The ivory shoulder of Pelops
Preserved but no longer current.
The distin- guishing or distinctive mark of anyone. The tale is that Demeter ate the shoulder of Pelops when it was served up by Tantalus; when the gods put the body back into the cauldron to restore it to life, this portion was lacking, whereupon Demeter supplied one of ivory.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “The ivory shoulder of Pelops” mean?
The distin- guishing or distinctive mark of anyone. The tale is that Demeter ate the shoulder of Pelops when it was served up by Tantalus; when the gods put the body back into the cauldron to restore it to life, this portion was lacking, whereupon Demeter supplied one of ivory.
Is “The ivory shoulder of Pelops” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.