499: Pyrrhic Victory Apr 20, 2016

People take from Greek constantly in order to make new words. This is especially common for the sciences, though in the case of the humanities, scholars often draw from myth. A Pyrrhic victory is one won with such great consequences as to undermine the success. This phrase was coined in the late 19th century after king Pyrrhus who defeated the Romans at Heraclea in 280 BC and Asculum in 279 BC but whose army suffered irrevocable injury.