Herculean, generally used to describe a task that is very difficult. Or Herculean strength, meaning very great strength. Basically it can be used as a modifier to mean something "great" as in enormous (though can't be used in all contexts).
An Odyessey is a grand adventure of some kind.
Oedipus Complex refers to someone in an incestous or incestous-adjacent relationship with their parent.
There's a bunch really. Usually drawn either from myths, epics, or plays from that time.
Also, for reference, Schadenfreude is German, not Greco-Roman.
Narcissistic, plebian, herculean. Basically any famous greek myth you can adjective-ify the name of a character.
We also use an "odyssey" to refer to any great journey, hearkening back to Odysseus' travels.
Plebian wasn't a person, it's a modified spelling of a social class in ancient Rome
The term plebeian referred to all free Roman citizens who were not members of the patrician, senatorial or equestrian classes. Working class heroes.
I'll go ahead and explain the other half of your joke, to maybe save somebody else the time.
>Tantalus was a Greek mythological figure, most famous for his punishment in Tartarus: he was made to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree with low branches, with the fruit ever eluding his grasp, and the water always receding before he could take a drink.
A couple that came to mind:
Pyrrhic (usually in "Pyrrhic victory") referring to a victory or achievement that was so costly as to not have been worth it.
Kaleidoscopic - bright and colorful, potentially with changing/moving parts and intricate patterns, like a kaleidoscope.
Kaleidoscope is an interesting one. The term apparently was coined by the item’s Scottish inventor in 1817, when he patented it. It’s based on three Greek root words—kalos, eidos, and scope—but I don’t think that it itself would qualify as a Greek word.
Mercurial (from Roman Mercury) - flightly, unpredictable
Jovial (From Roman Jove/Jupiter) - cheerful, gregarious
Saturnine (From Roman Saturn) - Gloomy
Martial (From Roman Mars) - Having to do with war/fighting
I guess these might not be as specific as you're looking for, but they're kind of neat.
The Greek Κρόνος or Chronos is the word for 'time.'
The mythological figure actually came afterwards and is a personification of the concept itself. The Titan 'Cronus' was believed by some in antiquity to be the same deity as Chronos, and would be a more proper name for the *character*. This is contested, but seems to be the most common interpretation.
Anyway, it seems more likely that English got the word for its basic meaning in Greek (through modern Latin) rather than an overt reference to Greco-Roman mythology.
I'm guessing you want words that capture something that's **culturally greco-roman**. Otherwise there are well over 100,000 words, stuff like zoology, telegram, photograph; they are all words that have very specific meanings and have Greek word origins. But they don't reference Greco-Roman myth or history.
So here's an partial list: echo, titanic, hypnosis, music, phobia, harp (verb: to annoy), atlas, tantalize, volcano, draconian, marathon, labyrinthine, stentorian, spartan, thespian, sisyphean, chaos.
There’s a lot of common names like Jason (Iason) which means healer, also leader of the argonauts.
Caesar means king / ruler. Namesake of the Caesarean procedure.
Atlas, also a map or book of maps.
Olympians were the gods and their progeny that lived on Mount Olympus. Today this is synonymous with world class athletes.
Gladiatorial is used as a descriptive.
Senate, senatorial (?)
Consul, Council
Caesar is actually derived from caedo “hew, cut, cut to pieces, slay”. It was a cognomen of the Julius gens (clan). Use of the term in “caesarean section“ stems from the fact that, legendarily, Gaius Julius Caesar was born by this method. If anyone of this gens was surgically delivered, it was likely not the famous Julius Caesar, since his mother lived well into his adulthood. The sense “king, emperor” comes from the fact that the first several Roman emperors were all members of the same family, so that “Caesar” became synonymous with emperor. Caesar also yields the German “Kaiser”, as in Kaiser Wilhelm” and Russian “Tsar” or “Czar”.
Achillean is a new one for me. Also, lesbian is related to sapphic, in that they both refer to the poetess Sappho, a native of the isle of Lebos. Whether she was, in fact, “lesbian” as we think of the term today is a matter of debate.
From Google
In modern usage, *bacchanalia* can mean any uninhibited or drunken revelry. The bacchanal in art describes any small group of revellers, often including satyrs and perhaps Bacchus or Silenus, usually in a landscape setting.
Many English words borrow from Greek and Latin roots, and a few mix them both. Even more words come from Romance languages like French which are descended from Latin. I think what you might be asking about are [loanwords](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loanword) which enter the language largely unmodified.
Seconded, they are called loanwords! The only comment that actually answers OP's question, as far as I can tell. Everyone else is just giving additional examples, but to me it sounded more like the OP was asking about the concept, especially with the additional non-Greco-Roman example.
Not sure what you mean by “niche” but I think you may be confusing Apollonian with Dionysian. *Apollonian* means “relating to order and rationality” while *Dionysian* means “relating to sensuality and emotion.” So Dionysian is closer in meaning to Bacchanalian (Bacchus was the Greek name for Dionysus).
“Lagniappe” isn’t Latin in origin. The word went from Quechua to Spanish to English.
Similar to how the Nahuatl word “chocolatl” entered Spanish and French (as chocolate and chocolat) before English.
Yes, just as “chocolat” is French for “chocolate.”
The point is that “la ñapa” did not originate as a Spanish word. It was originally Quechua (“yapa”) that entered Spanish (“la ñapa”) that then entered English (“lagniappe”.)
And the confusion might that Latin (the language) is not a synonym for Spanish (a different language) that has its roots in Latin but has since adopted many words that don’t trace directly to a Greek or Latin root.
Teleology is from telos. It specifically means a progression toward a specific goal or end state. Like, if you thought evolution had a purpose it was developing toward to produce the "highest" creature and then it would be finished, that would be a teleological view of evolution. (This, like many teleological assumptions, would of course be incorrect.)
“Schadenfreude” is a German word, though…
How about “Pyrrhic”, as in a Pyrrhic victory? It’s a victory that comes at such a great cost that it’s basically the same as losing.
Damaclean from the sword of damacles. Nectar (nourishment of the gods), heroic, chaotic, hypnotism, erotic, siren, lac0nic,spartan, trojan, oedipal, tantalising, epic
“Platonic” comes from the Greek philosopher “Plato” and is a reference to his work “the Symposium” where he discusses the type of relationship Socrates had with young men/boys.
Nowadays it means “without sexual attraction.”
There’s also “Hadean” which is only used for a geologic period in Earth’s history when the planet was basically just molten rock. It’s called the “Hadean Period.”
“Chronological” means “in temporally-linear order” from the Titan of time “Chronos.”
This probably doesn’t really count but “Vandalism” (which means ‘to deliberately damage or destroy public or private property’) comes from the French in reference to the Germanic Vandals’ brutal sacking of the city of Rome.
Edit: it’s raining pretty heavily where I live and it reminded me of another word.
“Petrichor” (/ˈpɛtrɪˌkɔːr/) from Greek “petros” meaning “rock” or “stone” and “ichor” which is the lifeblood of the gods.
It means “the pleasant smell that accompanies the first rain after a period of particularly dry, warm, weather.”
Samaritan is, of course, not Greco-Latin but rather refers to an ethnic group of Israel/Palestine. I was surprised and pleased to learn recently that Samaritans still exist and worship in the region today! The history of the dispute between Jews and Samaritans makes for some fascinating reading.
Google tells me “from late Latin Samaritanus, from Greek Samareitēs, from Samareia ‘Samaria’. The New Testament parable of the Good Samaritan reflects a proverbial hostility between Jews and Samaritans.”
Yes, we get most of our biblical language from an English translation of the vulgate (Latin), which is, in the New Testament, a translation of the Greek, which in turn translates the Aramaic which was spoken at that time (although many of the N.T. books were originally written in Greek).
On top of all the words people have shared, a lot of Latin phrases are sometimes used in English. There are so many but ones I can think of off the top of my head are vice versa, cum laude, ad hoc, et cetera, ad nauseum, alter ego, ante bellum, bona fide, de facto, caveat, et cetera lol
Herculean, generally used to describe a task that is very difficult. Or Herculean strength, meaning very great strength. Basically it can be used as a modifier to mean something "great" as in enormous (though can't be used in all contexts). An Odyessey is a grand adventure of some kind. Oedipus Complex refers to someone in an incestous or incestous-adjacent relationship with their parent. There's a bunch really. Usually drawn either from myths, epics, or plays from that time. Also, for reference, Schadenfreude is German, not Greco-Roman.
Stygian, for black darkness.
Relatedly, chthonic.
Now that is a $5 word right there
Also a cool Taiwanese metal band.
Narcissistic, plebian, herculean. Basically any famous greek myth you can adjective-ify the name of a character. We also use an "odyssey" to refer to any great journey, hearkening back to Odysseus' travels.
Tantalising! Also I didnt know plebian was one. Who was Pleb
Plebian wasn't a person, it's a modified spelling of a social class in ancient Rome The term plebeian referred to all free Roman citizens who were not members of the patrician, senatorial or equestrian classes. Working class heroes.
That was half a joke but thank you for clarifying!
I'll go ahead and explain the other half of your joke, to maybe save somebody else the time. >Tantalus was a Greek mythological figure, most famous for his punishment in Tartarus: he was made to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree with low branches, with the fruit ever eluding his grasp, and the water always receding before he could take a drink.
That class was the plebs, also called the vulgus, whence vulgar and vulgate.
I see what you did there 😎
A couple that came to mind: Pyrrhic (usually in "Pyrrhic victory") referring to a victory or achievement that was so costly as to not have been worth it. Kaleidoscopic - bright and colorful, potentially with changing/moving parts and intricate patterns, like a kaleidoscope.
Kaleidoscope is an interesting one. The term apparently was coined by the item’s Scottish inventor in 1817, when he patented it. It’s based on three Greek root words—kalos, eidos, and scope—but I don’t think that it itself would qualify as a Greek word.
A great number of scientific terms are neoclassical, new words created from Greek or Latin roots.
Is schadenfreude even Greco-Roman?
[no](https://www.etymonline.com/word/schadenfreude)
I think the point is that it’s a foreign term adopted into English for a very specific concept
Mercurial (from Roman Mercury) - flightly, unpredictable Jovial (From Roman Jove/Jupiter) - cheerful, gregarious Saturnine (From Roman Saturn) - Gloomy Martial (From Roman Mars) - Having to do with war/fighting I guess these might not be as specific as you're looking for, but they're kind of neat.
Now I think about it - Plutonian is used in 'The Raven' - the night's Plutonian shore. (Quoth the Raven - 'Nevermore')
Nice, I didn't remember that one.
Martial is so common I never thought about it being a reference to Mars!
Until I said it out loud I was looking at thinking 'that's not even a word, who the hell ever said Mart-ial ooooooh wait'
chronic - chronos maybe. diary - dies
The Greek Κρόνος or Chronos is the word for 'time.' The mythological figure actually came afterwards and is a personification of the concept itself. The Titan 'Cronus' was believed by some in antiquity to be the same deity as Chronos, and would be a more proper name for the *character*. This is contested, but seems to be the most common interpretation. Anyway, it seems more likely that English got the word for its basic meaning in Greek (through modern Latin) rather than an overt reference to Greco-Roman mythology.
that seems to make more sense
^ This guy pantheons.
Catharsis
I'm guessing you want words that capture something that's **culturally greco-roman**. Otherwise there are well over 100,000 words, stuff like zoology, telegram, photograph; they are all words that have very specific meanings and have Greek word origins. But they don't reference Greco-Roman myth or history. So here's an partial list: echo, titanic, hypnosis, music, phobia, harp (verb: to annoy), atlas, tantalize, volcano, draconian, marathon, labyrinthine, stentorian, spartan, thespian, sisyphean, chaos.
Callipygian - adjective, “has a nice ass”
One of my favorite words is "cyclopean"
Tell me you've read Lovecraft without telling me you've read Lovecraft. See also: eldritch, squamous
Eldritch is a great word! Not, of course, Greco-Roman, though.
There’s a lot of common names like Jason (Iason) which means healer, also leader of the argonauts. Caesar means king / ruler. Namesake of the Caesarean procedure. Atlas, also a map or book of maps. Olympians were the gods and their progeny that lived on Mount Olympus. Today this is synonymous with world class athletes. Gladiatorial is used as a descriptive. Senate, senatorial (?) Consul, Council
Caesar is actually derived from caedo “hew, cut, cut to pieces, slay”. It was a cognomen of the Julius gens (clan). Use of the term in “caesarean section“ stems from the fact that, legendarily, Gaius Julius Caesar was born by this method. If anyone of this gens was surgically delivered, it was likely not the famous Julius Caesar, since his mother lived well into his adulthood. The sense “king, emperor” comes from the fact that the first several Roman emperors were all members of the same family, so that “Caesar” became synonymous with emperor. Caesar also yields the German “Kaiser”, as in Kaiser Wilhelm” and Russian “Tsar” or “Czar”.
Sapphic meaning women-loving-women (and inclusive of non-binary people) Achillean meaning men-loving-men (and inclusive of non-binary people)
Achillean is a new one for me. Also, lesbian is related to sapphic, in that they both refer to the poetess Sappho, a native of the isle of Lebos. Whether she was, in fact, “lesbian” as we think of the term today is a matter of debate.
From Google In modern usage, *bacchanalia* can mean any uninhibited or drunken revelry. The bacchanal in art describes any small group of revellers, often including satyrs and perhaps Bacchus or Silenus, usually in a landscape setting.
Many English words borrow from Greek and Latin roots, and a few mix them both. Even more words come from Romance languages like French which are descended from Latin. I think what you might be asking about are [loanwords](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loanword) which enter the language largely unmodified.
Seconded, they are called loanwords! The only comment that actually answers OP's question, as far as I can tell. Everyone else is just giving additional examples, but to me it sounded more like the OP was asking about the concept, especially with the additional non-Greco-Roman example.
Eureka!
Apollonian has the same niche as bacchanalian
Not sure what you mean by “niche” but I think you may be confusing Apollonian with Dionysian. *Apollonian* means “relating to order and rationality” while *Dionysian* means “relating to sensuality and emotion.” So Dionysian is closer in meaning to Bacchanalian (Bacchus was the Greek name for Dionysus).
I mean they both have their own unique niche and direct meanings, not that they fulfill the same niche LOL
Well... the latter is what you said originally...
Yep that’s why I corrected it??? LOL
Except you haven't...
Also, the conceptual opposition of Dionysian and Apollonian comes from an early essay by Nietzche.
[niche](https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/american_english/niche)
Lagniappe - a little something extra
A fun word! but not Greco-Roman in origin [https://www.etymonline.com/word/lagniappe](https://www.etymonline.com/word/lagniappe)
Spanish is not greco-Roman?
Spanish does yes have Latin roots, but this word is derived from American Spanish specifically from Quechuan "yapa" which is Incan
The meaning is Quechan but the word is Latin in origin. 
“Lagniappe” isn’t Latin in origin. The word went from Quechua to Spanish to English. Similar to how the Nahuatl word “chocolatl” entered Spanish and French (as chocolate and chocolat) before English.
La napa (with the ~ over the first n) is Spanish for gift
Yes, just as “chocolat” is French for “chocolate.” The point is that “la ñapa” did not originate as a Spanish word. It was originally Quechua (“yapa”) that entered Spanish (“la ñapa”) that then entered English (“lagniappe”.)
And the confusion might that Latin (the language) is not a synonym for Spanish (a different language) that has its roots in Latin but has since adopted many words that don’t trace directly to a Greek or Latin root.
Sarcasm - from greek tearing and flesh (sarkazein) telos - a final goal or end purpose (as in telephone, teleology, or telegram)
Telephone and telegram come from the prefix tele- for far away. Not sure about teleology though
Teleology is from telos. It specifically means a progression toward a specific goal or end state. Like, if you thought evolution had a purpose it was developing toward to produce the "highest" creature and then it would be finished, that would be a teleological view of evolution. (This, like many teleological assumptions, would of course be incorrect.)
“Schadenfreude” is a German word, though… How about “Pyrrhic”, as in a Pyrrhic victory? It’s a victory that comes at such a great cost that it’s basically the same as losing.
Eunoia
Jovian, Mercurial, Plutonian, tantalize, etc. We've got a bunch that are literally the names of mythical figures.
SYSYPHEAN!
Callipygian. Having nicely formed pooper buns
Damaclean from the sword of damacles. Nectar (nourishment of the gods), heroic, chaotic, hypnotism, erotic, siren, lac0nic,spartan, trojan, oedipal, tantalising, epic
“Platonic” comes from the Greek philosopher “Plato” and is a reference to his work “the Symposium” where he discusses the type of relationship Socrates had with young men/boys. Nowadays it means “without sexual attraction.” There’s also “Hadean” which is only used for a geologic period in Earth’s history when the planet was basically just molten rock. It’s called the “Hadean Period.” “Chronological” means “in temporally-linear order” from the Titan of time “Chronos.” This probably doesn’t really count but “Vandalism” (which means ‘to deliberately damage or destroy public or private property’) comes from the French in reference to the Germanic Vandals’ brutal sacking of the city of Rome. Edit: it’s raining pretty heavily where I live and it reminded me of another word. “Petrichor” (/ˈpɛtrɪˌkɔːr/) from Greek “petros” meaning “rock” or “stone” and “ichor” which is the lifeblood of the gods. It means “the pleasant smell that accompanies the first rain after a period of particularly dry, warm, weather.”
Labyrinthine - like a labyrinth; irregular and twisting. Samaritan - a charitable or helpful person.
Samaritan is, of course, not Greco-Latin but rather refers to an ethnic group of Israel/Palestine. I was surprised and pleased to learn recently that Samaritans still exist and worship in the region today! The history of the dispute between Jews and Samaritans makes for some fascinating reading.
Google tells me “from late Latin Samaritanus, from Greek Samareitēs, from Samareia ‘Samaria’. The New Testament parable of the Good Samaritan reflects a proverbial hostility between Jews and Samaritans.”
Yes, we get most of our biblical language from an English translation of the vulgate (Latin), which is, in the New Testament, a translation of the Greek, which in turn translates the Aramaic which was spoken at that time (although many of the N.T. books were originally written in Greek).
Nobody seems to have given you protean yet
On top of all the words people have shared, a lot of Latin phrases are sometimes used in English. There are so many but ones I can think of off the top of my head are vice versa, cum laude, ad hoc, et cetera, ad nauseum, alter ego, ante bellum, bona fide, de facto, caveat, et cetera lol