The names of most characters out of ancient mythologies do not actually manifest any meaning, and are not officially accepted as words in language. However, these names are still used today, representative of their mythological heritage. These are most common in various areas such as that of commercial advertisement, in the naming of spacecrafts, and various other areas. Due to the heavy influence of Greek on the English language, this would be a discussion mainly on that of Greek and Roman mythology, since both systems were fundamentally the same.

Triton was the son of Poseidon, the god of the sea, and he determined the temperament of the sea by blowing into his shell, which is known today as a Triton conch shell. Among many other adaptations of its names: Triton submarines and the Triton conch shell, there is even a moon of Neptune to boast of. Why have these names been used for such purposes? It would be understandable why the moon of Neptune was called Triton- Neptune is the Roman equivalent of Poseidon, and would probably have been named by the ancient astronomers. Triton, his son, would naturally be attached to his father.

Besides such a literal explanation as of Triton, it may seem evident now that the names of mythical figures that are used in modern society often are used to convey the characteristics of its originator. Take Nike, for example. The multi-national company, Nike, has its name from the Greek goddess of athletics, although the original meaning has long been forgotten in the company's phenomenal success. In the modern day scenario of cutthroat competition between retailers and manufactures alike, the adoption of mythical names may just be yet another attempt at winning the customer.

There are of course cases when the use of these names is completely unrelated to commercialism. The space shuttles, for example that of Apollo, are yet another way in which the names of Greek characters are used today. It can be best assumed that the name embodied the aspirations of the people who created the space shuttle. In yet another interesting biological example, the Venus flytrap is a plant, which has captured the imaginations of biologists who are amazed at the carnivorous plant.

Unlike the vivid depictions in many games today, with the plant snapping and shutting its jaws, the Venus flytrap in fact lures insects into its mouth-like opening, after which when the insect crosses the threshold, the mouth snaps shut, trapping the insect inside to be digested. The first portion of the name, Venus, quite obviously comes from the Roman goddess Venus, whose Greek equivalent was Aphrodite, goddess of love and fertility. In the case of the flytrap, its allure to insects most certainly got it its reference to the goddess.

It is hard to explicitly state the number of companies today that utilize mythical names in their titles, because of the large number of companies that do so. A simple look through a phone directory or any internet search engine would yield many examples.

The extent of the effect of Greek mythology (and thus Roman), in the area of representation, is perhaps the strongest of the mythologies. The effects of other mythologies are more localized around the area of their origin, and to find examples of that would be difficult and isolated. Hopefully at the end of this you would be able to understand how representation of mythology has shown itself in mythology today. It may not have had an enigmatic impact on society, but all the same, it is a clear indication that mythology still in fact works its magic in our modern era.

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