From the Midas touch to a Sisyphean task, from Pandora’s box to Achilles’ heel, characters from classical Greek and Roman mythology have an inescapable presence in everyday life and language.

The legend inspired JMW Turner to paint a grand canvas entitled 'Lake Avernus – The Fates and the Golden Bough', now held by the Tate Collection In Roman mythology, the bough was a tree branch ...