diaphanous

1.

Of such fine texture as to allow light to pass through; translucent or transparent.

2.

Vague; insubstantial.

Quotes:

The curtains are thin, a diaphanous membrane thatcan't quite contain the light outside.

-- Eric Liu, The Accidental Asian

She needed more than diaphanous hope, more thanI could give her.

-- Tej Rae, "One Hand Extended", Washington Post ,August 12, 2001

This phantom wore many faces, but it always hadgolden hair, was enveloped in a diaphanous cloud,and floated airily before his mind's eye in a pleasingchaos of roses, peacocks, white ponies, and blueribbons.

-- Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

Origin:

Diaphanous ultimately derives from Greek diaphanes , "showing through," from diaphainein , "to showthrough, to be transparent," from dia- , "through" + phainein , "to show, to appear." It is related tophantom , something apparently sensed but having no physical reality.

PRIAM, the name, Lateline - 14/04/2009: Malouf turns to Homer for latest inspiration

Lateline - 14/04/2009: Malouf turns to Homer for latest inspiration

You can have anything you want," and she takes him down amongst these children and says, "I want him, he's my brother, and he's the last survivor of the royal line." And Hercules doesn't entirely believe her but he says, "If that's what you want, then the brat is yours. But because I've kept my word to you, from now on he will be called Priam, the 'price paid' in Greek."

Myrmidons - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Myrmidons - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Myrmidon (disambiguation).

The Myrmidons (or Myrmidones; Greek: Μυρμιδόνες) are people of ancient Greek mythology. They are very brave and skilled warriors as described in Homer's Iliad, and are commanded by Achilles.^[1] Their eponymous ancestor was Myrmidon, a king of Thessalian Phthia who was a son of Zeus and "wide-ruling" Eurymedousa, a princess of Phthia. She was seduced by him in the form of an ant. An etiological myth of their origins, simply expanding upon their supposed etymology — the name in Classical Greek was interpreted as "ant-people", from μυρμηδών (murmedon) "ant's nest"^[2] and that from μύρμηξ(murmex) "ant"^[3] — was first mentioned by Ovid, in Metamorphoses: in Ovid's telling, King Aeacus of Aegina, father of Peleus, pleaded with Zeus to populate his country after a terrible plague. Zeus said his people would number as the ants on his sacred oak, and from the ants sprang the people of Aegina, the Myrmidons.

According to Homer's Iliad, the Myrmidons were the fiercest warriors in all of Greece. As said in Iliad, "Go home, then, with your ships and comrades to lord it over the Myrmidons".

[edit]Later use of the term

The Myrmidons of Greek myth were known for their loyalty to their leaders, so that in pre-industrial Europe the word "myrmidon" carried many of the same connotations that "robot" does today. Myrmidon later came to mean "hired ruffian" (according to the Oxford English Dictionary) or "a loyal follower, especially one who executes orders without question, protest, or pity, unquestioning followers." (Dictionary.com).

Myrmidons is also the title of the first of a trilogy of plays by Aeschylus, collectively known as Achilles. The other plays in the trilogy are Nereids and Phrygians. See Achilles (play) for more.

Wayne Thiebaud: Seventy Years of Painting | San Jose Museum of Art

Wayne Thiebaud: Seventy Years of Painting | San Jose Museum of Art

Ouroboros - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ouroboros - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Ouroboros or Uroborus^[1] is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon swallowing its own tail and forming a circle.

Ratiocination | Define Ratiocination at Dictionary.com

Ratiocination | Define Ratiocination at Dictionary.com: "ratiocination"