Elements of Greek mythology appear many times in culture, including pop culture. The Greek myths spread beyond the Hellenistic world when adopted into the culture of ancient Rome, and Western cultural movements have frequently incorporated them ever since, particularly since the Renaissance. Mythological elements feature in Renaissance art and in English poems, as well as in film and in other literature, and in songs and commercials. Along with the Bible and the classics-saturated works of Shakespeare, the myths of Greece and Rome have been the major "touchstone" in Western culture for the past 500 years.

Elements appropriated or incorporated include the gods of varying stature, humans, demigods, Titans, giants, monsters, nymphs, and famed locations. Their use can range from a brief allusion to the use of an actual Greek character as a character in a work. Many types of creatures—such as centaurs and nymphs—are used as a generic type rather than individuated characters out of myth.

Use by governments and public institutions

Roman conquerors of the Hellenic East allowed the incorporation of existing Greek mythological figures such as Zeus into their coinage in places like Phrygia, in order to "augment the fame" of the locality, while "creating a stronger civil identity" without "advertising" the imposition of Roman culture.

In the twenty-first century CE, the initial Greek 2-euro coin featured the myth of Zeus and Europa and sought to connect the new Europe to the ancient culture of Greece. the European Central Bank had plans to incorporate Greek mythological figures into the designs used on its bank notes.

In 1795 the American colonial revolutionary Thomas Greenleaf titled his New York newspaper The Argus after the mythological watchman; Greenleaf adopted the slogan "We Guard the Rights of Man".

The figure of Pegasus appears frequently on stamps, particularly on those used for air mail. In 1906, Greece issued a series of stamps featuring stories from the life of Hercules. Australia commemorated the laying of an underwater cable linking the Australian mainland to the island of Tasmania with a stamp featuring an image of Amphitrite.

The United States military has drawn on Greek mythology to name equipment such as the Nike missile project. The United States Navy has commissioned over a dozen ships named from Greek mythology. The ships include:

USS Castor (AKS-1); USS Nereus (AC-10) and (1863); USS Arethusa (AO-7); USS Prometheus (1814) and (AR-3); USS Jason (1862), (AC-12); USS Galatea (1863) and (SP-714); USS Medusa (AR-1) and (1869); USS Triton (YT-10); USS Amphitrite (BM-2); USS Iris (1847), (1863), (1869), and (1885).

Greek mythology has provided names for a number of ships in the British navy. Such ships include: (relates the fictional world of Patrick O'Brian to actual names - including those of ships - in the Royal Navy)

HMS Phaeton (1782) HMS Arethusa (1781) HMS Amphion (1798) HMS Alcmene (1794) HMS Argus (I49)

The Royal Australian Navy continued this tradition;See: HMAS Psyche. it also has a training facility in Victoria called HMAS Cerebus.

The Royal New Zealand Navy inherited Greek mythological names from the Royal Navy: it operated HMNZS Achilles and maintains the base HMNZS Philomel.

The Canadair CP-107 Argus of the Royal Canadian Air Force is named in honor both of the hundred-eyed Argus Panoptes (the "all seeing") and of Odysseus' dog Argus - the only one to identify Odysseus upon his return home.

Governments and institutions worldwide make use of mythological abstractions such as Dike/Iustitia (Justice) in grand public buildings. Museums, libraries and art galleries may feature sculptures and images referencing classical Muses.

In science and technology

The elements tantalum and niobium are always found together in nature, and have been named after the King Tantalus and his daughter Niobe. The element promethium also draws its name from Greek mythology, as does titanium, which was named after the titans who in mythology were locked away far underground, which reflected the difficulty of extracting titanium from ore.

Oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau named his research ship, a former British Royal Navy minesweeper, RV Calypso after the sea nymph Calypso. The ship later inspired the John Denver song "Calypso".

The Trojan Horse, a seemingly benign gift that allowed entrance by a malicious force, gave its name to the computer hacking methodology called Trojans.

Biology and medicine The medical profession is symbolized by the snake-entwined staff of the god of medicine, Asclepius. Today's medical professionals hold a similarly honored position as did the healer-priests of Asclepius.

The Gaia hypothesis proposes that organisms interact with their inorganic surroundings on Earth to form a self-regulating, complex system that contributes to maintaining the conditions for life on the planet. The hypothesis was formulated by the scientist James Lovelock and co-developed by the microbiologist Lynn Margulis and was named after Gaia, the grandmother of the Greek gods.

Astronomy and astrology Many celestial bodies have been named after elements of Greek mythology.

The constellation of Scorpius represents the scorpion that attacked Hercules and the scorpions that frighted the horses when Phaëton was driving the sun-chariot. The constellation of Capricorn may represent Pan in a myth that tells of his escape from Typhon by jumping into the water while turning into an animal - the half in the water turned into a fish and the other half turned into a goat. 1108 Demeter, a main-belt asteroid discovered by Karl Reinmuth on May 31, 1929, is named after the Greek goddess of fruitful soil and agriculture. The U.S. Apollo Space Program to take astronauts to the moon, was named after Apollo, based on the god's ability as an archer to hit his target and being the god of light and knowledge. In 2017, Nasa launched the Artemis Program, named after the Moon goddess, Artemis: the twin sister of Apollo. This was also meant to parallel the Apollo 11, in 2025 the program launched the Artemis II on a crewed lunar flyby mission The brand Goodyear has a foot with wings in their logo and that is the foot of Hermes the Greek God of travel.

Social science In psychoanalytic theory, the term "Oedipus complex", coined by Sigmund Freud, denotes the emotions and ideas that the mind keeps in the unconscious, via dynamic repression, that concentrate upon a child's desire to sexually possess his/her mother, and kill his/her father.Rycroft, Charles. 1995. A Critical Dictionary of Psychoanalysis (2nd ed.). London.Childers, Joseph, and Gary Hentzi, eds. 1995. Columbia Dictionary of Modern Literary and Cultural Criticism. New York: Columbia University Press. In his later writings Freud postulated an equivalent Oedipus situation for infant girls, the sexual fixation being on the father. The term 'Electra complex' is sometimes used to describe this condition, although Freud himself did not do so.Freud S. An Outline of Psychoanalysis, pp. 193–194.

A "Medea complex" is sometimes used to describe parents who murder or otherwise harm their children.Lucire, Yolande. 1993. "Medea: Perspectives on a Multicide". Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences 25(2):74–82. Archived from the original 2010-02-05. .

In film and television

The use of Greek mythology in children's television shows is credited with helping to bring "the great symbols of world literature and art" to a mass audience of children who would otherwise have limited exposure. Children's programming has included items such as a recurring segment on CKLW-TV where Don Kolke would be dressed up as Hercules and discuss fitness and Greek mythology.

The Battlestar Galactica franchise (particularly the 2004 television series) developed from concepts that utilized Greek mythology and the series Heroes, played on the concept of the new generation of gods overthrowing the old. The television series Lost used Greek mythology primarily in its online Lost Experience.

During its six-season run, the television series Xena: Warrior Princess is set in a fantasy world "dominated by Greek gods and mythological creatures", but it also "plays with Greek legends" re-writing the historical stories. In the series, the god Ares (played by Kevin Tod Smith) makes several appearances attempting to lure Xena back to a life of spreading chaos and destruction.

Amazons, prior to their appearance in American Hollywood films where they have been presented in "swimsuit-style costume without armor" and "Western lingerie combined with various styles of 'tough', male" clothing, had been traditionally depicted in classical Greek warrior armor.

Jean Cocteau regarded Orpheus as "his myth", and used it as the basis for many projects, including Orphée. The film Orfeu Negro is Marcel Camus' reworking of the Cocteau film. The 2001 film Moulin Rouge! is also based on the Orpheus story, but set in 1899, and containing modern pop music.

The 1997 Disney production of Hercules was inspired by Greek myths, but it "greatly modernizes the narrative, ... going to great lengths to spice up its mythic materials with wacky comedy and cheerfully anachronistic dialogue", which, Keith Booker says, is playing a part in the "slow erosion of historical sense".

In video games

The 1996 video game Wrath of the Gods was an adventure game set in mythical Greece, and had an educational component where players could learn about Greek myths and history and see images of Greek art in cut-a-ways.

The 2006 game Persona 3 has a lot of its Personas based on mythical Greek figures and uses Tartarus as its main dungeon.

In 2003, GameSpy remarked that the 1986 video game Kid Icarus, which had become very popular and then faded to relative obscurity, had followed a trajectory similar to its namesake from Greek mythology, Icarus, who had escaped imprisonment when his father created wings from feathers and wax, but ignoring his father's advice, Icarus flew too close to the sun so that the wax melted and Icarus fell to his death in the sea. The same could be said of the sequel, Kid Icarus: Uprising.

The God of War franchise of video games is set in a land of Greek mythology, with the main character being named after Kratos from Greek mythology (though is not the same character). The video game Kratos is the son of Olympian god Zeus and is the personification of power.

Koei Tecmo's Warriors Orochi 4 is focus themed in Greek Mythology and it's set with combination between Asian Mythology, three kingdoms era, Japanese Warring States period and Greek Mythology. The new character of this game is also focused in Greek Mythology such as Zeus, Athena, Perseus and Ares.

Hermes appears in the 'Fate of Atlantis' Downloadable content pack for the Ubisoft game Assassin's Creed Odyssey where he is revealed to be a member of the precursor race, the 'Isu', and both helps and hinders the player character.

In Limbus Company, Hermes is one of the gods of the city who delivers messages by radio to the Index, a syndicate which follows commands, called prescripts, without question. Additionally, Rien, a major antagonist in "Canto IX: The Unsevering", uses a caduceus which can switch into nine weapons, and, in certain conditions, a spork.

Sports Atalanta, Italian football club, took its name from the Greek heroine Atalanta. In addition, the club's crest depicts the face of the heroine.

The athletic competition The Olympic Games were inspired by the Ancient Olympic Games dating back to 776 B.C.

In marketing Corporations have used images and concepts from Greek mythology in their logos and in specific advertisements.