---
title: "Worth Knowing: 10 Classical Allusions | English Teaching Resource"
description: Here are ten classical allusions that are helpful for students to know and be able to reference. English Teaching Resource.
---

[Douglas Wise English Teaching Resources](https://www.douglaswise.co.uk/blog)

# [Worth Knowing: 10 Classical Allusions | English Teaching Resource](https://www.douglaswise.co.uk/blog/worth-knowing-10-classical-allusions)

 Written by [Douglas Wise](https://www.douglaswise.co.uk/blog/author/wise) | 15 December, 2016

Allusions can help students thrive in English, as [Matthew Pinkett](https://twitter.com/Positivteacha) points out in his post [here](https://allearssite.wordpress.com/2016/06/10/allusion-teach-it/) – read it you haven’t already because it’s excellent.  With that in mind, I thought I’d share ten classical allusions that I think are helpful for students to know and be able to reference.  Happy reading –

**Gordian Knot**

**An intricate knot, seemingly impossible to untangle. ** Useful for emphasising obtrusive complexity: *The Gordian nature of the problem seemed insurmountable*.

**Sword of Damocles**

**A sword that dangled over King Dionysius’s throne by a single horse hair. ** Useful for conveying the oppressive feeling of an impending sense of doom: *The deadline hung over her like the Sword of Damocles*.

**Delphic Oracle**

**In his temple in Delphi, Apollo conveyed cryptic prophecies through an oracle.**  Useful for describing predictions or messages that are challengingly obscure: *The Delphic nature of the HMI’s feedback left the Head confused about the exact nature of the identified areas for improvement*.

**Pandora’s Box**

**A box that once contained all the evils of the world.**  Useful for highlighting the far-reaching and troubling consequences of a seemingly innocuous action: *A closer examination of departmental expenditure opened a Pandora’s Box of fiscal horrors.*

**Deus ex Machina**

**A plot device that brings an immediate and unlikely resolution to a narrative. ** Useful for highlighting where a seemingly unsolvable situation has been brought to a surprisingly happy conclusion*: The deus ex machina took the form of an innocuous phone call during which the Ofsted Inspector cancelled the forthcoming inspection because her car had broken-down*.

**Sisyphus**

**The father of Odysseus, forced to endlessly roll a boulder up a hill only to watch it roll back down.**  Useful for illustrating a task’s futility: *Enforcing the new behaviour for learning policy was a Sisyphean task.*

**Dionysus**

**The Greek god of, amongst other things, wine.  **Useful for emphasising hedonism and excess: *The Dionysian celebrations of the maths staff resulted in some sore heads the next morning*.

**Cassandra**

**The daughter of King Priam, gifted with the ability to prophesise, but also cursed never to be believed.**  Useful for drawing attention to the uncanny ability that some possess to predict disastrous events that appear unlikely: *Speaking* *with Cassandra’s voice, Mrs Jones stated confidently that she didn’t expect the targets to be met.*

**Icarus**

**The son of Daedalus who flew too close to the sun.**  Useful for highlighting the perils of excessive ambition: *Like Icarus, the new Head had a grand plan that she hoped to fulfil*.

**Proteus**

**An ancient deity and protector of the seas who possessed the ability to transform into different shapes and forms.**  Useful for indicating rapid, mercurial changeability: *The protean shifts in education policy over the years have been dizzying*.

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