You’ve been speaking Greek all along

We’ve been in business since 1961, and in that time we’ve heard plenty from brands about what goes wrong with fulfilment when it’s left to chance or as the saying goes… ‘leaving in the hands of the gods’. At Fullers, we’re not box movers. We’re your strategic fulfilment partner. Treating fulfilment is a strategic tool not as a tactical afterthought – it takes a knowledgeable partner backed by 60+ years of experience, industry-specific expertise, solid processes and the right technology to get it right, whatever your objectives.

Turns out the Greeks knew a thing or two about what happens when you leave things to chance – and you’ve been quoting them for years without realising it! Every phrase below started life as a myth, and we’ve looked at where they actually come from:

Trojan horse

This, along with ‘beware of Greeks bearing gifts’, comes from the Trojan war. A ten-year conflict between the Trojans – safely ensconced behind their impenetrable city walls – and the Greeks, encamped on the beach. The wily Odysseus came up with a plan to leave a hollow horse on the beach and send the Greek armies off in their ships to hide further down the coast. Except the horse wasn’t empty; Odysseus and a few soldiers hid inside, waited for the unsuspecting Trojans to bring the ‘gift’ inside the city walls, poured out at night fall, let the rest of the Greeks in and sacked and burnt the city. In modern parlance, malware acts in much the same way, pretending to be one thing, but hiding its intent, hence the name, Trojan.

Achilles’ heel

Achilles, son of a king and a sea nymph, was one of the greatest Greek warriors and a hero of the Trojan war. Spoiler alert: he never made it home. Despite being invulnerable, thanks to his mother’s attempt to make him immortal by dipping him in the River Styx as a child, his heel where he was held was a weak spot. And the target of a perfectly placed arrow by Paris towards the end of the Trojan war. Today, it denotes a single, well-hidden weakness.

Pandora’s box

Pandora was the first human woman created by Hephaestus (god of metalworking amongst other things) under instruction by Zeus. She was given a jar as a wedding present by Zeus. When she opened it, she unleashed sickness, death and other evils into the world. Although she slammed it shut, she only trapped hope inside. And thus ended the Golden Age. Side note: a hiccup in translation first called the gift a box. Now, it describes opening something that unleashes a chain of problems you can’t put back.

The Midas touch

King Midas is remembered as having the golden touch. As a thank you, Dionysus, god of wine and festivity, granted Midas a wish. It was for everything he touched to turn to gold. Sounds great… except, things are never straight forward in myths. Literally everything he touched transformed into gold, including food and drink, and in some versions of the myth, his wife and daughter, too. Today, it’s flipped into a compliment – someone whose every venture seems to turn to gold – though the myth was a cautionary tale about getting exactly what you wished for.

Flying too close to the sun

This one is about poor Icarus and his father Daedelus. Daedalus was an inventor, architect, craftsman who created the labyrinth on Crete that housed the minotaur, half-man, half bull. He was kept prisoner by the King of Crete alongside his son Icarus. With sailing and land routes controlled by the king, Daedalus devised a clever escape plan. He created massive wings, aerodynamic made of beeswax and feathers. The caveat – don’t fly too close to the sun otherwise the wax would melt. They escaped, flying out across the ocean, but Icarus didn’t listen, the wax melted and he fell to his death. Used today for overreaching once things are going well – ignoring the limits that got you there in the first place.

Sisyphean task

Sisyphus, a cunning king of Corinth, managed to cheat death twice. Zeus was not amused. His punishment: roll a boulder up a hill for eternity, only to watch it roll back down each time he neared the top. Endless, thankless, never quite finished – now used for any task that resets itself just as you’re about to win.

The weight of the world on his shoulders

Atlas backed the wrong side in the war between the Titans and the Olympians, and Zeus made sure he’d never forget it. His sentence: hold up the heavens for eternity. He got one brief reprieve, tricked into it by Heracles during the Twelve Labours, before being talked straight back into the job. Now it’s shorthand for carrying a burden that’s yours and yours alone.

Herculean task

Driven to madness by Hera and desperate for redemption, Heracles was set Twelve Labours by King Eurystheus – each one designed to be unwinnable. Slay the unkillable Nemean lion. Clean decades of filth from the Augean stables in a single day. Capture a boar that had terrorised a mountain. He did all twelve. Today, it’s the go-to for any task that demands superhuman effort – and, unlike most of these myths, actually ends in triumph rather than tragedy.

What’s next?

Fulfilment doesn’t have to be Sisyphean, or leave you carrying the weight of the world alone. You also don’t need to leave it in the hands of the gods. That’s what a partner is for.

If you’re ready for #divinefulfilment, get in touch with us today.

PS – If you’re interested in more Greek mythology, check out Mythos by Stephen Fry

Back to News