Carrie Johnson has announced the birth of her and Boris’s third child, a boy called Frank.
The former prime minister and his wife already have two children together: Romy, aged one, and Wilfred, aged three.
The baby was born last week.
Carrie wrote: “Welcome to the world Frank Alfred Odysseus Johnson born 5th July at 9.15am.
“(Can you guess which name my husband chose?!)
“Am loving every minute of the sleepy baby bubble. Seeing my older two embrace their new brother with such joy and excitement has been the most wonderful thing to see. We are all very smitten.
“Thank you so much to the incredible NHS maternity team at UCLH. They really are the most amazing, caring people. I feel such immense gratitude.
“Now, can anyone recommend any good series/box sets to binge while breastfeeding?
“Time for a drink”.
But what do we know about the middle name chosen by Boris Johnson?
Why is the name Odysseus famous?
Also known as Ulysses in Greek mythology, Odysseus is famous as the great grandson of Hermes, who is one of the 12 Olympian gods. He was the son of Laertes, the King of Ithaca, and Anticlea, and the husband of Penelope and father of a child named Telemachus.
What was Odysseus known for?
In Greek mythology Odysseus was full of wisdom, courage, endurance and shrewdness. He had impressive athletic talent as a child, which stayed with him in later life, along with an abundance of courage and eloquence. He was not a Greek god himself but was closely linked to them by family.
He was considered one of the most prominent Greek heroes in Homer’s account of the Trojan War and he was known as the man best suited to cope with crises. Odysseus’s bravery and skill in fighting are demonstrated repeatedly in tales and he is credited with devising the Trojan Horse strategy that broke the 10-year siege of the city and brought the war to an end.
Who was Odysseus’ wife?
He married Penelope but before this was known as a ladies’ man. He drew the attention of Athena, a Greek goddess who became his protector during the Trojan War and later helped him during his many attempts to return home.
Before he married, Odysseus tried to attract the attention of Helen of Troy but he was unsuccessful, which is when he met her cousin Penelope, who then became his wife.
What are Boris Johnson’s links to Greek mythology?
Mr Johnson studied Greek mythology and Latin at school and he has not been shy in the past of making Greek references in speeches.
in 2019 he famously and bizarrely compared the Brexit process to the torment of Greek mythological figure Prometheus, who was chained to a rock as an eagle pecked out his liver every day for eternity.
Johnson compared the attitude of some MPs towards Brexit to how the Greek god Zeus secured Prometheus to a rock and sent an eagle to eat his liver, which regrew only to be eaten again and again. In a fiery speech at the annual gathering of world leaders for the UN General Assembly in New York in 2019, Mr Johnson added: “This went on forever, a bit like the experience of Brexit in the UK, if some of our parliamentarians had their way.”
