Word of the Day!

mythopoeic [mith-uh-pee-ik]

adjective:
1 of or relating to the making of myths
2 serving to create or engender myths; productive in mythmaking

Examples:

Gloria Steinem's New York is a bit like everyone's: a mythopoeic territory at the intersection of real estate, restaurants and workaholism, with bits of love, sex and ambition thrown in. (John Leland, What I Learned About a Vanished New York From Gloria Steinem, The New York Times, October 2016)

Shelley had turned it into a mythopoeic representation of the Romantic poet Keats 'butchered' by critics. (Kaiser Haq, The poet as mythopoeic hero: Adonis, Dhaka Tribune, November 2017)

Like most big cosmic ideas, this one has almost certainly been purloined, ornamented and abused more than once in the vast works of mythopoeic bricolage which DC and Marvel, America's main comic-book publishers, have provided to the world over the past decades. (O M, The growth of Marvel's universe through 'Black Panther' is welcome, The Economist, February 2018)

A lot of thought went into that visual and mythopoeic synthesis, which also incorporates a strong element of Celtic and Germanic folklore. (Mike Hale, 'Carnival Row' review: Nothing new to see here, Gulf News, September 2019)

Perhaps Charles Strickland's power and originality would scarcely have sufficed to turn the scale if the remarkable mythopoeic faculty of mankind had not brushed aside with impatience a story which disappointed all its craving for the extraordinary. (W Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence)

Haggard is the text-book case of the mythopoeic gift pure and simple... Haggard's best work will survive because it is based on an appeal well above high-water mark. The fullest tides of fashion cannot demolish it. A great myth is relevant as long as the predicament of humanity lasts; as long as humanity lasts. (W Somerset Maugham, C. S. Lewis, 'The Mythopoeic Gift of Rider Haggard')

Origin:

'pertaining to the creation of myths, giving rise to myths,' 1843, from Greek mythopoios, from mythos + poiein 'to make, create'. (Online Etymology Dictionary)

chthonian [thoh-nee-uhn]

adjective:
(classical mythology) of or relating to the deities, spirits, and other beings dwelling under the earth; of or relating to the underworld

Examples:

This terrestrial approach is almost alchemical and emphasized by the exhibition's title hermetic aspect: 'Sonde d'arc-en-taupe' mentions two complementary patterns, mole tunnels and rainbows, a way of linking the cosmos and the chthonian world, the stars and the underground. (Jean-Marie Appriou, Palais de Tokyo, February 2022)

So if The Dunwich Horror ends up happening and manages to be successful, I’ll bet a canvas bag full of chthonian artifacts that the third film will be The Shadow over Innsmouth. (Tom Reimann, Hollywood Has a Lovecraft Problem, Collider, February 2020)

This chthonian belief - that the world’s underbelly rumbles with life - guides all the so-called Earth-based faiths. (Michael Tortorello, If a Druid Rings the Doorbell, The New York Times, October 2013)

Our trains are not ambushed by dragons, suicide bombers, or chthonian tentacle monsters. Frankly, given the quality of the postprandial conversation, this is not a net positive. (Charles Stross, The Fuller Memorandum)

The chthonian deities form a counterpart to the dwellers on Olympus. (John Addington Symonds, Studies of the Greek Poets)

It must be strange to die, surrounded by jackals at their chthonian litanies. (Martin Swayne, In Mesopotamia)

Origin:

'of or pertaining to the under world,' 1882, with -ic + Latinized form of Greek khthonios 'of the earth, in the earth,' from khthōn 'the earth, solid surface of the earth' (mostly poetic), from PIE root dhghem- 'earth.' (Online Etymology Dictionary)

stentorian [sten-tawr-ee-uhn, -tohr-]

adjective:
very loud or powerful in sound; booming

Examples:

There is, of course, our old friend Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen), leader of the Autobots, who transforms out of a cool red Freightliner semi-truck and issues his commands in a voice that's noble, stentorian, maybe even a dash Shakespearean. (Owen Gleiberman, 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts' Review: A Less Bombastic, More Relatable Sequel Shows That There's Still Life in the Machine, Variety, June 2023)

Sprint launched another one of its commercials yesterday featuring James Earl Jones and Malcolm McDowell using their stentorian 'actor!' tones to re-enact the trivial conversations of everyday folks. (Jim Edwards, James Earl Jones And Malcolm McDowell Re-Enact A Facebook Comments War - And It's Hilarious, Business Insider, November 2013)

Instead of iambic pentameter, characters in The King speak in what we might call Game of Thrones English, a blend of short staccato sentences, stentorian pronouncements, a few old-timey phrasings, and frequent cursing. (Nate Jones, How The King Rewrites Shakespeare’s Most Famous Dialogue, Vulture, November 2019)

Instead when our hi-jinks reached a crescendo, a well-timed bellow from the head of the house, our military grandfather, promptly and firmly put a lid on it. (Janardhan Roye, Opera Moments, The Times of India, April 2008)

"What does this knave want with me?" said he, in stentorian tones, which rendered the entire hall attentive to this strange colloquy. "Don't you see that I am one of them?" (Victor Hugo, Notre-Dame de Paris)

Origin:

'of powerful voice; extremely loud,' c. 1600, from Stentor, the name of the legendary Greek herald in the Trojan War, whose voice (described in the Iliad) was as loud as 50 men. His name is from Greek stenein 'groan, moan,' from PIE imitative root (s)ten-, source of Old English þunor 'thunder.' Stentorious was used in 16c. (Online Etymology Dictionary)

The Greek herald Stentor was known for having a voice that came through loud and clear. In fact, in the Iliad, Homer described Stentor as a man whose voice was as loud as that of fifty men together. Stentor's powerful voice made him a natural choice for delivering announcements and proclamations to the assembled Greek army during the Trojan War, and it also made his name a byword for any person with a loud, strong voice. Both the noun stentor and the related adjective stentorian pay homage to the big-voiced