out that the "morning star" and "evening star" were actually the same planet, so they named it Aphrodite from Greek myth. The Roman name for the same goddess is Venus.
  • The entry for "Psychology" begins by describing the relationship between Psyche and Eros, characters from Classical Mythology.
  • The entry for "Tantalum" explains that the atomic element 73 is named after King Tantalus of Lydia, from Classical Mythology.
  • The entry for "Uranium" explains how the planet Uranus got its name from the god Ouranos, and how the element Uranium derives its name from that of the planet. Zeus/Jupiter, Cronos/Saturn, Neptune, and Pluto are also mentioned and elements are named after those planets as well.
  • The entries for "Volcano" and "Vulcanize" both mention the god Vulcan, and the former also mentions Hephaestus and The Iliad because Hephaestus is assumed to use Mt. Etna as a forge.

Live-Action TV

• In Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, the Witches worship Hecate, the goddess of magic.
• Doctor Who: In "Vincent and the Doctor" the Doctor fights a monster by looking at its reflection, just like Perseus fighting Medusa. Even better, there's a statue of Perseus with Medusa's head in the museum that the Doctor passes by.
• Elementary: The fighting cocks from "The One Percent Solution" are named Romulus and Remus, after the two brothers who founded Rome in Classical Mythology. In the myth, Romulus kills Remus, but by the end of the episode, Sherlock teaches his cocks to get along.
• The Flash (2014): The episode introducing Mark Mardon as Weather Wizard has him introduce himself to Joe West in front of a wall piece depicting the Olympian gods. It can be read as a reference to his weather powers (bringing to mind Zeus/Jupiter and Poseidon/Neptune), although it's also meant to be a reference to his actor being Spartacus, who hates Romans and has the infamous line, "the gods will weep for their suffering".
• Game of Thrones: Stannis, much like Agamemnon in the myth of Iphigenia, is a leader faced by unfavorable weather and a stalled military campaign who chooses to sacrifice his innocent daughter to appease the gods and ensure victory. Also like Agamemnon, that decision ultimately leads to his destruction after he meets his death at the hands of a vengeful woman.
• The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has island kingdom of Numenor. Much like in the books, Numenor is inspired by the legend of Atlantis, being a superior civilization doomed to be sunken under the sea by the gods.
  • There is also Beleriand, the show cannot make too many references to it because of the No Adaptations Allowed of the Silmarilion rule, but in the prologue, Beleriand is shown being sunken under the sea by the Valar who fought against Morgoth.
• Star Trek: Picard: The planet Nepenthe is named after the drug of forgetfulness.

Music

• Ariana Grande's "God is a Woman" music video appears to depict different gods and muses from classical mythology; Erato (muse of love poetry), Artemis, Gaia, Aphrodite, Urania, Athena, Demeter, Harmonia, Amphitrite, and Hera.
• David Sylvian: "Orpheus" and "Promise (The Cult of Eurydice)" are loosely based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.
• Tears for Fears: The song "Fish Out of Water" includes the Roman sea god in the verse "Now in Neptune's kitchen you will be food for killer whales," doubling as a reference to the recording studio that astrologically-inclined frontman Roland Orzabal built to make the song's parent album, Elemental.
• xi's track "Halcyon" is named after the term "halcyon days", itself derived from the story of Alcyone and Ceyx. The official music video features a summary of that story.

Tabletop Game

• Yu-Gi-Oh!:
  • "Endymion, the Master Magician" and his archetype "Endymion" are named for Endymion. One of the support cards is "Selene, Queen of the Master Magicians", and a related card is "Artemis, the Magistus Moon Maiden".

Theater

• Hamilton: Angelica compares Hamilton to Icarus in "Burn".

Video Games

• Alien: Isolation: The story kicks off with the Anesidora finding the black box for the Nostromo… except against company policy, they listened to the black box's records and learned about LV-426, which led to the Xenomorphs taking over the Sevastopol station. As Anesidora is another name for Pandora, you could say the game was a result of opening Pandora's box.
• Castle Cats:
  • Dio is based on Dionysus, considering the similar name and the fact that she led a clan that was obsessed with "-Grape Juice-".
  • Cassandra is a feline Medusa.
  • Thena is likely named after Athena.
  • Amortina is based on Cupid/Eros.
  • Venus, of course, is a reference to Venus/Aphrodite.
  • Minerva was likely named after Minerva.
  • Calli, a musical cat, was probably inspired by Calliope.
• Castlevania: Circle of the Moon:
  • The first boss is a Cerberus.
  • The god Mercury is the Action Card based around Strength.
  • The goddess Venus is the Action Card based around Enhancement.
• Criminal Case: "Poseidon" is carved into the floor in the Sun Deck scene during Case 43: Troubled Waters.
• DragonFable:
  • The underwater town of Tethys is named after Tethys, one of the Titans who was the Greek goddess of water.
  • The Bacon Element questchain features the Chickencow god called Zeuster, and sends you to complete parodies of the thirteen "Labors of Hercules".
• Final Fantasy:
  • Chaos is the main villain of Final Fantasy, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, and the Dissidia Final Fantasy games, being the God of Discord that stands in opposition to Cosmos, the Goddess of Harmony.
• Einhänder: The lunar faction is called Selene, your fighter's name is either Endymion or Astraea, a fleet of A.I. fighters is called Eos, and your command satellite is called Hyperion,
  • Final Fantasy III would introduce the franchise's mainstay summons, including Titan. Each of the summons are based on one god from one myth, with Titan representing classical mythology. Titan has powers over earth and has an attack called Gaia's Wrath.
  • Final Fantasy XIV has two fairies named Eos and Selene.
  • Final Fantasy XV is set in the world of Eos.
• Fire Emblem: Castor is named after one of the twins, Castor and Pollux, of Classical Mythology.
• Flight Rising: Olympia Oyster: "A delicacy fit only for the gods. Dragons are advised to eat quickly, before theirs notices!" (Mount Olympus is the mountain on which the major gods were said to reside, and the concept of a food only gods are allowed to eat is similar to ambrosia).
• Fortnite:
  • The item ID for official maps in the game use the names of Greek gods. Athena is the Chapter 1 Island, Apollo is the Chapter 2 Island, while Saturn and Demeter are for currently unreleased maps.
  • Midas is based on… well, take a guess. Additionally, he has a daughter just like King Midas, and in later versions of the tale, his daughter's name is Marigold — the name of the game's Midas's yacht and his female counterpart.
  • Love Ranger, Fallen Love Ranger, Stoneheart, Darkheart, and Coldheart are based on Cupid and possibly Aphrodite.
  • The Chimera Crew set includes the Master Minotaur skin and his Bull Shield. Despite its name, the set only references the Minotaur.
  • Menace and Sica are Roman gladiator-inspired characters/skins, with Menace's accessories depicting a lion (presumably the Nemean lion) and Medusa, while Sica's accessories depict a lyre and Cerberus.
  • The fan-submitted skin Lyra is based on Medusa.
  • Deimos is named for the god of dread.
  • Anthea is named after an epithet of Hera.
  • Callisto is named after a lover of Zeus who was turned into a bear and became Ursa Major, though the game's Callisto has nothing in common with her namesake.
  • The Kymera alien species is named for the Chimera due to its highly customizable skin from a set of available options for players.
• Genshin Impact: Surprisingly enough for a game about gods, the references to classical mythology are limited to very few names and related words.
  • Aether, the male protagonist option, is named for the primordial Greek god of the same name. Aether represented the upper air, or aether, that the gods breathe, as opposed to the normal air that mortals below the heavens breathe. Like the game's Aether, the god Aether also had a twin sister, whose name is Hemera.
  • The Knights of Favonius are named after Favonia, the Roman god of the west wind, just as the Knights represent the west out of Mondstadt's Four Winds.
  • Andrius is also known as Lupus Boreas, or "Wolf of the North". Boreas was the Greek god of the north wind, just as Andrius represents the north out of Mondstadt's Four Winds.
  • Childe's real name is Ajax, and the names of his siblings are Teucer, Anton, and Tonia.
• God of War has the protagonist, who is named after the God of Force ^note son of Titans Pallas and Styx, who was an agent of Zeus that got sent to order the punishment of Prometheus.
• Pokémon:
  • Pokémon Black and White:
    • N and Ghetsis's last name is Harmonia, the Roman goddess of harmony.
    • N's foster older sisters are named Anthea and Concordia, Anthea being an epithet for Hera and Concordia being the Greek goddess of harmony (Harmonia's Greek counterpart). In international dubs, Anthea and Concordia have the titles of goddess/muse of love and peace, respectively. Additionally, in the French dub, Anthea's name is Venus instead.
    • Iris is named for the Greek goddess of the rainbow and the messenger of the gods.
  • Pokémon X and Y: Delphox is named for the Oracle of Delphi and is said to have clairvoyance.
• Scribblenauts: Maxwel has the ability to summon anything by just writing the name on his magical notepad, this includes several Greek/Roman deities and monsters.
• Soul Sacrifice: The war that tore apart the world was called the Olympian War, the tribe of humans born without magic are called the Romalus, there are numerous areas named after things from the mythos: the Plains of Olympia, the Catacombs of Pandora, the Ruins of Tartarus where the Cerberus dwells, Mount Helios, the Icarus Pasture, the Poseidon Inn, Lake Andromeda. Gorgon and Vulcan are Black Rites.

Web Animation

• RWBY:
  • All characters in the franchise allude to a character from a fairytale, myth, history, or pop culture. Pyrrha Nikos's allusion is Achilles, and she goes through a Heroic BSoD (referencing Achilles in His Tent), a Pyrrhic Victory, and getting killed by an arrow to the Achilles' Heel before being immolated into ashes (as Achilles was cremated after his death). Additionally, Pyrrha's name is both a reference to "pyrrhic victory" (which is actually not a reference to Achilles, but rather King Pyrrhus of Epirus) and one of the possible names that Achilles took on when he crossdressed. It's possible she was also named for Pyrrha of Thessaly from the tale of Deucalion and Pyrrha, who was the daughter of Pandora — Pyrrha Nikos had a large role in the events that involved the show's "Pandora's Box" described below.
  • Mercury Black is named for both the element mercury and its namesake, the god Mercury. Mercury's weapon is his cybernetic legs, and he later wears boots that have wing designs on them.
  • Velvet's weapon is called the Anesidora, a box that copies the attacks of her allies. When it is first introduced, she's told to save it for later, and when she does, it's during a devastating invasion by the villains in a season finale that would've ended hopelessly if what remained of the heroes hadn't continued to move forward. Anesidora is another name for Pandora.
  • The God of Light and the God of Darkness are confirmed by Word of God to be based on the Greek pantheon. As such, their story with Salem can be seen as a reference to the various cautionary Greek myths about the dangers of becoming arrogant enough to defy the gods and that you may be punished with a curse for the rest of your life for your insolence.
  • The city Argus is named for the builder of the Argos, thus allowing Jason and the Argonauts to set off on their journey to retrieve the Golden Fleece, just as Argus is the setting-off point for Team Remnant before they reach their intended destination, the kingdom of Atlas.
  • The city of Atlas floats in the sky, and Ironwood's struggle is described in the third opening song as being "crushed by the weight of the world".
  • Neopolitan's birth name was Trivia Vanille. Trivia was the Roman goddess of crossroads (specifically, three-way crossroads — a partial reference to Neo's three colors based on Neapolitan ice cream). Her closest friend is also named Roman Torchwick.
  • In RWBY/Justice League, to explain how Diana's name fits with the franchise's naming convention, it is stated that she was named after an ancient goddess of the moon.

Web Comics

• Countdown to Countdown: In the story, a subspecies of humans called demiflora can be identified as different "races" (for lack of a better word) by what powers they have, and comic's naming theme for the demiflora characters is that they have a reference to their flower race in their name. The protagonist is Iris Black, a dark-haired boy whose iris powers allow him to materialize things from whatever he draws. While he's named for the flower iris, it's also appropriate seeing his affinity for drawing as well an Ironic Name seeing as Iris is the goddess of rainbows while his last name is literally "black" — as an artist, he's named for colors.
• Roommates: The Erlkönig arc ends with a strip titled Lethe.

Web Original

• Neopets: Naia and Nereid are Water Faeries named after naiads and nereids, respectively. There's also Ariadne, a Dark Faerie.
• SCP Foundation:
  • SCP-4275 is a granite statue of Poseidon underwater. If it is damaged in any way, it defends itself by causing natural disasters such as earthquakes, storms and aggressive behavior in non-human animals. It is implied he was turned into a statue by Medusa as revenge for raping her.
  • SCP-4453 is Hera, who runs a family advice blog on the internet. The foundation allows her to have psychiatrists to vent out the stresses of her chaotic family life.
  • SCP-5167 is Phthonus, a technological anomaly afflicting Among Us, taking the form of a player that causes other players to believe their loved ones are in fact imposters.

Western Animation

• Adventure Time:
  • "Princess Monster Wife" alludes to Perseus and Medusa when Finn and Jake use mirrors in order not to gaze upon the titular monster's hideousness directly, though they are only in danger of fainting instead of being turned into stone.
  • Clarence and Ghost Princess' story is basically that of Achilles and Penthesilea.
• DuckTales (2017) features Greek myth-inspired characters like Storkules, the stork version of Hercules. One episode that focuses on it has Dewey and Webby having to pick a path in a temple in search of the "Spear of Selene", but each one has a trap. The path they pick has Charybdis… except Charybdis is guarding the Spear of Neptune, and when they realize their mistake, she gives them directions to where they actually want to go.
• Family Guy: In the third segment of "Grimm Job", Cinderella (Lois) mentions that her stepsisters once got King Midas to go third-base on her before pounding her crotch with a loud "clang".
• Generator Rex: Circe shares her name with the Greek enchantress.
• Glitch Techs: Nogrog is a mashup of Dracula, Dimitri, and Medusa, including having a Sdrawkcab Name from gorgon.
• Gravity Falls:
  • In one episode, Dipper meets a clan of manotaurs, who are like minotaurs, but manly.
  • In an episode focused on tabletop RPGs, Mabel summons a centaurtaur, which is a centaur… with another centaur body as its head.
• The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy:
  • Eris is a recurring character and one episode focuses on her golden apples.
  • One episode parodies Dora the Explorer, where Pandora tries to get people to open her box.
• Hey Arnold!: Grandma Pookie misreads Helga’s name as “Helen of Troy.”
• Justice League Unlimited:
  • Outside of the obvious Wonder Woman connection, Supergirl's evil clone Galatea is a reference to the tale of Pygmalion, who fell in love with his statue that he created, so Aphrodite gave her life so that they could be together. In the show, Galatea was created as a weapon for CADMUS by Professor Hamilton, who came to genuinely care about her despite having come to fear and despise superheroes like his former friends Superman and Supergirl. Hilariously, this myth was also William Moulton Marston's inspiration for Wonder Woman's origin story.
  • "This Little Piggy" features Circe as the main villain, having turned Diana into a pig. In an effort to undo the curse, Batman and Zatanna meet with Medusa on where to find Circe (all while wearing blindfolds; she also asks them to tell Circe that she wants her hair curler back!), who is performing at a club full of Ambiguously Gay men.
• Miraculous Ladybug:
  • Majestia's civilian name is Olympia Hill, referencing Mount Olympus.
  • Herakles was a past Miraculous user and is speculated in-universe to have wielded the Lion Miraculous (referencing the Nemean lion), which may or may not actually exist.
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars: More for the franchise as a whole, but the way Darth Maul always ends up falling from grace, right when it seems he clawed his way back to the top, has been compared to the tale of Sisyphus by Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sam Witwer.
• Star Wars Rebels:
  • Hera Syndulla is named for, well, Hera. Ironically, Hera is a warm, nurturing mother-figure, and whenever she's mad, it's because she's been crossed by someone scummy and/or evil.
  • One of the inspirations for Ezra, Kanan, and Ahsoka falling into the depths of Malachor was the mythical depictions of falling into the Underworld.
  • Kanan and Hera's son is named Jacen, which not only is a reference to Jacen Solo from the old Expanded Universe, but also Jason of the Argonauts, who was blessed by the goddess Hera.
  • The show introduces Moirai, an owl-like alien bird who is an old friend of Ahsoka. She's also confirmed to have a connection with the Daughter. In myth, the Moirai, also known as the Fates, controlled destiny.
• Star Wars Resistance:
  • The only known Imperial super tanker stations are called the Colossus and the Titan. The Colossus is a reference to the Colossus of Rhodes, an Ancient Greek statue that depicted Helios, the Titan and god of the sun.
  • Aeos Prime, the world that the Colossus almost settles on near the end of Season 2, is named for Eos, the Titaness and goddess of the dawn as well as the sister of Helios.
• SpongeBob SquarePants:
  • King Neptune, King Poseidon, Triton, and Queen Amphitrite are characters in the show. They're all portrayed as how mermaids are depicted in classical mythology.
  • In "Ghoul Fools", when Patrick is in the void, an evil spirit appears to him and attempts to torment him by being a donut around his forehead, and if Patrick tries to reach up for it, his forehead will extend so that he can never reach the donut — a reference to Tantalus. But this being Patrick, he annoyingly doesn't feel like eating and can't make up his mind on whether he wants the object to be a donut or something else, which instead torments the spirit.
• Tangled: The Series: Cassandra is named for the prophet Cassandra, as part of her character arc is being frustrated that Rapunzel won't listen to her and that she, a servant girl, is being overlooked in favor of more blessed people such as the princess.
• Transformers:
  • Optimus Prime's original name before he received the Matrix of Leadership was Orion Pax. Orion was a legendary Greek hero, and Pax was the Roman goddess of peace as well as the daughter of Jupiter and Justice.
  • Orion Pax's best friend Dion is named after Dione.
  • Transformers: Animated: Sumdac is backwards for Cadmus, the first Greek hero who also forged more heroes from dragon teeth, befitting how Professor Sumdac reverse-engineered Megatron's remains to advance human technology. Through Megatron's deceitful advice, Professor Sumdac was also able to construct Soundwave, the Recordicons, and the Dinobots.

Real Life

• A handful of words, terms, phrases, and imagery are based on classical myths:
  • A Pyrrhic Victory is victory but at a heavy cost that might as well be a loss. The term originates from King Pyrrhus of Epirus, who raised an army to attack Rome and succeeded, though at the cost of his army being heavily depleted and Rome having enough resources to rebuild as well as now becoming a wanted enemy of the Roman Empire.
  • "Tantalizing" originates from the tale of Tantalus.
  • An Electra complex is a Jungian psychoanalytical theory that a daughter may feel a rivalry with her mother for her father's attention. In myth, Electra plotted with her brother Orestes to kill their mother Clytemnestra and their stepfather Aegisthus to avenge their father Agamemnon, whom their mother had murdered to avenge her other daughter Iphigenia, who had been sacrificed by their father.
  • "The weight of the world on your shoulders" references Atlas, who carried the sky (in the shape of a sphere) for eternity as punishment for his role in the uprising against the gods.
  • Narcissism describes someone who is self-absorbed and thinks highly of themselves.
• The cleaning brand Ajax is named after the hero of the same name.
• The original location of Walt Disney Studios was on Hyperion Avenue. Now, Disney's book publishing department is called Disney Hyperion or Hyperion Avenue as a tribute to that.
• Various celestial bodies are named after gods and other figures in Greek and Roman mythology.
• The MIT Mystery Hunt 2024 is themed on Greek mythology — in particular, a scenario on how the Greek deities reacted to Pluto being emoted as a planet.

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