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In Greek mythology what is the drink of the gods? | Mythography | Ambrosia - Food of the Greek Gods - in Mythology
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Ambrosia - Food of the Greek Gods
Ambrosia was the food of the gods and goddesses in Greek mythology. It was often accompanied by the drink nectar in celebrations, and indeed, ambrosia and nectar both appear in myth and literature as divine confections that were guaranteed to satisfy the hunger and/or thirst of any immortal resident of Mt. Olympus .
While scholars are not entirely certain what the ancient Greeks thought the composition of ambrosia (or its liquid counterpart, for that matter) actually was, it is believed that these mythical items had some connection to a sweet treat enjoyed by mortals throughout the ages - honey. Honey was highly regarded by the people of ancient Greece, so this suggestion makes sense.
Ambrosia made more than just a delightful meal, however. There are several episodes in Greek myth in which ambrosia is used by the gods and goddesses as a sort of balm, to confer grace or even immortality (in the case of mortals) onto the recipient. One such incident that demonstrates how ambrosia was used to beautify involves Aphrodite , the enchanting goddess of love. In the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, the goddess prepares herself for some serious seduction with the assistance of eau de ambrosia:
"...there the Graces bathed her and anointed her
with ambrosian oil such as is rubbed on deathless gods,
divinely sweet, and made fragrant for her sake."
And while this may have been an example of gilding the lily (Aphrodite already being irresistible), ambrosia played a more serious part in other myths. In one poignant and memorable scene from Homer's Iliad, the sea-nymph Thetis uses ambrosia and nectar to preserve the body of the dead warrior Patroclus. In the same epic, Zeus calls upon Apollo to anoint another fallen hero - this time, Sarpedon - with ambrosia.
To see more definitions of words, visit the Mythography lexicon of Greek terms .
| Nectar |
Which 1999 film starring Tom Hanks is set in a Louisiana prison? | DIONYSUS GOD OF - Greek Mythology
Dionysus-Bacchus, Greco-Roman marble statue, Pergamonmuseum
DIONYSOS was the Olympian god of wine, vegetation, pleasure, festivity, madness and frenzy.
This page describes the divine role and functions of the god including viticulture, winemaking, drinking and parties, fruit and vegetation, tragedy and comedy plays, homosexuality and effeminacy, reincarnation and the afterlife, and his identification with various foreign gods.
The information here is best read in conjunction with the "Cult of Dionysos" and "Titles & Epithets" pages.
CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES
I. GOD OF VITICULTURE & WINE-MAKING
Hesiod, Works and Days 609 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or 7th B.C.) :
"When [the stars] Oarion (Orion) and Seirios (Sirius) are come into mid-heaven, and rosy-fingered Dawn sees Arktouros, then cut off all the grape-clusters, Perses, and bring them home. Show them to the sun ten days and ten nights: then cover them over for five, and on the sixth day draw off into vessels the gifts of joyful Dionysos."
Hesiod, The Shield of Heracles 398 ff :
"When Seirios [the fiery star] scorches the flesh, when the crude grapes which Dionysos gave to men - a joy and a sorrow both - begin to colour."
Euripides, Bacchae 535 ff (trans. Buckley) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) :
"I swear by the cluster-bearing delight of Dionysos' vine."
Euripides, Bacchae 650 ff :
"He [Dionysos] who produces the rich-clustering vine for mortals."
Euripides, Bacchae 770 ff :
"Receive this god [Dionysos] . . . I hear, that he gives to mortals the vine that puts an end to grief."
Euripides, Bacchae 705 ff :
"Another [of the Bakkhai] let her thyrsos strike the ground, and there the god sent forth a fountain of wine."
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2. 191 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Dionysos came to Attika . . . and Ikarios received Dionysos, who gave him a vine-cutting and taught him the art of making wine."
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 3. 62. 5 (trans. Oldfather) (Greek historian C1st B.C.) :
"Dionysos was named twice-born (dimetor) by the ancients, counting it as a single and first birth when the plant is set in the ground and begins to grow, and as a second birth when it becomes laden with fruit and ripens its grape-clusters - the god thus being considered as having been born once from the earth and again from the vine."
Plutarch, Life of Lysander 28. 4 (trans. Perrin) (Greek historian C1st to C2nd A.D.) :
"The spring called Kissousa (of the Ivy) [on Mt Kithairon]. Here, as the story goes, his nurses [the Nysiades] bathed the infant Dionysos after his birth for the water has the color and sparkle of wine, is clear, and very pleasant to the taste."
Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 1. 26b-c (trans. Gullick) (Greek rhetorician C2nd to 3rd A.D.) :
"Some even assert that the flight of Dionysos into the sea is a hint that the making of wine had long been known. For wine is sweet when sea water is poured into it. Theopompos [of Khios, poet C4th B.C.] says that dark wine originated among the Khians, and that they were the first to learn how to plant and tend vines from Oinopion, son of Dionysos, who also was the founder of that island-state; and they transmitted it to other peoples."
Aelian, Historical Miscellany 3. 41 (trans. Wilson) (Greek rhetorician C2nd to 3rd A.D.) :
"Note that the ancients used the word phlyein (to luxuriate) of an abundant yield of fruit. So they called Dionysos Phleon (the luxuriant), Protrygaios (the first at the vintage), Staphylites (the god of the grape), Omphakites (the god of the unripe grape), and various other epithets."
Philostratus the Elder, Imagines 1. 31 (trans. Fairbanks) (Greek rhetorician C3rd A.D.) :
"And if you look at the vine-sprays woven together and at the clusters hanging from them and how the grapes stand out one by one, you will certainly hymn Dionysos and speak of the vine as ‘Queenly giver of grapes.’"
Oppian, Cynegetica 4. 230 (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd A.D.) :
"Now was it fated that a land, which before was wild, should cutivate the vine at the instance of Dionysos who delivers from sorrow."
Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 129 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"When Liber [Dionysos] had come as a guest to Oeneus . . . he gave the vine as a gift, and showed him how to plant it, and decreed that its fruit should be called ‘oinos’ from the name of his host."
Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 274 :
"Inventors and their inventions . . . A certain man named Cerasus [a disciple of Dionysos] mixed wine with the river Achelous in Aetolia, and from this ‘to mix’ is called ‘kerasai’. Then, too, the ancient men of our race had on the posts of their dining-couches heads of ases [Dionysos' sacred beast] bound with vines to signify that the ass had discovered the sweetness of the vine. The vine, too, which a goat [Dionysos' sacred animal] had nibbled, brought fort more fruit, and from this they invented pruning."
Pseudo-Hyginus, Fabulae 130 :
"When Father Liber [Dionysos] went out to visit men in order to demonstrate the sweetness and pleasantness of his fruit, he came to the generous hospitality of Icarius and Erigone. To them he gave a skin full of wine as a gift and bade them spread the use of it in all the other lands."
Dionysus riding panther, Paestan red-figure vase C4th B.C., Musée du Louvre
Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2. 2 :
"Icarus, to whom, on account of his justice and piety, Father Liber [Dionysos] gave wine, the vine, and the grape , so that he could show men how to plant the vine, what would grow from it, and how to use what was produced. When he had planted the vine, and by careful tending with a pruning-knife had made it flourish."
Virgil, Georgics 1. 6 ff (trans. Fairclough) (Roman bucolic C1st B.C.) :
"O Liber [Dionysos] and bounteous Ceres [Demeter], if by your grace Earth changed Chaonia's acorn for the rich corn ear, and blended draughts of Achelous [water] with the newfound grapes."
Virgil, Georgics 2. 1 ff :
"Now you, Bacchus, will I sing, and with you the forest saplings, and the offspring of the slow-growing olive. Hither Lenaean sire! Here all is full of your bounties; for you blossoms the field teeming with the harvest of the vine, and the vintage foams in the brimming vats. Come hither, Lenaean sire, strip off your buskins and with me plunge your naked legs in the new must."
Virgil, Georgics 2. 111 ff :
"Bacchus [the grape-vine] loves open hills, and the yew tree [over which vines were grown] the cold of the North Wind."
Virgil, Georgics 2. 189 ff :
"This land will some day yield you the hardiest of vines, streaming with the rich flood of Bacchus; this is fruitful in the grape, and in the juice we offer from bowls of fold, when the sleek Etruscan has blown his ivory horn beside the altar, and on bellied platters we present the steaming meat of sacrifice."
Suidas s.v. s.v. Dragmata (quoting Greek Anthology 6. 44. 2-4) (trans. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek lexicon C10th A.D.) :
"Dragmata : First fruits. ‘Heronax consecrated [to Dionysos and the Satyroi] as the first fruits of his planting these triple casks from triple vineyards.’"
For MYTHS describing Dionysos' discovery of the grape & wine see:
II. GOD OF WINE TYPES & REGIONS
Strabo, Geography 13. 4. 11 (trans. Jones) (Greek geographer C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :
"The Katakekaumene (Burnt Up) country [in Lydia or Mysia] . . . is without trees except the vine that produces the Katakekaumenite wine, which in quality is inferior to none of the notable wines. The surface of the plain is covered with ashes, and the mountainous and rocky country is black, as though from conflagration . . . That such soil should be well adapted to the vine one might assume from the land of Katana, which was heaped with ashes and now produces excellent wine in great plenty. Some writers, judging from places like this, wittily remark that there is good reason for calling Dionysus Pyrigenes (Fire-Born)."
Strabo, Geography 13. 1. 12 :
"The inhabitants [of the town of Priapos in Mysia] felt an impulse to worship the god [Priapos] because he was called the son of Dionysos and a Nymphe; for their country is abundantly supplied with the vine, both theirs and the countries which border next upon it, I mean those of the Parianoi and the Lampsakenoi."
Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 1. 29e (trans. Gullick) (Greek rhetorician C2nd to 3rd A.D.) :
"Hermippos [Greek iambic poet C3rd B.C.], I believe, makes Dionysos mention several varieties [of wine] : ‘Because of Mendaian the gods actually wet their soft beds. As for Magnesia's sweet bounty, and Thasian, over which floats the smell of apples, I judge is far the best of all wines excepting Khian, irreproachable and healthy. But there is a wine which they call "the mellow", and out of the mouth of the opening jars of it there comes the smell of violets, the smell of roses, the smell of hyacinth. A sacred odour pervades the high-roofed dwelling, ambrosia and nectar in one. That is nectar; and of that my friends shall drink in the bountiful feast; but my enemies shall have Peparethan [a strong overpowering wine].’"
Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 1. 26b-c :
"Theopompos [Khian poet C4th B.C.] says that dark wine originated among the Khians, and that they were the first to learn how to plant and tend vines from Oinopion, son of Dionysos, who also was the founder of that island-state."
Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana 2. 6-10 (trans. Conybeare) (Greek biography C1st to 2nd A.D.) :
"The mountain of Nysa [in India] rises covered to its very top with plantations, like the mountain of Tmolos in Lydia."
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 4. 67 (trans. Rackham) (Roman encyclopedia C1st A.D.) :
"Eighteen miles from Delos is Naxos with its town, which was called Strongyle and then Dia and afterwards Dionysiada because of the fertility of its vineyards."
Suidas s.v. Enekheis (quoting Aristophanes, Plutus 1020) (trans. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek lexicon C10th A.D.) :
"Enekheis (you poured in) : You mixed. Aristophanes [writes] : ‘Certainly, by Zeus, if you poured in Thasian.’ On the basis of Thasian wine being sweet-smelling. For Staphylos, the beloved of Dionysos, lived on Thasos; and because of this Thasian wine is distinctive."
Suidas s.v. Ganos (quoting Greek Anthology 6. 158. 4) :
"Ganos (Refreshment) : Wine. ‘Pan [increase his] herd; the Nymphai his fountain; Bakkhos his refreshment.’ Also ganos ampelou (refreshment of the vine), wine, ‘toil-ending spiral of the grape cluster.’"
For MYTHS of Dionysos & the origin of the best wine-producing regions see:
(1) Dionysus Favour: the Bacchides (his wine-producing sons)
III. GOD OF WINE-MERCHANTS & COMMERCE
Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 1. 27e (trans. Gullick) (Greek rhetorician C2nd to 3rd A.D.) :
"Hermippos [Greek iambic poet C3rd B.C.] recounts thus : ‘Tell me now, ye Mousai that dwell in Olympian mansion, all the blessings, since the time when Dionysos voyaged over the wine-coloured sea, which he [the merchant] hath brought hither to men in his black ship.’"
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 7. 191 (trans. Rackham) (Roman encyclopedia C1st A.D.) :
"It seems suitable to point out the various discoveries of different persons. Father Liber [Dionysos] instituted buying and selling, and also invented the emblem of royalty, the crown, and the triumphal procession."
Panther, griffon and bull chariot of Dionysus, Athenian red-figure pelike C4th B.C., Musée du Louvre
GOD OF WINE-DRINKING, PLEASURE & PARTY
I. GOD OF WINE-DRINKING (FOR PLEASURE)
Anacreon, Fragment 12 (from Palatine Antholog, on Anacreon) (trans. Campbell, Vol. Greek Lyric II) (C6th B.C.) :
"For all your live, old man, was poured out as an offering to these three - the Mousai (Muses), Dionysos and Eros (Love) [he indulged solely in music, wine and love]."
Anacreon, Fragment 346 :
"I owe many thanks, Dionysos [Wine], for having escaped Eros' (Love's) bonds completely, bonds made harsh by Aphrodite."
Anacreon, Fragment 357 :
"Lord [Dionysos], with whom Eros the subduer and the blue-eyed Nymphai, and radiant Aphrodite play, as you haunt the lofty mountain peaks."
The Anacreontea, Fragment 38 (trans. Campbell, Vol. Greek Lyric II) (Greek Lyric B.C.) :
"Let us be merry and drink wine and sing of Bakkhos [Dionysos], the inventor of the choral dance, the lover of all songs, leading the same life as the Erotes (Loves), the darling of Kythere [Aphrodite as goddess of pleasure]; thanks to him Methe (Drunkeness) was brought forth, the Kharis (Grace) was born, Lupa (Pain) takes rest and Ania (Trouble) goes to sleep."
The Anacreontea, Fragment 4 :
"Put vines on it for me [a drinking cup crafted in silver by Hephaistos] with bunches of grapes on them . . . [and images of the gods of pleasure:] the Satyroi laughing, Erotes (Loves) all in gold, Kythere [Aphrodite] laughing together with handsome Lyaios [Dionysos], Eros and Aphrodite."
Euenus, Fragment 2 (trans. Gerber, Vol. Greek Elegiac) (Greek elegy C5th B.C.) :
"[Dionysos, Wine] delights in being mixed as the fourth with three Nymphai [three parts water]; then he's most ready for the bedroom."
Euripides, Bacchae 275 ff (trans. Buckley) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) :
"The goddess Demeter - she is the earth (ge), but call her whatever name you wish; she nourishes mortals with dry food; but he who came afterwards, the offspring of Semele, discovered a match to it, the liquid drink of the grape, and introduced it to mortals. It releases wretched mortals from grief, whenever they are filled with the stream of the vine, and gives them sleep, a means of forgetting their daily troubles, nor is there another cure for hardships. He who is a god is poured out in offerings to the gods, so that by his means men may have good things."
Euripides, Bacchae 375 ff :
"Bromios [Dionysos], the child of Semele, the first deity of the gods at the banquets where guests wear beautiful garlands? He holds this office, to join in dances, to laugh with the flute, and to bring an end to cares, whenever the delight of the grape comes at the feasts of the gods, and in ivy-bearing banquets the goblet sheds sleep over men."
Euripides, Bacchae 420 ff :
"The god [Dionysos], the son of Zeus, delights in banquets, and loves Eirene (Peace), giver of riches (olbodotes), goddess who nourishes youths (thea kourotrophos). To the blessed and to the less fortunate, he gives an equal pleasure from wine that banishes grief."
Euripides, Bacchae 770 ff :
"Receive this god [Dionysos] . . . For he is great in other respects, and they say this too of him, as I hear, that he gives to mortals the vine that puts an end to grief. Without wine there is no longer Kypris [Aphrodite, as goddess joy and pleasure] or any other pleasant thing for men."
Euripides, Bacchae 863 ff :
"Dionysos, who is in fact a god, the most terrible and yet most mild to men."
Orphic Hymn 50 to Lysius Lenaeus (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.) :
"Blest Bakkhos, god of wine . . . Fertile and nourishing, whose liberal care augments the fruit that banishes despair. Sounding, magnanimous, Lenaios power, of various-formed, medicinal, holy flower: mortals in thee repose from labour find, delightful charm, desired by all mankind."
Plato, Cratylus 400d & 406b (trans. Lamb) (Greek philosopher C4th B.C.) :
"[Plato constructs philosophical etymologies for the names of the gods :]
Sokrates : Let us inquire what thought men had in giving them [the gods] their names . . . The first men who gave names [to the gods] were no ordinary persons, but high thinkers and great talkers . . .
Hermogenes : What of Dionysos and Aphrodite?
Sokrates : You ask great things of me . . . You see there is both a serious and a facetious account of the form of the name of these deities. You will have to ask others for the serious one; but there is nothing to hinder my giving you the facetious account, for the gods also have a sense of humor. Dionysos, the giver (didous) of wine (oinos), might be called in jest Didoinysos, and wine, because it makes most drinkers think (oiesthai) they have wit (nous) when they have not, might very justly be called Oionos (oionous)."
Plato, Laws 653d :
"The gods, in pity for the human race thus born to misery, have ordained the feasts of thanksgiving as periods of respite from their troubles; and they have granted them as companions in their feasts the Mousai (Muses) and Apollon the master of music, and Dionysos."
Plato, Laws 665b :
"[In the ideal city proposed by Plato :] We shall rule that the young man under thirty may take wine in moderation, but that he must entirely abstain from intoxication and heavy drinking. But when a man has reached the age of forty, he may join in the convivial gatherings and invoke Dionysos, above all other gods, inviting his presence at the rite (which is also the recreation) of the elders, which he bestowed on mankind as a medicine potent against the crabbedness of old age, that thereby we men may renew our youth, and that, through forgetfulness of care, the temper of our souls may lose its hardness and become softer and more ductile, even as iron when it has been forged in the fire."
Satyr, Dionysus and Bacchante, Athenian red-figure bell krater C5th B.C., Harvard Art Museums
Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 2. 38c-d (trans. Gullick) (Greek rhetorician C2nd to 3rd A.D.) :
"Philokhoros [Greek historian C3rd B.C.] has this : ‘Amphiktyon, king of Athens, learned from Dionysos the art of mixing wine, and was the first to mix it. So it was that men came to stand upright, drinking wine mixed, whereas before they were bent double by the use of unmixed. Hence he founded an altar of Dionysos Orthos (Upright) in the shrine of the Horai (Seasons); for these make ripe the fruit of the vine. Near it he also built an altar to the [water] Nymphai to remind devotees of the mixing; for the Nymphai [Naiade, fresh-water nymphs] are said to be the nurses of Dionysos. He also instituted the cutom of taking just a sip of unmixed wine after meat, as a proof of the power of the Good God (Agathos Theos), but after that he might drink mixed wine, as much as each man chose. They were also to repeat over this cup the name of Zeus Soter (Saviour) as a warning and reminder to drinkers that only when they drank in this fashion would they surely be safe.’"
Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 2. 39b :
"‘No man who is fond of drinking is base. For the twice-mothered Bromios [Dionysos] delights not in the company of wicked men or untutored ways,’ says Alexis; and he adds that wine ‘makes all fond of talk who drink it too freely.’"
Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 2. 35d :
"Dilphios the comic poet says : ‘O Dionysos, dearest and wisest in the eyes of men of sense, how kind art thou! Thou alone makest the humble to feel proud, and persuadest the scowler to laugh, the weak to be brave, the cowardly to be bold.’"
Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 2. 37f -38a :
"Philokhoros [Greek historian C3rd B.C.] says that drinkers not only reveal what they are, but also disclose the secrets of everybody else in their outspokenness. Hence the saying, ‘wine is truth also,’ and ‘wine revealeth the heart of man.’ Hence also the tripod as prize of victory in the Dionysia (Festival of Dionysos). For of those who speak the truth we say that they ‘speak from the tripod,’ and it must be understood that the mixing-bowl is Dionysos's tripod . . . In these they used to mix their wine, and this is ‘the veritable tripod truth.’ Wherefore the tripod is proper to Apollon because of its prophetic truth, while to Dionysos it is proper because of the truth of wine."
Ovid, Metamorphoses 13. 631 ff (trans. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :
"Entering the palace, they partook of Bacchus' [Dionysos'] boon [wine] and Ceres' [Demeter's] gifts [bread], couched on high coverlets."
Seneca, Oedipus 409 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) :
"Bright glory of the sky [Dionysos] . . . Hither turn with favour thy virginal face; with thy star-bright countenance drive away the clouds, the grim threats of Erebus, and greedy fate [i.e. ease all our cares]."
Seneca, Phaedra 443 ff :
"Remember thy youth and relax thy spirit; go out o' nights, raising the festal torch; let Bacchus [Dionysos] unburden thy weighty cares."
Suidas s.v. s.v. Abromios (quoting Greek Anthology 6. 291. 3-5) (trans. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek lexicon C10th A.D.) :
"Abromios (Bromios-less, Bromius-less) : Without wine. ‘If I escape through the wave of destructive fire, I tell you I will drink for one hundred suns from dewy streams, Bromios-less and wine-less.’ In the Epigrams."
Suidas s.v. s.v. Agathou Daimonos :
"Agathou Daimonos (Of the Good Spirit) : The ancients had a custom after dinner of drinking ‘of the Good Spirit’, by taking an extra quaff of unmixed wine; and they call this ‘of the Good Spirit’, but when they are ready to depart, ‘of Zeus the Savior’. And this is what they called the second of the month. But there was also in Thebes a hero-shrine of the Good Spirit. Others say that the first drinking vessel was called this."
Suidas s.v. s.v. Dionysos :
"Dionysos : The son of Semele. [So named] from accomplishing (dianuein) for each of those who live the wild life; or from providing (dianoein) everything for those who live the wild life." [N.B. This is an unusual etymology.]
Suidas s.v. s.v. Amphiphorea (quoting Greek Anthology 6. 257) :
"Amphiphorêa (two-handled wine jug) : Vessel. ‘Who filled me--a two-handled jug fashioned for Dionysos, the wine-vessel for holding Adriatic nectar--with Demeter's stuff? Was it envy of Bakkhos towards me or a lack of a suitable jar for corn-ears? He shamed both: Bakkhos has been robbed, and Demeter does not accept drunkenness as a companion.’"
II. GOD OF WINE-DRINKING (FOR GOOD HEALTH)
Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 1. 22e (trans. Gullick) (Greek rhetorician C2nd to 3rd A.D.) :
"The Pythian oracle recorded by Khamaileon : ‘Twenty days before the Dog-star rises and twenty thereafter, make Dionysos your physician within the shadows of your house.’ Mnesitheus of Athens, also, says that the Pythian priestess dreicted the Athenians to honour Dionysos as Latros (Physician)."
Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 2. 63a-b :
"Mnesitheus [a Greek physician] said that the gods had revealed wine to mortals, to be the greatest blessing for those who use it aright, but for those who use it without measure, the reverse. For it gives food to them that take it, and strength in mind and body. In medicine it is most beneficial; it can be mixed with liquid drugs and it brings aid to the wounded. In daily intercourse, to those who mix and drink it moderately, it gives good cheer; but if you overstep the bounds, it brings violence. Mix it half and half, and you get madness; unmixed, bodily collapse. Wherefore Dionysos is everywhere called Latros (Physician).
The Delphic priestess, too, has directed certain persons to call Dionysos Hygiates (Health-Giver). Euboulos makes Dionysos say : ‘Three bowls only do I mix for the temperate--one toe health, which they empty first, the second to love and pleasure, the third to sleep. When this is drunk up wise guests go home. The fourth bowl is our no longer, but belongs to violence the fifth to uproar, the sixth to drunken revel, the seventh to black eyes. The eight is the policeman's, the ninth belongs to biliousness, and the tenth to madness and hurling the furniture. Too much wine, poured into one little vessel, easily knocks the legs from under the drinkers.’"
III. GOD OF DRUNKENNESS
Hesiod, Catalogues of Women Fragment 87 (from Athenaeus 10. 428) (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or 7th B.C.) :
"Such gifts as Dionysos gave to men, a joy and a sorrow both. Who ever drinks to fullness, in him wine becomes violent and binds together his hands and feet, his tongue also and his wits with fetters unspeakable : and soft sleep embraces him."
Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 2. 36d (trans. Gullick) (Greek rhetorician C2nd to 3rd A.D.) :
"Panyasis, the epic poet [C5th B.C.], ascribes the first toast [of wine from a large Greek drinking cup] to the Kharites (Graces), the Horai (Seasons), and Dionysos, the second to Aphrodite (Love) and Dionysos again, the third, however, to Hybris (Violence) and Ate (Folly, Ruin). He says : ‘The first portion fell to the lot of the Kharites (Graces) and the merry Horai (Seasons), and to noisy Dionysos, the very gods who inspired the first round [of drinking]. For the next following Kyprogeneia [Aphrodite] and Dionysos drew the lot. Here men great the greatest good from drinking wine. If a man, content with that, goes back home from the still pleasant feast, he can never meet with nay harm. But if he persist to the full measure of the third round and drink to excess, there rises the bitter doom of Hybris (Violence) and Ate (Ruin), with evils (kakoi) to men in their train’ . . . According to Euripides, ‘the revel brings blows, insult, and outrage,’ whence some declare that Dionysos and Hybris (Violence) were born at the same time."
Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 2. 38e :
"From the condition produced by wine they liken Dionysos to a bull of panther, because they who have indulged too freely are prone to violence . . . There are some drinkers who become full of rage like a bull . . . Some, also, become like wild beasts in their desire to fight, whence the likeness to a panther."
Virgil, Georgics 2. 454 ff (trans. Fairclough) (Roman bucolic C1st B.C.) :
"What boon of equal note have the gifts of Bacchus [Dionysos] yielded? Bacchus has even given occasion for offence. It was he who quelled in death the maddened Centaurs, Rhoetus, and Pholus, and Hylaeus, as he aimed his massive flagon at the Lapiths [i.e. they were killed because of their drunkenness]."
For MYTHS of Dionysos as the god of drunkenness see:
(2) Dionysus Favour: Icarius (devotee of the god slain by drunken men)
(3) Dionysus Loves: Erigone (seduced under the influence of wine)
(4) Dionysus Loves: Aura (seduced under the influence of wine)
(5) Dionysus Wrath: Cyanippus (inflicted with a fit of drunkenness)
(6) Dionysus Wrath: Aruntius (inflicted with a fit of drunkenness)
Bacchante, Dionysus and Satyr, Apulian red-figure column krater C4th B.C., Tampa Museum of Art
GOD OF MADNESS, PHANTOMS & HALLUCINATION
Ovid, Metamorphoses 3. 572 ff (trans. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :
"Bacchus [Dionysos] himself, grape-bunches garlanding his brow, brandished a spear that vine-leaves twined, and at his feet fierce spotted panthers lay, tigers and lynxes too, in phantom forms."
Ovid, Metamorphoses 4. 389 ff :
"[Dionysos makes phantoms appear :] the crash of unseen drums clamoured, and fifes and jingling brass resounded, and the air was sweet with scents or myrrh and saffron, and--beyond belief!--the weaving all turned green, the hanging cloth grew leaves of ivy, part became a vine, what had been threads formed tendrils, form the warp broad leaves unfurled, bunches of grapes were seen, matching the purple with their coloured sheen. And now the day was spent, the hour stole on when one would doubt if it were light or dark, some lingering light at night's vague borderlands. Suddenly the whole house began to shake, the lamps flared up, and all the rooms were bright with flashing crimson fires, and phantom forms of savage beasts of prey howled all around."
For MYTHS of Dionysos as the god of phantoms and hallucination see:
(7) Dionysus Wrath: Athenians (driven mad)
For DESCRIPTIONS of the orgiastic cult of Dionysos see:
Bacchanalia (devotees inflamed with madness & hallucinations)
GOD OF FRUIT & VEGETATION
Seneca, Oedipus 413 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) :
"Thee [Dionysos] it becomes to circle thy locks with flowers of the springtime . . . or thy smooth brow to wreathe with the ivy's clustering berries."
I. GOD OF FRUIT (IN GENERAL)
Orphic Hymn 53 to Amphietus (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.) :
"Khthonion (Earthly) Dionysos, hear my prayer . . . make prolific the holy fruits thy care."
Suidas s.v. Bromios (trans. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek lexicon C10th A.D.) :
"Bromios : Dionysos, the birth-maker of fruits. From bora (food) comes borimos, and by metathesis bromios."
Suidas s.v. Anthesterion (from Harpocration s.v.) :
"Anthestêriôn : It is the eighth month amongst the Athenians, sacred to Dionysos. It is so called because most things bloom (anthein) from the earth at that time."
II. GOD OF GRAPES
III. GOD OF OTHER SPECIFIC FRUITS (figs, apples, et. al.)
Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 3. 78a (trans. Gullick) (Greek rhetorician C2nd to 3rd A.D.) :
"Sosibos the Lakedaimonian, by way of proving that the fig-tree is a discovery of Dionysos, says that for that reason the Lakedaimonians even worship Dionysos Sykites (of the Fig). And the Naxians, according to Andriskos and again Aglaosthenes, record that Dionysos is called Meilikhios (Gentle) because he bestowed the fruit of the fig. For this reason, also, among the Naxians the face of the god called Dionysos Bakkheos is made of the vine, whereas that of Dionysos Meilikhios is of fig-wood. For, they say, figs are called meilikha (mild fruit)."
Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 3. 82d :
"That Dionysos is also the discoverer of the apple is attested by Theokritos of Syrakousa [poet C3rdB.C.], in words something like these : ‘Storing the apples of Dionysos in the folds at my bosom, and wearing on my head white poplar, sacred bough of Herakles.’ And Neoptolemos the Parian, in the Dionysiad, records on his own authority that apples as well as all other fruits were discovered by Dionysos."
Tityrus satyr and Dionysus, Athenian red-figure amphora C5th B.C., Musée du Louvre
GOD OF PLAYS & CHORAL SONG
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4. 4. 3 (trans. Oldfather) (Greek historian C1st B.C.) :
"They say also that when he [Dionysos] went abroad he was accompanied by the Mousai (Muses), who were maidens that had received an unusually excellent education, and that by their songs and dancing and other talents in which they had been instructed these maidens delighted the heart of the god."
Suidas s.v. Ouden pros ton Dionyson (trans. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek lexicon C10th A.D.) :
"Formerly, when writing in honour of Dionysos they competed with these [compositions], which also used to be called satyrika. But later on, having progressed to writing tragedies, they turned gradually to myths and historical subjects, no longer with Dionysos in mind. Hence they also exclaimed this [the proverb ‘nothing to do with Dionysos’]. And Khamaileon] in On Thespis relates similar things."
I. TRAGEDY PLAYS
Tragedy plays were performed at the Dionysian festival.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1. 21. 1 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :
"There is a legend that after the death of Sophokles the Lakedaemonians invaded Attika, and their commander saw in a vision Dionysos, who bade him honor, with all the customary honors of the dead, the new Seiren. He interpreted the dream as referring to Sophokles and his poetry, and down to the present day men are wont to liken to a Seiren whatever is charming in both poetry and prose. The likeness of Aiskhylos is, I think, much later than his death and than the painting which depicts the action at Marathon Aiskhylos himself said that when a youth he slept while watching grapes in a field, and that Dionysos appeared and bade him write tragedy. When day came, in obedience to the vision, he made an attempt and hereafter found composing quite easy."
II. COMEDY PLAYS
Comedy plays were also produced for the Dionysian festivals.
III. CHORAL SONG (DITHYRAMBS) & DANCE
Choral dance and song (dithyrambs) were performed by the choruses of the Dionysian plays.
The Anacreontea, Fragment 38 (trans. Campbell, Vol. Greek Lyric II) (Greek lyric B.C.) :
"Let us be merry and drink wine and sing of Bakkhos [Dionysos], the inventor of the choral dance, the lover of all songs."
Plato, Laws 664b (trans. Lamb) (Greek philosopher C4th B.C.) :
"The gods, in pity for us, have granted to us as fellow-choristers and choir-leaders Apollon and the Mousai (Muses),--besides whom we mentioned, if we recollect, a third, Dionysos."
Plato, Laws 672b :
"There was implanted in us men the sense of rhythm and harmony, and that the joint authors thereof were Apollon and the Mousai (Muses) and the god Dionysos."
Plato, Laws 700b :
"One class of song was that of prayers to the gods, which bore the name of hymns (hymnai); contrasted with this was another class, best called ‘dirges’; ‘paeans’ formed another; and yet another was the ‘dithyramb’, named, I fancy, after Dionysos." [N.B. Dithyrambs were choral odes to Dionysos.]
Statius, Silvae 2. 7. 6 (trans. Mozley) (Roman poetry C1st A.D.) :
"Ye who have the privilege of song in your keeping, Arkadian discoverer of the vocal lyre [Hermes], and thou, Euhan [Dionysos], whirler of thy Bassarides, and Paean [Apollon] and the Hyantian Sisters [Mousai, Muses], joyfully deck yourselves anew with purple fillets, make your tresses trim and let fresh ivy enwreathe your shining raiment."
Suidas s.v. Dithyrambos (trans. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek lexicon C10th A.D.) :
"Dithyrambos (Dithyramb) : A hymn to Dionysos."
GOD OF HOMOSEXUALITY & EFFEMINACY
Dionysus and Satyrs, Athenian red-figure column krater C5th B.C., Martin von Wagner Museum, University of Würzburg
I. GOD OF CROSS-DRESSING & EFFEMINACY
Euripides, Bacchae 350 ff (trans. Buckley) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) :
"[Pentheus speaks :] ‘This effeminate stranger [Dionysos].’"
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. 28 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"Hermes took him [the newborn infant Dionysos] to Ino and Athamas, and persuaded them to bring him up as a girl."
Seneca, Oedipus 418 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) :
"Fearing thy stepdame's [Hera's] wrath, thou [Dionysos] didst grow to manhood with false-seeming limbs, a pretended maiden with golden ringlets, with saffron girdle binding thy garments. So thereafter this soft vesture has pleased thee, folds loose hanging and the long-trailing mantle."
Nonnus, Dionysiaca 14. 143 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.) :
"[The infant] Dionysos was hidden from every eye . . . a clever babe. He would mimic a newborn kid; hiding in the fold . . . Or he would show himself like a young girl in saffron robes and take on the feigned shape of a woman; to mislead the mind of spiteful Hera, he moulded his lips to speak in a girlish voice, tied a scented veil on his hair. He put on all a woman's manycoloured garments: fastened a maiden's vest about his chest and the firm circle of his bosom, and fitted a purple girdle over his hips like a band of maidenhood."
For MYTHS of Dionysos as the god of cross-dressing see:
(1) Dionysus Birth & Nursing (raised disguised as a girl)
(2) Dionysus Wrath: Pentheus (persuaded to disguise himself as a woman)
(3) Dionysus & the Recapture of Mt Cithaeron (his troops disguised as women)
II. GOD OF HOMOSEXUALITY & EFFEMINACY
Seneca, Hercules Furens 472 ff (trans. Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) :
"But dainty Bacchus [Dionysos] does not blush to sprinkle with perfume his flowing locks, nor in his soft hand to brandish the slender thrysus, when with mincing gait he trails his robe gay with barbaric gold."
Suidas s.v. Androgynos (trans. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek lexicon C10th A.D.) :
"Androgynos (androgynous) : [A word applied to] Dionysos, as one doing both active, male things and passive, female ones [in sexual intercourse].
Alternatively ‘effeminate’ (anandros), and hermaphroditic (hermaphroditos) [also men who have lost their virility including eunuchs]. Also [in the genitive plural, meaning those who are] weak and have the hearts of women."
Suidas s.v. Appapai (quoting Aristophanes, Frogs 57) :
"Appapai (Oh god!) : An expression of affirmation. For when Herakles asks [Dionysos] ‘Were you loved [physically] by a man?’, this is his response."
Suidas s.v. Kybele :
"Kybele : Rhea. [So named] from the Kybela mountains . . . But he used the phrase ‘O [Kybele] mother of Kleokritos’ . . . He treated him comically as a gay (kindaidos) and a foreigner and of low birth and the son of Kybele because effeminates are present in the mysteries of Rhea . . . Therefore the proverb was said of gays (kindaidoi)." [N.B. Dionysos was also nursed by Kybele, and so was also effeminate.]
For MYTHS of Dionysos as the god of homosexuality see:
(1) Dionysus in the Fables of Aesop (Dionysos gets Prometheus drunk, and he creates homosexuals while molding mankind)
(2) Dionysus Loves: Ampelus (boy loved by Dionysos, transformed into a grapevine)
(3) Dionysus Loves: Polymnus (a man the god agrees to have sex with in return for his help in finding an entrance to the underworld)
GOD OF REINCARNATION & THE AFTERLIFE
Herodotus, Histories 2. 123 (trans. Godley) (Greek historian C5th B.C.) :
"The Egyptians say that Demeter [Isis] and Dionysos [Osiris] are the rulers of the lower world. The Egyptians were the first who maintained the following doctrine, too, that the human soul is immortal, and at the death of the body enters into some other living thing then coming to birth; and after passing through all creatures of land, sea, and air, it enters once more into a human body at birth, a cycle which it completes in three thousand years. There are Greeks who have used this doctrine [the Orphics], some earlier and some later, as if it were their own; I know their names, but do not record them."
Oppian, Cynegetica 4. 230 (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd A.D.) :
"He [Dionysos in his boyhood] rent rams, skins and all, and clove them piecemeal and cast the dead bodies on the ground; and again with his hands he neatly put their limbs together, and immediately they were alive and browsed on the green pasture."
For MYTHS of Dionysos as the god of reincarnation see:
(1) The Birth, Death & Rebirth of Dionysos-Zagreus (reincarnation of the god)
(6) Dionysus Loves: Ariadne (rebirth following death)
For mystery CULTS of Dionysos incorporating the idea of reincarnation see:
Orphic Orgia of Dionysos
IDENTIFIED WITH FOREIGN GODS
Tiger-chariot of Dionysus, Greco-Roman mosaic from Sousse C3rd A.D., Sousse Archaeological Museum
Dionysos was identified with the Thraco-Phrygian god Sabazios, Egyptian Osiris, Phoenician Tammuz and the Roman god Liber, amongst others.
Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3. 21- 23 (trans. Rackham) (Roman rhetorician C1st B.C.) :
"We [the peoples of the Roman Empire] have a number of Dionysi [gods identified with Dionysos]. The first [the Orphic god Zagreus] is the son of Jupiter [Zeus] and Proserpine [Persephone]; the second [the Egyptian god Osiris] of Nile--he is the fabled slayer of Nysa. The father of the third [Phrygian Sabazios] is Cabirus; it is stated that he was king over Asia, and the Sabazia were instituted in his honour. The fourth [the Thraco-Orphic god Sabazios] is the son of Jupiter [Thrakian sky-god] and Luna [Bendis]; the Orphic rites are believed to be celebrated in his honour. The fifth [the Theban Dionysos] is the son of Nisus [Zeus] and Thyone [Semele], and is believed to have established the Trieterid festival."
For MYTHS of Dionysos in the East see:
Dionysus in the East (Summary) (connecting him with Osiris, Tammuz, Sabazios)
I. SABAZIOS (THRACO-PHRYGIAN GOD)
Herodotus, Histories 5. 7 (trans. Godley) (Greek historian C5th B.C.) :
"They [the Thrakians] worship no gods but Ares, Dionysos [Sabazios], and Artemis [Bendis]. Their princes, however, unlike the rest of their countrymen, worship Hermes [Zalmoxis] above all gods and swear only by him, claiming him for their ancestor."
Herodotus, Histories 7. 111 :
"The Satrai [tribe of Thrake] . . . alone of the Thrakians have continued living in freedom to this day; they dwell on high mountains covered with forests of all kinds and snow, and they are excellent warriors. It is they who possess the place of divination sacred to Dionysos [Sabazios]. This place is in their highest mountains; the Bessoi, a clan of the Satrai, are the prophets of the shrine; there is a priestess who utters the oracle, as at Delphoi; it is no more complicated here than there."
Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3. 21- 23 (trans. Rackham) (Roman rhetorician C1st B.C.) :
"The [god identified with Dionysos] father of the third [Phrygian Sabazios] is Cabirus; it is stated that he was king over Asia, and the Sabazia were instituted in his honour. The fourth [the Thraco-Orphic god Sabazios] is the son of Jupiter [Thrakian sky-god] and Luna [Bendis]; the Orphic rites are believed to be celebrated in his honour."
Suidas s.v. Sabazios (from Scholiast on Aristophanes, Birds 874) (trans. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek lexicon C10th A.D.) :
"Sabazios : He is the same [god] as Dionysos. He acquired this form of address from the rite pertaining to him; for the barbarians call the bakkhic cry sabazein. Hence some of the Greeks too follow suit and call the cry sabasmos; thereby Dionysos [becomes] Sabazios. They also used to call saboi those places that had been dedicated to him and his Bakkhoi."
Suidas s.v. Saboi (from Harpocration s.v., quoting Demosthenes 18. 260) :
"Saboi : Demosthenes [in the speech] On Behalf of Ktesiphon [mentions them]. Some say that Saboi is the term for those who are dedicated to Sabazios, that is to Dionysos, just as those [dedicated] to Bakkhos [are] Bakkhoi. They say that Sabazios and Dionysos are the same. Thus some also say that the Greeks call the Bakkhoi Saboi. But Mnaseas of Patrai [C3rd B.C.] says that Sabazios is the son of Dionysos."
Suidas s.v. Euoi (from Harpocration s.v.; quoting Demosthenes 18. 260) :
"Euoi, saboi . . . ‘Euoi, Saboi’ are mystic cries. They say that those who celebrate the mysteries reveal them in the Phrygian language; from which it comes that Sabazios is Dionysos."
II. PRIAPOS (MYSIAN GOD)
Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 1. 30b (trans. Gullick) (Greek rhetorician C2nd to 3rd A.D.) :
"Among the people of Lampsakos [in Mysia], Priepos who is the same as Dionysos, is held in honour and has the by-name Dionysos as well as Thriambos and Dithyrambos."
Suidas s.v. Priapos (quoting Greek Anthology 6. 22. 5-6 & 6. 33. 1-2) (trans. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek lexicon C10th A.D.) :
"Priapos : The same as Dionysos. In the Epigrams : ‘The guardian of the fruit made a tree-sacrifice to this rustic monolithic Priapos.’ And again : ‘Shore-haunting Priapos, the fishermen gave gifts [to you].’"
For MORE information on this god see PRIAPOS
III. OSIRIS (EGYPTIAN GOD)
Herodotus, Histories 2. 42 (trans. Godley) (Greek historian C5th B.C.) :
"No gods are worshipped by all Egyptians in common except Isis and Osiris, who they say is Dionysos; these are worshipped by all alike."
Herodotus, Histories 2. 144 :
"Before men, they said, the rulers of Egypt were gods . . . the last of them to rule the country was Osiris' son Horus, whom the Greeks call Apollon; he deposed Typhon [Set], and was the last divine king of Egypt. Osiris is, in the Greek language, Dionysos."
Herodotus, Histories 2. 156 :
"Apollon [Horus] and Artemis [Bastet] were (they say) children of Dionysus [Osiris] and Isis, and Leto [Buto]was made their nurse and preserver; in Egyptian, Apollon is Horus, Demeter Isis, Artemis Bubastis."
Herodotus, Histories 2. 123 :
"The Egyptians say that Demeter [Isis] and Dionysos [Osiris] are the rulers of the lower world. The Egyptians were the first who maintained the following doctrine, too, that the human soul is immortal, and at the death of the body enters into some other living thing . . . There are Greeks who have used this doctrine [the Orphics]."
Herodotus, Histories 2. 145 :
"In Egypt . . . Dionysos [Osiris] belongs to the third generation of gods, which came after the twelve. How many years there were between . . . Dionysos [Osiris] and Amasis [the last true Egyptian pharaoh] are the fewest, and they are reckoned by the Egyptians at fifteen thousand. The Egyptians claim to be sure of all this, since they have reckoned the years and chronicled them in writing."
Herodotus, Histories 2. 29 :
"A great city called Meroe is said to be the capital of all Aithiopia. The people of the place worship no other gods but Zeus [Egyptian Ammon] and Dionysos [Egyptian Osiris]; these they greatly honor, and they have a place of divination sacred to Zeus; they send out armies whenever and wherever this god through his oracle commands them."
Herodotus, Histories 3. 97 :
"The Aithiopians nearest to Egypt, whom Kambyses [the Persian general] conquered in his march towards the long-lived Aithiopians; and also those who dwell about the holy Nysa [probably Barkal in Upper Nubia, identified by Herodotus he legendary Mt Nysa], where Dionysos [Osiris] is the god of their festivals."
Herodotus, Histories 2. 49 :
"Melampos [a mythical seer] was the one who taught the Greeks the name of Dionysos and the way of sacrificing to him . . . besides many other things which he learned from Egypt, he also taught the Greeks things concerning Dionysos, altering few of them; for I will not say that what is done in Egypt in connection with the god [Osiris identified with Dionysos] and what is done among the Greeks originated independently: for they would then be of an Hellenic character and not recently introduced. Nor again will I say that the Egyptians took either this or any other custom from the Greeks."
Pausanias, Description of Greece 10. 29. 4 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :
"Both the Greeks and the Egyptians have many legends about Dionysos [i.e. Osiris for the Egyptians]."
Cicero, De Natura Deorum 3. 21- 23 (trans. Rackham) (Roman rhetorician C1st B.C.) :
"The second [god identified with Dionysos] of the Nile - he [the Egyptian Osiris] is the fabled slayer of Nysa."
Suidas s.v. Osiris (trans. Suda On Line) (Byzantine Greek lexicon C10th A.D.) :
"Osiris : Some say he was Dionysos, others say another; who was dismembered by the daimon Typhon [Set] and became a great sorrow for the Egyptians, and they kept the memory of his dismemberment for all time."
IV. OROTALT (ARABIAN GOD)
Herodotus, Histories 3. 8 (trans. Godley) (Greek historian C5th B.C.) :
"They [the Arabians] believe in no other gods except Dionysos [Arabian Orotalt] and Aphrodite Ourania [Arabian Alilat]; and they say that they wear their hair as Dionysos does his, cutting it round the head and shaving the temples. They call Dionysus, Orotalt; and Aphrodite, Alilat."
V. TAMMUZ (PHOENICIAN GOD)
Herodotus, Histories 2. 49 (trans. Godley) (Greek historian C5th B.C.) :
"Melampos [a mythical seer] was the one who taught the Greeks the name of Dionysos and the way of sacrificing to him . . . I [Herodotus] believe that Melampos learned the worship of Dionysos chiefly from Kadmos of Tyre [the mythical Phoenician grandfather of Dionysos] and those who came with Kadmos from Phoinikia to the land now called Boiotia."
VI. UNKNOWN (INDIAN GOD)
Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana 2. 2 (trans. Conybeare) (Greek biography C1st to 2nd A.D.) :
"Dionysos is called Nysios (Nysian) by the Indians and by all the Oriental races from Nysa in India."
Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana 2. 6 - 10 :
"They [The legendary prophet Apollonios of Tyana C1st A.D. and his companions] were now in land subject to the king [of India], in which the mountain of Nysa rises covered to its very top with plantations, like the mountain of Tmolos in Lydia; and you can ascend it, because paths have been made by the cultivators. They say then that when they had ascended it, they found the shrine of Dionysos, which it is said Dionysos founded in honour of himself, planting round it a circle of laurel trees which encloses just as much ground as suffices to contain a moderate sized temple. He also surrounded the laurels with a border of ivy and vines; and he had set up inside an image of himself knowing that in time the trees would grow together and make themselves into a kind of roof; and this had now formed itself, so that neither rain can wet nor wind blow upon the shrine. And there were scythes and baskets and wine-presses and their furniture dedicated to Dionysos, as if to one who gathers grapes, all made of gold and silver. And the image resembled a youthful Indian, and was carved out of polished white stone. And when Dionysos celebrates his orgies and shakes Nysa, the cities underneath the mountain hear the noise and exult in sympathy.
Now the Hellenes disagree with the Indians, and the Indians among themselves, concerning this Dionysos. For we declare that the Theban Dionysos made an expedition to India in the role of soldier and reveller, and we base our arguments, among other things, on the offering at Delphoi, which is preserved in the treasuries there. And it is a disc of Indian silver bearing the inscription : ‘Dionysos the son of Semele and of Zeus, from the men of India to the Apollon of Delphoi.’ But the Indians who dwell in the Kaukasos [Mountains] and along the river Kophena say that he was an Assyrian visitor when he came to them, who understood the affairs of the Theban. But those who inhabit the district between the Indos and the Hydroates [Hydapses] and the continental region beyond which ends at the river Ganges, declare that Dionysos was son of the River Indos, and that the Dionysos of Thebes having become his disciple took to the thyrsos and introduced it in the orgies; that this Dionysos declared that he was the son of Zeus and had lived safe inside his father's thigh until he was born, and that he found a mountain called Meros or ‘Thigh’ on which Nysa borders, and planted Nysa in honour of Dionysos with the vine of which he had brought the suckers from Thebes; and that it was there that Alexandros [the Great] held his orgies. But the inhabitants of Nysa deny that Alexandros ever went up the mountain, although he was eager to do so, being an ambitious person and fond of old-world things; but he was afraid lest his Makedonians, I they got among the vines, which they had not seen for a long time, would fall into a fit of homesickness or recover their taste for wine, after they had already become accustomed to water only. So they say he passed by Nysa, making his vow to Dionysos, and sacrificing at the foot of the mountain. Well I know that some people will take amiss what I write, because the companions of Alexandros on his campaigns did not write the truth in reporting this . . . [when they said] that he ascended the mountain and held a revel there."
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In which South African country was Australian rugby player George Gregan born? | George Gregan : George Gregan Foundation
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George Gregan
George Musarurwa Gregan, born 19 April 1973, is an Australian rugby union scrum-half who made more appearances for his national team than any other player in the sport’s history. He captained the team to many victories and is respected throughout the rugby world for his tenacity, tactical skill, leadership ability, and sportsmanship, but is also known for his ‘talk-back’ to referees.
Gregan played Super 14 for the ACT Brumbies from the inception of that competition in 1996, helping to lead them to overall victories in 2001 and 2004. He is a foundation Brumbies player and one of the few players whose careers span over both the amateur and professional eras.
Early Life
Gregan was born in Lusaka, Zambia, of a Zimbabwean mother and an Australian father. His family moved to Australia when he was one year old, and he grew up in Canberra where he was educated at St Edmund’s College.
He represented Australia in rugby union at under-19 and under-21 level.
The Wallabies
George made his first appearance for the Wallabies in 1994 in a match against Italy in Brisbane, which the Wallabies won, 23 to 20. He was subsequently capped in the victories over Italy again, and Western Samoa.
He made an immediate impact for the team, making a try-saving tackle on All Black Jeff Wilson that directly led to Australia winning the Bledisloe Cup that year and is much remembered as one of the greatest moments in the Wallabies-All Blacks rivalry. After two caps against Argentina the following season, Gregan had so far been on the winning side in all of his international games as Australia entered the 1995 World Cup in South Africa as defending champions.
The game went professional post-1995 World Cup, and one outcome of this was the formation of the Super 12, of which Gregan became a foundation player for the ACT Brumbies franchise. That season Gregan appeared eight times for the Wallabies, including solid wins over both Wales and Canada in Brisbane, scoring a try in the Canadian clash. Another outcome of professionalism was the forming of the Tri Nations Series between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. He was elevated to the vice-captaincy of the Wallabies in 1997. After the international retirement of John Eales in 2001, Gregan became the Wallabies captain.
Following Australia’s heartbreaking loss to the English in the World Cup, Gregan led the Wallabies on a massive winning campaign during the 2004 season. After defeating Scotland twice at home, the Wallabies faced the English in a World Cup replay in Brisbane, where they got their revenge, defeating England 51 to 15. Under Gregan, Australia lost just two matches in 2004, one against South Africa, and then against France in Paris. In June 2004 Gregan was appointed to the Order of Australia for his services to Rugby Union Football and in particular, as the captain of the Wallabies.
In July during the 2005 Tri Nations Series, Gregan ran out at Subiaco Oval in Perth against South Africa for his 100th Wallaby test. In October 2004, Gregan announced that his four-year-old son had epilepsy and launched the George Gregan Foundation.
Following the World Cup in France 2007, George retired from Australian rugby and joined French Club Toulon for one season. On 18 June 2008 it was announced that he had joined Suntory Sungoliath in Japan, where he completed three seasons.
George officially retired from rugby in 2011 and is now based in Sydney. He is working on a number of projects including evolving The Gregan Group ; the cafe, bar and catering business he owns with his wife Erica.
Follow @GeorgeGregan on Twitter
| Zambia |
In May 1936 the first flight by which Irish airline took place between Dublin and Bristol? | Interview George Gregan | Sport | The Guardian
Interview George Gregan
Sunday 4 November 2001 21.26 EST
First published on Sunday 4 November 2001 21.26 EST
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George Gregan has just returned from training, hobbling in behind the rest of the Australian rugby union squad as they troop back to their hotel. Strapped to his right ankle is a complicated arrangement complete with a small faucet, resembling a device for tapping rubber from a tree. This turns out to be a modern, sophisticated equivalent of an ice pack, put there to ease the pain of a training session rather than to confirm what many have thought of Gregan from watching his elastic-limbed performances for Australia: that he is, in fact, made of rubber. "Just a light work-out," he says of the session. Which makes you shiver about what his team will do to the opposition, if they are happy to incapacitate their new captain during a light work-out.
Gregan was in Madrid on the first stage of a lengthy tour that will take in Wales and France as well as Saturday's engagement at Twickenham against England. Like all touring teams from the southern hemisphere the Australians have a nickname. To be strictly accurate they have two. They are officially to be referred to as the Vodafone Wallabies - as opposed, presumably, to the One-2-One Wallabies, who would have been here except that they could not rely on network coverage.
The VWs were in Spain not just to add another stamp to their bulging passports but on missionary work, spreading the gospel of rugby union to a developing nation. There may be a serious doubt as to what the point is in the equivalent of a Michael Jordan-led team of NBA superstars coming over here to mash the London Towers but Gregan is happy to do his bit of proselytising.
"There's 15,000 players, I'm told, in Spain," he says, "which isn't a hell of a lot fewer than we've got back home," though you might think the only way Spain could entertain giving the Australians a game is if all 15,000 took to the pitch at once. And indeed, the Spaniards duly take a mangling, losing by a record 92-10.
Australia win again, then - not much of a story. This is the current position of pre-eminence Australian sport enjoys: everybody looks up to them. In cricket, rugby league, managing to construct stadia in which to host major sporting events, you name it, they are on a different planet from us. In Gregan's own pursuit, the term "southern hemisphere" has become synonymous with doing things properly. Clive Woodward, the England coach, regards the Australians as the most accurate barometer by which to measure the development of his team. One wonders, then, if the Australian captain realises what a reputation for sporting excellence his nation has established and consequently how desperate everyone in England is to see them beaten.
"I think we recognise there is a healthy respect for the way Australia organises its sporting resources," he says. "Not just the way teams play on the pitch, but coaches, facilities and so forth. You grow up with sport, you're immersed in it from an early age, it matters to you. That said, we're pre-eminent at a number of sports, but not everything."
Maybe not yet but I tell him the biggest sporting fear of many in this country is of the day his lot beat England at football, then we know we might as well pack up and stick to challenging for the international pro-celebrity couch potato cup, something we are really good at.
"And you know what, mate," he adds. "We've got some pretty good soccer players already." We can take that as a warning.
Gregan was born in Zambia to an African mother and Australian father but he has lived in Australia from the age of one and was immersed in the culture that produced Steve Waugh, Lleyton Hewitt, Wendell Sailor and all the other steel-sinewed, ice-nerved winning machines of Australian sport. So since his genes are at least half from outside the pool is it, then, simply about upbringing? Is the picture we have of the Australian child educated to win at all costs an accurate one?
"I wouldn't say at all costs," he says. "I think the first step any sportsman should take is to ensure that they are performing at the peak of their mental and physical capabilities. If you do that, then winning should follow. I think you just invite pressure on yourself if you get too hung up on the winning. That said, speak to any competitor, winning is rather important. It's not just us guys who like to win." No, it is just that they have a lot more practice.
"In saying all that," he adds, "I have to say there are some Australians who think sport is too important a part of our culture, that think as a nation we are too obsessed."
Gregan - despite his interest in a chain of coffee bars in Sydney, despite his affection for the novels of Elmore Leonard - is not one of them. Since being appointed successor to the universally popular and admired John Eales he has taken his new role very seriously. Eales's boots were big ones to fill (almost twice the size of Gregan's) and the new man is conscious of the responsibility. He comes to this interview clutching a palm pilot, which occasionally chirrups away, issuing reminders of functions and appointments.
"I don't think my life will change much on the pitch," he says of his new job. "Yeah, it'll be me deciding in penalty situations whether we go for a try or kick for goal. But actually John was involving me as one of the decision-makers for some time, so it won't be much different. Where it will change is off the pitch, pressing the flesh, meeting the media, knowing that less of my free time will be my own."
As he says this, he looks wistfully at two team-mates already heading out into the warm Madrid evening for a bit of r and r.
"But, hey," he says, not sounding terribly convinced, "I intend to enjoy it."
It is quickly apparent on talking to Gregan that his demeanour is not really Australian. In this country it is sporting shorthand that we need to behave more like the Australians if we wish to succeed, which is taken to mean aggressive, narrow-eyed, shouty. Dominic Cork is the epitome of the Australian wannabe, all sneering and sledging and up for it. Gregan, on the other hand, is polite, thoughtful, not remotely posturing. He is kind enough to treat questions he has heard a thousand times before as though they are freshly delivered on tablets from Mount Olympus. He is David Beckham to the pseudo-Aussie's Alan Shearer. When you know you are at the peak of the game, it seems there is no need to try too hard. You can just relax into it - and be the perfect ambassador.
Thus, for instance, when asked if, as a visitor from the sporting first world, there is anything an Australian can learn from our institutions, he is magnanimity itself.
"Oh yeah, don't put yourself down," he says. "Look at the resources and professionalism of your soccer sides. That's definitely something we look up to, something we'd like to emulate."
Fine, but he will not be playing Manchester United or Liverpool next Saturday. He will be up against England, a team which has just choked on a grand slam for the third season in succession.
"Oh mate, that's a tough word, choked, a tough word," he says, shaking his head in solidarity with Matt Dawson and chums. "Any sportsman will tell you in a pressure situation you can have a poor game once in a while. But I think that is what, maybe, marks out the Australian sports team: they have a bad game and then they look not to worry about it but to come straight back. I think the one thing we all have in common is knowing the importance of performance under pressure. We had a pressure game in Jo'burg in South Africa in the Tri-nations last season and we lost it. Seven days later we ran out and beat the All Blacks at home. That's what you try to do, learn from those situations. So in many ways we could be the fall guys for an England looking to get back on track. There's no doubt about it, it will be a pressure game."
Pressure is a word that pops up frequently in Gregan's conversation. Clearly it is something he subconsciously enjoys.
"Not just subconsciously," he says. "You want the pressure. I believe a Test match is aptly named. You're going in there and testing yourself, your decision making. In those situations you learn a lot about yourself. The more you play those games, the better you get. I love the big games. I live for them."
Is it harder, then, to motivate himself for a game against the likes of Spain?
"To be pretty honest," he says, "your motivation, your build-up, is somewhat different, yeah. It's still a Test match, it's still important, but you have to tell yourself that sometimes. Probably the word is a different intensity."
So he does not have to tell himself it is important just before he trots out against England at Twickenham.
"Woah, man, it would be pretty scary if you have to be reminded of it then. England will be a big challenge. We won't put too much down to the Ireland match. It's a tough game for us, they really play well at home. They're very dynamic, very dangerous there. I like the look of [Neil] Back, the way he drives things. In terms of their level of play over the past 12 months they are probably the form team in the world."
In addition there is the element of revenge for last year's defeat, albeit of a Gregan-light bunch of Wallabies.
"I wouldn't say revenge, mate. That's not a motivating force for us. For us, it's about developing the team, developing our play. Besides, we don't need extra motivation. We always want to beat you guys."
And, rest assured, the feeling is mutual.
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How many Oscars did the film ‘Avatar’ win at the 2010 Academy Awards? | 'Avatar' At The Oscars: What Went Wrong? Experts Weigh In - MTV
mtv
Brian Warmoth
03/08/2010
James Cameron's "Avatar" became the [article id="1630535"]highest-grossing movie of all time[/article] in theaters, but Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" became the lowest-grossing film ever to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards on Sunday. Even with Best Visual Effects and Best Cinematography wins to boast about, many thought that "Avatar" would follow behind "Titanic" and bring a windfall of Oscar wins. Critics point to several inherent weaknesses, however, including actor fears within the Academy, traditional notions of film and political trends.
"For whatever reason, boomer-age people, older Gen X-ers [in the Academy] are threatened by it," journalist and Hollywood Elsewhere writer Jeff Wells told MTV News. "They feel on some level that they're going to be lost, that they're going to be digitally wiped out in the future."
Wells cited voting actors who are consistently in search of new jobs as the ones who feel they have the most to lose.
"People like JoBeth Williams and others in that branch — we're talking about people who aren't working as much anymore, but they're getting some work and they're marginal — that's most of the Academy's actors branch," he explained. "We're not talking about 3 percent or 4 percent that are working a lot and getting big money for it and doing very well."
Dave Karger of Entertainment Weekly's OscarWatch blog disagreed. "I never really felt in my gut that it was going to happen," he said. " 'Avatar' always seemed to me like a movie that would win four or five technical Oscars, and it ended up winning three, so I actually thought it was going to do a little better than it did. I can't see a movie like that winning Best Picture at this stage. It might take a while for a movie like that to be fully accepted."
Whether fear over jobs or the loss of on-camera face-time influenced the vote, the road for motion-capture acting to Oscars' biggest honors may be further off than Cameron or "Avatar" supporters anticipated, unless certain challenges can be overcome.
"Cameron has made the point over and over again, you've got to really, really work it and be a really exceptional actor to come through in these things," Wells explained, speaking of the film's mo-cap technology. "This is all about your own emotionality. It's all about your facial muscles."
It may require a new generation of actors who are trained in such methods before a breakthrough performance manages to calm anxieties and impress the voters that passed this year on "Avatar." Still, Big Hollywood Editor in Chief John Nolte believes the Na'vi's loss to "The Hurt Locker" may have been a product of trends greater than workers facing a recession.
"No, I think that [Cameron has] taken some pretty hard shots over the past few weeks," Nolte responded when asked if he thought actors balked at mo-cap. " 'Avatar' had been criticized for being anti-military. It's a very political film, and this appeared to be a season where the Academy decided that they were going to keep politics off the front burner."
If "The Hurt Locker" managed to earn sympathies where "Avatar" lost them, such sentiment could have impacted the results as well. "It was really remarkable to not take a hit as a conservative Christian during the Academy Awards," Nolte proposed, referencing an absence of war or political activism from the winners and hosts compared to past years.
That sea change alone may prove noteworthy, but whichever forces ultimately prove to be responsible, James Cameron's new vision for 3-D filmmaking will have to regroup for the 2011 Academy Awards. Until then, new films like "Alice in Wonderland" and potentially Marc Webb's "Spider-Man" relaunch will be testing out what the new technology has to offer.
"The whole game has changed," Wells said, "big-time."
Relive all the best moments from the 2010 Academy Awards with photos, interviews, blogs, post-show analysis and more, right here at MTV News.
Check out everything we've got on "Avatar."
For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com .
| three |
Louisville, Kentucky, USA was named after which French monarch? | Oscars 2010: the 10 worst injustices in Academy Award history - Telegraph
Oscars
Oscars 2010: the 10 worst injustices in Academy Award history
The 2010 Oscars are almost upon us, so we take a look back at previous Academy Awards injustices. Should Citizen Kane have won Best Picture? How did Stanley Kubrick never win Best Director? Here are the 10 worst robberies.
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Orson Welles in Citizen Kane, beaten to the 1941 Oscar for Best Picture by How Green Was My Valley
The film poster for Raging Bull, showing Robert De Niro Photo: UNITED ARTISTS
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Hey, it's President Bartlet all covered in mud. Martin Sheen goes for a dip in Apocalypse Now
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Sylvester Stallone in Rocky - a better film than Taxi Driver, according to the Oscars Photo: AP
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Malcolm McDowell in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, beaten by The French Connection on all four of its Oscar nominations Photo: WARNER BROS
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Janet Leigh in Psycho's famous shower scene. Neither Alfred Hitchcock nor his most famous film ever won an Oscar Photo: AP
Peter Sellers in Stanley Kubrick's Dr Strangelove - not as good as My Fair Lady, apparently
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Robert De Niro and Ray Liotta in Goodfellas, one of Martin Scorsese's hat-trick of missed Oscars Photo: AP
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Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump; a slice of 1950s values that somehow survived all the way to 1994 Photo: REX FEATURES
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Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan, beaten in 1998 to the Best Picture Oscar by Shakespeare in Love Photo: DREAMWORKS
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Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana in Avatar, or Dances with Wolves in Space 3D, to give it its working title Photo: REUTERS
| i don't know |
The island groups Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao form which country? | Mindanao, Philippines | Backpacking Asia Travel Guide
Priority: Midd
Location Type: Region
the southernmost island group, which showcases the Philippines' indigenous and rich cultures - Travelling to the southern part of this region is dangerous and strongly discouraged
videos below are provided by YouTube under copyright of their owners.
Wikipedia - Mindanao
Mt. Apo, the highest peak in the Philippines.
Mindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also one of the three island groups in the country, along with Luzon and Visayas. The island of Mindanao is called The Land of Promise.Mindanao is the second largest island in the country at 94,630 square kilometers, and is the eighth most populous island in the world. The island of Mindanao is larger than 125 countries worldwide, including the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Czech Republic, Hungary, Taiwan and Ireland. The island is mountainous, and is home to Mount Apo, the highest mountain in the country. Mindanao is surrounded by seas: the Sulu Sea to the west, the Philippine Sea to the east, and the Celebes Sea to the south. Of all the islands of the Philippines, Mindanao and Borneo shows the greatest variety of physiographic development. High, rugged, faulted mountains; almost isolated volcanic peaks; high rolling plateaus; and broad, level, swampy plains are found there. Christians form the majority, with 63% of the population; Muslims are 32% of the population (mostly on the southern part of the island); 5% are affiliated with other religions. The native Maguindanaon and other native Muslim or non-Muslim groups of Mindanao have a culture that is different from the main cultures of the Southern Philippines.
provided by Wikipedia are under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Wikitravel - WARNING
Travel Warning
A heavy conflict is going on in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Basilan, Lanao Del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi) between Muslim militias and the Philippine government. In 2009 this region was declared the world's most hazardous area for journalists by the Committee to Protect Journalists, a massacre occurred twice in this area; once in 2009 and again in 2010. Travelling to this region is dangerous and strongly discouraged. If it is necessary to visit, inform your embassy, remain cautious at all times and avoid public gatherings. ... read more
provided by Wikitravel under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
Research Center
Not Enough information on travelling to Mindanao? Want to know more? Dive into endless sources the internet provides.
| Philippines |
The lemur is endemic to which island? | Mindanao
Mindanao
Map of the Philippines showing the island groups of Luzon , Visayas , and Mindanao.
Mindanao refers to the second largest island in the Philippines and to one of the three island groups in the country, with Luzon and Visayas being the other two. Mindanao is where almost all of the country's Muslim population is found, although majority of Mindanao's population is still predominantly Christian .
As an island in the southern part of the country, Mindanao is the second largest at 94,630 square kilometers, only about 10,000 km² smaller than Luzon . The island is mountainous, and is home to Mount Apo , the highest mountain in the country. To the west of Mindanao island is the Sulu Sea , to the east is the Philippine Sea , and to the south is the Celebes Sea.
The island group of Mindanao encompasses Mindanao island itself, plus the Sulu Archipelago to the southwest. The island group is divided into six regions , which are further subdivided into 25 provinces .
Mindanao Island
See also Geography of the Philippines .
Island Group of Mindanao
The island group of Mindanao is an arbitrary grouping of islands in the southern Philippines which encompasses six administrative regions . These regions are further subdivided into 25 provinces , of which only four are not on Mindanao island itself. The island group includes the Sulu Archipelago to the southwest, which consists of the major islands of Basilan , Jolo, and Tawi-Tawi , plus outlying islands in other areas such as Camiguin , Dinagat, Siargao, Samal, and the Sarangani Islands.
The six regions are listed below and each is individually discussed in the succeeding paragraphs.
Northern Mindanao (Region X) consists of the provinces of Bukidnon , Camiguin , Lanao del Norte , Misamis Occidental , and Misamis Oriental . The province of Camiguin is also an island just of the northern coast. The administrative center of the region is Cagayan de Oro City .
Davao Region (Region IX), formerly Southern Mindanao, is located in the southeastern portion of Mindanao. The region is divided into the provinces of Davao Oriental , Davao , Davao del Sur , and Compostela Valley ; plus Davao City. The region encloses the Davao Gulf to the south and includes the island of Samal in the gulf, and the Sarangani Islands further to the south. Davao City is the region's administrative center.
SOCCSKSARGEN (Region XII), formerly Central Mindanao, is located in the south-central portion of the island. It consists of the provinces of Cotabato , Sarangani , South Cotabato , and Sultan Kudarat , plus Cotabato City . The names of the provinces together with General Santos City spell the name of the region which is an acronym . Cotabato City, geographically located in, but not part of Maguindanao province, is the region's administrative center.
Caraga (Region XII) is located in the northwestern part of Mindano. Its provinces are Agusan del Norte , Agusan del Sur , Surigao del Norte , and Surigao del Sur . The administrative center is Butuan City in Agusan del Norte. The region also covers the outlying islands of Surigao del Norte such as Dinagat Island, Siargao Island, and Bucas Grande Island.
The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is a special region which covers the territories predominantly populated by Muslims . ARMM has its own government unlike almost all the other regions in the country. It consists of almost the whole of the Sulu Archipelago ( Isabela City of Basilan is part of the Zamboanga Peninsula region) and two provinces in the mainland. The provinces located in the Sulu Archipelago are Basilan , Sulu , and Tawi-Tawi . Basilan and Tawi-Tawi are themselves the main islands of their respective provinces, while the main island of Sulu is Jolo Island. The mainland provinces are Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao . Cotabato City , which isn't part of the ARMM, is the region's administrative center.
See also Regions of the Philippines , Provinces of the Philippines , Luzon , and Visayas .
Fact-index.com financially supports the Wikimedia Foundation. Displaying this page does not burden Wikipedia hardware resources.
This article is from Wikipedia . All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License .
| i don't know |
Jazz musician Benny Goodman was famous for playing which instrument? | Benny Goodman @ All About Jazz
Read more
Benjamin David Goodman was born on May 30, 1909 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the eighth child of immigrants David Goodman and Dora Grisinsky Goodman, who left Russia to escape anti-Semitism. Benny's mother never learned to speak English. His father worked for a tailor to support his large family, which eventually grew to include a total of 12 children, and had trouble making ends meet.
When Benny was 10 years old, his father sent him to study music at Kehelah Jacob Synagogue in Chicago. There, Benny learned the clarinet under the tutelage of Chicago Symphony member Franz Schoepp, while two of his brothers learned tuba and trumpet. He also played in the band at Jane Addams' famous social settlement, Hull-House.
Benny's aptitude on the clarinet was immediately apparent. While he was still very young, he became a professional musician and played in several bands in Chicago. He played with his first pit band at the age of 11, and became a member of the American Federation of Musicians when he was 14, when he quit school to pursue his career in music. When his father died, 15-year-old Benny used the money he made to help support his family. During these early years in Chicago, he played with many musicians who would later become nationally renowned, such as Frank Teschemacher and Dave Tough.
When Benny was 16, he was hired by the Ben Pollack band and moved to Los Angeles. He remained with the band for four years, and became a featured soloist. In 1929, the year that marked the onset of the Great Depression and a time of distress for America, Benny left the Ben Pollack band to participate in recording sessions and radio shows in New York City.
Then, in 1933, Benny began to work with John Hammond, a jazz promoter who would later help to launch the recording careers of Billie Holiday and Count Basie, among many others. Hammond wanted Benny to record with drummer Gene Krupa and trombonist Jack Teagarden, and the result of this recording session was the onset of Benny's national popularity. Later, in 1942, Benny would marry Alice Hammond Duckworth, John Hammond's sister, and have two daughters: Rachel, who became a concert pianist, and Benji, who became a cellist.
Benny led his first band in 1934 and began a few-month stint at Billy Rose's Music Hall, playing Fletcher Henderson's arrangements along with band members Bunny Berigan, Gene Krupa and Jess Stacy. The music they played had its roots in the Southern jazz forms of ragtime and Dixieland, while its structure adhered more to arranged music than its more improvisational jazz counterparts. This gave it an accessibility that appealed to American audiences on a wide scale. America began to hear Benny 's band when he secured a weekly engagement for his band on NBC's radio show Let's Dance, which was taped with a live studio audience.
The new swing music had the kids dancing when, on August 21, 1935, Benny's band played the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles. The gig was sensational and marked the beginning of the years that Benny would reign as King: the Swing Era.
Teenagers and college students invented new dance steps to accompany the new music sensation. Benny's band, along with many others, became hugely successful among listeners from many different backgrounds all over the country.
During this period Benny also became famous for being colorblind when it came to racial segregation and prejudice. Pianist Teddy Wilson, an African-American, first appeared in the Ben ny Goodman Trio at the Congress Hotel in 1935. Benny added Lionel Hampton, who would later form his own band, to his Benny Goodman Quartet the next year. While these groups were not the first bands to feature both white and black musicians, Benny's national popularity helped to make racially mixed groups more accepted in the mainstream. Benny once said, If a guy's got it, let him give it. I'm selling music, not prejudice.
Benny's success as an icon of the Swing Era prompted Time magazine in 1937 to call him the King of Swing. The next year, at the pinnacle of the Swing Era, the Benny Goodman band, along with musicians from the Count Basie and Duke Ellington bands, made history as the first jazz band ever to play in New York's prestigious Carnegie Hall.
Following the concert at Carnegie Hall, the Benny Goodman band had many different lineup changes. Gene Krupa left the band, among others, and subsequent versions of the band included Cootie Williams and Charlie Christian, as well as Jimmy Maxwell and Mel Powell, among others.
The Swing Era began to come to a close as America got more involved in World War II. Several factors contributed to its waning success, including the loss of musicians to the draft and the limits that gas rationing put on touring bands. However, though the big band days were drawing to a close and new forms of music were emerging, Benny continued to play music in the swing style. He dabbled in the bop movement of the 1940s, but never succumbed, as the rest of the world did, to the allure of rock and roll influences in the 1950s and 1960s. Instead, Benny tried his hand at classical music, doing solos with major orchestras, and studying with internationally acclaimed classical clarinetist Reginald Kell.
These appearances further demonstrated Benny's range as a musician. His talent was unquestionable from the time he was 10 years old, and in recording sessions throughout his career, he very rarely made mistakes. Krell had helped him to improve some of his techniques, making Benny's playing even stronger.
In 1953, Benny's band planned to join Louis Armstrong and his All Stars in a tour together, but the two band leaders argued and the tour never opened at Carnegie Hall, as had been planned. It is not certain whether the tour was canceled due to Benny's illness or the conflict between the band leaders. The rest of the decade marked the spread of Benny's music to new audiences around the world. The Benny Goodman Story, a film chronicling his life, was released in 1955, exposing new and younger audiences to his music. Benny also toured the world, bringing his music to Asia and Europe. When he traveled to the USSR, one writer observed that the swing music that had once set the jitterbugs dancing in the Paramount aisles almost blew down the Iron Curtain.
During the late 1960s and 1970s, Benny appeared in reunions with the other members of his quartet: Teddy Wilson, Gene Krupa and Lionel Hampton. In 1978, the Benny Goodman band also appeared at Carnegie Hall again to mark the 30th Anniversary of when they appeared in the venue's first jazz concert.
In 1982, Benny was honored by the Kennedy Center for his lifetime achievements in swing music. In 1986, he received both an honorary doctorate degree in music from Columbia University and the Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement. He continued to play the music that defined his lifetime in occasional concert dates until his death in June 1986, of cardiac arrest. He was laid to rest after a short nonsectarian service with around 40 family members and friends in attendance on June 15, 1986 at Long Ridge Cemetery in Stamford, Connecticut. Through his amazing career, Benny Goodman did not change his style to conform to the latest trends, but retained the original sound that defined the Swing Era and made him the world renowned King of Swing.
| Clarinet |
Columbia University is in which US city? | Benny Goodman - Jazz
Jazz
If a guy's got it, let him give it. I'm selling music, not prejudice.
Benny Goodman was born on May 30, 1909 in Chicago, Illinois as the ninth of twelve children to Dora Rezinski and David Goodman. Inspired by popular New Orleans clarinetists Johnny Dodds and Jimmy Noone, Goodman quickly became a strong clarinet player. He was accepted at the young age of 16 into the Ben Pollack Orchestra, where he met the young Glenn Miller , oblivious to the inspiration he supplied the trombonist with for future arrangements. The young boy recorded many successful tunes with the Pollack Orchestra between the years of 1926 and 1929, an experience that he used to move on to assemble his very own band in 1934. The Goodman Band auditioned and was selected to perform on a Saturday night radio broadcast known as “Let’s Dance.” The show was created to feature one “sweet” band, one Latin band, and one “hot” band. Goodman’s Band was the “hot” band, but the man did not believe it was prepared enough to be successful in the job. To change this, Goodman not only brought in Gene Krupa to play drums for the ensemble, but he worked with Fletcher Henderson to write arrangements that would use precise tempos and specific phrasings that had never been heard before, of which include his famous arrangement, "Sing, Sing, Sing." Benny Goodman’s style of music was referred to as
“Swing,” a fresh, bouncy sound relative to the more commonly recognized jazz music. When the Goodman Band reached a high status, it began a tour across America that ended at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles in August, 1935. This performance achieved national headlines as it resulted in the largest crowd the ballroom had ever seen. Benny Goodman’s Band continued to develop and was scheduled to play at Carnegie Hall on January 16, 1938. The Goodman Band’s show at Carnegie Hall served as a debut for jazz as the hall had always been used for classical music performances, but the world of jazz was now being recognized for its comparable musicality and effective sound. Even after his death in 1986, Benny Goodman will forever be known as the “King of Swing” for his dedication to the style of music that was fresh and new, but not always accepted. The musician’s band opened the doors for large jazz ensembles across America to be successful through its wide range of shows across the country. It was as a result of the first, baby steps of the Goodman Band that jazz music was able to be incorporated into the lives of everyone. Benny Goodman’s performance on the clarinet made recognizable the importance of such an instrument in jazz and classical music alike, and his powerful jazz and swing arrangements set the tone for a new era in the musical world.
"I remember Glenn Miller coming to me once, before he had his own band, saying 'How do you do it? How do you get started? It's so difficult.' I told him, 'I don't know but whatever you do, don't stop. Just keep on going. Because one way or the other, if you want to find reasons why you shouldn't keep on, you'll find 'em. The obstacles are all there; there are a million of 'em. But if you want to do something, you do it anyway, and handle the obstacles as they come.'"
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Henrietta Maria was the French wife of which British monarch? | Biography of Queen Henrietta Maria
» Biographies » Queen Henrietta Maria
Queen Henrietta Maria, 1609-69
Loyal, courageous and devoted to King Charles I, but her influence added to the atmosphere of mistrust that surrounded the King.
Henrietta Maria was born in Paris on 26 November 1609 (NS), the youngest daughter of King Henri IV of France and Marie de Medici. She was taught riding, dancing and singing and received religious instruction from the Carmelite nuns. Her marriage to Charles, Prince of Wales, required a special dispensation from the Pope because it was the first time that a Catholic princess had married a Protestant prince. Politically, it was a move towards an alliance between France and England against Spain.
The marriage took place in May 1625 when Henrietta was 15 and Charles was 24. Her Catholicism alarmed the English Parliament, and she was not allowed to be crowned alongside her husband when he succeeded to the throne of the Three Kingdoms as King Charles I in February 1626.
Catholic Queen Consort
Apart from their religious differences, the royal couple were opposites in character and temperament: Charles was sober and aloof, Henrietta was stylish and vivacious. During the first three years of their marriage, Charles was influenced by his overbearing favourite the Duke of Buckingham , and neglected Henrietta Maria almost to the point of estrangement. But when Buckingham was assassinated in 1628, Charles transferred his affections to the Queen, and they quickly became devoted to one another.
During the 1630s, the court of King Charles and Queen Henrietta Maria was admired throughout Europe. The King's impeccable taste in art and the formality of court ritual gave an appearance of sophistication; the Queen's encouragement of dancing, music and theatre added warmth and polite gaiety. Elaborate masques were staged by Inigo Jones and Ben Jonson to dramatise the ideals of the Stuart monarchy. To the horror of many Puritans, the Queen herself sometimes took part in the performances.
Increasingly, King Charles discussed affairs of state with Henrietta Maria. He valued her opinions and advice, but because she remained a practising Roman Catholic, her influence was viewed with extreme suspicion, particularly as several prominent courtiers converted to Catholicism and a papal representative was received in England for the first time since the Reformation. When the King needed money to finance the Bishops' Wars (1639-40), the Queen raised funds by appealing to English Catholics. Her further appeals to the Vatican itself fuelled Protestant fears of a Popish conspiracy against England. She was even suspected of inciting the Irish Uprising of 1641. Rumours that members of the Long Parliament were planning to impeach the Queen prompted King Charles to make his disastrous attempt to arrest the Five Members in January 1642.
“She-Majesty, Generalissima”
In February 1642, when civil war looked inevitable, Henrietta Maria left England for the Netherlands—the King galloping along the cliff tops to keep her ship in sight until the last sail had vanished below the horizon. She spent almost a year in The Hague, raising loans, buying weapons and recruiting troops for the Royalist cause. By selling or pawning jewels, she raised a large fortune which financed several convoys of weapons and ammunition and a company of veteran professional soldiers to fight for the King. Braving storms and attack by Parliament's warships, she returned to England in February 1643, landing at Bridlington in Yorkshire.
Henrietta stayed with the Earl (later Marquis) of Newcastle at York. She participated in Newcastle's secret negotiations with the Parliamentarian commanders Sir Hugh Cholmley at Scarborough and Sir John Hotham at Hull. Persuaded by the Queen, Cholmley defected and delivered Scarborough Castle to the Royalists. By the summer of 1643, Royalist victories in the Midlands made it relatively safe for Henrietta to move south at the head of her army, styling herself "Her She-Majesty, Generalissima". On 13 July 1643, she was reunited with the King, who had chosen the site of the battlefield of Edgehill as a suitably dramatic rendezvous. They made a triumphal entry into Oxford the following day.
The Queen remained at Oxford until 1644. She attempted to arrange a marriage between the Prince of Wales and the daughter of the Prince of Orange in the hope that the Dutch would intervene in the war against Parliament. When she became pregnant with her ninth child, she decided to withdraw to Bath for her confinement and parted from King Charles at Abingdon on 17 April 1644—the last time they would see one another. The Earl of Essex was marching into the West Country and forced the Queen to withdraw further west to Exeter, where she gave birth to a daughter on 16 June. Fearing that Essex intended to take her hostage, she took ship from Falmouth on 14 July 1644 and escaped to France.
Granted a small allowance by the French government, Henrietta Maria established households at the palace of St Germain and the Louvre. She kept up an intimate correspondence with King Charles in England, doing her best to persuade him to be more flexible in negotiations after his military defeat in 1645, and tirelessly engaging in schemes and intrigues to gain foreign help for the Royalist cause.
Dowager Queen Mother
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Who played football coach Dave Dodds in the 2001 film ‘Mike Bassett:England Manager’? | Henrietta Maria - OpenLearn - Open University
Henrietta Maria
Updated Sunday 7th January 2001
Introductory level
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Henrietta Maria was only fifteen when she married Charles I and the union was motivated by diplomatic considerations.
At the time of her marriage, J.P. Kenyon describes her as being 'a gawky adolescent, with enormous eyes, bony wrists, projecting teeth and a minimal figure. At the sight of her new husband, she burst into tears'. Despite such inauspicious beginnings, Charles and Henrietta Maria's relationship blossomed into one of the most affectionate love matches of the Stuart era.
Charles and Henrietta Maria's private relationship thrived on a shared passion for arts and culture. Charles was an enthusiastic art collector and championed artists such as Holbein, Rembrandt, Rubens and Raphael. Sir Anthony Van Dyck was a particular favourite who produced 36 portraits of the King, 25 of Henrietta Maria, and numerous paintings of the royal children. These paintings of the royal children are considered to be among his best work.
Architecture and design was another shared passion, and Inigo Jones was a major beneficiary of royal support. Jones designed the Banqueting House in Whitehall for James VI/I and it quickly became a favoured location for masques organised by Charles and Henrietta Maria.
Greenwich House was another much-liked residence which Henrietta Maria dubbed her 'House of Delight'. Charles and Henrietta Maria spent six weeks there in the summer of 1635 enjoying the 'pleasures of the chase', and Henrietta Maria added two rooms onto the main building.
However, it was probably in their shared love of the masque- court spectacles which combined music with dancing, poetry, scenery and dramatic costume- that their enthusiasms overlapped most completely. Charles and his wife loved to present masques for each other and enjoyed wearing the Chief Masquer's costume. Henrietta Maria shocked the conservative mores of the age by appearing on stage during a masque, something which was considered risque for a woman of her status. However, such pleasures were curtailed after 1640 as the Stuart kingdoms lurched towards war.
While Charles and Henrietta Maria's private relationship was a major success, publicly and politically it was a disaster for Henrietta Maria, the daughter of the French King, was a practising Catholic, and Puritan zealots interpreted this as further proof of the King's desire to push England towards Catholicism. The Queen's court circle became a focus for Vatican envoys, Spanish diplomats and fey young nobles attracted to the romance of her Catholicism, while Henrietta Maria's diplomatic links with France and the Vatican provoked further suspicion and resentment.
Creative commons image mharrsch under CC-BY-NC-SA licence under Creative-Commons license
Henrietta Maria by Van Dyck
In such highly charged times, even innocent pleasures such as masquing carried religious and political overtones. In 1632, the Puritan William Prynne published a pamphlet denouncing the evils of the stage and the use of female actors. Henrietta Maria, who had appeared on stage during a masque, was particularly incensed by this attack and demanded action from her husband. Prynne was fined and imprisoned in 1632, pilloried in 1634 and partly shorn of his ears. The Puritans were horrified, hatred for Charles intensified and connections between politics, religion and culture became explicit.
As the three kingdoms and Wales approached war, Henrietta Maria assumed a more direct role in shaping and formulating Royal policy but this probably did more harm than good. The Queen labelled herself 'the She Majesty Generalissima' during this era and her influence undoubtedly reinforced Charles' tendency towards intransigence and inflexibility.
John Pym and the Puritans detested Henrietta Maria and tried to link her to the outbreak of rebellion in Ireland in late 1641. When rumours began to circulate that Pym proposed to impeach the Queen, Henrietta Maria urged Charles to arrest those who criticised her and opposed him. Charles' disastrous attempt to arrest Pym and his allies in January 1642 created a massive breach in trust between King and Parliament which accelerated the slide towards war.
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Mrs Grose and Miss Jessel appear in which novella by Henry James? | SparkNotes: The Turn of the Screw: Character List
The Turn of the Screw
Henry James
Plot Overview
Analysis of Major Characters
The Governess - The protagonist of the novella, a twenty-year-old woman who has been put in charge of educating and supervising Flora and Miles at the country estate of Bly. The governess has had a very sheltered upbringing and little life experience, and her new job puts an immense responsibility on her, since she has no one to supervise or help her. She is intelligent as well as sensitive and emotionally volatile. Over the course of two short interviews with her employer, she fell in love with him, but she has no opportunity to see him or communicate with him. She is extremely protective of her charges and hopes to win her employer’s approval. She views herself as a zealous guardian, a heroine facing dark forces. However, we never know for certain whether the ghosts and visions the governess sees are real or only figments of her imagination. No one else ever admits to seeing what she sees, and her fears, at times, seem to border on insanity.
Read an in-depth analysis of The Governess.
Mrs. Grose - A servant who acts as the governess’s companion and confidante. Mrs. Grose, who is illiterate, is very aware of her low standing in comparison with the governess and treats the governess with great respect. Mrs. Grose listens patiently to the governess’s constantly changing theories and insights, most often claiming to believe her but sometimes questioning whether the ghosts may not be imaginary. The governess, however, tends to overwhelm Mrs. Grose, often finishing Mrs. Grose’s sentences or leaping to conclusions about what Mrs. Grose is saying. Thus, it can sometimes be difficult for us to judge whether Mrs. Grose is as strongly on the governess’s side as the governess thinks. Mrs. Grose cares deeply about Flora and Miles and consistently defends them against the governess’s accusations.
Read an in-depth analysis of Mrs. Grose.
Miles - A ten-year-old boy, the elder of the governess’s two charges. Miles is charming and very attractive. He seems unnaturally well behaved and agreeable for a child, never fights with his sister, and tries constantly to please his governess. He is expelled from school for an unspecified but seemingly sinister reason, and although he seems to be a good child, he often hints that he is capable of being bad. The governess is alarmed by the fact that Miles never refers to his own past and suspects that wicked secrets belie his perfect exterior.
Read an in-depth analysis of Miles.
Flora - An eight-year-old girl, the younger of the governess’s two charges. Flora is beautiful and well mannered, a pleasure to be around. Although the governess loves Flora, she is disturbed that Flora, like Miles, seems strangely impersonal and reticent about herself. Flora is affectionate and always ready with an embrace or a smile. She is so unusually well behaved that her first instance of misconduct is disquieting. The governess eventually becomes convinced that Flora sees the ghost of Miss Jessel but keeps these sightings secret.
| The Turn of the Screw |
Who wrote the 1951 novel ‘The Catcher in the Rye’? | The Turn of the Screw
Chapter I - Henry James on The Turn of the Screw
Any history of the criticism of The Turn of the Screw should begin with a discussion of Henry James's own statements about what is arguably his most enigmatic and controversial work.
The Ghosts: Hallucinations Or Realities
The first point to be made is that James did not come down unequivocally on one side or the other of the central controversy concerning The Turn of the Screw--focused by Edmund Wilson's famous assertion (in his 1934 essay) that "the ghosts are not real ghosts at all but merely the governess's hallucinations" (385). Indeed, James's statements on that score are perhaps as enigmatic as the novella itself.
For example, in the Preface to Volume 12 of the New York Edition of The Novels and Tales of Henry James (the volume in which The Turn of the Screw appears in definitive form),1 James asserts his intention to avoid "the new type... [of ghost story], the mere modern 'psychical' case, washed clean of all queerness as by exposure to a flowing laboratory tap, and equipped with credentials vouching for this" (xv).
One problem with this quotation is the meaning of the word "psychical." The American Heritage Dictionary (2nd College Edition, 1982) lists two quite different definitions of "psychic... Also psychical": "of or pertaining to the human mind or psyche"; and "of or pertaining to extraordinary, especially extrasensory and nonphysical, mental processes ... proceeding from, produced by, or responding to such processes."
Seizing on the latter definition and apparently oblivious of the former, Edmund Wilson -- perhaps the Freudian non-apparitionist2 par excellence -- in his 1934 essay argues that the ghosts of Quint and Jessel are not "those in cases of psychic research" (389). Similarly, Leon Edel, who also reads the story psychoanalytically, in his Introduction to The Ghostly Tales of Henry James interprets this passage in James's Preface as a devaluation of any story "too closely resembling a case history out of psychical research" because such material would be "unusable to a literary artist" (xxvii). On the contrary, James's ghost stories, says Edel, "constitute a series of psychological case histories of disturbed and frightened people" (xxx) -- in this instance,
the testimony of a horrified little governess away from home for the first time in her life who has fantasies which may or may not be founded on reality, but which partake of reality as far as she is concerned (xxix).
At the other end of the spectrum, Glen A. Reed, assuming the other definition of the word "psychical," cites the very same passage from James as evidence that the author of The Turn of the Screw would have opposed non-apparitionist readings:
if the evils and the ghosts are able to escape as mere hallucinations of the governess ... if we treat the story as a psychological study in sexual frustration, as Mr. Wilson suggests, then James is guilty of attempting to write the very type of modern `psychical' case he scorned (417).
The situation is further complicated by the fact that both Henry James and his brother William had a lifelong interest in both mental illness and paranormal phenomena -- i.e., a lifelong interest in the "psychical" in each of the senses given.
Later, however, in the same Preface, James specifically discusses scientific investigations of paranormal phenomena.
I had ... for instance simply to renounce all attempts to keep the kind and degree of impression I wished to produce on terms with the today so copious psychical record of cases of apparitions (xix).
This seems clear enough upon a first reading, yet upon further reflection difficulties arise.
James's main objection to the ghosts of psychical research seems to be their inactive and innocuous quality -- i.e., they cannot terrify because they do so little. His remarks on this matter are worth citing at some length:
Different signs and circumstances, in the reports, mark these cases; different things are done--though on the whole very little appears to be--by the persons appearing; the point is, however, that some things are never done at all: this negative quality is large--certain reserves and proprieties and immobilities consistently impose themselves. Recorded and attested `ghosts' are in other words as little expressive, as little dramatic, above all as little continuous and conscious and responsive, as is consistent with their taking the trouble--and an immense trouble they find it, we gather--to appear at all. Wonderful and interesting therefore at a given moment, they are inconceivable figures in an action--and The Turn of the Screw was an action, desperately, or it was nothing. I had to decide in fine between having my apparitions correct and having my story 'good'--that is producing my impression of the dreadful, my designated horror. Good ghosts, speaking by book, make poor subjects, and it was clear that from the first my hovering prowling blighting presences, my pair of abnormal agents, would have to depart altogether from the rules. They would be agents in fact; there would be laid on them the dire duty of causing the situation to reek with an air of Evil. Their desire and their ability to do so, visibly measuring meanwhile their effect, together with their observed and described success--this was exactly my central idea; so that, briefly, I cast my lot with pure romance, the appearances conforming to the true type being so little romantic (xix-xx).
The meaning of this passage for the interpretation of the story is quite puzzling. Upon a first consideration James seems to be asserting that the ghosts are objective entities--not hallucinations--but entities different in kind from those studied by the Society for Psychical Research, of which his brother William was president for two years. However, as Francis X. Roellinger and E. A. Sheppard point out, Quint and Jessel are very much like the apparitions frequently studied by the Society. As a matter of fact, they particularly resemble the scientific apparitions in that "very little appears to be [done] by the persons appearing" in The Turn of the Screw. Quint and Jessel never speak, perform any noteworthy actions, or even approach the governess or the children; they each time simply appear and stare at the governess or at one of the children. For example, recall the governess's conversation with Mrs. Grose in chapter five immediately following the second appearance of Quint in chapter four. In their discussion of the first apparition, Mrs. Grose asks, "What was he doing on the tower?" The governess answers, "Only standing there and staring down at me" (188). Later, in chapter seven, describing to Mrs. Grose the first appearance of Jessel, the governess says, "She just appeared and stood there..." (204). Indeed, it sometimes seems that one of the most eerie things about Quint is that he does so little. In relating her vision of Quint on the staircase just before dawn (chapter nine) the governess goes out of her way to stress this point:
It was the dead silence of our long gaze at such close quarters that gave the whole horror, huge as it was, its only note of the unnatural. If I had met a murderer in such a place and at such an hour we still at least would have spoken. Something would have passed in life between us; if nothing had passed one of us would have moved (223).
Roellinger goes so far as to assert that Quint and Jessel "conform precisely" to the typical patterns found in psychical research:
In the majority of cases reported to the Society, the ghost does not appear at any known fixed time of day or year. It is usually seen distinctly `in all kinds of light; from broad daylight to the faint light of dawn.' It is described in detail, and appears `in such clothes as are now, or have recently been, worn by living persons.' ... Sudden death, `often either murder or suicide, appears to be connected with the cause of the apparition' in many cases .... If several persons are together when the ghost appears, `it will sometimes be seen by all and sometimes not, and failure to see it is not always merely the result of not calling attention to it' (405).
It is easy to see how closely Quint and Jessel fit the above criteria. The ghosts appear in both summer and fall and in various kinds of light. Quint appears on the tower near twilight (chapter three), outside the parlor window in late afternoon (chapter four), on the staircase before dawn (chapter nine), and outside the dining room window while Miles and the governess are having their evening meal (chapter twenty- four). Miss Jessel appears by the lake twice in the middle of the afternoon (chapter six and chapter twenty), once in the schoolroom in the middle of the afternoon (chapter fifteen), and once on the staircase shortly before dawn (chapter ten). Quint's clothes are described in considerable detail, and it is partly on the basis of this description that Mrs. Grose is able to identify the man the governess claims to have seen. Both Quint and Jessel have died recently and perhaps violently when the apparitions begin--Quint in an apparent accident which may have been a murder, and Miss Jessel possibly through suicide or as a result of complications of childbirth. Miss Jessel's final appearance is not seen by Mrs. Grose, even though the governess frantically calls her attention to the apparition, and the governess frequently suspects that Quint and Jessel are in the same room with herself and the children, unseen by the governess but in full communication with her "little charges."
"Agents in Fact" and the "Action of the Story"
How then are we to interpret the author's disclaimer that Quint and Jessel are ghosts of psychical research? In view of the above striking parallels, Roellinger suggests that James viewed the story as
an interesting tour de force, an attempt to recreate ... `a lost form,' and rouse, as he puts it, `the dear old sacred horror' [sic] without departing any more than artistically necessary from the then current knowledge of psychical phenomena (405).
Since the ghosts are never seen to perform any extraordinary physical actions, the nature of this departure, it seems to me, and the source of the "dear old sacred terror" (Preface to V.12 xv) must be the effect the ghosts have on people--i.e., on the governess and on the children. The anguish of the governess, the moral deterioration of the children leading to Miles's expulsion from school and Flora's obscene ravings near the story's end--these are effects which might distinguish Quint and Jessel from "psychical case" ghosts whom they otherwise resemble. Thus, the destruction of the children is the central "action"--"The Turn of the Screw was an action, desperately, or it was nothing"--and, because the ghosts are responsible for this destruction, they are "agents in fact" and they fulfill their "dire duty of causing the situation to reek with an air of Evil."
Such a view is consistent with James's remarks about ghost stories in the Preface to Volume 17 of the New York Edition of The Novels and Tales of Henry James:
... the safest arena for the play of ... strange encounters, or whatever odd matters, is the field ... rather of their second than of their first exhibition. By which, to avoid obscurity, I mean nothing more cryptic than I feel myself show them best by showing almost exclusively the way they are felt, by recognizing as their main interest some impression strongly made by them and intensely received (xix).
This is Glenn A. Reed's interpretation of James's insistence that the ghosts are "agents in fact": "... the ghosts carry the burden of creating an atmosphere of horror and of exerting the worst possible action on the children ..." (417). Charles G. Hoffman, another apparitionist critic, comments thus on James's remarks on "psychical" apparitions:
Peter Quint and Miss Jessel are not `stage' ghosts who clank chains and whirl across the stage in white sheets in order to frighten a character and thrill an audience. They are agents who create an atmosphere of evil. It is their evil effect, not their appearance, that is important ("Innocence and Evil" 102)
Likewise, Robert Heilman sees the central "action" of the story as "the children ... our sense of what is happening to them." He continues,
What is happening to them is Quint and Jessel; the governess's awareness of the apparitions is her awareness of a change within the children; the shock of ghostly appearances is the shock of evil perceived unexpectedly, suddenly, after it has secretly made inroads ("Poem" 178).
Since Heilman reads the story as a moral and religious allegory, he sees the ghosts as "symbolic ghosts" (178). According to him, they differ form the ghosts of psychical research in that "we are never permitted to see the apparitions except as moral realities" (182).
We might assume, then, that--because of their similarities to the ghosts of the psychical research current at the end of the nineteenth century--Quint and Jessel are not hallucinations but objective entities, differing from the former type of apparitions in the evil effects they produce on the human beings who come in contact with them. However, if the governess's visions resemble paranormal apparitions--as Roellinger and Sheppard have pointed out--they also resemble the hallucinations of mentally ill people--as Cranfill and Clark, Harold C. Goddard, M. Katan, M.D., C. Knight Aldrich, M.D., and Oscar Cargill have demonstrated in detail. All of these critics have pointed out the "intense hush" or abnormal silence that accompanies the visions and the fact that they seem to come in response to the governess's needs--e.g., she sees Quint for the first time while she is daydreaming about the employer; she sees Miss Jessel in the schoolroom when she is preparing to leave Bly after her disastrous confrontation with Miles on the way to church and is probably subconsciously looking for an excuse to stay; she sees Miss Jessel by the lake for the last time and Quint by the dining room window for the last time when she is doubting her own interpretation of the events at Bly and needs the ghosts for reassurance. Discussing her last vision of Miss Jessel, the governess tells us,
She was there, and I was justified; she was there, and I was neither cruel nor mad ... I consciously threw out to her--with the sense that, pale and ravenous demon as she was, she would catch and understand it--an inarticulate message of gratitude (278).
And, before the final vision of Quint, the governess appears beset by anxiety and guilt which only some definitive proof of Miles's depravity--e.g., an appearance of Quint--can alleviate: "If he were innocent, what then on earth was I?" (307). Cargill, in both of his studies, presents detailed analogies linking the history, psychology, and behavior of the governess with one of Freud's case histories and also with the schizophrenic reaction of the author's sister, Alice James. The psychiatrist Katan compliments James for demonstrating in this story "an imagination which conceived a picture very close to the description of hallucinations as they occur in our patients" (481).
Viewing the ghosts as hallucinations does not preclude our seeing them as "agents in fact" who fulfill the "dire duty of causing the situation to reek with an air of Evil." Indeed, as we contemplate the disasters which end the story of Bly, we are "visibly measuring ... their effect, together with their observed and described success," for, if the children have been destroyed by an insane governess, certainly it can be said that Quint and Jessel--the "abnormal agents" of her diseased mind, the "hovering prowling blighting presences" of her hallucinations have succeeded in "causing the situation to reek with an air of evil."
Numerous critics have seen the "action" of the story-- "The Turn of the Screw was an action, desperately, or it was nothing," --as the destruction of the children through the agency of an insane, possessed, or self-deluded governess. Harold C. Goddard, one of the pioneers of non-apparitionist Turn of the Screw criticism, considers the story "one of the most powerful ever written ... dreadful, but also beautiful." He asks,
Are Peter Quint and Miss Jessel a whit less mysterious or less appalling because they are evoked by the governess's imagination? Are they a whit less real? Surely the human brain is as solid a fact as the terrestrial globe, and inhabitants of the former have just as authentic an existence as inhabitants of the latter (32).
John Lydenberg also holds that the "action" of the story is the destruction of the children through the agency of a deluded governess: "What is happening to the children is clearly and terribly the governess herself ("Governess" 40). Similarly, Oscar Cargill refers to "the central motif in his story, the horror of children betrayed by their protectress" ("Turn and Alice" 249). Cargill considers Douglas's reference to "Griffin's ghost or whatever it was" to be an expression of doubt concerning the supernatural and an indication that his own story will be about ghosts of another kind--i.e., about creations of a hysterical mind ("Turn and Alice" 240).
We find, then, in James's critical remarks no clear and unequivocal stand concerning the nature of the apparitions which infect the atmosphere at Bly, "causing the situation to reek with an air of Evil."
We cannot, however, dismiss the question as non-essential, for, while James has been primarily interested in their effect on the governess and the children--"I feel myself show them best by showing almost exclusively the way they are felt, by recognizing as their main interest some impression strongly made by them and intensely received"--almost any interpretation of the meaning of the story hinges on the question of the reality of the apparitions and their relationship to the governess. In Goddard's words,
This is the crucial point. Everything else is incidental. Believe that the children saw, and the tale is one thing. Believe that they did not see, and it is another--as different as light from darkness (33).
The reader is called upon to respond to what has happened to the children and their governess, and the reader's response will vary, depending on whether the tale is perceived as "a tale of corrupted childhood" or "a tale of incorruptible childhood" (Goddard 33), depending on whether the governess is "an innocent mad woman" (Cargill "Turn and Alice" 249) or as a "savior, not only in a general sense, but with certain Christian associations" (Heilman "Poem" 184). The answers to these questions in turn depend on the answer to the prior question: Are the ghosts objectively real and evil entities, or do they exist only in the mind of the governess? To this question James gives no definite answer.
"A Fairy Tale Pure and Simple"
James made several references to fairy tales in his discussions of The Turn of the Screw. In the Preface to Volume 17 of the New York Edition of The Novels and Tales of Henry James, James cites the "straight fairy tale" as the "ideal" type of story for "the creation of alarm and suspense and surprise and relief ... that blest faculty of wonder..." He then contends that
the ghost story,' as we for conscience call it, has ever been for me the most possible form of the fairy tale. It enjoys, to my eyes, this honor by being so much the neatest--neat with that neatness without which representation, and therewith beauty, drops (xvii).
In the Preface to Volume 12 James terms The Turn of the Screw "a fairy tale pure and simple" and adds that it belongs to the sub-category of "the short and sharp and single, charged more or less with the compactness of anecdote (as to which let the familiar tales of our childhood, `Cinderella' and `Blue Beard' and `Hop o' My Thumb' and `Little Red Riding Hood' and many of the gems of the Brothers Grimm directly testify)," rather than to the other subcategory,
the long and loose, the copious, the various, the endless, where, dramatically speaking, roundness is quite sacrificed--sacrificed to fullness, sacrificed to exuberance, if one will: witness at hazard almost any one of the Arabian Nights (xvi).
Finally, after the discussion of the insufficiencies of "psychical ghosts," James asserts that,
Peter Quint and Miss Jessel are not `ghosts' at all, as we now know the ghost, but goblins, elves, imps, demons as loosely constructed as those of the old trials for witchcraft; if not, more pleasing, fairies of the legendary order, wooing their victims forth to see them dance under the moon (xx).
Like other Jamesian statements about The Turn of the Screw, these remarks about fairy tales can be variously interpreted. Glenn A. Reed, for example, cites these statements as evidence that James considered the apparitions to be real entities and the governess to be a reliable narrator of "objective horror with no attempt to explain it away." According to Reed,
There is hardly a fairy story that does not contain objective, pictorial evil--evil that is in the world for no good reason and that lures innocent victims to their doom. This interpretation makes it as unnecessary to explain the demons as psychological phenomena as it would be to explain in psychological terms how a wolf could dress up in woman's clothing and talk to Little Red Riding Hood (422).
Reed admits that the story contains quite a bit of ambiguity and quite a few unanswered questions (for example, the reason for Miles's expulsion from school and the causes of Quint's and Jessel's deaths), but he sees in the story no justification for the critical controversies concerning the reliability of the governess.
There are, as in fairy stories, many questions left unanswered. James uses the technique of the fairy tale in leading the reader on step by step to accept impossible happenings without ever attempting a rational explanation of them. Thus if there is little possibility of ambiguity of interpretation regarding the governess, there is intentional and calculated lack of explicitness in identifying the evils that pervade the story. To James this obscurity was of the utmost importance in allowing the reader's imagination fertile ground in which to pullulate (422-23).
Edmund Wilson, on the other hand, in his 1934 essay, chooses to emphasize James's remark that the story's supernatural entities are "as loosely constructed as those of the old trials for witchcraft." Wilson seems to be comparing the governess to those fanatical witch hunters of the Inquisition and the seventeenth century Salem trials, for, in the next paragraph, he interprets James's statements that the governess has "`authority,' which is a good deal to have given her" as meaning that she is able to inflict on others "her somber and guilty visions" because of "the relentless English `authority' which enables her to put over on inferiors even purposes which are totally deluded and not at all in the other people's best interests" (389-90).
Leon Edel, in discussing the same remarks of James, points out that the fairy tales James specifically mentioned were all "psychological": "Little Red Riding Hood," "Hop o' My Thumb," "Cinderella," and "Blue Beard." The governess is, like Cinderella, a "daydreaming daughter" who has "rivals in the family circle," and the employer is her Prince Charming. The sexually repressed governess is tortured by insatiable curiosity like Blue Beard's wife Fatima. Finally, although James did not specifically mention "Hansel and Gretel" in connection with The Turn of the Screw, Edel sees in the governess "some of the attributes of a witch." The orphaned children depend on the governess just as Hansel and Gretel, abandoned by their parents, depend on the hospitality of the witch in her house made of gingerbread, cakes, and sugar. The governess, like a witch, is "a persistent, badgering, prying creature" who contributes to the destruction of the children (Ghostly Tales xx-xxii). Yet another interpretation was offered by Oscar A. Cargill in 1956. According to Cargill, while James cited the "public source" of the story as his conversation with Archbishop Benson at Addington on January 10, 1895, the "private source" was the case history of his mentally ill sister, Alice James. James's way of "shielding Alice's memory" was the employment of "seemingly artless phrases as `my bogey-tale,' `irresponsible little fiction,' and `fairy tale pure and simple,' behind which he could hide" (29).
The Governess: Guardian Angel or "False Friend"?
Concerning the governess herself, James made several statements which are susceptible to more than one interpretation. For example, in a letter to H.G. Wells dated December 9, 1898, James appears to give the governess a rather flattering character reference and to vouch for the authenticity of her account:
...I had, about my young woman, to take a very sharp line. The grotesque business I had to make her picture and the childish psychology I had to make her trace and present, were, for me at least, a very difficult job, in which absolute lucidity and logic, a singleness of effort, were imperative. Therefore I had to rule out subjective complications of her own--play of tone, etc., and keep her impersonal save for the most obvious and indispensable little note of neatness, firmness, and courage--without which she wouldn't have had her data (Letters IV 86).3
Glenn A. Reed (418) and Oliver Evans (178) both cite this passage as evidence that James considered the central point of interest in the story to be not the governess and her "subjective complications," but rather the supernatural entities whose activities she accurately reports.
On the other hand, however, Goddard reminds us that the "neatness, firmness, and courage" which James ascribes to his heroine do not necessarily require us to accept her account of events because "mental aberration may go hand in hand with strength and beauty of character" (34). Goddard also reads this passage in the light of "a very charming and good-humored, but a nonetheless very unmistakable, side-stepping of questions or comments which had evidently been flung at him" by those correspondents with whom James exchanged letters about The Turn of the Screw. As evidence he cites James's repeated depreciation of the story in these letters (35-6). Goddard perhaps also should have mentioned James's reply to a question of F.W.H. Myers: ...I scarce know what to say to you on the subject on which you wrote, especially as I'm afraid I don't quite understand the principal question you put to me about `The Turn of the Screw.' However, that scantily matters; for in truth I am afraid I have on some former occasions rather awkwardly signified to you that I somehow can't pretend to give any coherent account of my small inventions `after the fact,' (Letters IV 88).
Edna Kenton and Oscar Cargill see such positive references to the governess as attempts by James to mislead readers concerning her real nature. In this connection, Edna Kenton reminds us of James's criticism of Thackeray for not sufficiently "loving" his character Becky in Vanity Fair and his praise of Balzac because, in Kenton's words, "Balzac loved his Valerie; he did not expose her; his instinct was to cover her, to protect her..." She suggests that
James is never so guileful, so suave and so honied as when he is busily engaged in `protecting.' ...if one is making a collection of his agents of evil, they are not to be found among those endowed with the usual stripes and markings; he loves them even more than Balzac loved his Valerie, and protects them with far finer dexterity (251).
Cargill, of course, maintains that James attempted to deceive his readers in order to "protect" the mentally ill Alice James, whose case history is one of the story's principal sources.
James's letter to Paul Bourget dated August 19, 1898 seems to be a negative evaluation of the work itself (James calls the story "a poor little pot-boiling story of nothing at all"), but it can also be read as an unflattering appraisal of the governess and a denial of the veracity of her account of events. In this story, he says, "Something I have supposed to be a subject turns out on trial really to be none." Does James mean that he began to write a ghost story, but, as the creative process proceeded, the ghosts ceased to be real ghosts, and the governess's account ceased to be a true one? He then says, "The small book in question is really but an exercise in the art of not appearing to oneself to fail" (Lubbock Letters I 290).4 James could, of course, be referring to his own failure as an artist; he could also, however, be referring to the failure of the mission of a self-deluded governess bent on saving the children from what are, in the last analysis, only her own hallucinations and delusions.
James is similarly ambiguous in his letter to Dr. Waldstein dated October 21, 1898: he refers to "the exposure, indeed, the helpless plasticity of childhood that isn't dear or sacred to somebody" and adds, "That was my little tragedy..." (Letters IV 84). Robert Carlton Cole observes that this statement "can be used against the governess" but adds that the word was suggests a possible change--that the author's original intention and his interpretation of the finished work were not the same (134). Oliver Evans, on the other hand, after citing this passage form the letter to Dr. Waldstein, concludes,
That was, indeed, the tragedy: the corruption of the two children by the living servants, and the possession (in the supernatural sense) of them afterwards by the ghosts of those same servants (178).
This passage, of course, could also easily "be used against" Mrs. Grose in support of the interpretation of C. Knight Aldrich, M.D., who sees the housekeeper as a villain who deliberately takes advantage of the governess's initial instability and drives her into insanity out of possessive jealously toward the children. We might add, also, that this passage can be construed as an indictment of the absent and indifferent uncle--as in the interpretation of John Lydenberg, among others.
The same ambiguity appears in the Preface to Volume 12 of the New York Edition of The Novels and Tales in the course of James's discussion of the reader's response to The Turn of the Screw. He refers there to the reader's "own sympathy (with the children) and horror (of their false friends)" (xxi). Cole interprets "false friends" as "the governess and Mrs. Grose" (137). On the other hand, Glenn A. Reed (423), Oliver Evans (181), and Charles G. Hoffmann ("Innocence and Evil" 102) also cite this passage but assume that the children's "false friends" are Quint and Jessel.
And, finally, in the Preface to Volume 12 of the New York Edition, James seems simultaneously to give with one hand and take back with the other:
It was `deja tres-joli,' in `The Turn of the Screw,' please believe, the general proposition of our young woman's keeping crystalline her record of so many intense anomalies and obscurities--by which I don't, of course, mean her explanation of them; a different matter; and I saw no way, I feebly grant (fighting, at the best, too, periodically, for every grudged inch of my space) to exhibit her in relations other than those; one of which, precisely, would have been her relation to her own nature. We have surely as much of her own nature as we can swallow in watching it reflected in her anxieties and inductions. It constitutes no little of a character indeed, in such conditions, for a young person, as she says, `privately bred,' that she is able to make her particular credible statement of such strange matters. She has `authority,' which is a good deal to have given her, and I couldn't have achieved so much had I clumsily tried for more (xix).
James terms the governess's account of the events at Bly "crystalline," but then seems to suggest that her interpretation may be faulty. This could mean that she accurately describes her own thoughts and visions (which may be hallucinations) and the words and actions of herself and others but is deceived about the realty of the apparitions and the corruption of the children. This is the view of Edmund Wilson. "..... these words seem impossible to explain," he says, in his 1934 essay, "except on the hypothesis of hallucination" (389).
Glenn A. Reed, on the other hand, cites the same passage in the course of arguing for a straightforward supernatural interpretation in which the governess is the hero. "...her job is to keep a clear record of these strange happenings at Bly, but she is not to explain them away..." Rather, says Reed, she "records, yet is mystified," in order to "keep the reader held to the very end in the vise of expectant disclosure" (419) as the reader of fairy-tales is led "on step by step to accept impossible happenings without ever attempting a rational explanation of them." We find here, says Reed, "as in fairy stories, many questions left unanswered" (422).
Expanding on the latter point, Roellinger reminds us that members of the Society for Psychical Research frequently considered many different theoretical explanations for what were considered bona fide apparitions (410-418). Anent that, of course, Muriel West ("Death" 288) maintains that the governess, not the children, is possessed by the evil spirits. Similarly, John Lydenberg contends that the ghosts--some of whose activities the governess accurately records--are evoked by her own mediumistic powers because of her subconscious need for them, a need rooted in her pride and sense of mission, as well as in her attraction to the uncle. Consequently, in Lydenberg's words, "Just as her words suggest that somehow she calls up the ghosts, and with them the evil, so they suggest that she imposes the meaning upon the events" ("Governess" 46). This is also the position of Katherine Anne Porter.
James's assertion that he did not intend to "exhibit" the governess "in relation to her own nature" has been cited by some critics--for example, Oliver Evans -- as evidence that James did not see the psychological problems of the governess as the central focus of the story but rather saw the governess as an objective narrator of supernatural events. Their position seems to be undercut, however, by James's next statement: "We surely have as much of her own nature as we can swallow in watching it reflected in her anxieties and inductions." We have already noted Edmund Wilson's interpretation of the passage's last sentence as an indictment of unreasonable "English authority" as exercised by the governess. This interpretation, however, is vigorously disputed by other critics--for example, Oliver Evans, who insists that James "does not mean that the governess has authority where the children are concerned but where the reader is" (180).
"To Catch Those Not Easily Caught"
There has also been considerable controversy about James's categorization of the story as
a piece of ingenuity pure and simple, of cold artistic calculation, an amusette to catch those not easily caught (the fund of the capture of the merely witless being ever but small), the faded, the disillusioned, the fastidious (Preface to v.12 xiv)
In 1924 Edna Kenton quoted this passage to suggest that James saw the story as she did and delighted in catching even otherwise very discerning readers in the vise of an apparitionist interpretation, while rewarding the most astute, such as Edna Kenton, with the pleasure of divining the real secret--"not the children but the little governess was haunted by the ghosts" (254).
Nathan Bryllion Fagin agrees with Kenton that the surface structure of The Turn of the Screw hides a meaning accessible only to the most perspicacious. He, however, considers this deeper level to be not a psychological study but a moral allegory in the Hawthorne tradition. The story is dubbed an amusette, says Fagin, because "James considered allegory to be `one of the lighter exercises of the imagination'" (199). Louis D. Rubin, Jr., on the other hand, quotes this same passage from the Preface to support his contention that Douglas and Miles are the same person; all readers who fail to perceive this identity, says Rubin, have been "caught," even if they, for the most part, fall within the category of "those not easily caught" ("One More" 326). An entirely different suggestion is advanced by E.A. Sheppard. Sheppard considers the word amusette to be "merely a rather affectedly depreciatory term" consistent with James's characterization of the story as a "potboiler" and a "jeu d' esprit." She finds in this passage no "implication that James intends to hoax the reader." On the contrary, says Sheppard, James merely "wants to `catch' their attention and interest" (15).
The Author's "Questionable and Ambiguous" Correspondence
James frequently referred to The Turn of the Screw in correspondence. However, the meanings of many of these references are unclear because James burned the original letters of inquiry to which his letters were replies.
Consider, for example, James's apology to the psychiatrist Dr. Louis Waldstein in a letter dated October 21, 1898:
I am only afraid, perhaps, that my conscious intention strikes you as having been larger than I deserve it should be thought. ...as regards a presentation of things so fantastic as in that wanton little Tale, I can only rather blush to see real substance read into them--I mean for the generosity of the reader (Letters IV 84).
It is impossible to know what interpretation James is denying--i.e., what "conscious intention" and "real substance" Dr. Waldstein saw in the story because Dr. Waldstein's letter is not extant. Similarly, we have, in a letter to F.W.H. Myers dated December 19, 1898, this evasive answer to we know not what question:
...I'm afraid I don't quite understand the principal question you put to me about `The Turn of the Screw.' However, that scantily matters; for in truth I am afraid I have on some former occasions rather awkwardly signified to you that I somehow can't pretend to give any coherent account of my small inventions `after the fact.' ...The one thing and another that are questionable and ambiguous in them I mostly take to be conditions for their having got themselves pushed through at all (88).
We do not know, of course, in the absence of Myers's letters what "questionable and ambiguous" elements are being discussed and what James means by "conditions of their having got themselves pushed through at all." James could be referring to creative processes within his own psyche--he could be saying that production of a very imperfect work--"a very mechanical matter"--was the best he could do. On the other hand, he could be saying that he had to treat circumspectly some emotionally charged topics--having to do, for example, with sexuality or religion--in order for his novella to be publishable.
"Shameless Potboiler" or "High Degree of Art"?
We cannot be sure of James's assessment of the literary value of The Turn of the Screw.
Certainly James expressed negative assessments. In a letter to H.G. Wells dated December 9, 1898, we find a very sharp depreciation of the story:
Bless your heart, I think I could easily say worse of the T. of S., of the young woman, the spooks, the style, the everything, than the worst any one else could manage. One knows the most damning things about one's self... But the thing is essentially a potboiler and a jeu d' esprit (Letters IV 86).
In the letter to F.W.H. Myers which we have already quoted, James denigrates the novella as "a very mechanical matter...an inferior, a merely pictorial, subject and rather a shameless potboiler" (88).
In the Preface to Volume 12 of the New York Edition of The Novels and Tales, James refers to the work as "this perfectly independent and irresponsible little fiction" and opines that, among literary works, it is "the very kind, as happens, least apt to be baited by earnest criticism, the only sort of criticism of which account need be taken" (xiv).
On the other hand, a very good case could be made for the contention that James highly esteemed the work. James thought highly enough of the work to insist in a
letter to J.B. Pinker dated September 11, 1914 that Martin Secker be allowed to republish the tale in The Uniform Tales of Henry James only with the
distinct understanding, please, that he conform literatim ...to [the New York Edition] text. It is vital that he adhere to that authentic punctuation--to the last comma or rather, more essentially, no comma (Kimbrough 89).
In the Preface to Volume 17 of the New York Edition, James congratulates himself for constructing several tales, among them The Turn of the Screw, "in earnest aversion to waste and from the sense that in art economy is always beauty" (xx). He sets high standards for a story of the supernatural, standards which he considers Poe's novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym not to have met. The supernatural story must captivate the reader by realistically "looming through some other history--the indispensable history of somebody's normal relation to something" (xix). The Turn of the Screw, he suggests, is successful in this regard. Similarly, in the Preface to Volume 12 of the New York Edition, James emphasizes the difficult task he had set for himself in attempting to construct this story of the supernatural and concludes, "The merit of the tale, as it stands, is accordingly, I judge, that it has struggled successfully with its dangers" (xvii). The difficulties were formidable: he wanted to construct a story which would compare favorably with traditional ghost stories and scientifically correct apparitions ("I had to decide in fine between having may apparitions correct and having my story `good.'") (xx); he wanted to "make the reader's general vision of evil intense enough" that the reader's "own experience, his own imagination...will supply him quite sufficiently with all the particulars...released form weak specifications" (xxi-ii); he wanted to create "the tone of tragic, yet of exquisite mystification...yet strain the expression of it so clear and fine that beauty would result" (xviii); he wanted to construct a fairy tale which would "short and sharp and single, charged more or less with the compactness of anecdote" (such as "Cinderella," "Blue Beard," "or "Little Red Riding Hood") rather than "the long and loose, the copious" type such as we find in the Arabian Nights (xvi). James expresses satisfaction that the novella has met all of these high standards. He assures us that Quint and Jessel are indeed, in the novel's final form, the type of non-traditional, non-psychical ghosts he aimed for: "Here it was...that I felt a high degree of art really required; and here it is that, on reading the tale over, I find my precautions justified" (xx). James rejoices that he has constructed a tale of non-specific evil which forces each reader to fill in the blanks from his own experience "with a success apparently beyond my liveliest hope" (xxii). So successful was he, he maintains, that readers, finding in the story the sexual and other indecencies which their own psyches put there, proceeded to attack the author "with the charge of a monstrous emphasis, the charge of all indecently expatiating." This reaction must come from their "own experience...own imagination" because in the text itself, he maintains, "there is ...from beginning to end of the matter not an inch of expatiation" (xxii). He was so successful, he says, in constructing a narrator who could "make her particular credible statement of such strange matters" that "I couldn't have arrived at so much had I clumsily tried for more" (xix). He praises the tale for exhibiting the compactness and tight structure of those fairy tales to which he has approvingly alluded: "It is an excursion into chaos while remaining, like Blue-Beard and Cinderella, but an anecdote--though an anecdote amplified and highly emphasized and returning upon itself: as, for that matter, Cinderella and Blue-Beard return" (xvii-xviii).
Furthermore, the sincerity and seriousness of James's depreciatory assessment of the story are questionable. Goddard finds in James's letters "a very charming and good-humored, but a nonetheless very unmistakable, side-stepping of questions or comments which had evidently been flung at him" and suggests that, by the time he wrote the Prefaces, his estimation of the tale had risen (35). Anent that, Cole makes an interesting point: "The New York Edition in itself makes James's comments before 1908 almost irrelevant because he finally revised Turn of the Screw extensively, and it is that revised version we study, not the original" (135). Robert Ginsberg suggests that the disparaging references in the letters should not be considered literary criticism at all. Ginsberg chides James scholars for having
manifested an obstinate disregard of the differences between what an artist does...as a critic (in this case composing his Preface), and what he does in other domains of his private and professional life, such as writing letters to friends or admirers, such as coping with readers who have come up to him with comments about his story... (269-270).
Conclusions
We see, then, that James took no unequivocal stand on many of the central problems of interpretation, those questions which critics have debated ever since the story's publication--for example, the reality and nature of the apparitions, the sanity and moral stature of the governess, the innocence or corruption of the children, the moral or religious message if there is one. Rather, we have seen that critics of opposing views frequently cite the same passage from James to prove that, were he alive, he would be on their side in a critical debate. Even his estimation of the artistic worth of the novella is open to serious question, although the preponderance of the evidence seems to suggest that his ultimate opinion of the work was very high.
Graham Greene has very succinctly summed up the problems we encounter when we read James's statements about The Turn of the Screw: "We must always remain on our guard while reading..., for at a certain level no writer has really disclosed less" (40). In a similar vein, Mark Spilka has referred to "James' evasive labels" (Kimbrough 253), and J.A. Ward has declared, "James' remarks on The Turn of the Screw are typically paradoxical" (26). Commenting on James's statements about the story, Peter Coveney remarked, "One feels the evasion of all this" (166). In this James is perhaps representative of his age. John Enck has remarked, "James, like most important twentieth-century authors, described his books not at all or inscrutably" (qtd. in Cole 139).
We have not searched James's comments in some misguided attempt to discover the "true" meaning of the story by ascertaining the author's intentions in writing it. To do that would be to fall into the intentional fallacy as so many critics have done--for instance, Nathan Bryllion Fagin, who dismisses the psychoanalytic approach of Kenton and Wilson because "it clearly has no relation to James's intention" (198). We agree with Robert Carlton Cole in deploring the approach of those critics who "write almost as if they were influenced more by a concept of property rights than by literary critical judgment" (133). Our purpose, rather, has been to begin our history of the criticism of The Turn of the Screw with a discussion of the critical statements of Henry James himself and to indicate how susceptible they have been to varying interpretations by critics who have taken opposing positions. For this reason we have not discussed here the often-cited notebook entry of January 12, 1895. While this entry may be of value to a student of the creative process, it cannot be considered literary criticism because, at the time the entry was made, the work had not yet been written.
We can, however, make one very definite and very important statement about Henry James as a critic of The Turn of the Screw: James can be said to anticipate the reader-response criticism of Norman Holland, David Bleich, Wolfgang Iser, Jonathan Culler, Stanley Fish, and others. James would almost certainly not have agreed with Alexander E. Jones's criticism of Goddard for including in his critical reading his own "irrelevant" (116) experience as a child in the care of an insane servant. Instead, James might well have agreed with Willen, who suggests that James "appears to be probing a crucial and enormously complicated facet of his central narrator's elemental being" and that the similarities of the governess to the reader's mother as remembered from childhood (because the governess is a mother figure) "sets up a certain receptiveness in the reader" and that, therefore, "each objective analysis...is conditioned by the reader's childhood experiences and emotional responses to them." The seemingly studied ambiguity of James's comments is consistent with Willen's tolerance of a multitude of interpretations: "I would say then, that the variety of interpretations accorded `The Turn of the Screw' originates in the variety of these experiences and responses." Willen suggests that the "frame" of the story, which critics have discussed so extensively, the multiplicity of narrators, is necessary for a certain distancing which is "absolutely essential if we are to hold on to our illusions and consequently our sanity" (vi-vii).
The last two paragraphs of James's discussion of The Turn of the Screw in the Preface to Volume 12 of the New York Edition of The Novels and Tales indicate that James would have been very much at home with reader-response criticism. In constructing the tale, James said, he aimed to produce in the reader "that sense of the depths of the sinister," that "portentous evil" which seems "promised and announced as by the hot breath of the Pit" (xx-xxi). He then suggests that such a sense of evil cannot be adequately effected by "the offered example, the imputed vice, the cited act, the limited deplorable presentable instance" because no particular evil would be bad enough but, rather, would constitute a "waiting anti-climax" (xxi). He continues,
One had seen, in fiction, some grand form of wrong-doing, or better still of wrong-being, imputed, seen it promised and announced as by the hot breath of the Pit--and then, all lamentably, shrink to the compass of some particular brutality, some particular immorality, some particular infamy portrayed: with the result, alas, of the demonstration's falling sadly short (xxi).
After speculating as to what might be "the very worst action small victims so conditioned might be conceived as subject to," James concludes,
There is for such a case no eligible absolute of the wrong; it remains relative to fifty other elements, a matter of appreciation, speculation, imagination--these things moreover quite exactly in the light of the spectator's, the critic's, the reader's experience.
He then suggests, as does Frank Kermode in The Genesis of Secrecy, that the literary work--at least this type of literary work--contains a lacuna which each reader must fill in for himself, drawing on his own experience. Only make the reader's general vision of evil intense enough, I said to myself--and that already is a charming job--and his own experience, his own imagination, his own sympathy (with the children) and horror (of their false friends) will supply him quite sufficiently with all the particulars. Make him think the evil, make him think it for himself, and you are released from weak specifications (xxi).
James obviously considered the finished product to be suggestive of various readings to people with different experiences, for he claims to have applied this formula "with a success beyond my liveliest hope" (xxii). He offers as evidence, as we pointed out previously, the indignation of some readers over what they perceived to be material of an objectionable nature--i.e., sexual material.
How can I feel my calculation to have failed, my wrought suggestion not to have worked, that is, on my being assailed, as has befallen me, with the charge of a monstrous emphasis, the charge or all indecently expatiating? There is not only from beginning to end of the matter not an inch of expatiation, but my values are positively all blanks save so far as an excited horror, a promoted pity, a created expertness--on which punctual effects of strong causes no writer can ever fail to plume himself--proceed to read into them more or less fantastic figures (xxii).
This passage makes more understandable the evasive answers to letters of inquiry and the ambiguous statements which are cited by critics arguing diametrically opposed cases. Perhaps James was deliberately ambiguous to encourage a variety of responses, thinking that specific interpretations, while they might constitute valid readings, would not be correct to the exclusion of alternative interpretations. This is why, perhaps, so many scholars have felt frustrated reading James's criticism of The Turn of the Screw.
This interpretation is also consistent with James's statement to his physician, Sir James MacKenzie, that ambiguity was essential in The Turn of the Screw because "so long as the events are veiled the imagination will run riot and depict all sorts of horrors, but as soon as the veil is lifted, all mystery disappears, and with it the sense of terror" (qtd. in Cole 138).
To sum up, then, we find in James's statements about The Turn of the Screw no definitive position on the major questions of interpretation which have continuously exercised the critics but rather pervasive ambiguity in his statements so that the same statements can be quoted as evidence for conflicting claims and evasive replies to letters of inquiry the originals of which he destroyed. A very good case can be made, however, for placing him in the reader-response camp, and such a placement can easily explain at least some of the ambiguity and evasiveness I have discussed.
Endnotes
Throughout this dissertation the Prefaces (to Volumes 12 and 17 of the New York Edition) and the story itself are cited from the 1962-65 reprint which appears in Works Cited under "Primary Sources.
Non-apparitionist" critics interpret the ghosts as falsidical hallucinations; "apparitionist" critics see them as veridical hallucinations or objectively existing entities. See Preface to this dissertation.
Usually, I cite James's correspondence from Edel's edition of James's Letters. Accordingly, in these instances the editor's name does not appear in the parenthetical documentation. A few letters, however, are not included in Edel's almost comprehensive collection. In citing these I include the editor's name -- Lubbock or Kimbrough -- in the parenthetical documentation. Edel's and Lubbock's editions of Letters -- and Kimbrough's Norton Critical Edition of The Turn of the Screw -- all appear in Works Cited as "Primary Sources"; Kimbrough is also listed under "Secondary Sources" because his volume -- in addition to the text of The Turn of the Screw, some Jamesian correspondence, and selections from the Prefaces -- includes reviews and initial articles by various authors, as well as critical comments of Kimbrough himself.
See preceding note.
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English soothsayer and prophetess Ursula Southill was better known as ‘Mother…who’? | Prophecies of Armageddon » Prophecies of Mother Shipton
Prophecies of Mother Shipton
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Prophecies of Mother Shipton
Ursula Southeil (c. 1488–1561) (possibly Ursula Southill or Ursula Soothtell), better known as Mother Shipton, was an English soothsayer and prophetess. The first publication of her prophecies, which did not appear until 1641, eighty years after her reported death, contained a number of mainly regional predictions, but only two prophetic verses – neither of which foretold the End of the World, despite widespread assumptions to that effect.
One of the most notable editions of her prophecies was published in 1684. It states that she was born in Knaresborough,Yorkshire, in a cave now known as Mother Shipton’s Cave, that along with the Petrifying Well and associated parkland is operated as a visitor attraction. She was reputed to be hideously ugly. The book also claims that she married Toby Shipton, a local carpenter, near York in 1512 and told fortunes and made predictions throughout her life.
Some prophecies of Mother Shipton
When pictures seem alive with movements free,
when boats like fishes swim beneath the sea.
When men like birds shall scour the sky.
Then half the world, deep drenched in blood shall die.
For those who live the century through
in fear and trembling this shall do.
Flee to the mountains and the dens
to bog and forest and wild fens.
For storms will rage and oceans roar
when Gabriel stands on sea and shore,
and as he blows his wondrous horn
old worlds die and new be born.
A fiery dragon will cross the sky
six times before the earth shall die.
Mankind will tremble and frightened be
for the six heralds in this prophecy.
For seven days and seven nights
man will watch this awesome sight.
The tides will rise beyond their ken.
To bite away the shores and then
three mountains will begin to roar
and earthquakes split the plain to shore.
And flooding waters rushing in,
will flood the lands with such a din
that mankind cowers in muddy fen
and snarls about his fellow men.
He bares his teeth and fights and kills
and secrets food in secret hill
and ugly in his fear, he lies
to kill marauders, thieves and spies.
Man flees in terror from the floods
and kills, and rapes and lies in blood
and spilling blood by mankind’s hand
will stain and bitter many lands.
And when the dragon’s tail is gone
man forgets and smiles and carries on.
To apply himself – too late, too late
for mankind has earned deserved fate.
His masked smile, his false grandeur,
will serve the gods their anger stir
and they will send the dragon back
to light the sky – his tail will crack.
Upon the earth and rend the earth
and man shall flee, king, lord and serf.
But slowly they are routed out
to seek diminishing water spout
and men will die of thirst before
the oceans rise to mount to the shore.
And lands will crack and rend anew
do you think it strange, it will come true.
And in some far – off distant land
some men – oh such a tiny band
will have to leave their solid mount
and span the earth, those few to count.
Who survives this (unreadable) and then
begin the human race again.
But not on land already there,
but on ocean beds, stark, dry and bare.
Not every soul on earth will die,
as the dragon’s tail goes sweeping by,
not every land on earth will sink,
but these will wallow in stench and stink,
of rotting bodies of beast and man,
of vegetation crisped on land.
But the land that rises from the sea
will be dry and clean and soft and free.
Of mankinds dirt and therefore be,
the source of man’s new dynasty.
and those that live will ever fear
the dragon’s tail for many year
but time erases memory
You think it strange. but it will be.
And before the race is built anew,
a silver serpent comes to view
and spew out men of like unknown
to mingle with the earth now grown
cold from its heat and these men can
enlighten the minds of future man
to intermingle and show them how
to live and love and thus endow.
the children with the second sight.
a natural thing so that they might
grow graceful, humble and when they do
the golden age will start anew.
The dragon’s tail is but a sign
for mankind’s fall and man’s decline.
and before this prophecy is done
I shall be burned at the stake, at l
My body changed and my soul set free
You think I utter blasphemy
your wrong. These things have come to me
this prophecy will come to be.
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| Shipton |
‘Touch the rainbow. Taste the rainbow’ is the advertising slogan for which confectionery product? | Mother Shipton : definition of Mother Shipton and synonyms of Mother Shipton (English)
Mother Shipton's cave
Ursula Southeil (c. 1488–1561) (also variously spelt as Ursula Southill, Ursula Soothtell [1] or Ursula Sontheil [2] [3] ), better known as Mother Shipton, was an English soothsayer and prophetess . The first publication of her prophecies, which did not appear until 1641, eighty years after her reported death, contained a number of mainly regional predictions, but only two prophetic verses – neither of which foretold the End of the World, despite widespread assumptions to that effect. [4]
One of the most notable editions of her prophecies was published in 1684. [4] It states that she was born in Knaresborough , Yorkshire , in a cave now known as Mother Shipton's Cave , that along with the Petrifying Well and associated parkland is operated as a visitor attraction. She was reputed to be hideously ugly. The book also claims that she married Toby Shipton, a local carpenter, near York in 1512 and told fortunes and made predictions throughout her life.
It is recorded in the diaries of Samuel Pepys that whilst surveying the damage to London caused by the Great Fire in the company of the Royal Family they were heard to discuss Mother Shipton's prophecy of the event. [5]
Contents
Prophecies
Mother Shipton's house
The most famous claimed edition of Mother Shipton's prophecies foretells many modern events and phenomena. Widely quoted today as if it were the original, it contains over a hundred prophetic rhymed couplets in notably non-sixteenth-century language and includes the now-famous lines:
The world to an end shall come
In eighteen hundred and eighty one. [6]
However, this version did not appear in print until 1862, and its true author, one Charles Hindley, subsequently admitted in print that he had invented it. [7] This invented prophecy has appeared over the years with different dates and in (or about) several countries (for example in the late 1970s many news articles about Mother Shipton appeared setting the date at 1981 [ citation needed ]). The 1920's (subsequently much reprinted) booklet The Life and Prophecies of Ursula Sontheil better known as Mother Shipton [8] stated the date as 1991 [9] [10] .
Among other well-known lines from Hindley's fake version (often quoted as if they were original) are:
A Carriage without a horse shall go;
Disaster fill the world with woe...
In water iron then shall float,
As easy as a wooden boat.
Legacy
Mother Shipton moth
Quite who Mother Shipton was or what exactly she said is not definitively known. What is certain is that her name became linked with many tragic events and strange goings on recorded all over the UK, Australia and North America throughout the 17/18/19th centuries. Many fortune tellers used her effigy and statue, presumably for purposes of association marketing. Many pubs were named after her. Only two survive, one near her birthplace in Knaresborough and the other in Portsmouth where there is a lifesize statue above the door.
A caricature of Mother Shipton was used in early pantomime and is believed by historians to be the forerunner of the Panto dame.
There is a moth , Callistege mi , named after her. It seemingly bears a profile of a hag's head on each wing.
See also
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Chemist and physicist Marie Curie was born in which modern-day European country? | Marie Curie - Physicist - Biography.com
Marie Curie
Marie Curie was a Polish-born French physicist famous for her work on radioactivity and twice a winner of the Nobel Prize.
IN THESE GROUPS
»
quotes
“I believe that Science has great beauty. A scientist in his laboratory is not a mere technician; he is also a child confronting natural phenomena that impress him as though they were fairy tales.”
“One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done.”
“In science, we must be interested in things, not in persons.”
“All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child.”
“In the education of children the requirement of their growth and physical evolution should be respected, and that some time should be left for their artistic culture.”
“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.”
“I was taught that the way of progress was neither swift nor easy.”
“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves.”
“You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals.”
“It is important to make a dream of life and a dream reality.”
“There are sadistic scientists who hurry to hunt down errors instead of establishing the truth.”
Marie Curie
Marie Curie - Mini Biography (TV-PG; 3:04) Marie Curie's work on radioactivity made her the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. Curie's efforts led to the discovery of polonium and radium and the development of X-rays.
Synopsis
Born Maria Sklodowska on November 7, 1867, in Warsaw, Poland, Marie Curie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the only woman to win the award in two different fields (physics and chemistry). Curie's efforts, with her husband Pierre Curie, led to the discovery of polonium and radium and, after Pierre's death, the further development of X-rays. She died on July 4, 1934.
Early Life
Maria Sklodowska, better known as Marie Curie, was born in Warsaw in modern-day Poland on November 7, 1867. Her parents were both teachers, and she was the youngest of five children, following siblings Zosia, Józef, Bronya and Hela. As a child Curie took after her father, Wladyslaw, a math and physics instructor. She had a bright and curious mind and excelled at school. But tragedy struck early, and when she was only 10, Curie lost her mother, Bronislawa, to tuberculosis.
A top student in her secondary school, Curie could not attend the men-only University of Warsaw. She instead continued her education in Warsaw's "floating university," a set of underground, informal classes held in secret. Both Curie and her sister Bronya dreamed of going abroad to earn an official degree, but they lacked the financial resources to pay for more schooling. Undeterred, Curie worked out a deal with her sister. She would work to support Bronya while she was in school and Bronya would return the favor after she completed her studies.
For roughly five years, Curie worked as a tutor and a governess. She used her spare time to study, reading about physics, chemistry and math. In 1891, Curie finally made her way to Paris where she enrolled at the Sorbonne in Paris. She threw herself into her studies, but this dedication had a personal cost. With little money, Curie survived on buttered bread and tea, and her health sometimes suffered because of her poor diet.
Curie completed her master's degree in physics in 1893 and earned another degree in mathematics the following year. Around this time, she received a commission to do a study on different types of steel and their magnetic properties. Curie needed a lab to work in, and a colleague introduced her to French physicist Pierre Curie . A romance developed between the brilliant pair, and they became a scientific dynamic duo. The pair married on July 26, 1895.
Discoveries
Marie and Pierre Curie were dedicated scientists and completely devoted to one another. At first, they worked on separate projects. She was fascinated with the work of Henri Becquerel, a French physicist who discovered that uranium casts off rays, weaker rays than the X-rays found by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen .
Curie took Becquerel's work a few steps further, conducting her own experiments on uranium rays. She discovered that the rays remained constant, no matter the condition or form of the uranium. The rays, she theorized, came from the element's atomic structure. This revolutionary idea created the field of atomic physics and Curie herself coined the word radioactivity to describe the phenomena. Marie and Pierre had a daughter, Irene, in 1897, but their work didn't slow down.
Pierre put aside his own work to help Marie with her exploration of radioactivity. Working with the mineral pitchblende, the pair discovered a new radioactive element in 1898. They named the element polonium, after Marie's native country of Poland. They also detected the presence of another radioactive material in the pitchblende, and called that radium. In 1902, the Curies announced that they had produced a decigram of pure radium, demonstrating its existence as a unique chemical element.
Science Celebrity
Marie Curie made history in 1903 when she became the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in physics. She won the prestigious honor along with her husband and Henri Becquerel, for their work on radioactivity. With their Nobel Prize win, the Curies developed an international reputation for their scientific efforts, and they used their prize money to continue their research. They welcomed a second child, daughter Eve, the following year.
In 1906, Marie suffered a tremendous loss. Her husband Pierre was killed in Paris after he accidentally stepped in front of a horse-drawn wagon. Despite her tremendous grief, she took over his teaching post at the Sorbonne, becoming the institution's first female professor.
Curie received another great honor in 1911, winning her second Nobel Prize, this time in chemistry. She was selected for her discovery of radium and polonium, and became the first scientist to win two Nobel Prizes. While she received the prize alone, she shared the honor jointly with her late husband in her acceptance lecture.
Around this time, Curie joined with other famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Max Planck, to attend the first Solvay Congress in Physics. They gathered to discuss the many groundbreaking discoveries in their field. Curie experienced the downside of fame in 1911, when her relationship with her husband's former student, Paul Langevin, became public. Curie was derided in the press for breaking up Langevin's marriage. The press' negativity towards Curie stemmed at least in part from rising xenophobia in France.
When World War I broke out in 1914, Curie devoted her time and resources to helping the cause. She championed the use of portable X-ray machines in the field, and these medical vehicles earned the nickname "Little Curies." After the war, Curie used her celebrity to advance her research. She traveled to the United States twice— in 1921 and in 1929— to raise funds to buy radium and to establish a radium research institute in Warsaw.
“The use of the X-rays during the war saved the lives of many wounded men; it also saved many from long suffering and lasting infirmity.” -- Marie Curie
Final Days and Legacy
All of her years of working with radioactive materials took a toll on Curie's health. She was known to carry test tubes of radium around in the pocket of her lab coat. In 1934, Curie went to the Sancellemoz Sanatorium in Passy, France, to try to rest and regain her strength. She died there on July 4, 1934, of aplastic anemia, which can be caused by prolonged exposure to radiation.
Marie Curie made many breakthroughs in her lifetime. She is the most famous female scientist of all time, and has received numerous posthumous honors. In 1995, her and her husband's remains were interred in the Panthéon in Paris, the final resting place of France's greatest minds. Curie became the first and only woman to be laid to rest there.
Curie also passed down her love of science to the next generation. Her daughter Irène Joliot-Curie followed in her mother's footsteps, winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935. Joliot-Curie shared the honor with her husband Frédéric Joliot for their work on their synthesis of new radioactive elements.
Today several educational and research institutions and medical centers bear the Curie name, including the Institute Curie and the Pierre and Marie Curie University, both in Paris.
Videos
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What is cartoon cat Garfield’s favourite food? | Marie Curie - Mother of Modern Physics
Marie Curie
• first famous woman scientist in the modern world
• "Mother of Modern Physics" -- pioneer in research about radioactivity, a word she coined
• First woman awarded a Ph.D. in research science in Europe, first woman professor at the Sorbonne
• Discovered and isolated polonium and radium, and established the nature of radiation and beta rays
Nobel Laureate: 1903 (Physics) and 1911 (Chemistry) -- first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize, first person to win Nobel Prizes in two different scientific disciplines
Also Known As: Marie Sklodowska Curie, Mrs. Pierre Curie, Marie Sklodowska, Marja Sklodowska, Marja Sklodowska Curie
Marie Curie Biography:
Marie Curie was born in Warsaw, the youngest of five children. Her father was a physics teacher, her mother, who died when Maria was 11, was also an educator.
After graduating with high honors in her early schooling, Marie Curie found herself without options in Poland for higher education.
continue reading below our video
Profile of Marie Curie
She spent some time as a governess, and in 1891 followed her sister, already a gynecologist, to Paris. In Paris, Marie Curie enrolled at the Sorbonne.
Marie Curie graduated in first place in physics (1893), then, on a scholarship, returned for a degree in mathematics in which she took second place (1894).
She had already begun to work as a researcher, and it was through her work that she met Pierre Curie in 1894 when he was 35 years of age. They were married on July 26 , 1895.
Their first child, Irene, was born in 1897. Marie Curie continued work on her research and began work as a physics lecturer at a girls' school.
Radioactivity
Inspired by work on radioactivity in uranium by Henri Becquerel, Marie Curie began research on other elements. First she discovered radioactivity in thorium, then demonstrated that the radioactivity is not a property of an interaction between elements but is an atomic property.
On April 12 , 1898, she published her hypothesis of a still-unknown radioactive element, and worked with pitchblende and chalcocite, both uranium ores, to isolate this element. Pierre joined her in this research.
Marie Curie and Pierre Curie thus discovered first polonium (named for her native Poland) and then radium. On January 12 , 1902, Marie Curie isolated pure radium, and her 1903 dissertation resulted in the first advanced scientific research degree to be awarded to a woman in France -- the first doctorate in science awarded to a woman in all of Europe.
In 1903, for their work, Marie Curie, her husband Pierre, and Henry Becquerel, were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
It was also in 1903 that Marie and Pierre lost a child, born prematurely. In 1904, Pierre was given a professorship at the Sorbonne for his work. The professorship established more financial security for the Curie family -- Pierre's father had moved in to help care for the children. That same year, the Curies established the use of radiation therapy for cancer and lupus, and their second daughter, Eve, was born. She was later to write a biography of her mother.
From Wife to Professor
But security was short-lived, as Pierre was killed suddenly in 1906 when he was run over by a horse-drawn carriage on a Paris street. This left Marie Curie a widow with responsibility for raising her two young daughters.
Marie Curie was offered a national pension, but turned it down. A month after Pierre's death, she was offered his chair at the Sorbonne, and she accepted. Two years later she was elected a full professor -- the first woman to hold a chair at the Sorbonne.
Further Work
Marie Curie spent the next years organizing her research, supervising the research of others, and raising funds. Her Treatise on Radioactivity was published in 1910.
Early in 1911, Marie Curie was denied election to the French Academy of Sciences by one vote. Emile Hilaire Amagat said of the vote, "Women cannot be part of the Institute of France." Marie Curie refused to have her name resubmitted for nomination and refused to allow the Academy to publish any of her work for ten years.
Marie Curie was appointed director of the Institute for Radioactivity in Warsaw that year, and she was awarded a second Nobel Prize.
Tempering her successes that year was a scandal: a newspaper editor alleged an affair between Marie Curie and a married scientist. He denied the charges, and the controversy ended when the editor and scientist arranged a duel, but neither fired. Years later, Marie and Pierre's granddaughter married the grandson of the scientist which whom she may have had the affair.
During World War I, Marie Curie found chose to support the French war effort actively. She put her prize winnings into war bonds and fitted ambulances with portable x-ray equipment for medical purposes, driving the vehicles to the front lines. She established two hundred permanent x-ray installations in France and Belgium.
After the war, her daughter Irene joined Marie Curie as an assistant at the laboratory. Curie Foundation was established in 1920 to work on medical applications for radium. Marie Curie took an important trip to the United States in 1921 to accept the generous gift of a gram of pure radium for research. In 1924, she published her biography of her husband.
Illness and Death
The work of Marie Curie, her husband, and colleagues with radioactivity was done in ignorance of its effect on human health. Marie Curie and her daughter Irene contracted leukemia, apparently induced by exposure to high levels of radioactivity. The notebooks of Marie Curie are still so radioactive that they cannot be handled. Marie Curie's health was declining seriously by the end of the 1920s. Cataracts contributed to failing vision. Marie Curie retired to a sanatorium, with her daughter Eve as her companion. Marie Curie died of pernicious anemia, also most likely an effect of the radioactivity in her work, in 1934.
Religion: Marie Curie's family religion was Roman Catholic, but she became an anticlerical atheist on the death of her mother and older sister.
More women's history biographies, by name:
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Which post in the UK did Rowan Williams take up in February 2003? | Rowan Williams: UK 'needs to do more for refugees', says former archbishop - BBC News
BBC News
Rowan Williams: UK 'needs to do more for refugees', says former archbishop
19 June 2016
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Image copyright PA
Image caption Dr Williams was appointed the Archbishop of Canterbury in 2002, standing down in 2012
The UK government needs to do more to respond to the refugee crisis, the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has said.
Dr Williams, who is now the chairman of the charity Christian Aid, said the rhetoric in the media which suggested the UK was "full" was "unfounded".
"The UK must not turn a blind eye to this crisis. We must do more," he said.
The government said it had pledged to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees by 2020 - and about 1,600 had already arrived.
Dr Williams, who made his comments ahead of Refugee Week which begins on Monday, said the refugee crisis was the biggest displacement of people to Europe since the Second World War.
"Desperate people who have been driven out of their homes by war are being forced to make dangerous journeys in search of sanctuary. Yet many countries are closing their borders and putting up barbed wire," he said.
"The UK must not turn a blind eye to this crisis. We can and must do more to respond."
'Welcoming strangers'
He said the UK had a proud history of offering refuge to those in need, welcoming Jewish children from Nazi Germany, Vietnamese refugees in the 1970s and Kosovan refugees in the late 1990s.
"The rhetoric in the media is one that suggests that the UK is 'full', and that those arriving on our shores are a drain on our economy," he said.
"Not only are these assertions unfounded, but they fail to recognise the positive, life-affirming contributions that generations of refugees have made to British society - and that we ourselves are changed by welcoming the stranger."
Image copyright AP
Dr Williams, who was appointed the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury in 2002 and stood down in 2012, said the charity Christian Aid was founded on the belief that "all people would live together as neighbours".
The charity wants the government to take on "far higher" numbers of refugees and accelerate the resettlement of the 20,000 Syrian refugees it has agreed to accept.
Syria has been embroiled in a bloody armed conflict for nearly five years. More than 250,000 Syrians have been killed, and 11 million displaced from their homes - more than four million have already left the country.
Vulnerable children
A Home Office spokesman said: "Last month the UK announced we will resettle unaccompanied migrant children registered in Greece, Italy or France before 20 March, where this is in their best interests.
"It will mean the UK can focus on the most vulnerable children already in Europe - without encouraging more to make the journey.
"This builds on the further announcement that 3,000 vulnerable children and family members will be resettled direct from the Middle East and North Africa."
Syrian refugees are arriving in the UK under the government's Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) scheme .
The Home Office also highlighted the fact that the government had pledged £2.3bn in humanitarian aid to Syria and its neighbouring countries.
Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme
"Paperwork" is completed before the refugees arrive.
Prioritises women and children at risk, people in need of medical attention and survivors of torture and violence.
All refugees settled under the scheme have undergone a two-step security screening process.
People under the scheme will have access to housing, medical care and education, and they can work.
The Home Office provides funding of at least £10,000 per refugee for the first year.
Refugees taken into the UK under the scheme granted five years' humanitarian protection which includes access to public funds, the labour market and the possibility of family reunion , if a person was separated from their partner or child when leaving their country.
After those five years they can apply to settle in the UK .
A note on terminology: The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants.
| Archbishop of Canterbury |
The Fountain of Wealth is in which Asian city? | Why it would be wrong to legalise gay marriage, by the Archbishop of Canterbury | Daily Mail Online
Why it would be wrong to legalise gay marriage, by the Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop also says wrong to legalise assisted dying because of threat to the vulnerable
Dr Rowan Williams told MPs that C of E churches would never be used to solemnise gay marriages
Opposition: Rowan Williams said a new marriage law for gay couples would amount to forcing unwanted change on the rest of the nation
The law has no right to legalise same-sex marriage, the Archbishop of Canterbury declared yesterday.
Dr Rowan Williams said a new marriage law for gay couples would amount to forcing unwanted change on the rest of the nation.
He also said it would be wrong to legalise assisted dying because of the threat it would pose to the vulnerable and because it would go against the beliefs of most people.
In a key speech on human rights, the head of the Anglican Church put his weight behind other leading clergy who have launched a powerful campaign to prevent David Cameron from going ahead with his plan to allow the full rights of marriage to same-sex couples.
Dr Williams’s predecessor in Lambeth Palace, Lord Carey, notably told the Mail last week that same-sex marriage laws would be ‘one of the greatest political power grabs in history’.
Dr Williams’s statement means the Prime Minister now knows he will face opposition from the liberal-minded leadership of the Church of England – as well as its determined traditionalists – if he continues on the track towards legalised gay marriage.
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The Archbishop said human rights law ‘falls short of a legal charter to promote change in institutions’.
Dr Williams added: ‘If it is said that a failure to legalise assisted suicide – or same-sex marriage – perpetuates stigma or marginalisation for some people, the reply must be, I believe, that issues like stigma and marginalisation have to be addressed at the level of culture rather than law.’
Defiance: David Cameron declared that he was in favour of same sex marriages last Autumn
The Archbishop indicated to MPs earlier this week that CofE churches would never be used to solemnise gay marriages and Anglican officials underlined that the Church says marriage must remain a union between a man and a woman.
Dr Williams’s intervention in the argument yesterday, in a speech to a World Council of Churches gathering in Geneva, echoed, in typically mild academic language, the sentiments expressed by Lord Carey.
The Archbishop has long been a personal supporter of gay rights and his lecture yesterday insisted Christians must accept that gay equality laws are here to stay.
But he has also listened to the concerns of traditional Christian believers since he began his career at Lambeth Palace in 2003 by refusing to allow an openly gay cleric to take a post as a CofE bishop.
His remarks yesterday came after Coalition ministers insisted they would go ahead with a same-sex marriage law whatever the churches say.
Equality minister Lynne Featherstone said last week the churches did not own marriage law. She added a same-sex marriage law would be ‘about the underlying principles of family, society and personal freedoms’.
Mr Cameron declared for same-sex marriage last autumn, saying: ‘Conservatives believe in the ties that bind us; that society is stronger when we make vows to each other and support each other.
‘I don’t support gay marriage in spite of being a Conservative. I support gay marriage because I am a Conservative.’
A consultation document on how a gay marriage law would work is due out shortly.
Dr Williams said in his speech that same-sex marriage law was wrong because it tried to impose cultural change.
He added human rights language could be ‘confused and artificial’ when it strayed from protecting the vulnerable. It could become ‘an alien culture, pressing the imperatives of universal equality over all local custom and affinity’.
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In cooking which herb is traditionally used to make Bernaise Sauce? | Béarnaise Sauce
Béarnaise Sauce
by James Peterson from Fine Cooking
Issue 36
Last Edit Date: 3/6/2013 4:18:45 PM
To make béarnaise sauce, you use the same technique as for hollandaise sauce , replacing the lemon juice with a reduction of wine, vinegar, shallots, and tarragon.
more about:
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup white-wine vinegar
4 large sprigs fresh tarragon
Salt to taste
10 oz. (2-1/2 sticks) good-quality unsalted butter
3 large egg yolks
3 Tbs. water
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
To make the reduction: Combine the shallots, wine, vinegar, peppercorns, and tarragon in a heavy-based saucepan and simmer over medium high until 2 Tbs. of liquid remains. Strain and discard the solids.
To make the sauce: In a heavy-based saucepan, melt the butter. Simmer it rapidly for at least 10 minutes.; the water will evaporate and the milk solids will coagulate on the bottom and sides of the pan. Let the melted butter sit for a few minutes so the solids will fall to the bottom. Skim off the foam on top and then either decant the golden liquid, leaving the solids behind, or pour the melted butter through a cheesecloth-lined strainer. Put the eggs and water in a Windsor pan (a saucepan with sloped sides) or in a heavy-duty metal mixing bowl (you'll have to hold it by one edge with a kitchen towel over the burner). Off the heat, whisk the eggs and water for 30 seconds, whipping in lots of air. Cook the sabayon over very low heat, whisking constantly and scraping the bowl, until thick and voluminous. The whisk will leave tracks that hold for a few seconds. At this point, take it off the heat and whisk rapidly for 30 seconds to cool it slightly. Add the clarified butter a little at a time, whisking constantly. Be sure the butter isn't too hot or it will break the emulsion.
To finish the sauce is done, whisk in 1 Tbs. of the reduction (or more to taste). Season with salt and pepper. Stir in finely chopped tarragon, if you like.
Photo: Scott Phillips
| Tarragon |
British singer Stuart Goddard is better known by what name? | The Food Lab: How to Make Foolproof Béarnaise Sauce | Serious Eats
The Food Lab: How to Make Foolproof Béarnaise Sauce
Foolproof Béarnaise Sauce
Rich, buttery, tarragon-flavored Béarnaise is the easiest elegant steak sauce to make at home. [Photographs: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt]
For my money, the very best classic steak sauce you can make at home, a sauce that will wow your guests with its flavor and elegance, and—most importantly—a sauce that can be made start to finish in under half an hour, is béarnaise. If you want to get straight to the action, jump straight to the step-by-step here .
I've spent plenty of time and internet real estate talking about all of my favorite ways to cook steakhouse-quality steaks at home, starting with how to dry age your own to how to cook it on a grill or in a pan , or even how to cook it sous-vide style with a beer cooler and a blow torch . We've debunked steak myths and proven that you should flip your steaks multiple times for the best results .
But perfect steak alone does not a meal make. Actually, I take that back. A perfect steak requires no embellishment beyond salt and pepper, but just because it doesn't need it doesn't mean that a nice sauce to go with that steak isn't welcome from time to time. I have a dress shirt that I like to wear with the top buttons undone on most occasions, but I'll break out the necktie every once in a while for those special nights out. (You know, the ones when you put on socks and shoes.)
Here's the thing: It's relatively easy to get better-than-steakhouse quality steak at home. But making a restaurant-quality sauce? Much more difficult. Classic French steak sauces like espagnol or its derivatives bordelaise or Robert, for instance, require intensely rich, gelatin-packed demi-glace. Those sauces are multi-day affairs that nobody but the most ambitious home cooks will even attempt. Compound butters flavored with herbs and aromatics are a great option for a home-cooked steak, as is a simple pan sauce , but they're lacking in class and panache. That's where béarnaise comes in. It's as classy as sauces come, it requires nothing that you can't find at your average supermarket, and it's quick to make.
The catch (there's always a catch) is that made with the classic technique, it's very easy to mess up. Like hollandaise and mayonnaise , béarnaise is a fat-in-water emulsion, in this case butterfat emulsified into a reduction of white wine and vinegar flavored with shallots, tarragon, and chervil, all bound and thickened with egg yolks.
And just like with hollandaise,* the ways to mess it up are plentiful. Traditionally, you'd make béarnaise by reducing white wine and vinegar with shallots and tarragon to a flavorful syrup, then strain it into a bowl. Next, you'd whisk egg yolks into the mixture and beat them vigorously over a double boiler until the eggs begin to thicken. Then you'd slowly drizzle in clarified butter while whisking until a thick emulsion with the texture of warm mayonnaise is formed. Finally you'd season it with salt and stir in some chopped tarragon and chervil. Add the fat too fast and you break your emulsion. Heat it up too much and it turns into scrambled eggs. Don't heat it enough and you'll have a thin, wet sauce instead of a rich, meat-coating sauce. You get the picture.
* In fact, béarnaise is technically a derivative of hollandaise sauce, one of the five French mother sauces.
Fortunately, we can use the exact same technique we use to make that foolproof hollandaise to make a foolproof béarnaise. The key is to completely forgo the double boiler, instead heating up the butter and using its residual heat to cook the egg yolks. By placing the yolks and the wine reduction in the bottom of a tall container that just barely fits the head of a hand blender, we can create a strong vortex that then pulls hot butter down towards the blades of the hand blender, creating a strong, stable emulsion.
Check out this video about hollandaise for a bit more of the science.
How to Make Foolproof Béarnaise, Step-by-Step
Step 1: Make Your Reduction
Combine a quarter cup of white wine vinegar, a half cup of white wine, some chopped shallots, and a few stems of tarragon and chervil (optional) in a small saucepan, then let it simmer over moderate heat until it's reduced to just about a tablespoon and a half of syrupy golden liquid. Let the liquid cool just a bit so that it doesn't cook your egg yolks when you add it.
Step 2: Strain and Combine
Next strain the liquid into a cup that just barely fits the head of an immersion blender, along with 2 egg yolks and a pinch of salt.
You wan the liquid to cover the head of the blender, like this.
Meanwhile, melt a stick and a half of butter in a saucepan over moderate heat, swirling the pan until the foaming subsides and the butter registers around 200°F on an instant-read thermometer.
Step 3: Drizzle in Butter
With the immersion blender running, slowly drizzle in the melted butter, lifting the head of the blender up and down to make sure that the butter is smoothly and evenly incorporated.
Continue adding the butter in a thin, steady stream until it's all been added. The mixture should be about as thick as pancake batter at this point. Season it to taste with salt.
I actually kind of like the texture like this, though for a truly classic béarnaise, you want it to thicken up just slightly. If you prefer it thicker, transfer the mixture to a heavy metal bowl or a saucier and place it over low heat, whisking vigorously and constantly until it reaches the desired texture.
Stir in some chopped tarragon and chervil (I sometimes also add a few tablespoons of minced chives), and you're ready to serve.
Steak never had it so good.
Get the Recipe
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On which part of the body would a piece of armour called a brassard be worn? | Armor Glossary
Armor Glossary
July 27, 2013, 12:27 am
2.5k Views
A
Ailette
A flat plate of leather or parchment which tied to the point of the shoulder. Worn between 1250-1350 to display the owner’s coat of arms.
Aketon
A padded and quilted garment, usually of linen, worn under or instead of plate or mail.
Almain Rivet
A munition-grade half-armor imported from Germany in the early 16th Century.
Anime
Splinted armor of overlapped horizontal plates for the torso.
Armet
Originating in the fifteenth century, a helmet of Italian origin consisting a skull, two hinged cheek pieces which lock at the front, and a visor.
Arming doublet
Quilted garment worn under armor from the early fifteenth century, equipped with points to attach mail gussets and pieces of armor. See also arming points.
Arming points
Ties (usually of flax or twine) by which armor was secured in place to the arming doublet. See also arming doublet.
Aventail
A curtain of mail attached by means of vervelles around the base of a helmet (typically the bascinet), protecting the neck and covering the shoulders. See also bascinet, vervelles.
B
Piece of plate armor protecting the back half of the torso.
Banded Maille
A largely discounted Victorian concept of maille with leather “bands” woven through it. The origin of the term seems to stem from misinterpretations of artistic shortcuts in representing maille armor in illustrations and effigies. See also maille.
Barbote
A high bevor with a falling lame containing eyeslits; used in Spain. See also bevor.
Barbute
Also called barbut, barbuta. An open-faced, usually shoulder-length Italian helmet, made in one piece, with a T-shaped face opening. Barbuta is the Italian term. A
Bard
A full horse armor, which could include a crinet, crupper, flanchard, peytral, shaffron.
Bascinet, Basinet
An open-faced helmet with a globular or conical skull enclosing the sides of the face and neck. Usually worn with and aventail, and occasionally a visor. See also aventail, hunskull, visor.
Bellows Visor
A modern term for a visor with horizontal ridges, such as on ‘Maximilian’ German fluted armors of the early sixteenth century.
Besagew
Defensive circular plate suspended over the wearer’s armpit.
Bevor
Also called bavier or buffe. A chin-shaped defense for the lower face, incorporating a gorget plate. The buffe was an early sixteenth century variant, worn strapped to an open-faced helmet such as the burgonet.
Birnie
Also called byrnie. A mail shirt. See also hauberk.
Bishop’s Mantle
Modern term for the cape of mail worn (largely in Germany) in the early sixteenth century.
Blueing
An oxidized blue surface on plate armor, produced through heat treatment.
Bouche
The notch cut in the top (dexter) corner of a shield, to rest the lance when jousting.
Bracer
Early fourteenth century form of defence for the lower arm; also a term for an archer’s arm guard to protect the forearm from the bowstring.
Breast Plate
Piece of armor that protects the front of the torso.
Breaths
Holes or slits in the visor of a helmet or the lames of a falling buff or bevor, for ventilation; also usually permitting a degree of extra vision.
Brigandine
A flexible body defence consisting of a large number of metal plates riveted inside a cloth covering.
Buckler
Small round shield carried by infantry.
Buffe
see bevor and falling buffe.
Burgonet
A light, open-faced helmet popular in the sixteenth century as an alternative to the close-helmet for light cavalry. It was usually furnished with a peak over the brow, a combed skull, and hinged ear pieces. The face opening could be closed with the addition of a falling buffe.
Byrnie
C
Cabacete
A type of Spanish war hat (popular thoughout fifteenth century Europe) with a turned-down brim and an almond-shaped skull ending in a stalk. See also morion.
Cabasset
see aventail.
Cannon
Individual plate armor defence, of tubular form, for the upper and lower arm. See also vambrace and rerebrace.
Case-hardening
A method (described in the twelth century treatise ‘De Diversis Atibus’ by Theophilus the Monk) for surface hardening wrought iron(or low carbon steel) by packing it in charcoal or other organic material and heating it for hours above 900 degrees Celsius.
Casque, casquetal
A light open helmet; usually late fifteeth to mid-sixteenth century helmets of ‘antique’ form, such as Italian parade ‘casques’ of the mid-sixteenth century, embossed with grotesques or fashioned in the classical style. These were often similiar in shape to the burgonet.
Celata
Open-faced Italian sallet, common in the fifteenth century.
Cervelliere
Steel skull cap, typically worn under a great helm.
Chapel de Fer
Also called a kettle hat. A simple open-faced helmet with a wide brim.
Chainmail
Erroneous Victorian era term for maille armor. See also Maille.
Charnel
The hinged staple or bolt that secured the fourteenth century helm or great basinet to the breast and backplate.
Chausses
Mail protection for the legs, either in the form of mail hose or strips of mail laced round the front of the leg.
Close-helmet
Helmet which, with a full visor and bevor, completely encloses the head and face; modern use of the term tends to refer not to helmets with hinged cheek-pieces opening at the front (the armet) but visored helmets pivoting open on bolts or rivets each side of the skull. Contemporary usage, however, makes no such distinction.
Coat armor
A quilted garment worn over armor in the fourteenth century.
Coat of fence
Also called fence, jack, or brigandine. A doublet or tunic lined with small metal plates or, more rarely, just padded with stuffing of tow. See also brigandine and jack.
Coat of plates
Also called a pair of plates or simply plates. A cloth garment with a number of large plates riveted inside, worn in the fourteenth century.
Cod-piece
Fabric covering for the groin, latterly padded. Its counter part in armor could be either mail or, more usually, plate.
Coif
A hood, usually of mail; by the twelfth century it often incorporated a ventail which could be pulled across the lower part of the face.
Collar
see gorget.
Comb
The keel-shaped ridge, often very pronounced, that passes from front to back of a helmet over the skull, conferring extra strength and rigidity and contributing to its glancing surfaces. In the mid-sixteenth century, the combs of morion helmets were raised and enloarged to an excessive height for ‘fashionable’ reasons.
Corslet
Also spelled corselet. A light half-armor popular in the sixteenth century for general military use (for example, town guards). It consisted of a gorget, breast, back and tassets, full arms and gauntlets; the term can also be applied to the cuirass only.
Couter
Also spelled cowter. Plate defence for the elbow.
Crinet
Defence for a horse’s neck. See also bard, crupper, flanchard, peytral, shaffron.
Crupper
Defence for a horse’s rump. See also bard, crinet, flanchard, peytral, shaffron.
Crest
A heraldric recognitive device fixed to the top of the great helm, introduced in the second half of the thirteenth and in wide use by the fourteenth century.
Cuirass
Also called pair of curates. A backplate and breastplate designed to be worn together.
Cuir Bouilli
Leather hardened by immersion in boiled water or wax, and then dried over a form. Earlier armors meant to supplement maille defenses were made of such leather and the medium was a popular one for tooling and embossing.
Cuirie
A 13th Century torso defense, originally made of leather.
Cuisses, Cuishes
A defense for the rump, comprised of overlapping lames.
D
Damascening
A metalworking process for the inlaying of decorative metals, such as gold and silver, into other metallic surfaces.
E
A gauntlet whose cuff reaches the elbow, obviating both vambrace and couter.
Espalier
See Spaulder.
Etching
A metalworking process for applied for decorative purposes to the surface of armor plates. Often used in conjunction with blueing, gilding, etc.
Exchange Pieces
Supplementary armor pieces which could be added to, or exchanged with, those comprising a harness in order to customize said harness for particular applications, ie. jousting, fighting at the barrier, etc.
F
Falling Buffe
16th Century armor for the throat and lower face. It evolved from the bevor and was comprised of several lames, retained in place by spring catchs, which could be lowered for better ventilation and vision.
Fan Plate
Projection from an elbow or knee cop designed to prevent a blow from wrapping around and landing in the joint.
Fauld
armor, usually composed of horizontal lames, attached to the bottom edge of a breastplate to protect the abdomen.
Flanchard
A plate attaching to the base of a saddle, protecting the flanks of a horse. This closed the gap between the crupper and the peytral. See also bard, crinet, crupper, peytral, shaffron.
G
Gadlings
Protruding studs, sometimes of zoomorphic form, on the finger and knuckle joints of a gauntlet. Particulary popular late in the 14th Century on fingered gauntlets.
Gambeson
A quilted doublet of cloth, stuffed with tow, wool, or other materials. They appear to have been worn over maille armors, under them, and instead of them at times. There is confusion and ongoing debate over the exact meanings of this word and the related term aketon.
Gamboised Cuisses
Padded, quilted thigh defenses of the late 13th and early 14th Centuries.
Gardbrace
Reinforcing plate shaped to fit over and augment the pauldron on Italian 15th Century armors. These were attached to the pauldron by means of a staple and pin.
Garniture
A complete plate armor that also features many exchange pieces; 16th Century.
Gauntlet
armor for the hand, initially of maille, later a plate defense.
Gilding
Plating with a thin layer of gold.
Gorget
Piece of armor protecting the throat. May be a simple collar or a more elaborate design composed of several pieces.
Gothic
German armor of the late 15th Century, characterized by a slim angular line, cusping, fluting, and fan-shaped designs.
Grand Guard
A reinforcing piece of armor, attached to the left side of the breastplate and covering the left shoulder, upper arm, left side of the breastplate, and left side of the visor. Designed for use in the tilt.
Great Helm
See Helm.
Greave
Also called earlier a jamber or schynbald. A defense for the lower leg, originally only defending the shin, but later including a hinged ‘door’ to defend the calf.
Greenwich armor
English armor produced at the royal workshops established by Henry VIII in the early 16th Century.
Guard chains
Chains which affixed the sword, dagger, and helm to the breastplate, to prevent them from being lost in battle. These seem to be popular only in the 14th Century.
Guige
Strap attached to the back side of a shield by which it could be slung about the bearer’s neck.
Gusset
A 15th Century piece of maille, sewn or pointed to the arming doublet, used to cover the armpit and portions of the arm left exposed by the plate armor. Also, a 16th Century laminated defense for the armpit of a breastplate.
H
A short type of hauberk. The terms are often used indiscriminately.
Hauberk
A mail shirt reaching to somewhere between the knee and hip and including sleeves. Sometimes , the term refers to similarly shaped garments made with scale.
Haute-piece
Upstanding neck guard attached to the pauldron.
Heater shield
A form of knightly shield which appeared in the 13th Century, shaped like the bottom of a flat iron.
Heaume
See helm.
Helm, Great Helm
An all-enveloping helmet which enclosed the entire head and face, reaching almost to the shoulders. Originally cylindrical in form. Arising in the early 13th Century, by the late 14th it was primarly restricted to the joust.
Hunskull
An English corruption of the German hundsgugel (dog head), a nickname for a pointed visor found on bascinets of the late 14th and early 15th Centuries.
I
J
Jack
A defensive jacket or doublet either of linen stuffed with tow, or lined with small metal plates.
Jamb
Also called jamber, jambart, or jambiere. An early medieval term for leg armor (schynbald). See also greave.
Jupon
A padded garment worn over the armor, fitted in the torso, c.1350-1410. Alternately, a tightly fitted and usually sleeveless garment worn over the armor and displaying the wearer’s arms.
K
Kastenbrust
A modern term describing a type of angular breastplate popular in Germany between 1420 and 1450.
Kettle hat
An open-faced helmet consisting of a bowl and a broad brim, resembling the British ‘tin hats’ of World War I. Also called a ‘Chapel de Fer’.
Kite-shaped shield
A large, elongated triangular shield with a rounded top used throughout Europe from the 10th to the 13th Century. It is commonly associated with the Normans.
Klappvisier
A modern term for a globular visor worn in Germany in the 14th Century on bascinets. It was hinged at the front of the skull of the helmet and covered only the area unprotected by the aventail.
L
A narrow strip or plate of steel, sometimes used in armor to provide articulation.
Lamellar armor
armor consisting of small plates laced together to give a rigid defense. Of Near Eastern origin, it was used throughout the Middle Ages in Eastern Europe, but was not common in the West.
Lance rest
A support for the lance when couched; it was bolted to the right side of the breastplate and was often hinged.
Latten
Copper alloy of varying formulation. Modern brass and bronze would be considered latten in the Middle Ages. Latten was often used in the decoration of arms and armor.
M
Mail, Maille
A flexible defense of interlinked and riveted rings of metal; its origin appears to be Celtic. In most European cases, each link passes through four others and the garment is shaped through the addition or subtraction of rings in appropriate places.
Manifer
A plate defense for the lower part of the left arm and hand, usually constructed in one piece and designed for the joust.
‘Maximillian’ armor
A modern term applied to a style of early 16th Century armor characterized by narrow, parallel fluting. It was popular during the reign of Holy Roman Emperor Maximillian I (1494-1519) and until the middle of the century.
Mitten gauntlet
A gauntlet with articulated transverse lames covering the fingers, rather than the fingers each being separately protected by a series of articulated plates.
Morion
A 16th Century development of the kettle hat, widely used by infantry and consisting of a skull with a broad brim, flat or turned down at the sides, but which sweeps upward into a peak at the front and rear. There are two main types: the so-called Spanish Morion, or Cabasset, which has an almond-shaped skull ending with a stalk-like projection, clearly derived from the Cabacete, and the Comb Morion, which has a high central comb along the apex of the skull. Hated above all other helmets by Arador’s webmaster.
Muffler
A mitten-like extension to the sleeve of a hauberk with a hole at the wrist that allowed the wearer to remove his hand.
‘Munition armor’
Mass-produced, cheaply made armor for the common soldiery, produced in very large quantities at the beginning of the 16th Century. See also Almain rivet.
Munnions
Articulated lames, often attached to the gorget, protecting the shoulders and upper arms.
N
Nasal
Plate defense on early medieval helmets, often riveted to the bottom of the skull to cover the nose and middle of the face.
Niello
A decorative black inlay used to best effect on a surface of silver or gold. A compound of sulphur combined with silver, lead, and a small quantity of copper, it is fixed in place by heat.
O
The eyeslits in a helmet.
P
A plate reinforcement for the left elbow of armor for the joust.
Pauldron
Piece of armor covering the shoulder. Usually large, covering the upper 1/3 of the torso.
Pavise
Large, usually rectangular shield carried by infantrymen and frequently used in siege work to protect archers and crossbowmen. The largest were equipped with a prop to support them.
Peytral
Horse armor designed to protect the horse’s chest. See also bard, crinet, crupper, flanchard, shaffron.
Pieces of Exchange
See Exchange pieces.
Pigface
An erroneous modern term for referring to the visor on a hunskull visored bascinet. See also hunskull, bascinet.
Plackart
A plate reinforcement attached to the breastplate, which at first covered the lower half but latterly, especially on Italian armors, covered nearly the entire breastplate.
Plate armor
armor made of rigid iron or steel plates.
Platemail
An erroneous Victorian era term for referring to plate armor or plate and maille hybrids. See also plate armor, maille.
Plates
Reinforcement for the right arm on jousting armor.
Poleyn
A cup-shaped plate defense for the knee, usually equipped with a side wing of heart shape.
Pomme
A spherical decoration for a helmet, often gilded and worn instead of a crest in the 15th Century.
Pot
General term for a simple, common soldier’s helmet (usually of morion type, such as the ‘pikeman’s pot’).
Proof
armor ‘of proof’ is made sufficiently thick or hard to resist a shot from bow or musket. The term first occurs in the texts of early medieval romances.
‘Puffed and slashed’ armor
Embossed armor, often etched and gilt, resembling a style of dress popular in early 16th Century Germany; where ‘puffs’ of colored material were pulled through ‘slashes’ in the sleeves or body of the garment.
Q
Queue
A shaped iron bar bolted to early 16th Century jousting armors to hold down and steady the rear of the lance, enabling it to be levelled and aimed more easily.
R
Rennhut
A heavy, one-piece sallet designed for the Rennen, a type of German joust fought with sharp lances.
Renntartsche
A large shield of wood and leather reinforced with metal, covering the whole of the wearer’s body and bevor. It screwed to the breastplate and bevor. Designed for the German Rennen.
Rerebrace
Piece of armor covering the upper arm from the elbow to the shoulder.
Rennzeug
armor designed for the Rennen.
Rump guard
An oblong plate hung from the lower edge of the culet on 15th Century armors.
S
Piece of armor covering the foot. Sometimes called a solleret.
Saddle steel
Protective steel plates for the front (bow) and back (cantle) of a war or joust saddle.
Sallet
A light helmet either fitted with a visor or open-faced, varying in form, having a tail to protect the neck. Known in England as a salade.
Scale armor
armor made of small, overlapping scales or plates sewn or laced to a cloth garment.
Scalemail
An erroneous Victorian era term for scale armor. See also scale armor.
Schynbalds
A plate defense for the lower leg which protected only the shin and was strapped over the chausses. See Greave.
Shaffron
Also called a chaffron, chanfron. Defense for a horse’s head. Forms covering only the upper part of the head became popular in the mid-16th Century (demi-shaffron). See also bard, crinet, crupper, flanchard, peytral.
Sight
The vision slit in a helmet or visor. Also called occularium.
Skull
The part of a helmet covering the top, back, and sides of the head above the ears. It can also denote a simple metal cap.
Solleret
See Sabaton.
Spangenhelm
A modern term for conical helmets constructed of a number of segments riveted together; descended from Late Roman prototypes.
‘Spanish morion’
Piece of armor covering the shoulder joint. Not as large as a pauldron.
Splint
Light arm defenses used in the 15th and 16th Centuries, gutter-shaped and intended to protect only the outside of the arm, they were often found on cheap armors intended for infantry use and on certain types of German armor. See also Almain rivet.
Standard
A maille collar common in the 15th Century.
Stechhelm
A ‘frog-mouthed’ form of great helm, worn for the Gestech (a type of German tournament), bolted to the breastplate.
Stechsack
A thickly padded bumper for the horse’s chest, hung round its neck to protect the rider’s legs, worn for the German Gestech.
Stechtartsche
A small rectangular wooden shield for the Gestech, suspended by cords from the breastplate.
Stechzeug
armor designed for the Gestech.
Stop rib
Small metal bar riveted to plate armor to stop the point of a weapon sliding into a joint or opening.
Surcoat
Flowing garment worn over armor form the 12th Century. Sometimes sleeved, sometimes sleeveless, it usually reached to mid-calf. Later, it was shortened and in the 14th Century developed into the jupon.
T
Tabard
Short, open-sided garment with short sleeves used to display the wearer’s arms. Often worn by heralds.
Target
A small circular shield.
Tasset
A defense for the top of the thigh, hung from the fauld by straps to cover the gap between cuisses and breastplate. They first appear in the 15th Century.
Tilting socket
Large plate reinforcing cuisses which provided protection for the thighs and knees and hung from either side of the saddle. Also called a gard-cuisse.
Tonlet
Also called a base. A deep, hooped skirt of steel worn on foot combat armors in the late 15th and early 16th Centuries.
Trapper
An all-enveloping textile cover for a horse, reaching to the fetlocks and leaving only the eyes, ears, and nose uncovered. It often displayed the rider’s arms.
Turning-joint
An enclosed circular joint above the elbow, enabling the arm to twist. A flange on the rim of the upper cannon of the vambrace rotates inside an embossed groove along the lower edge of the rerebrace.
U
Umbo
A shield boss, usually in the centre of a shield, covering and protecting the hand as it holds the grip.
V
Piece of armor covering the lower arm from the wrist to the elbow.
Ventail
An integral flap of maille attached to the coif in the 13th Century; it could be drawn across the mouth to protect the lower face.
Vervelles
Staples attached to the base of a bascinet for the attachment of an aventail. See also bascinet, aventail.
Visor
Protection for the eyes and face; a plate defense pivoted to a helmet’s skull.
W
A modern term for a plate armor of plain, polished steel.
Wrapper
A reinforcing piece for an armet or other helmet which was strapped about the helmet and protected the lower half of the face.
X
Y
Z
And don’t forget to read our guide on how to make armor , it’s great for beginners.
| Arm |
An autotonsorialist is a person who cuts their own what? | Japanese Samurai Armour
Japanese Samurai Armour
enlarge image
A suit of armour to terrify the enemy
This is one of 100 objects selected by young people to represent the huge range of fascinating world collections held in Yorkshire museums. They offer bite-size learning opportunities for the classroom. Other objects like this one are grouped under the theme of conflict .
Who were the Samurai?
The Samurai were warrior-nobles in Japanese society, with a strong honour code called bushido. The name 'Samurai' means 'ones who serve'. Before the 1550s the Samurai were fierce warriors attached to a daimyo or lord, whom they were loyal to and fought for.
How did their role change?
In the 16th Century, a politician and former Samurai Toyotomi Hideyoshi persuaded warring groups of Samurai to live peacefully. He convinced them to use diplomacy rather than fighting to achieve peace. After this point the samurai no longer had such an important role.
They still existed and wore armour, but they were seen as spiritual guides rather than warriors. The bushido was now seen as a code for living a moral and spiritual life, and their armour became just a reminder of their historic role.
What does this suit of armour tell us about Samurai?
This suit of Samurai armour dates from between 1840 and 1880. It is made up of several sections:
The main body section is a do or cuirass. It is made from a series of plates or lamellae, little oblong-shaped pieces of steel linked by strips of leather and covered with layers of lacquer.
The helmet has empty holders on either side which would have been used for a front crest or helm, and a hair pommel. A face mask has been decorated with ugly features to terrify the enemy. Extra protection is provided by a neck curtain of jointed metal, and shoulder guards made from small plates laced together with silk braid allowing for movement.
Thigh guards and calf guards use a combination of chain mail and plates kept the lower body safe.
Underneath his armour the Samurai would wear a one-piece baggy garment, a kimono on top of that and loose pants.
Glossary:
What dangers do we need to protect ourselves from in our daily lives?
Some animals use protective armour similar to the samurai. Which ones can you name?
What can we learn from the example of Hideyoshi?
How does the samurai armour differ from European armour?
What sports do you know that have 'codes of honour'?
What sports can you think of that need 'armour' to protect the players?
Activity ideas:
Creative writing: Look at the images of Samurai armour on this page and then explore the links below to find more images of Samurai artefacts. Write a description of how you think an opponent would have felt when he saw a samurai approach the battlefield.
Design Samurai armour: The Samurai who wore this armour needed to use a sword while being protected from his opponent's sword. What sort of things would you have to consider if you were designing some Samurai armour?
Create your own samurai armour with the help of the link at the bottom of the page.
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What is the name of the stainless steel sculpture, by William Pye, in London’s Greenland Dock? | Links with Hidden Text Descriptions
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Foreword
The practical issues embodied in the regeneration of London Docklands inevitably meant that the London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) had to concentrate on the major elements - transport and access issues, physical regeneration in the form of new commercial and residential developments, environmental improvements and so on. As part of this process of change, the LDDC also had to take into account issues involving the community and the impact of these changes for people living, working and visiting the area. Quality of life became another significant factor and the role of the arts as a force for regeneration increased in importance.
In the early years, this role was undervalued, but it came to be understood as a strong and positive influence particularly during the last ten years of the LDDC remit. The arts were able to provide links between the many elements in a number of ways, providing performance space and venues; improving the environment with public art; encouraging co-operation between local authorities, the LDDC and the arts funding bodies; introducing new organisations into the area; fostering ideas and cross-cultural understanding through education and training programmes and assisting community initiatives. Attention was drawn to the Docklands area by the use of high-profile international events. The beauty and use of existing warehouses and other buildings were as important as developing new spaces. The use of arts and other events helped to generate interest in the area, reassure organisations contemplating relocation and generate a sense of pride in the place.
Over recent years, there has been an underlying determination to provide a legacy from the arts, both physical and structural. The LDDC has used its resources to pump-prime activities so that there is a good chance for continuation of funding and activities in the area long after the LDDC has ceased operating. The results are encouraging.
This monograph, by the well known arts writer Robert Maycock, can only provide an overview of the role the arts played in the regeneration of London Docklands between 1981 and 1998 but the evidence is there for all to see. The redevelopment of the Docklands area was one of world's largest regeneration projects; the use of the arts can be identified as a key factor in that process.
LDDC March 1998
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Introduction
Like the regeneration of London Docklands itself, the London Docklands Development Corporation's (LDDC) arts programme has all the elements of a great adventure. It comes to an end with a tantalising mix of proven achievements and continuing business. It leaves a permanent mark on the physical environment and a still-changing one on the cultural map.
While the LDDC's arts activities began with undeniable vision and enthusiasm, acknowledgment of the full benefits of regeneration took time to take root within mainstream policy. In the process the programme's goals slowly evolved from a means of showcasing the area's potential into one of the mainstays of the regeneration process, the prime vehicle for enhancing cultural life in the new community.
A whole spectrum of attitudes and agendas, put into action over a decade and more, ensured that the activity covered a far wider range than any one impresario or arts mandarin could have achieved.
The programme had several strands: public art, an incentive and development scheme, finding new uses for old buildings, capital projects and education and training. Sculptures and specially commissioned street furniture sprang up in almost any style from user-friendly realism that gives a smile to riverside walkers, via severely abstract monuments placed at dramatically imposing sites, to celebratory expressions by the area's culturally diverse residents.
Education work with local people and artists and visiting companies gave a properly rooted dimension to a scene of change. Over the years, spectacular one-off performances and exhibitions caught the nation's attention, while venues and festivals were born and brought to thriving maturity with a distinctive East-London-and-Thames character of their own.
The Docklands arts adventure went along uncharted paths into a built and social world that had not existed before. Now is the moment to trace those paths. The following pages outline where the programme started, why it took the course that it did, what it leaves behind, and how the future looks as the LDDC makes its exit at the end of March 1998.
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Beginnings
Until the late 1980s the LDDC had no systematic policy of planning for the arts, though there were several areas of cultural engagement. In many cases the architecture itself was an obvious artistic asset. Direct investment went into outdoor leisure and recreation. Heritage and riverside walks came into existence along with the parks, sports facilities and urban farms. There was financial support for the Design Museum at Butlers Wharf, near Tower Bridge, in its early days when it was transferred from the Boilerbouse at the VictorIa and Albert Museum. Other initiatives sprang from the commercial sector, and the LDDC gave support to the London Arena on the Isle of Dogs which was to be used for performances on the largest scale. The Canary Wharf development took shape with plans included for a smaller performance space, Cabot Hall, and exhibition areas. Other developers installed works of public art on their own initiative.
As early as 1985 the LDDC recognised the pulling power of the arts in bringing people into the area when it sponsored two productions in 'K' shed, a redundant listed warehouse in the Royal Victoria Dock: Accions, an ICA production, and Aristophanes' The Birds staged by Peter Avery.
In October 1988, the Royal Victoria Dock also played host to two spectacular light and laser concerts by Jean Michel Jarre, drawing probably the largest audiences ever to a performance in Docklands.
Gradually, the LDDC changed its outlook. It not only took a strategic view of arts development in Docklands, it actively invested in and set about working with artists and companies to bring a fresh sense of cultural vitality to a part of London that all too often seemed strange and new. It was determined to leave a permanent legacy when its remit came to an end. There were several reasons for the arrival of this broader attitude.
Artists had always lived here (East London is believed to have the greatest concentration of artists and crafts people in the UK), and local communities had their own activities. The Whitechapel Art Gallery, the Half Moon Theatre and the Theatre Royal Stratford East were well established just 'over the border', and other companies such as the City of London Sinfonia were starting to take their education programmes into local schools.
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Although these resources existed, the internal will to make something of them had to grow. Docklands' regeneration had begun with a rush of typical eighties eagerness. In the more reflective mood that the approach of economic recession brought, some of the gaps in the story so far became apparent.
The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) brought in tourists on their way to Greenwich who enjoyed the elevated view and became curious about the area. Housing estates had arisen with the same shortcomings as green-field suburbs: lots of incomers and little new provision for socialising and recreation. Older residential areas, built in the heyday of the now-defunct docks, had not been part of the economic boom anyway. Press criticism spoke of a cultural desert. On the ground, the forests of new offices needed more than exciting architecture to soften their impact.
In short, there was such a thing as the needs of society: the place wanted human touches beyond the newly built environment.
Responses began to appear within LDDC on two levels. In the late 1980s 'social regeneration' became a priority alongside the physical development. Writing in the Greater London Arts (GLA) Quarterly of Spring 1987, the LDDC's Coordinator of Community Facilities, David Powell, argued that 'cultural regeneration might be a fair description for the process of change for which the LDDC is the chosen instrument'. Grant aid for community groups was able to include an artistic dimension - for 1987/88 this was extended to Rotherhithe Theatre Workshop, Age Exchange, the Half Moon Young People's Theatre, the Basement Community Arts Workshop, an Asian dance animateur for the Royal Docks area, and Theatre Venture.
Public art had appeared on the scene before, by courtesy of private developers. Now works were starting to be installed as a result of personal enthusiasm and occasional purchases. An early attempt to set up a Public Arts Trust with sponsors and the LDDC was refused permission by the Department of the Environment, which said that existing channels should be used instead.
The idea of a 'percent for art' scheme, which would require developers to devote a fixed minimum proportion of their budget to public art, was later knocked down by the same hands as a 'tax on development'. But the momentum had started.
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There was plenty of debate about the responsibilities that the LDDC ought to take on.
At the time, the prospect of large-scale arts organisations relocating was very much alive. The leading chamber orchestra the Academy of St Martin in the Fields had published plans for a �5 million rehearsal and administrative base at the Wapping Hydraulic Pumping Station - plans which evaporated only slowly as the recession took hold. Other buildings such as the vast warehouse spaces in the Royal Docks had already established potential as possible centres for major performances.
The relationship between the arts and the wider economy was already a subject of widespread national discussion, and John Myerscough was preparing his influential 1988 study The Economic Importance of the Arts in Britain, which revealed the scale of employment and business activity that investment in the arts generated. As the GLA Quarterly article pointed out, the right financial basis for supporting the arts in Docklands had yet to be found, 'but we have found willingness amongst LDDC officers, the boroughs and local businesses to work together'.
This sense of a three-way partnership was the key. Liaison meetings with borough arts officers were held regularly, and the LDDC soon sought to appoint a director, Sunny Crouch, to take charge of a new unit for marketing, tourism and the arts. Having successfully bid for increased resources, specialist arts staff were recruited. At the same time, the Comedia Consultancy was commissioned to produce a full-scale study of the area, its arts provision and needs and the way the LDDC should involve itself.
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Creating a Real City: An Arts Action Programme for London Docklands (revised version published August 1989) supplied the basic plan and rationale for what followed. It made a powerful and at times radical case that the arts are 'as important an ingredient of urban regeneration as the physical, economic and social aspects'.
By the arts it meant popular,commercial and craft activities as much as the 'high culture' that dominated the subsidised sector. It urged for example that popular music - including folk, rock, jazz, world music, and reflecting the diversity of the population - was more important in this context than classical music, which was potentially over-supplied in London as a whole. Alongside it, a focus on visual arts and a 'permanent fringe' would bring the best opportunities for Docklands, supported with elements of dance and theatre.
The action programme also asserted that the function of the LDDC should be as a development agency and 'a broker and convenor of ideas and resources'. Rather than running projects itself, it would be an entrepreneurial enabler and advocate that looked for schemes with the means of surviving after the LDDC's lifespan was over, aware of the problems of client dependency that tied the hands of permanent subsidy providers. But it would need to gain the support of local authorities in sustaining what it started and in helping to ensure equal access for everybody. It would identify gaps in provision and seek out the artists and the funding to address them. It would try to attract arts-based businesses. It would know that the arts increased the marketability of Docklands to potential employers and residents on a quality-of-life level, that special events boosted the area's image, and that an enhanced built environment benefited everybody.
A realistic attitude was taken about Docklands' place in the London arts scene. Nobody expected the city's centre of gravity to make a dramatic shift eastwards. The area - which in any case was not homogeneous, but a collection of distinctive neighbourhoods - would become an important extension of central London rather than its rival. Duplication of what went on in the West End or City would be pointless. The LDDC should concentrate on the special virtues and character to be found in Docklands itself.
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A distilled version of the Comedia recommendations won a budget for starting the Arts Incentive Fund in 1990. The leisure, tourism and arts department was part of the LDDC's marketing department, and the initial thrust of policy used the arts as part of a quality-of-life argument for living, working and investing in Docklands.
When the published Arts Action Programme was launched the following year it was able to point to the success of what had already taken place - the Docklands Jazz Festival, the Next Phase (I) contemporary art show at Tobacco Dock. But interest was already spreading beyond events towards development policies for the 'real city'.
Events moved fastest in the visual arts, where a reputation for supporting innovative work and artists pre-dated the programme. After an approach by Damien Hirst the LDDC had supported his first exhibition, Freeze, in the Surrey Docks in 1988. A generation of former Goldsmiths' College and Camberwell School of Art students found they were being actively encouraged as the LDDC wanted to appear welcoming to artists. Next Phase (II) in 1990 was developed by an artist and architect together - the Wise-Taylor Partnership - and included a performance element with robot structures by Jim Whiting and works by Ron Haselden, Anya Gailaccio and Mark Currah.
When Norma Major, wife of the former Prime Minister, visited the Seven City Artists exhibition at Tobacco Dock in 1991 featuring canvases by Gallery artists including Stephen Chambers, Mark Davy, John Keane and Eileen Cooper, photographs ran on the front pages of several national newspapers, a turning point in public awareness.
Music events included the International Festival of Street Music during August 1991 when the Latin rhythms of Brazilian percussion ensemble Olodum reverberated under the Docklands Light Railway flyover at Millwall Dock. A budget was raised for the education and training programme.
Several distinct strands of arts development were emerging, which were to determine the character of the LDDC's work over the rest of its lifetime. They will now be explored in turn.
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Public Art
The quickest way to come face to face with the LDDC arts policy in action is to take a walk or a ride. Drivers through the Limehouse Link see massive sculptures looming to signal the approach of the tunnel entrance. People following the southern river bank<
on foot are surprised by life-size humans and animals perched on a wall, or intrigued by abstracts in stainless steel. Shoppers in Surrey Quays, tourists in Hay's Galleria, swimmers in Rotherhithe and outdoor lunchers in Harbour Exchange have their eye caught by striking water-based creations.
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Sculpture and the new environment
While London has long boasted a tradition of statuary in prominent settings and sculptures in parks, Docklands gives it a contemporary edge by using art more radically to form an integral part of the built environment, whether as the centrepiece of a courtyard or a link between river and land. Its distinctive character expresses a balance between spontaneity and planning that the LDDC has evolved over the best part of a decade. Commissions had already begun before the Arts Action Programme was formally adopted.
William Pye's tubular steel Curlicue, for example, unveiled in 1989 on the waterfront of the Greenland Passage development, was part of the LDDC's Surrey Docks landscaping programme. This formal sculpture - which at least one former stevedore has found reminiscent of the hooks he used in his work - was a modified and enlarged version of a previous Pye composition that had been on loan to the LDDC.
In that sense it is not typical. The majority of the public art was created specificaIly for the site, often after a competition to choose the artist. Only a few pieces were bought and installed. In the majority of cases too, somebody else paid. Usually this was the developer, occasionally with a supporting LDDC contribution.
Influence, then, was a stronger factor than investment. While a 'percent for art' approach was not allowed, the feeling spread that there were better ways to make things happen. Why force developers to do something that they were often happy to consider in any case? Some, like Olympia & York at Canary Wharf or NCC at East India Dock, did not even need prompting: they already accepted that the changes they were bringing to the area had social and cultural dimensions, and they employed people to tackle them. Of course there would be those who refused, but compulsion was thought to bring its own problems - token art unfeelingly handled, or budgets cynically diverted into interior decoration. So the policy was to recommend, rather than require.
The outcome has been that business and shopping areas are particularly well provided with art. Commercial developers were quick to see the marketing advantages of giving their clients an aesthetic uplift; whereas housebuilders were not so keen - it was regarded as just another thing that would need maintenance. The LDDC itself deliberately put some commissions into the public spaces
of housing areas. This meant that upkeep, or at least the responsibility for upkeep, would eventually have to pass on to a local authority.
Substantial powers of patronage had come to the LDDC - in particular, calling the shots over the choice of artists. Throughout the period, the numbers of artists were deliberately maximised. With very few exceptions, each provided one piece. What has changed over time is the actual means of selection, and the stylistic focus.
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The early commissions
Early on there was considerable autonomy for LDDC officer teams in each of the separate Docklands areas, and the public art varies widely from one to another in quantity and character. At the time the LDDC published its Public Art leaflet guide in 1993, Beckton had just three pieces, all part of the same collaboration between Brian Yale and the landscape architects. In contrast the south bank of the river was already richly provided for and not only around the Design Museum: the Surrey Docks area has some of the most successful works of the whole project, from Philip Bews' exhilaratingly situated Deal Porters at Canada Water to the fanciful, partly cloned animal bronzes apparently wandering from the Barnards Wharf walkway into the nearby urban farm, designed by a group of five sculptors.
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Art and transport infrastructure
The most spectacular installations claimed to comprise the single biggest commission in London since the war - were the �250,000 sculptures for the Limehouse Link portals and service buildings. The LDDC launched a public competition in 1992, run by an outside consultant and judged by a panel of local representatives and art luminaries. What resulted was like a microcosm of the whole programme, three works in disparate styles that share a respect for the distinctive features of their setting.
At the most highly visible and symbolic site, the Western Portal at the entrance to Docklands, is Zadok Ben-David's huge figurative circle of silhouettes, Restless Dream. At the opposite end, exploiting the visibility of the North Quay services building from moving trains as well as cars, is an abstract by Nigel Hall that presents different shapes from different angles. On the massive eastern services building is Michael Kenny's marble triptych
On Strange and Distant Islands, in its own right the largest piece of public sculpture in London.
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The later years
In the final years the focus shifted again. Three consultancies were identified to give support in the wind-down period - Public Art Commissions Agency, Public Arts Development Trust and Art of Change - though the LDDC retained control in the commissioning field. For competitions, a varying cross-section of LDDC departments and outside specialists and stakeholders supplied the judges for shortlisting. The years from 1995 on saw an increase in the number of projects, a concentration in the Isle of Dogs area, and a sometimes more adventurous turn, as with Pierre Vivant's Traffic Light Tree proposed for the Heron Quays Roundabout.
A perceived climate of greater trust was eliciting more confidence from the LDDC managers in commissioning work. Other highlights include William Pye's Archimedes, a water-powered sculpture anchored in the dock at West India Quay; Sir Anthony Caro's Salome Gates at East India Dock Basin providing a stimulating entrance to the Bird Sanctuary; and the Dragon's Gate group at the corner of Salter Street and West India Dock Road in Limehouse.
These 'flying' dragons, five metres above the ground, allude to the neighbourhood's history as the original Chinatown of London, and register the area's continuing Chinese connections. They are a key example of Art of Change's community-based approach to public art.
Had this been the only phase of commissioning it would have seemed unbalanced. What has resulted from the whole programme manages to span a unique range of styles and tastes. Ironically this range was never planned, since any one phase had set itself more specific goals. But there it is: the LDDC has made for itself a catholic gallery of contemporary work as well as adding a fresh level of engagement to the outdoor urban experience.
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Education and Training
The original Arts Action Programme envisaged a limited amount of involvement with the educational sector, but this has turned out to be a growth area. Of the various facets of the LDDC's arts policy, the arts education and training programme has set out most directly to engage with local residents on their own terms, whoever they might be, and it has many successful and continuing projects to show for just six years of existence.
Potential funding partners were already used to working in the sector. The programme could set its sights well beyond the school system. It aimed to offer access to a wide range of cultural activities, including opportunities to acquire knowledge and enjoyment of the arts, for all Docklands residents.
This meant that it needed to be as diverse in the cultures, age ranges and social backgrounds it dealt with as the population itself. As the area's unusual, evolving mix of peoples is as old as the international river traffic, now given a further twist by the influx of more newcomers to public and private housing, the scope for imaginative work was limited only by the available resources. Beyond this, the training element was intended to deal with skills that brought prospects of employment in or around the arts.
Funding began in 1992, and began to acquire greater momentum when a consultative report by Positive Solutions identified a number of directions for development and the LDDC took on a manager, Linda Dyos, to work specifically on the education and training programme from the beginning of 1994.
For the remainder of that financial year (1993/94) applications to the fund were actively solicited, guidelines and application forms were widely circulated and four overall objectives were established. They were:
to create long-term provision of opportunities for all residents of Docklands, regardless of age, gender, race or employment status, to experience different types of arts activities or events, as audience and/or participants, within or outside the Docklands area
to encourage artistic and financial partnerships between the LDDC and other agencies to ensure the continued delivery of a programme of activities when the financial contribution of the LDDC ceases
to nurture opportunities for employment in or through the arts
to identify and support projects of artistic excellence.
The process resulted in 22 grants worth between �350 and �15,000. For the 1994195 year the LDDC awarded a further 23 grants. This brought the programme's first phase (1992 to March 1995) to a close with nearly 60 projects supported at a level of up to 50 per cent of their cost: the 'levered' funding from other partners came out at approximately �600,000 from an expenditure by the LDDC of �257,000. In the second phase, from 1995 to the close of the programme in 1997/98, projects had to have what the National Lottery's Arts for Everyone scheme was to call 'sustainability'. The projected closing figures for 1998 showed that over the whole programme, �500,000 in contributions from the LDDC would have attracted a further �1.6 million from elsewhere.
At least 60 per cent of the budget was to be spent outside the statutory education sector, and none of it in supporting statutory provision as such. Successful proposals came from local groups and organisers such as Art of Change and Newham Arts Education Centre, from companies and institutions based just outside the area such as the Theatre Royal Stratford East and the Whitechapel Art Gallery, and from city-wide or national sources such as Community Music and Women's Playhouse Trust. The programme made possible a unique concentration of work in a quite small area.
Seven of the funded initiatives were documented as 'model projects', examples of good practice for others to follow. To demonstrate the nature of the LDDC's work in the field, and the broad, inclusive attitude that it took to the arts, here are the stories behind four different but representative model projects. (The other three were with Theatre Venture, Newham Arts Education Centre and the Half Moon Young People's Theatre).
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Art of Change and the Tate Gallery, Awakenings
The aim was to explore issues of culture and identity in relation to works from the collection of the Tate Gallery, with participants including GCSE students from George Green Secondary School on the Isle of Dogs and three art teachers. In Awakenings the focus was Stanley Spencer's well-known painting The Resurrection, Cookham and its central idea of a resurrection in which people woke up to new life instead of torment and damnation. But instead of the Home Counties setting and Spencer's experience of life, the environment and imagined events were decided by fourteen young people on the Isle of Dogs thinking about their own awakening into adulthood. The resulting digital montage was displayed as a 13ft x 7ft photo-mural at the Tate in 1995.
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City of London Sinfonia, Docklands Discovery and Building Bridges
Two three-year creative undertakings brought players from the City of London Sinfonia (CLS) to Brampton Manor School and to a special needs project with two Beckton schools. Both projects involved concentrated spells of work rather than a continuing presence. For example year two of Docklands Discovery involved four CLS musicians including a composer/project leader, and began with fact-finding visits to West Ham United Football Club and the Tate & Lyle sugar refinery in Silvertown - the aim being to collect material that would form the basis of creative work. Six full-day workshops followed, culminating in a project presentation at the school to a selected audience of parents, local over-fifties, and other students.
In the same period, Beckton School and Ellen Wilkenson School collaborated on Building Bridges with staff from Newham Music Academy and the composer Paul Griffiths, who led the project, as well as three CLS players. The structure also involved a series of full-day workshops, but divided between two periods five months apart.
For both projects feedback was exhaustively collected and monitored. As the relationships were set to continue, the following year's work could build on what they had already achieved.
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London International Festival of Theatre, Utshob
Performances of Utshob with local school students alongside Indian, Bangladeshi and British Asian artists took place at Trinity Buoy Wharf, Leamouth in June 1997. They were the tip of an iceberg. LIFT's venture, set up in 1995, was based on issues surrounding the 50th anniversary of independence and partition in the Indian subcontinent. The LDDC engaged with it as a long-term arts education training programme for artists and teachers in Tower Hamlets and Newham. A third borough with a strong Asian presence, Hounslow, was also involved, and in the later stages professional artists from the UK and India joined in.
This meant that a large part of the project's aims were achieved behind the scenes, as the participants developed their methods of working with the British Asian students on subject matter which often involved family history, with input from the international professionals. The public events turned Trinity Buoy Wharf - a site connected with the long era of trade through East India Docks - into a combination of installation and mela.
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Magic Me and the George Green Garden
Magic Me specialises in intergenerational work in East London. For this project it led George Green Secondary School and a day centre for elderly people nearby in creating an accessible garden on part of the school car park and adjoining wasteland at the tip of the Isle of Dogs.
Old and young both had a say in the design and worked together in the making, alongside professional artists, architects, gardeners and builders. In this case a single LDDC grant of �6,000 was the key not only to an 18-month design, construction and planting process but to open-ended plans involving Magic Me and the day centre, and to a continued employment of the professional garden designer/artist to work on the garden and train people to maintain it in future.
The ramifications went further. B&T Reclamation did the building work for a much reduced fee, and as well as providing this sponsorship-in-kind the company persuaded its suppliers to contribute plants, tools and materials. Several school projects spun off from it, including a sundial competition, an oral history exercise with the day centre clients and the launch of a lunchtime garden club. More funding was drawn in for out-of-school activities and visits. Representatives attended a reception in BT Environment Week and received an award for 'student impact'.
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The Arts Incentive Fund
For the world outside Docklands, a strong message of resurgence comes from high quality performances, exhibitions and venues. As the previous sections have shown, cultural life has been putting down roots in many places away from the public gaze. So the more spectacular and large-scale manifestations of the action programme are not just an eye-catching arrangement of flowers that grew somewhere else; they are the above-the-ground parts of an organic whole.
This section highlights the most significant achievements from a large array, in the course of presenting the evolution of the programme. Even at the outset, bringing in artists to work in Docklands in order to attract people into the area was not the whole story. The LDDC employed high profile innovative arts activities to draw attention to the area and highlight the potential of its more unusual historic buildings for longer term arts use. In this context, the LDDC arts programme was to have a wider regeneration remit.
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The guidelines
To deliver the programme, the main vehicle was the Arts Incentive Fund. As with the education fund, it required funding partners so that the organisations benefiting had a chance to build relationships that could last beyond the LDDC's lifetime, and it too offered a shrinking proportion in the final years. Once established, it aimed to give not less than 12 grants a year, mostly to projects whose significance was more than local.
The general criteria governing the allocation of grants were later formalised by The Arts Business. These were:
to establish the potential for high quality arts activities in London Docklands
to demonstrate the arts potential both of established and nonestablished 'found' spaces and those not regularly used for the arts
to bring buildings into use as permanent arts venues
to encourage artists and arts organisations to relocate in the area.
Grant aided activities could include all art forms such as dance, opera, classical music, jazz, street theatre, painting, sculpture and photography, and site specific work.
The Arts Incentive Fund has distributed over 100 grants up to a maximum of �15,000 each since 1990 ranging from support for visual arts exhibitions, to site specific installation work, contemporary dance and groundbreaking theatre. In its final phase, since 1994, over 40 grants totalling nearly �400,000 have been distributed. Through a policy of funding only a maximum of 50% of total cost of any one project, the arts programme has brought additional matched funding into the area of over �1.2 million from both the public and private sectors.
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A varied arts programme
In the autumn of 1990, one of the star exhibits at the NextPhase (II) show ( see above ) was the building where it was held: The Wapping Hydraulic Pumping Station, a Grade II* listed building overlooking Shadwell Basin. This breathtaking space was to recur several times in the programmes over the next few years when its grand abandoned halls were used to stunning effect for a variety of exhibitions and performances.
Another former industrial site which was to develop strong links with arts activities was Trinity Buoy Wharf in Leamouth, especially for site-specific work such as Brian Catling's At the Lighthouse with Matt's Gallery in 1992 and Mary Lemley's These fragments we have shored against our ruins - 14 giant cloths containing pigment that had been immersed in the incoming tide at the mouths of the 'hidden' Thames tributaries.
In the same year, Women's Playhouse Trust converted the Jacob Street Studios in Bermondsey into a lavish venue for Nicola LeFanu's commissioned opera Blood Wedding. This was a temporary conversion, but the company, whose appetite for relocation had been awakened, returned there in 1994 with its BBC co-production of Aphra Behn's play The Rover.
One of the first fully public events in the Royal Docks K-R Warehouses was Chisenhale Dance Space's series of performances in Summer 1994.
Other successes included the founding of the Clove Gallery at Butlers Wharf, which turned from temporary shop conversion housing LDDC-funded exhibitions - including work by Dexter Dalwood, Roger Kite, Rosie Leventon, Sharon Kiviand, Trevor Sutton, Rachel Evans, Anya Gailaccio, Catherine Yass, Susan Morris and Stephen Hepworth - into a permanently let gallery by the time LDDC completed its remit in Bermondsey Riverside.
In the BT Streets of London Festival, Docklands came to play a pivotal role, hosting many an opening and closing night performance in partnership with Zap Productions between 1993 and 1997.
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Building on the success of 1991's Festival of Street Music (see above), the Streets of London participation exemplified many of the aims of the LDDC's arts policy: local involvement and participation, a city-wide awareness and audiences coming into Docklands from much farther afield for a truly international showcase of cutting edge theatre.
Highlights included the Spanish pyrotechnic wizardry of Nit Magica by Xarxa at Canary Wharf in August 1993 - the first UK date for this spectacular Spanish ensemble. Xarxa returned to launch the festival in 1995 with Veles e Vent at the Royal Victoria Dock while the grand finale that same year was provided by Compagnie Jo Bithume with Oceano Satanas, a visual feast of giant puppetry, elaborate images, high wire comedy, live music and fireworks at West India Quay on the Isle of Dogs.
In 1996 the festival's opening performance was Apocalypse Noah by Les Treteaux du Coeur Volant, featuring the former Archaos performer Pascualito. These, and other innovative acts such as Strange Fruit, La Compagnie Malabar and Scarabeus, brought performances to Docklands that could not be seen elsewhere in the capital, drawing udiences in their thousands.
One event that Londoners could not help but notice was A Light in Docklands, a technologically innovative and visually stunning light show devised by local artists Peter Fink and Anne Bean to illuminate Canary Wharf and part of the Docklands Light Railway for Christmas 1995. Sponsored by the Docklands business community, including the LDDC, Canary Wharf and the Docklands Light Railway, this large scale work of public art was commissioned to celebrate Docklands' resurgence post-recession and the completion of the Railway's upgrading works, and saw a vast area at the heart of the Isle of Dogs bathed in a glorious interplay of light and colour triggered by passing DLR trains.
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Music events were also on the agenda. High-profiled success arrived with the first Docklands Jazz Festival - Jazz Lunacy - which took place at the Half Moon Theatre at Mile End in 1987. It became known as a milestone in showing that the area could hatch its own events and host high-quality performances, as well as bringing in a mix of audiences from the London area. The programme was lively and drew plenty of attention and was to be built on in the following years, attracting such names as Courtney Pine, the Joe Henderson Trio, Abdullah lbrahim and James Blood Ulmer. It moved to the Design Museum in 1991 and then to Cabot Hall at Canary Wharf where it continued until 1993 when it was sponsored by Texaco Ltd.
Subsequently Docklands accommodated events for the London Jazz Festival, including in 1996 the festival's opening event which brought a big line-up of acid jazz and drum-and-bass, featuring artists from Mambo Inn and the Groove Collective plus d-j LTJ Buken at K-R warehouses in the Royal Victoria Dock.
Another musical example of the LDDC backing an independent initiative came with the all-too-short run of concerts at Cabot Hall in Canary Wharf in 1991. Free lunchtime events attracted large audiences and helped to vitalise the new office environment as well as firmly establish Cabot Hall on London's arts map. When the building's then developer - Olympia & York went into administration in 1992, the LDDC continued to co-fund events at Canary Wharf to maintain profile for the venue.
Today the new owners, Canary Wharf Ltd, have reinstated an adventurous programme of mixed events and have continued with the monthly Comedy Club initiated during those lean years by the LDDC, featuring some of the best talent on the UK comedy circuit.
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Support for local arts groups
Local initiatives were also nurtured by the LDDC, most notably the Docklands Singers, a choir led by conductor/composer Andrew Campling, and a young professional orchestra, the Docklands Sinfonietta, whose first concerts had already won it an immediate reputation for fresh and lively playing. The latter had a strong agenda in music education, making links not only with local communities but with other parts of the curriculum, such as science.
Soon the Sinfonietta was giving LDDC funded series of concerts in local venues and becoming involved in the Corporation's education programme. At one stage it published plans for a floating concert hall to take its performances around the area's water spaces, though the practical obstacles proved too great. Later the orchestra altered its name to Sinfonia 21 and in 1997 it left Docklands for a new base in Kensington, but continued to maintain its educational links in the area.
Similarly, the LDDC supported three outdoor sculpture exhibitions by postgraduate students from the University of East London's MA Art in Architecture course (1993 - 1995).
One aspect that the LDDC's project support aimed to respect was the cultural diversity of the area. A notable example here was Notes from the Street, a photographic project and exhibition in which Antony Lam, a lecturer at Tower Hamlets College, worked with local young people of Bangladeshi origin - some of them fairly disaffected. By no means all the images of Docklands conveyed here were positive, but they were truthful, and the LDDC backed a presentation that spilled over into exhibition panels on the Docklands Light Railway. The East End Festival was another local initiative to receive consistent financial support from the LDDC. (See Education and Training for other culturally specific activities.)
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A shift in focus
From 1995, given its remaining lifespan, the LDDC decided after internal staff changes that instead of filling a post on a short-term basis it would put the arts development programme in the hands of an outside consultancy. It appointed The Arts Business after a competitive tender process. While the Incentive Fund programme continued for the moment along broadly similar lines, some of the events were to have great significance for the future.
The most highly publicised in 1996 was Anya Gailaccio's ice installation Intensities and Surfaces at Wapping Hydraulic Pumping Station, which was enthusiastically reviewed and had its run extended by public demand. Behind the scenes it brought together two LDDC regulars, the venue and the commissioner - Women's Playhouse Trust (WPT). The previous year WPT ran an education-oriented project there involving the Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company and Mulberry School, plus concerts by Shiva Nova and Nitin Sawhney, and subject to funding it had now agreed plans to turn the space into a theatre and a permanent home.
The Greenwich Festival crossed the river in 1996 to become, for the first time, the Greenwich + Docklands International Festival. Previously the festival had been a Greenwich Borough event, mostly local in impact. The local authority and the Festival Director, Bradley Hemmings, had wanted to increase its significance, and to the LDDC the idea of collaborating made more sense than setting up a separate and competing festival for Docklands. The LDDC funded several events in the enlarged 1996 programme, and as the festival expanded it drew in support from the neighbouring boroughs of Lewisham, Tower Hamlets and Newham.
During the 1996 festival, there were 12 events in the LDDC area, plus involvement with the opening event which imaginatively linked the north and south of the Thames (using Island Gardens and Cutty Sark Gardens) with performances on an axis that ran straight through the Greenwich foot tunnel, and fireworks over the river. Street theatre was also much in evidence, with animation events happening in key DLR stations.
Following the objectives of the succession strategy defined by the Arts Business, the Greenwich + Docklands International Festival looked to local, substainable activities as well as high-profile events. One of the Festival initiatives was to develop Gallery 37, an arts apprenticeship scheme designing and building, under the tutelage of professional artists, elaborately decorated items such as benches and tables for sale.
For 1997, the number of events had increased to 35 giving the festival undeniable international clout. The LDDC's input covered among others lrvine Welsh and Boilerhouse Theatre's Headstate at Trinity Buoy Wharf, the flamenco singer Miguel Poveda in concert at Canary Wharf and the brilliant London debut of lndia's first professional woman tabla player Anuradha Pal in duet with Taivin Singh at The Space on the Isle of Dogs. With 1998's festival secure, its future seems assured. From an annual local-authority season with limited outside interest, it has grown in a short time into one of the biggest and most musically wide-ranging festivals in the capital, with roots firmly planted on both sides of the river and a genuine 'East London' focus.
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One of its resources is now The Space, a new venue on the Isle of Dogs which the 1996 festival had previewed. Many years in the making, this imaginative conversion of a derelict church was driven by the vision of its director, Robert Richardson, against what seemed insuperable odds. At first even the LDDC was uncertain - the building looked too far decayed and the investment impossibly large. But funds were painstakingly raised from a range of sources which eventually included the LDDC who made a substantial contribution (�325,000 in total). The turning-point came with the arrival of the National Lottery's capital scheme, to which The Space was the subject of a successful bid.
From the outset it aimed to provide a musically diverse programme aimed primarily at the local community. Mixed in with the music, The Space also offers comedy, film and dance as well as exhibitions in the cafe upstairs. It makes a smaller, relaxed counterpart to the more formal setting of Cabot Hall in Canary Wharf, and it has become a popular as well as distinctive asset. A further phase of development is planned.
In the later years, instead of encouraging relocations of existing companies or activities for their own sake, the LDDC came to place much more emphasis on the capacity for continued life. One task was to prepare for the possible future of redundant building complexes, such as Trinity Buoy Wharf, the Wapping Hydraulic Pumping Station and the K-R Warehouses in the Royal Docks.
The LDDC's capital responsibilities had taken on increased prominence in the final years, and some of the funding was devoted to high-profiled events that would keep key sites in the spotlight. These sites are really part of the Docklands legacy, and will be looked at in the following section.
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Providing for the Future
With the LDDC due to complete its remit at the end of March 1998, a key issue facing its Arts team in the final years was the kind of arts legacy the LDDC could leave behind. Public art is here to stay. There are publications, too. Photo Docklands, published in 1997, is the outcome of an international photographic competition. Six photographers - John Goldblatt,
Dave Lewis, David Moore, Jim Rice, Ruth Stirling and Gerhard Stromberg - were chosen from dozens of entries to create a themed portfolio showing their own interpretation of Docklands life. The photographs were also placed on show in an exhibition at the new Gallery West at Canary Wharf.
Otherwise, in the final period of the arts programme, attention focused on two further areas. one was physical: revitalising buildings with a range of arts uses, some public (like The Space) and some for the benefit of artists. The other was structural: seeking to ensure that a spread of activities, from the Greenwich + Docklands International Festival to the achievements in education, was set up and funded in such a way that it had a good chance of lasting. Although direct funding and action had to cease along with the LDDC, the partners it brought together were therefore encouraged to continue their cultural work.
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Trinity Buoy Wharf
This was one of the prime sites to be dealt with during the last stage. Trinity Buoy Wharf is a self-contained area poised at the confluence of the rivers Lea and the Thames, directly opposite the site of the Millennium Dome. Containing an eclectic mix of historic buildings - including London's only lighthouse (Grade II listed) riverside and open space, it was until 1988 a storage and workshop area belonging to the Trinity House Company.
Equipment was made and tested there, and the experimental lighthouse of 1864 was used for training keepers. The history and symbolism of the buildings made it seem a fitting place for activities that would renew opportunities for employment, and for creative or enlightening work.
Through the Incentive Fund, projects were encouraged which swung the spotlight towards Trinity Buoy Wharf while at the same time a long term use for the site was being sought. Studios, rehearsal and working space, and general cultural industries were in mind when the development brief was launched in 1996 to try and ensure that artists stayed in the area. This kind of use had been tested in the working-up of some of the more site-specific performances and appeared to be thoroughly practicable.
In 1997 a series of public events attracted plenty of notice and were often specially designed or adapted for the setting. They ranged from the London International Festival of Theatre's Utshob, described above , to Boilerhouse Theatre's Headstate for the Greenwich + Docklands International Festival and the site-specific Buoy-o-Lux Festival by the Earthworks Collective, a renowned group of installation artists and performers.
By Spring 1998 the LDDC had established a Trust to safeguard the future use of the site and had selected Urban Space Management (who had successfully rejuvenated Spitalfields Market in the City) as the preferred management contractor for a raft of cultural developments.
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K-R Warehouses, Royal Victoria Dock
The breathtaking indoor spaces of these linked buildings made them seem a natural home for performances on several scales, especially music, dance and filming opportunities. They were the focus of a sustained campaign to attract established central London companies which would be able to put on stagings with unprecedented freedom and adventure. Before the recession, they had appealed strongly to a number of organisations for concerts, theatre and commercial promotions but their sheer size then came to seem daunting.
Subsequently they came to attract dance companies and promoters of massive club-style dance events. As at Trinity Buoy Wharf, a planned series of events - including performances by Chisenhale and Random dance companies gave K-R Warehouses a high profile, so that they were successfully moved on to a future use. They will become part of the new London international exhibition centre, ExCeL, which is being developed on the north side of Royal Victoria Dock. This means they will house events on a large scale, though it is too early to say whether any continuing arts theme will be possible. The nearby University of East London's Docklands Campus will be home to plenty of activity in the visual arts when it opens in September 1999, so there could be the possibility of a relationship.
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West India Quay
West India Quay first gained notice as the venue for the highly successful London Docklands Seafood Fair which for six years from 1992 was held annually on the quayside. This event had expanded from its original mix of food-tasting and popular music to include street theatre and other arts activities. Temporary exhibitions inside the magnificent warehouses included The International Symposium of Shadows by Loophole Cinema in 1996 (an exploration of film and video images mixing contemporary technology and long-established techniques) and Cities and Water featuring a collection of artists showcased by the Francis Kyle Gallery in 1995.
Thanks to a �11.5 million Heritage Lottery Fund grant and additional LDDC funding of �3.5 million, part of the fine early 19th-century Grade I listed warehouse complex here will become the Museum in Docklands, due to open in January 2000.
The new museum is the fulfilment of many years' planning in conjunction with the Museum of London. While the LDDC helped to fund the collection and restoration of dock artefacts and records over the years, the museum vvill have a larger scope than the immediate area, featuring London as a maritime city and telling the story of the river, port and people.
The building conversion will provide galleries, library and archive facilities, temporary exhibition spaces and education facilities. In a separate scheme, adjoining warehouses will be turned into restaurants and shops, with a cinema and hotel planned for a neighbouring site. This substantial piece of cultural regeneration will see a steady flow of visitors, both local and international, in a prime Docklands location close to Canary Wharf, a footstep away via a pedestrian bridge across the dock.
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Wapping Hydraulic Pumping Station
Women's Playhouse Trust have refined their plans for the pumping station over several years. The site was eventually sold to the company through a development agreement which cleared the way to turn it into a theatre and company headquarters, including a rehearsal space, shop and restaurant as well as the fully equipped theatre and administrative offices.
Initial restoration and conversion work is due to take place in the Spring and Summer of 1998, once funding is in place, and the freehold - temporarily placed into the care of the Commission for New Towns - is to pass to WPT as soon as the works are completed. Having been one of the most consistently enthusiastic of arts organisations to explore and work in London Docklands, WPT is set to make its relocation permanent and, with an exciting and imaginative architectural scheme, to bring new life to one of the area's most characterful buildings.
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Public art
The last few commissions - Vowel of Earth Dreaming its Root by Eilis O'Connel, Globe by Richard Wentworth, Traffic Light Tree by Pierre Vivant, all on the Isle of Dogs - were due to be installed by the end of the LDDC's lifetime, or soon after. Concerns then passed to operation and maintenance and to reaching agreement with the local authorities who would be responsible. These issues were part of the general discussion with local authorities regarding the handing on of LDDC responsibilities. As for continuing the adventure, everything will depend on the will and the budget of the successor authorities, and on the social attitudes of private developers who raise the buildings of the future. Individual councillors are likely to remain supportive, but their hands could be tied by government-imposed spending limits. Upkeep will certainly be required. Some pieces have weathered better than others: the bathers at Harbour Exchange, for instance, quickly lost the distinctive blue clothing seen in their widely publicised photographs and gained a coating of green oxide on rather different body parts.
Any desirable future for this wide-flung collection of art needs to have at its centre the means of being seen, enjoyed and valued. One way would be to market tours of the sites. A regular scheduled trip to see the public art of London Docklands would make a fine and surely popular addition to the capital's tourist repertoire and not just for visitors, because many residents who know only a few of the items would be amazed and delighted by a chance to discover the rest.
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Events and education work
In these areas the role of continuing public investment is especially crucial. Otherwise the only shows will be commercial productions. Performers who come to The Space and Cabot Hall, or artists who exhibit in the galleries, will sometimes be in a position to bring part of their own subsidy with them. But projects that are initiated in the area will often need input from the former funding partners.
Some projects have been deliberately initiated so that their conclusion will be long after the LDDC has ceased operating. The success of combining commercial interest and public sector support can be seen in an imaginative project for Locke Wharf, a housing development on the old factory site on the Isle of Dogs that produced the propellers for the Queen Mary ocean liner. Working with Public Arts Development Trust, the artist Stefan Gec is embarking on a project to stir people's memories from those days, linking London with New York, which will result in two years' time in the siting of one of the liner's original propellers on the Docklands site and the regular blowing of the fog. horn in New York. The LDDC has provided the start-up finance; the balance comes from the developers over the next two years.
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Following the launch of TourEast London, a consortium of 22 interested parties to deal with some of the post-LDDC arrangements for tourism, a discussion group including the London Arts Board and local authorities along with the LDDC met under the name of CulturEast London to look at coordinating activities in the arts. The potential members, however, were not able to establish it on a permanent basis. What happens is therefore very much up to individual local authorities: they have a platform on which they can stand if they wish. The Greenwich + Docklands International Festival is a good example of how things could go. Having started as the concern of one local authority, the festival has grown with LDDC encouragement to take in three more and is likely to increase the number in future years.
Applicants to the Arts Incentive and Arts Education and Training programmes were always asked to show long-term plans, and for 1997/98 they had to assure the LDDC that funding was available for the future. All the LDDC-backed projects were followed up during the year to help consolidate the links with other funders.
In practice, many of the projects that had already run for several years had found a momentum of their own and were in a position to continue without difficulty. Some of them are described earlier in this report. It was often an uphill struggle for the companies to raise the required matching funds in the first place, but once having secured the income they have been able to sustain it.
Some other organisations, such as the Academy of Indian Dance and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, have the sources they need to continue their involvement with the area. The University of East London, with its visual arts expertise and potential, is expected to play a substantial part in future plans.
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Conclusion
The LDDC has in less than a decade created substantial elements of an arts infrastructure in a part of London that had previously lacked many of the basic facilities. Alongside independent ventures such as Cabot Hall and the exhibition spaces in Canary Wharf, it has put its resources into the emergence of new galleries and performance venues and helped bring a new life to distinctive buildings whose working days had seemed to be over.
The still-developing plans at Trinity Buoy Wharf and the Royal Docks will create further employment in the arts and cultural industries. To workers, visitors and residents, the LDDC has enhanced the physical environment by offering art commissions of its own and by encouraging developers to take the same public-spirited attitude. Artists and organisations from neighbouring parts of London have discovered the scope for involving themselves with the various communities of the Docklands area, and those communities have found new ways to comprehend and express their experience in a world that has seen change occurring faster than the rest of the city and for a longer time.
Even the name 'London Docklands' is part of the change. It was a creation of the LDDC age. The disparate areas of London's dockland have a long and proud history, but the actual name London Docklands was chosen to express the way these areas with their own characters had been brought at the end of that history under one temporary umbrella.
If 'London Docklands' persists it may be mostly as a brand name for international marketing purposes. But in its brief flourishing it symbolises the most fundamental aim of the arts programme. Making connections: that was the point. Not just between areas that had a shared history, but between one culture and another, between employers and residents, sponsors and local authorities, schools and artists, old and young. There is still much to do, and the LDDC cannot control the political wind that shapes events from now on. It is for others to take inspiration from what is surveyed in this monograph. If the will is there, the LDDC's adventure in cultural regeneration has shown the way.
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Foreword
The practical issues embodied in the regeneration of London Docklands inevitably meant that the London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) had to concentrate on the major elements - transport and access issues, physical regeneration in the form of new commercial and residential developments, environmental improvements and so on. As part of this process of change, the LDDC also had to take into account issues involving the community and the impact of these changes for people living, working and visiting the area. Quality of life became another significant factor and the role of the arts as a force for regeneration increased in importance.
In the early years, this role was undervalued, but it came to be understood as a strong and positive influence particularly during the last ten years of the LDDC remit. The arts were able to provide links between the many elements in a number of ways, providing performance space and venues; improving the environment with public art; encouraging co-operation between local authorities, the LDDC and the arts funding bodies; introducing new organisations into the area; fostering ideas and cross-cultural understanding through education and training programmes and assisting community initiatives. Attention was drawn to the Docklands area by the use of high-profile international events. The beauty and use of existing warehouses and other buildings were as important as developing new spaces. The use of arts and other events helped to generate interest in the area, reassure organisations contemplating relocation and generate a sense of pride in the place.
Over recent years, there has been an underlying determination to provide a legacy from the arts, both physical and structural. The LDDC has used its resources to pump-prime activities so that there is a good chance for continuation of funding and activities in the area long after the LDDC has ceased operating. The results are encouraging.
This monograph, by the well known arts writer Robert Maycock, can only provide an overview of the role the arts played in the regeneration of London Docklands between 1981 and 1998 but the evidence is there for all to see. The redevelopment of the Docklands area was one of world's largest regeneration projects; the use of the arts can be identified as a key factor in that process.
LDDC March 1998
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Introduction
Like the regeneration of London Docklands itself, the London Docklands Development Corporation's (LDDC) arts programme has all the elements of a great adventure. It comes to an end with a tantalising mix of proven achievements and continuing business. It leaves a permanent mark on the physical environment and a still-changing one on the cultural map.
While the LDDC's arts activities began with undeniable vision and enthusiasm, acknowledgment of the full benefits of regeneration took time to take root within mainstream policy. In the process the programme's goals slowly evolved from a means of showcasing the area's potential into one of the mainstays of the regeneration process, the prime vehicle for enhancing cultural life in the new community.
A whole spectrum of attitudes and agendas, put into action over a decade and more, ensured that the activity covered a far wider range than any one impresario or arts mandarin could have achieved.
The programme had several strands: public art, an incentive and development scheme, finding new uses for old buildings, capital projects and education and training. Sculptures and specially commissioned street furniture sprang up in almost any style from user-friendly realism that gives a smile to riverside walkers, via severely abstract monuments placed at dramatically imposing sites, to celebratory expressions by the area's culturally diverse residents.
Education work with local people and artists and visiting companies gave a properly rooted dimension to a scene of change. Over the years, spectacular one-off performances and exhibitions caught the nation's attention, while venues and festivals were born and brought to thriving maturity with a distinctive East-London-and-Thames character of their own.
The Docklands arts adventure went along uncharted paths into a built and social world that had not existed before. Now is the moment to trace those paths. The following pages outline where the programme started, why it took the course that it did, what it leaves behind, and how the future looks as the LDDC makes its exit at the end of March 1998.
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Beginnings
Until the late 1980s the LDDC had no systematic policy of planning for the arts, though there were several areas of cultural engagement. In many cases the architecture itself was an obvious artistic asset. Direct investment went into outdoor leisure and recreation. Heritage and riverside walks came into existence along with the parks, sports facilities and urban farms. There was financial support for the Design Museum at Butlers Wharf, near Tower Bridge, in its early days when it was transferred from the Boilerbouse at the VictorIa and Albert Museum. Other initiatives sprang from the commercial sector, and the LDDC gave support to the London Arena on the Isle of Dogs which was to be used for performances on the largest scale. The Canary Wharf development took shape with plans included for a smaller performance space, Cabot Hall, and exhibition areas. Other developers installed works of public art on their own initiative.
As early as 1985 the LDDC recognised the pulling power of the arts in bringing people into the area when it sponsored two productions in 'K' shed, a redundant listed warehouse in the Royal Victoria Dock: Accions, an ICA production, and Aristophanes' The Birds staged by Peter Avery.
In October 1988, the Royal Victoria Dock also played host to two spectacular light and laser concerts by Jean Michel Jarre, drawing probably the largest audiences ever to a performance in Docklands.
Gradually, the LDDC changed its outlook. It not only took a strategic view of arts development in Docklands, it actively invested in and set about working with artists and companies to bring a fresh sense of cultural vitality to a part of London that all too often seemed strange and new. It was determined to leave a permanent legacy when its remit came to an end. There were several reasons for the arrival of this broader attitude.
Artists had always lived here (East London is believed to have the greatest concentration of artists and crafts people in the UK), and local communities had their own activities. The Whitechapel Art Gallery, the Half Moon Theatre and the Theatre Royal Stratford East were well established just 'over the border', and other companies such as the City of London Sinfonia were starting to take their education programmes into local schools.
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Although these resources existed, the internal will to make something of them had to grow. Docklands' regeneration had begun with a rush of typical eighties eagerness. In the more reflective mood that the approach of economic recession brought, some of the gaps in the story so far became apparent.
The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) brought in tourists on their way to Greenwich who enjoyed the elevated view and became curious about the area. Housing estates had arisen with the same shortcomings as green-field suburbs: lots of incomers and little new provision for socialising and recreation. Older residential areas, built in the heyday of the now-defunct docks, had not been part of the economic boom anyway. Press criticism spoke of a cultural desert. On the ground, the forests of new offices needed more than exciting architecture to soften their impact.
In short, there was such a thing as the needs of society: the place wanted human touches beyond the newly built environment.
Responses began to appear within LDDC on two levels. In the late 1980s 'social regeneration' became a priority alongside the physical development. Writing in the Greater London Arts (GLA) Quarterly of Spring 1987, the LDDC's Coordinator of Community Facilities, David Powell, argued that 'cultural regeneration might be a fair description for the process of change for which the LDDC is the chosen instrument'. Grant aid for community groups was able to include an artistic dimension - for 1987/88 this was extended to Rotherhithe Theatre Workshop, Age Exchange, the Half Moon Young People's Theatre, the Basement Community Arts Workshop, an Asian dance animateur for the Royal Docks area, and Theatre Venture.
Public art had appeared on the scene before, by courtesy of private developers. Now works were starting to be installed as a result of personal enthusiasm and occasional purchases. An early attempt to set up a Public Arts Trust with sponsors and the LDDC was refused permission by the Department of the Environment, which said that existing channels should be used instead.
The idea of a 'percent for art' scheme, which would require developers to devote a fixed minimum proportion of their budget to public art, was later knocked down by the same hands as a 'tax on development'. But the momentum had started.
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There was plenty of debate about the responsibilities that the LDDC ought to take on.
At the time, the prospect of large-scale arts organisations relocating was very much alive. The leading chamber orchestra the Academy of St Martin in the Fields had published plans for a �5 million rehearsal and administrative base at the Wapping Hydraulic Pumping Station - plans which evaporated only slowly as the recession took hold. Other buildings such as the vast warehouse spaces in the Royal Docks had already established potential as possible centres for major performances.
The relationship between the arts and the wider economy was already a subject of widespread national discussion, and John Myerscough was preparing his influential 1988 study The Economic Importance of the Arts in Britain, which revealed the scale of employment and business activity that investment in the arts generated. As the GLA Quarterly article pointed out, the right financial basis for supporting the arts in Docklands had yet to be found, 'but we have found willingness amongst LDDC officers, the boroughs and local businesses to work together'.
This sense of a three-way partnership was the key. Liaison meetings with borough arts officers were held regularly, and the LDDC soon sought to appoint a director, Sunny Crouch, to take charge of a new unit for marketing, tourism and the arts. Having successfully bid for increased resources, specialist arts staff were recruited. At the same time, the Comedia Consultancy was commissioned to produce a full-scale study of the area, its arts provision and needs and the way the LDDC should involve itself.
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Creating a Real City: An Arts Action Programme for London Docklands (revised version published August 1989) supplied the basic plan and rationale for what followed. It made a powerful and at times radical case that the arts are 'as important an ingredient of urban regeneration as the physical, economic and social aspects'.
By the arts it meant popular,commercial and craft activities as much as the 'high culture' that dominated the subsidised sector. It urged for example that popular music - including folk, rock, jazz, world music, and reflecting the diversity of the population - was more important in this context than classical music, which was potentially over-supplied in London as a whole. Alongside it, a focus on visual arts and a 'permanent fringe' would bring the best opportunities for Docklands, supported with elements of dance and theatre.
The action programme also asserted that the function of the LDDC should be as a development agency and 'a broker and convenor of ideas and resources'. Rather than running projects itself, it would be an entrepreneurial enabler and advocate that looked for schemes with the means of surviving after the LDDC's lifespan was over, aware of the problems of client dependency that tied the hands of permanent subsidy providers. But it would need to gain the support of local authorities in sustaining what it started and in helping to ensure equal access for everybody. It would identify gaps in provision and seek out the artists and the funding to address them. It would try to attract arts-based businesses. It would know that the arts increased the marketability of Docklands to potential employers and residents on a quality-of-life level, that special events boosted the area's image, and that an enhanced built environment benefited everybody.
A realistic attitude was taken about Docklands' place in the London arts scene. Nobody expected the city's centre of gravity to make a dramatic shift eastwards. The area - which in any case was not homogeneous, but a collection of distinctive neighbourhoods - would become an important extension of central London rather than its rival. Duplication of what went on in the West End or City would be pointless. The LDDC should concentrate on the special virtues and character to be found in Docklands itself.
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A distilled version of the Comedia recommendations won a budget for starting the Arts Incentive Fund in 1990. The leisure, tourism and arts department was part of the LDDC's marketing department, and the initial thrust of policy used the arts as part of a quality-of-life argument for living, working and investing in Docklands.
When the published Arts Action Programme was launched the following year it was able to point to the success of what had already taken place - the Docklands Jazz Festival, the Next Phase (I) contemporary art show at Tobacco Dock. But interest was already spreading beyond events towards development policies for the 'real city'.
Events moved fastest in the visual arts, where a reputation for supporting innovative work and artists pre-dated the programme. After an approach by Damien Hirst the LDDC had supported his first exhibition, Freeze, in the Surrey Docks in 1988. A generation of former Goldsmiths' College and Camberwell School of Art students found they were being actively encouraged as the LDDC wanted to appear welcoming to artists. Next Phase (II) in 1990 was developed by an artist and architect together - the Wise-Taylor Partnership - and included a performance element with robot structures by Jim Whiting and works by Ron Haselden, Anya Gailaccio and Mark Currah.
When Norma Major, wife of the former Prime Minister, visited the Seven City Artists exhibition at Tobacco Dock in 1991 featuring canvases by Gallery artists including Stephen Chambers, Mark Davy, John Keane and Eileen Cooper, photographs ran on the front pages of several national newspapers, a turning point in public awareness.
Music events included the International Festival of Street Music during August 1991 when the Latin rhythms of Brazilian percussion ensemble Olodum reverberated under the Docklands Light Railway flyover at Millwall Dock. A budget was raised for the education and training programme.
Several distinct strands of arts development were emerging, which were to determine the character of the LDDC's work over the rest of its lifetime. They will now be explored in turn.
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Public Art
The quickest way to come face to face with the LDDC arts policy in action is to take a walk or a ride. Drivers through the Limehouse Link see massive sculptures looming to signal the approach of the tunnel entrance. People following the southern river bank<
on foot are surprised by life-size humans and animals perched on a wall, or intrigued by abstracts in stainless steel. Shoppers in Surrey Quays, tourists in Hay's Galleria, swimmers in Rotherhithe and outdoor lunchers in Harbour Exchange have their eye caught by striking water-based creations.
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Sculpture and the new environment
While London has long boasted a tradition of statuary in prominent settings and sculptures in parks, Docklands gives it a contemporary edge by using art more radically to form an integral part of the built environment, whether as the centrepiece of a courtyard or a link between river and land. Its distinctive character expresses a balance between spontaneity and planning that the LDDC has evolved over the best part of a decade. Commissions had already begun before the Arts Action Programme was formally adopted.
William Pye's tubular steel Curlicue, for example, unveiled in 1989 on the waterfront of the Greenland Passage development, was part of the LDDC's Surrey Docks landscaping programme. This formal sculpture - which at least one former stevedore has found reminiscent of the hooks he used in his work - was a modified and enlarged version of a previous Pye composition that had been on loan to the LDDC.
In that sense it is not typical. The majority of the public art was created specificaIly for the site, often after a competition to choose the artist. Only a few pieces were bought and installed. In the majority of cases too, somebody else paid. Usually this was the developer, occasionally with a supporting LDDC contribution.
Influence, then, was a stronger factor than investment. While a 'percent for art' approach was not allowed, the feeling spread that there were better ways to make things happen. Why force developers to do something that they were often happy to consider in any case? Some, like Olympia & York at Canary Wharf or NCC at East India Dock, did not even need prompting: they already accepted that the changes they were bringing to the area had social and cultural dimensions, and they employed people to tackle them. Of course there would be those who refused, but compulsion was thought to bring its own problems - token art unfeelingly handled, or budgets cynically diverted into interior decoration. So the policy was to recommend, rather than require.
The outcome has been that business and shopping areas are particularly well provided with art. Commercial developers were quick to see the marketing advantages of giving their clients an aesthetic uplift; whereas housebuilders were not so keen - it was regarded as just another thing that would need maintenance. The LDDC itself deliberately put some commissions into the public spaces
of housing areas. This meant that upkeep, or at least the responsibility for upkeep, would eventually have to pass on to a local authority.
Substantial powers of patronage had come to the LDDC - in particular, calling the shots over the choice of artists. Throughout the period, the numbers of artists were deliberately maximised. With very few exceptions, each provided one piece. What has changed over time is the actual means of selection, and the stylistic focus.
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The early commissions
Early on there was considerable autonomy for LDDC officer teams in each of the separate Docklands areas, and the public art varies widely from one to another in quantity and character. At the time the LDDC published its Public Art leaflet guide in 1993, Beckton had just three pieces, all part of the same collaboration between Brian Yale and the landscape architects. In contrast the south bank of the river was already richly provided for and not only around the Design Museum: the Surrey Docks area has some of the most successful works of the whole project, from Philip Bews' exhilaratingly situated Deal Porters at Canada Water to the fanciful, partly cloned animal bronzes apparently wandering from the Barnards Wharf walkway into the nearby urban farm, designed by a group of five sculptors.
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Art and transport infrastructure
The most spectacular installations claimed to comprise the single biggest commission in London since the war - were the �250,000 sculptures for the Limehouse Link portals and service buildings. The LDDC launched a public competition in 1992, run by an outside consultant and judged by a panel of local representatives and art luminaries. What resulted was like a microcosm of the whole programme, three works in disparate styles that share a respect for the distinctive features of their setting.
At the most highly visible and symbolic site, the Western Portal at the entrance to Docklands, is Zadok Ben-David's huge figurative circle of silhouettes, Restless Dream. At the opposite end, exploiting the visibility of the North Quay services building from moving trains as well as cars, is an abstract by Nigel Hall that presents different shapes from different angles. On the massive eastern services building is Michael Kenny's marble triptych
On Strange and Distant Islands, in its own right the largest piece of public sculpture in London.
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The later years
In the final years the focus shifted again. Three consultancies were identified to give support in the wind-down period - Public Art Commissions Agency, Public Arts Development Trust and Art of Change - though the LDDC retained control in the commissioning field. For competitions, a varying cross-section of LDDC departments and outside specialists and stakeholders supplied the judges for shortlisting. The years from 1995 on saw an increase in the number of projects, a concentration in the Isle of Dogs area, and a sometimes more adventurous turn, as with Pierre Vivant's Traffic Light Tree proposed for the Heron Quays Roundabout.
A perceived climate of greater trust was eliciting more confidence from the LDDC managers in commissioning work. Other highlights include William Pye's Archimedes, a water-powered sculpture anchored in the dock at West India Quay; Sir Anthony Caro's Salome Gates at East India Dock Basin providing a stimulating entrance to the Bird Sanctuary; and the Dragon's Gate group at the corner of Salter Street and West India Dock Road in Limehouse.
These 'flying' dragons, five metres above the ground, allude to the neighbourhood's history as the original Chinatown of London, and register the area's continuing Chinese connections. They are a key example of Art of Change's community-based approach to public art.
Had this been the only phase of commissioning it would have seemed unbalanced. What has resulted from the whole programme manages to span a unique range of styles and tastes. Ironically this range was never planned, since any one phase had set itself more specific goals. But there it is: the LDDC has made for itself a catholic gallery of contemporary work as well as adding a fresh level of engagement to the outdoor urban experience.
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Education and Training
The original Arts Action Programme envisaged a limited amount of involvement with the educational sector, but this has turned out to be a growth area. Of the various facets of the LDDC's arts policy, the arts education and training programme has set out most directly to engage with local residents on their own terms, whoever they might be, and it has many successful and continuing projects to show for just six years of existence.
Potential funding partners were already used to working in the sector. The programme could set its sights well beyond the school system. It aimed to offer access to a wide range of cultural activities, including opportunities to acquire knowledge and enjoyment of the arts, for all Docklands residents.
This meant that it needed to be as diverse in the cultures, age ranges and social backgrounds it dealt with as the population itself. As the area's unusual, evolving mix of peoples is as old as the international river traffic, now given a further twist by the influx of more newcomers to public and private housing, the scope for imaginative work was limited only by the available resources. Beyond this, the training element was intended to deal with skills that brought prospects of employment in or around the arts.
Funding began in 1992, and began to acquire greater momentum when a consultative report by Positive Solutions identified a number of directions for development and the LDDC took on a manager, Linda Dyos, to work specifically on the education and training programme from the beginning of 1994.
For the remainder of that financial year (1993/94) applications to the fund were actively solicited, guidelines and application forms were widely circulated and four overall objectives were established. They were:
to create long-term provision of opportunities for all residents of Docklands, regardless of age, gender, race or employment status, to experience different types of arts activities or events, as audience and/or participants, within or outside the Docklands area
to encourage artistic and financial partnerships between the LDDC and other agencies to ensure the continued delivery of a programme of activities when the financial contribution of the LDDC ceases
to nurture opportunities for employment in or through the arts
to identify and support projects of artistic excellence.
The process resulted in 22 grants worth between �350 and �15,000. For the 1994195 year the LDDC awarded a further 23 grants. This brought the programme's first phase (1992 to March 1995) to a close with nearly 60 projects supported at a level of up to 50 per cent of their cost: the 'levered' funding from other partners came out at approximately �600,000 from an expenditure by the LDDC of �257,000. In the second phase, from 1995 to the close of the programme in 1997/98, projects had to have what the National Lottery's Arts for Everyone scheme was to call 'sustainability'. The projected closing figures for 1998 showed that over the whole programme, �500,000 in contributions from the LDDC would have attracted a further �1.6 million from elsewhere.
At least 60 per cent of the budget was to be spent outside the statutory education sector, and none of it in supporting statutory provision as such. Successful proposals came from local groups and organisers such as Art of Change and Newham Arts Education Centre, from companies and institutions based just outside the area such as the Theatre Royal Stratford East and the Whitechapel Art Gallery, and from city-wide or national sources such as Community Music and Women's Playhouse Trust. The programme made possible a unique concentration of work in a quite small area.
Seven of the funded initiatives were documented as 'model projects', examples of good practice for others to follow. To demonstrate the nature of the LDDC's work in the field, and the broad, inclusive attitude that it took to the arts, here are the stories behind four different but representative model projects. (The other three were with Theatre Venture, Newham Arts Education Centre and the Half Moon Young People's Theatre).
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Art of Change and the Tate Gallery, Awakenings
The aim was to explore issues of culture and identity in relation to works from the collection of the Tate Gallery, with participants including GCSE students from George Green Secondary School on the Isle of Dogs and three art teachers. In Awakenings the focus was Stanley Spencer's well-known painting The Resurrection, Cookham and its central idea of a resurrection in which people woke up to new life instead of torment and damnation. But instead of the Home Counties setting and Spencer's experience of life, the environment and imagined events were decided by fourteen young people on the Isle of Dogs thinking about their own awakening into adulthood. The resulting digital montage was displayed as a 13ft x 7ft photo-mural at the Tate in 1995.
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City of London Sinfonia, Docklands Discovery and Building Bridges
Two three-year creative undertakings brought players from the City of London Sinfonia (CLS) to Brampton Manor School and to a special needs project with two Beckton schools. Both projects involved concentrated spells of work rather than a continuing presence. For example year two of Docklands Discovery involved four CLS musicians including a composer/project leader, and began with fact-finding visits to West Ham United Football Club and the Tate & Lyle sugar refinery in Silvertown - the aim being to collect material that would form the basis of creative work. Six full-day workshops followed, culminating in a project presentation at the school to a selected audience of parents, local over-fifties, and other students.
In the same period, Beckton School and Ellen Wilkenson School collaborated on Building Bridges with staff from Newham Music Academy and the composer Paul Griffiths, who led the project, as well as three CLS players. The structure also involved a series of full-day workshops, but divided between two periods five months apart.
For both projects feedback was exhaustively collected and monitored. As the relationships were set to continue, the following year's work could build on what they had already achieved.
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London International Festival of Theatre, Utshob
Performances of Utshob with local school students alongside Indian, Bangladeshi and British Asian artists took place at Trinity Buoy Wharf, Leamouth in June 1997. They were the tip of an iceberg. LIFT's venture, set up in 1995, was based on issues surrounding the 50th anniversary of independence and partition in the Indian subcontinent. The LDDC engaged with it as a long-term arts education training programme for artists and teachers in Tower Hamlets and Newham. A third borough with a strong Asian presence, Hounslow, was also involved, and in the later stages professional artists from the UK and India joined in.
This meant that a large part of the project's aims were achieved behind the scenes, as the participants developed their methods of working with the British Asian students on subject matter which often involved family history, with input from the international professionals. The public events turned Trinity Buoy Wharf - a site connected with the long era of trade through East India Docks - into a combination of installation and mela.
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Magic Me and the George Green Garden
Magic Me specialises in intergenerational work in East London. For this project it led George Green Secondary School and a day centre for elderly people nearby in creating an accessible garden on part of the school car park and adjoining wasteland at the tip of the Isle of Dogs.
Old and young both had a say in the design and worked together in the making, alongside professional artists, architects, gardeners and builders. In this case a single LDDC grant of �6,000 was the key not only to an 18-month design, construction and planting process but to open-ended plans involving Magic Me and the day centre, and to a continued employment of the professional garden designer/artist to work on the garden and train people to maintain it in future.
The ramifications went further. B&T Reclamation did the building work for a much reduced fee, and as well as providing this sponsorship-in-kind the company persuaded its suppliers to contribute plants, tools and materials. Several school projects spun off from it, including a sundial competition, an oral history exercise with the day centre clients and the launch of a lunchtime garden club. More funding was drawn in for out-of-school activities and visits. Representatives attended a reception in BT Environment Week and received an award for 'student impact'.
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The Arts Incentive Fund
For the world outside Docklands, a strong message of resurgence comes from high quality performances, exhibitions and venues. As the previous sections have shown, cultural life has been putting down roots in many places away from the public gaze. So the more spectacular and large-scale manifestations of the action programme are not just an eye-catching arrangement of flowers that grew somewhere else; they are the above-the-ground parts of an organic whole.
This section highlights the most significant achievements from a large array, in the course of presenting the evolution of the programme. Even at the outset, bringing in artists to work in Docklands in order to attract people into the area was not the whole story. The LDDC employed high profile innovative arts activities to draw attention to the area and highlight the potential of its more unusual historic buildings for longer term arts use. In this context, the LDDC arts programme was to have a wider regeneration remit.
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The guidelines
To deliver the programme, the main vehicle was the Arts Incentive Fund. As with the education fund, it required funding partners so that the organisations benefiting had a chance to build relationships that could last beyond the LDDC's lifetime, and it too offered a shrinking proportion in the final years. Once established, it aimed to give not less than 12 grants a year, mostly to projects whose significance was more than local.
The general criteria governing the allocation of grants were later formalised by The Arts Business. These were:
to establish the potential for high quality arts activities in London Docklands
to demonstrate the arts potential both of established and nonestablished 'found' spaces and those not regularly used for the arts
to bring buildings into use as permanent arts venues
to encourage artists and arts organisations to relocate in the area.
Grant aided activities could include all art forms such as dance, opera, classical music, jazz, street theatre, painting, sculpture and photography, and site specific work.
The Arts Incentive Fund has distributed over 100 grants up to a maximum of �15,000 each since 1990 ranging from support for visual arts exhibitions, to site specific installation work, contemporary dance and groundbreaking theatre. In its final phase, since 1994, over 40 grants totalling nearly �400,000 have been distributed. Through a policy of funding only a maximum of 50% of total cost of any one project, the arts programme has brought additional matched funding into the area of over �1.2 million from both the public and private sectors.
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A varied arts programme
In the autumn of 1990, one of the star exhibits at the NextPhase (II) show ( see above ) was the building where it was held: The Wapping Hydraulic Pumping Station, a Grade II* listed building overlooking Shadwell Basin. This breathtaking space was to recur several times in the programmes over the next few years when its grand abandoned halls were used to stunning effect for a variety of exhibitions and performances.
Another former industrial site which was to develop strong links with arts activities was Trinity Buoy Wharf in Leamouth, especially for site-specific work such as Brian Catling's At the Lighthouse with Matt's Gallery in 1992 and Mary Lemley's These fragments we have shored against our ruins - 14 giant cloths containing pigment that had been immersed in the incoming tide at the mouths of the 'hidden' Thames tributaries.
In the same year, Women's Playhouse Trust converted the Jacob Street Studios in Bermondsey into a lavish venue for Nicola LeFanu's commissioned opera Blood Wedding. This was a temporary conversion, but the company, whose appetite for relocation had been awakened, returned there in 1994 with its BBC co-production of Aphra Behn's play The Rover.
One of the first fully public events in the Royal Docks K-R Warehouses was Chisenhale Dance Space's series of performances in Summer 1994.
Other successes included the founding of the Clove Gallery at Butlers Wharf, which turned from temporary shop conversion housing LDDC-funded exhibitions - including work by Dexter Dalwood, Roger Kite, Rosie Leventon, Sharon Kiviand, Trevor Sutton, Rachel Evans, Anya Gailaccio, Catherine Yass, Susan Morris and Stephen Hepworth - into a permanently let gallery by the time LDDC completed its remit in Bermondsey Riverside.
In the BT Streets of London Festival, Docklands came to play a pivotal role, hosting many an opening and closing night performance in partnership with Zap Productions between 1993 and 1997.
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Building on the success of 1991's Festival of Street Music (see above), the Streets of London participation exemplified many of the aims of the LDDC's arts policy: local involvement and participation, a city-wide awareness and audiences coming into Docklands from much farther afield for a truly international showcase of cutting edge theatre.
Highlights included the Spanish pyrotechnic wizardry of Nit Magica by Xarxa at Canary Wharf in August 1993 - the first UK date for this spectacular Spanish ensemble. Xarxa returned to launch the festival in 1995 with Veles e Vent at the Royal Victoria Dock while the grand finale that same year was provided by Compagnie Jo Bithume with Oceano Satanas, a visual feast of giant puppetry, elaborate images, high wire comedy, live music and fireworks at West India Quay on the Isle of Dogs.
In 1996 the festival's opening performance was Apocalypse Noah by Les Treteaux du Coeur Volant, featuring the former Archaos performer Pascualito. These, and other innovative acts such as Strange Fruit, La Compagnie Malabar and Scarabeus, brought performances to Docklands that could not be seen elsewhere in the capital, drawing udiences in their thousands.
One event that Londoners could not help but notice was A Light in Docklands, a technologically innovative and visually stunning light show devised by local artists Peter Fink and Anne Bean to illuminate Canary Wharf and part of the Docklands Light Railway for Christmas 1995. Sponsored by the Docklands business community, including the LDDC, Canary Wharf and the Docklands Light Railway, this large scale work of public art was commissioned to celebrate Docklands' resurgence post-recession and the completion of the Railway's upgrading works, and saw a vast area at the heart of the Isle of Dogs bathed in a glorious interplay of light and colour triggered by passing DLR trains.
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Music events were also on the agenda. High-profiled success arrived with the first Docklands Jazz Festival - Jazz Lunacy - which took place at the Half Moon Theatre at Mile End in 1987. It became known as a milestone in showing that the area could hatch its own events and host high-quality performances, as well as bringing in a mix of audiences from the London area. The programme was lively and drew plenty of attention and was to be built on in the following years, attracting such names as Courtney Pine, the Joe Henderson Trio, Abdullah lbrahim and James Blood Ulmer. It moved to the Design Museum in 1991 and then to Cabot Hall at Canary Wharf where it continued until 1993 when it was sponsored by Texaco Ltd.
Subsequently Docklands accommodated events for the London Jazz Festival, including in 1996 the festival's opening event which brought a big line-up of acid jazz and drum-and-bass, featuring artists from Mambo Inn and the Groove Collective plus d-j LTJ Buken at K-R warehouses in the Royal Victoria Dock.
Another musical example of the LDDC backing an independent initiative came with the all-too-short run of concerts at Cabot Hall in Canary Wharf in 1991. Free lunchtime events attracted large audiences and helped to vitalise the new office environment as well as firmly establish Cabot Hall on London's arts map. When the building's then developer - Olympia & York went into administration in 1992, the LDDC continued to co-fund events at Canary Wharf to maintain profile for the venue.
Today the new owners, Canary Wharf Ltd, have reinstated an adventurous programme of mixed events and have continued with the monthly Comedy Club initiated during those lean years by the LDDC, featuring some of the best talent on the UK comedy circuit.
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Support for local arts groups
Local initiatives were also nurtured by the LDDC, most notably the Docklands Singers, a choir led by conductor/composer Andrew Campling, and a young professional orchestra, the Docklands Sinfonietta, whose first concerts had already won it an immediate reputation for fresh and lively playing. The latter had a strong agenda in music education, making links not only with local communities but with other parts of the curriculum, such as science.
Soon the Sinfonietta was giving LDDC funded series of concerts in local venues and becoming involved in the Corporation's education programme. At one stage it published plans for a floating concert hall to take its performances around the area's water spaces, though the practical obstacles proved too great. Later the orchestra altered its name to Sinfonia 21 and in 1997 it left Docklands for a new base in Kensington, but continued to maintain its educational links in the area.
Similarly, the LDDC supported three outdoor sculpture exhibitions by postgraduate students from the University of East London's MA Art in Architecture course (1993 - 1995).
One aspect that the LDDC's project support aimed to respect was the cultural diversity of the area. A notable example here was Notes from the Street, a photographic project and exhibition in which Antony Lam, a lecturer at Tower Hamlets College, worked with local young people of Bangladeshi origin - some of them fairly disaffected. By no means all the images of Docklands conveyed here were positive, but they were truthful, and the LDDC backed a presentation that spilled over into exhibition panels on the Docklands Light Railway. The East End Festival was another local initiative to receive consistent financial support from the LDDC. (See Education and Training for other culturally specific activities.)
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A shift in focus
From 1995, given its remaining lifespan, the LDDC decided after internal staff changes that instead of filling a post on a short-term basis it would put the arts development programme in the hands of an outside consultancy. It appointed The Arts Business after a competitive tender process. While the Incentive Fund programme continued for the moment along broadly similar lines, some of the events were to have great significance for the future.
The most highly publicised in 1996 was Anya Gailaccio's ice installation Intensities and Surfaces at Wapping Hydraulic Pumping Station, which was enthusiastically reviewed and had its run extended by public demand. Behind the scenes it brought together two LDDC regulars, the venue and the commissioner - Women's Playhouse Trust (WPT). The previous year WPT ran an education-oriented project there involving the Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company and Mulberry School, plus concerts by Shiva Nova and Nitin Sawhney, and subject to funding it had now agreed plans to turn the space into a theatre and a permanent home.
The Greenwich Festival crossed the river in 1996 to become, for the first time, the Greenwich + Docklands International Festival. Previously the festival had been a Greenwich Borough event, mostly local in impact. The local authority and the Festival Director, Bradley Hemmings, had wanted to increase its significance, and to the LDDC the idea of collaborating made more sense than setting up a separate and competing festival for Docklands. The LDDC funded several events in the enlarged 1996 programme, and as the festival expanded it drew in support from the neighbouring boroughs of Lewisham, Tower Hamlets and Newham.
During the 1996 festival, there were 12 events in the LDDC area, plus involvement with the opening event which imaginatively linked the north and south of the Thames (using Island Gardens and Cutty Sark Gardens) with performances on an axis that ran straight through the Greenwich foot tunnel, and fireworks over the river. Street theatre was also much in evidence, with animation events happening in key DLR stations.
Following the objectives of the succession strategy defined by the Arts Business, the Greenwich + Docklands International Festival looked to local, substainable activities as well as high-profile events. One of the Festival initiatives was to develop Gallery 37, an arts apprenticeship scheme designing and building, under the tutelage of professional artists, elaborately decorated items such as benches and tables for sale.
For 1997, the number of events had increased to 35 giving the festival undeniable international clout. The LDDC's input covered among others lrvine Welsh and Boilerhouse Theatre's Headstate at Trinity Buoy Wharf, the flamenco singer Miguel Poveda in concert at Canary Wharf and the brilliant London debut of lndia's first professional woman tabla player Anuradha Pal in duet with Taivin Singh at The Space on the Isle of Dogs. With 1998's festival secure, its future seems assured. From an annual local-authority season with limited outside interest, it has grown in a short time into one of the biggest and most musically wide-ranging festivals in the capital, with roots firmly planted on both sides of the river and a genuine 'East London' focus.
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One of its resources is now The Space, a new venue on the Isle of Dogs which the 1996 festival had previewed. Many years in the making, this imaginative conversion of a derelict church was driven by the vision of its director, Robert Richardson, against what seemed insuperable odds. At first even the LDDC was uncertain - the building looked too far decayed and the investment impossibly large. But funds were painstakingly raised from a range of sources which eventually included the LDDC who made a substantial contribution (�325,000 in total). The turning-point came with the arrival of the National Lottery's capital scheme, to which The Space was the subject of a successful bid.
From the outset it aimed to provide a musically diverse programme aimed primarily at the local community. Mixed in with the music, The Space also offers comedy, film and dance as well as exhibitions in the cafe upstairs. It makes a smaller, relaxed counterpart to the more formal setting of Cabot Hall in Canary Wharf, and it has become a popular as well as distinctive asset. A further phase of development is planned.
In the later years, instead of encouraging relocations of existing companies or activities for their own sake, the LDDC came to place much more emphasis on the capacity for continued life. One task was to prepare for the possible future of redundant building complexes, such as Trinity Buoy Wharf, the Wapping Hydraulic Pumping Station and the K-R Warehouses in the Royal Docks.
The LDDC's capital responsibilities had taken on increased prominence in the final years, and some of the funding was devoted to high-profiled events that would keep key sites in the spotlight. These sites are really part of the Docklands legacy, and will be looked at in the following section.
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Providing for the Future
With the LDDC due to complete its remit at the end of March 1998, a key issue facing its Arts team in the final years was the kind of arts legacy the LDDC could leave behind. Public art is here to stay. There are publications, too. Photo Docklands, published in 1997, is the outcome of an international photographic competition. Six photographers - John Goldblatt,
Dave Lewis, David Moore, Jim Rice, Ruth Stirling and Gerhard Stromberg - were chosen from dozens of entries to create a themed portfolio showing their own interpretation of Docklands life. The photographs were also placed on show in an exhibition at the new Gallery West at Canary Wharf.
Otherwise, in the final period of the arts programme, attention focused on two further areas. one was physical: revitalising buildings with a range of arts uses, some public (like The Space) and some for the benefit of artists. The other was structural: seeking to ensure that a spread of activities, from the Greenwich + Docklands International Festival to the achievements in education, was set up and funded in such a way that it had a good chance of lasting. Although direct funding and action had to cease along with the LDDC, the partners it brought together were therefore encouraged to continue their cultural work.
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Trinity Buoy Wharf
This was one of the prime sites to be dealt with during the last stage. Trinity Buoy Wharf is a self-contained area poised at the confluence of the rivers Lea and the Thames, directly opposite the site of the Millennium Dome. Containing an eclectic mix of historic buildings - including London's only lighthouse (Grade II listed) riverside and open space, it was until 1988 a storage and workshop area belonging to the Trinity House Company.
Equipment was made and tested there, and the experimental lighthouse of 1864 was used for training keepers. The history and symbolism of the buildings made it seem a fitting place for activities that would renew opportunities for employment, and for creative or enlightening work.
Through the Incentive Fund, projects were encouraged which swung the spotlight towards Trinity Buoy Wharf while at the same time a long term use for the site was being sought. Studios, rehearsal and working space, and general cultural industries were in mind when the development brief was launched in 1996 to try and ensure that artists stayed in the area. This kind of use had been tested in the working-up of some of the more site-specific performances and appeared to be thoroughly practicable.
In 1997 a series of public events attracted plenty of notice and were often specially designed or adapted for the setting. They ranged from the London International Festival of Theatre's Utshob, described above , to Boilerhouse Theatre's Headstate for the Greenwich + Docklands International Festival and the site-specific Buoy-o-Lux Festival by the Earthworks Collective, a renowned group of installation artists and performers.
By Spring 1998 the LDDC had established a Trust to safeguard the future use of the site and had selected Urban Space Management (who had successfully rejuvenated Spitalfields Market in the City) as the preferred management contractor for a raft of cultural developments.
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K-R Warehouses, Royal Victoria Dock
The breathtaking indoor spaces of these linked buildings made them seem a natural home for performances on several scales, especially music, dance and filming opportunities. They were the focus of a sustained campaign to attract established central London companies which would be able to put on stagings with unprecedented freedom and adventure. Before the recession, they had appealed strongly to a number of organisations for concerts, theatre and commercial promotions but their sheer size then came to seem daunting.
Subsequently they came to attract dance companies and promoters of massive club-style dance events. As at Trinity Buoy Wharf, a planned series of events - including performances by Chisenhale and Random dance companies gave K-R Warehouses a high profile, so that they were successfully moved on to a future use. They will become part of the new London international exhibition centre, ExCeL, which is being developed on the north side of Royal Victoria Dock. This means they will house events on a large scale, though it is too early to say whether any continuing arts theme will be possible. The nearby University of East London's Docklands Campus will be home to plenty of activity in the visual arts when it opens in September 1999, so there could be the possibility of a relationship.
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West India Quay
West India Quay first gained notice as the venue for the highly successful London Docklands Seafood Fair which for six years from 1992 was held annually on the quayside. This event had expanded from its original mix of food-tasting and popular music to include street theatre and other arts activities. Temporary exhibitions inside the magnificent warehouses included The International Symposium of Shadows by Loophole Cinema in 1996 (an exploration of film and video images mixing contemporary technology and long-established techniques) and Cities and Water featuring a collection of artists showcased by the Francis Kyle Gallery in 1995.
Thanks to a �11.5 million Heritage Lottery Fund grant and additional LDDC funding of �3.5 million, part of the fine early 19th-century Grade I listed warehouse complex here will become the Museum in Docklands, due to open in January 2000.
The new museum is the fulfilment of many years' planning in conjunction with the Museum of London. While the LDDC helped to fund the collection and restoration of dock artefacts and records over the years, the museum vvill have a larger scope than the immediate area, featuring London as a maritime city and telling the story of the river, port and people.
The building conversion will provide galleries, library and archive facilities, temporary exhibition spaces and education facilities. In a separate scheme, adjoining warehouses will be turned into restaurants and shops, with a cinema and hotel planned for a neighbouring site. This substantial piece of cultural regeneration will see a steady flow of visitors, both local and international, in a prime Docklands location close to Canary Wharf, a footstep away via a pedestrian bridge across the dock.
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Wapping Hydraulic Pumping Station
Women's Playhouse Trust have refined their plans for the pumping station over several years. The site was eventually sold to the company through a development agreement which cleared the way to turn it into a theatre and company headquarters, including a rehearsal space, shop and restaurant as well as the fully equipped theatre and administrative offices.
Initial restoration and conversion work is due to take place in the Spring and Summer of 1998, once funding is in place, and the freehold - temporarily placed into the care of the Commission for New Towns - is to pass to WPT as soon as the works are completed. Having been one of the most consistently enthusiastic of arts organisations to explore and work in London Docklands, WPT is set to make its relocation permanent and, with an exciting and imaginative architectural scheme, to bring new life to one of the area's most characterful buildings.
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Public art
The last few commissions - Vowel of Earth Dreaming its Root by Eilis O'Connel, Globe by Richard Wentworth, Traffic Light Tree by Pierre Vivant, all on the Isle of Dogs - were due to be installed by the end of the LDDC's lifetime, or soon after. Concerns then passed to operation and maintenance and to reaching agreement with the local authorities who would be responsible. These issues were part of the general discussion with local authorities regarding the handing on of LDDC responsibilities. As for continuing the adventure, everything will depend on the will and the budget of the successor authorities, and on the social attitudes of private developers who raise the buildings of the future. Individual councillors are likely to remain supportive, but their hands could be tied by government-imposed spending limits. Upkeep will certainly be required. Some pieces have weathered better than others: the bathers at Harbour Exchange, for instance, quickly lost the distinctive blue clothing seen in their widely publicised photographs and gained a coating of green oxide on rather different body parts.
Any desirable future for this wide-flung collection of art needs to have at its centre the means of being seen, enjoyed and valued. One way would be to market tours of the sites. A regular scheduled trip to see the public art of London Docklands would make a fine and surely popular addition to the capital's tourist repertoire and not just for visitors, because many residents who know only a few of the items would be amazed and delighted by a chance to discover the rest.
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Events and education work
In these areas the role of continuing public investment is especially crucial. Otherwise the only shows will be commercial productions. Performers who come to The Space and Cabot Hall, or artists who exhibit in the galleries, will sometimes be in a position to bring part of their own subsidy with them. But projects that are initiated in the area will often need input from the former funding partners.
Some projects have been deliberately initiated so that their conclusion will be long after the LDDC has ceased operating. The success of combining commercial interest and public sector support can be seen in an imaginative project for Locke Wharf, a housing development on the old factory site on the Isle of Dogs that produced the propellers for the Queen Mary ocean liner. Working with Public Arts Development Trust, the artist Stefan Gec is embarking on a project to stir people's memories from those days, linking London with New York, which will result in two years' time in the siting of one of the liner's original propellers on the Docklands site and the regular blowing of the fog. horn in New York. The LDDC has provided the start-up finance; the balance comes from the developers over the next two years.
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Following the launch of TourEast London, a consortium of 22 interested parties to deal with some of the post-LDDC arrangements for tourism, a discussion group including the London Arts Board and local authorities along with the LDDC met under the name of CulturEast London to look at coordinating activities in the arts. The potential members, however, were not able to establish it on a permanent basis. What happens is therefore very much up to individual local authorities: they have a platform on which they can stand if they wish. The Greenwich + Docklands International Festival is a good example of how things could go. Having started as the concern of one local authority, the festival has grown with LDDC encouragement to take in three more and is likely to increase the number in future years.
Applicants to the Arts Incentive and Arts Education and Training programmes were always asked to show long-term plans, and for 1997/98 they had to assure the LDDC that funding was available for the future. All the LDDC-backed projects were followed up during the year to help consolidate the links with other funders.
In practice, many of the projects that had already run for several years had found a momentum of their own and were in a position to continue without difficulty. Some of them are described earlier in this report. It was often an uphill struggle for the companies to raise the required matching funds in the first place, but once having secured the income they have been able to sustain it.
Some other organisations, such as the Academy of Indian Dance and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, have the sources they need to continue their involvement with the area. The University of East London, with its visual arts expertise and potential, is expected to play a substantial part in future plans.
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Conclusion
The LDDC has in less than a decade created substantial elements of an arts infrastructure in a part of London that had previously lacked many of the basic facilities. Alongside independent ventures such as Cabot Hall and the exhibition spaces in Canary Wharf, it has put its resources into the emergence of new galleries and performance venues and helped bring a new life to distinctive buildings whose working days had seemed to be over.
The still-developing plans at Trinity Buoy Wharf and the Royal Docks will create further employment in the arts and cultural industries. To workers, visitors and residents, the LDDC has enhanced the physical environment by offering art commissions of its own and by encouraging developers to take the same public-spirited attitude. Artists and organisations from neighbouring parts of London have discovered the scope for involving themselves with the various communities of the Docklands area, and those communities have found new ways to comprehend and express their experience in a world that has seen change occurring faster than the rest of the city and for a longer time.
Even the name 'London Docklands' is part of the change. It was a creation of the LDDC age. The disparate areas of London's dockland have a long and proud history, but the actual name London Docklands was chosen to express the way these areas with their own characters had been brought at the end of that history under one temporary umbrella.
If 'London Docklands' persists it may be mostly as a brand name for international marketing purposes. But in its brief flourishing it symbolises the most fundamental aim of the arts programme. Making connections: that was the point. Not just between areas that had a shared history, but between one culture and another, between employers and residents, sponsors and local authorities, schools and artists, old and young. There is still much to do, and the LDDC cannot control the political wind that shapes events from now on. It is for others to take inspiration from what is surveyed in this monograph. If the will is there, the LDDC's adventure in cultural regeneration has shown the way.
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Persephone is the Greek goddess of which season? | Persephone, Queen of the Underworld - Greeka.com
Myths
Persephone, Queen of the Underworld
The story of Persephone, the sweet daughter of goddess Demeter who was kidnapped by Hades and later became the Queen of the Underworld, is known all over the world. It is actually the way of the ancient Greeks to explain the change of the seasons, the eternal cycle of the Nature's death and rebirth. Persephone is understood in people's mind as a naive little girl who flows between the protection of the mother and the love of her husband. The myth of Persephone was very popular in the ancient times and it is said that her story was represented in the Eleusinian Mysteries, the great private and secret celebrations of ancient Greece.
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Discover the myth of Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld
The abduction from Hades
According to Greek Mythology, Persephone, the queen of the underworld, was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, the goddess of harvest and fertility. She was also called Kore, which means "maiden" and grew up to be a lovely girl attracting the attention of many gods. However, Demeter had an obsessed love for her only daughter and kept all men away from her.
The most persisting suitor of Persephone was Hades, the god of the Underworld. He was a hard, middle-aged man, living in the dark, among the shadows of the Dead. But his heart softened when he saw Persephone and was amazed by his youth, beauty and freshness. When he asked Demeter to marry her daughter, Demeter got furious and said there wasn't the slightest chance for that to happen. Hades was heart-broken and decided to get Persephone no matter what.
One day, while the young girl was playing and picking flowers along with her friends in a valley, she beheld the most enchanting narcissus she had ever seen. As she stooped down to pick the flower, the earth beneath her feet suddenly cleaved open and through the gap Hades himself came out on his chariot with black horses. Hades grabbed the lovely maiden before she could scream for help and descended into his underworld kingdom while the gap in the earth closed after them.
Desperately looking for Persephone
The other girls had not seen anything because everything happened very quickly. They didn't have a clue for the sudden disappearance of Persephone. The whole incident, however, had been witnessed by Zeus, father of the maiden and brother of the abductor, as well as by Helios, god of the Sun. Zeus decided to keep silent about the whole thing to prevent a fight with his brother while Helios wisely thought it better not to get involved in anything that didn't concern him.
A distraught and heartbroken Demeter wandered the earth looking for her daughter until her good friend Hecate, goddess of wilderness and childbirth, advised her to seek for the help of Helios, the all-seeing Sun god, in order to find her daughter. Helios felt sorry for Demeter, who was crying and pleading him to help her. Thus she revealed her that Persephone had been kidnapped by Hades. When she heard that, Demeter got angry and wanted to take revenge but Helios suggested that it was not such a bad thing for Persephone to be the wife of Hades and queen of the dead.
Trying to find a solution
Demeter, however, could not let it gone. She was furious at this insult and deeply believed that Hades, who after all had only dead people for company, was not the right husband for her sweet daughter. She also got angry at Zeus for not having revealed this to her. To punish gods and to grief, Demeter decided to take a long and indefinite leave from her duties as the goddess of harvest and fertility, with devastating consequences. The earth began to dry up,harvests failed, plants lost their fruitfulness, animals were dying for lack of food and famine spread to the whole earth, resulting in untold misery.
The cries of the people who were suffering reached Olympus and the divine ears of Zeus. The mighty god finally realized that if he wouldn't do something about his wife's wrath, all humanity would disappear. Thus he tried to find another solution to both calm Demeter and please Hades. He promised Demeter to restore Persephone to her if it can be proved that the maiden stays with Hades against her will. Otherwise, Persephone belongs to her husband.
The final solution
The crafty Hades learned this agreement and tricked his reluctant bride, who was crying all day and night from despair, to eat a few seeds of the pomegranate fruit. This was the food of the Underworld and every time someone ate even a few seeds of this, then, after a while, he would miss life in the Underworld. When the gathering in front of Zeus took place and Persephone was asked where she would like to live, she answered she wanted to live with her husband. When Demeter heard that, she got infuriated and accused Hades that somehow he had tricked her daughter.
A great fight followed and Demeter threatened that she would never again make the earth fertile and everyone on Earth would die. To put an ed on this quarrel, Zeus decided that Persephone would spend half months with her husband in Hades and half months with her mother on Olympus. This alternative pleased none of the two opponents, nevertheless that had no other option but accept it.
The explanation of the myth
Thus the lovely maiden Persephone became the rightful wife of Hades and Queen of the Underworld. During the six months that Persephone spent in the Underworld, her mother was sad and not in the mood to deal with harvest. Thus she would leave the Earth to decline.
According to the ancient Greeks, these were the months of Autumn and Winter, when the land is not fertile and does not give crops. Whenever Persephone went to Olympus to live with her mother, Demeter would shine from happiness and the land would become fertile again and fruitful. These were the months of Spring and Summer. Therefore, this myth was created to explain the change of the seasons, the eternal cycle of the Nature's death and rebirth.
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The Prince Edward Islands in the Indian ocean are part of which country? | 1000+ images about Greek mythology. on Pinterest | Hades and persephone, Underworld and Greek gods
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Eostre is the Anglo-Saxon\Norse Goddess of Spring and of the East. The new Christian religion took the name and direction to make their holiday of Easter. As with many a God and Goddess, she has a special time, Dawn. “The dawning of a new spring day” is a saying that incorporates the Goddess’s time with the reason for the celebration, anew and rebirth. Her symbol is the Egg and her favorite animal is the Hare.
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Steve Halliwell plays which character in the UK television soap ‘Emmerdale’? | Emmerdale star Steve Halliwell - I want Zak and Lisa to get back together - Spoilers!
Emmerdale star Steve Halliwell - I want Zak and Lisa to get back together
Is there going to be a Dingle reunion?
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
By David Brown
Tuesday 2 August 2016 at 8:13AM
Emmerdale stalwart Steve Halliwell as admitted that he wants to see his character Zak Dingle reunited with ex-wife Lisa.
"It's because of the long tradition of the Dingles and the fact that Zak and Lisa were a symbol of loyalty and family values," says the actor. "It's what the viewers would like. And it's what I would like too."
Next week's episodes of the ITV soap will see Zak's wedding day to Joanie arrive, but Halliwell says that he's still getting flak from fans about him having split from Lisa in the first place:
"People do shout out at me, 'what are you doing, you naughty man? Get back with Lisa!' And I tell them that's in the hands of the writers. I don't know whether he will get back with her, but I think he could. Viewers say to me that Joanie's all right, but she's not Lisa."
And regular Emmerdale watches might just get the first sign of any reconciliation in an upcoming episode when Zak learns that Lisa isn't coping well with the idea of her ex marrying another woman.
"Because Lisa’s been quite kind about the wedding and has even wished them luck, Zak assumes she’s dealing with it well.
"And when he finds out that she’s not, he feels he has to tell her that he’ll always be there for her if she needs her."
So could this be a hint of a Zak and Lisa reunion? You'll have to watch all the drama on next week's Emmerdale to find out!
You can watch a 60-second rundown of next week's episodes of Emmerdale below
And visit our dedicated Emmerdale page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers
| Zak Dingle |
What is the square root of 361? | Emmerdale spoilers: Joanie Wright disappears on her wedding day in tense scenes
2 August 2016 12:01 AM
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Emmerdale's Zak Dingle is left waiting at the altar next week as Joanie Wright goes AWOL on their wedding day.
Zak is hoping for a happy future with his wife-to-be as the day of their ceremony arrives, but their entire future looks set to be derailed in dramatic style when Joanie (Denise Black) gets cold feet.
There's a bad omen on the eve of the wedding when Zak accidentally calls Joanie by the name of his ex-wife Lisa after some drunken stag night celebrations.
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The next day, an embarrassed Zak apologises and reasserts his love for Joanie - but she isn't so sure anymore and later pays a shock visit to Lisa in her wedding dress.
© ITV
© ITV
© ITV
Joanie has something very important to tell Lisa, but will she head off to get married afterwards? Or will this meeting of Zak's two love interests end in heartbreak for him?
Steve Halliwell, who plays Zak, revealed: "Zak describes Joanie as the woman of his dreams, but he still has some regrets over Lisa. He still has a deep affection for Lisa and always will.
"When he calls Joanie by the wrong name, he's not even aware that he's done it until Kerry points it out to him afterwards. She asks: 'Do you remember saying that when you were drunk?' Zak is absolutely flabbergasted and wonders what he's going to do now. He doesn't remember any of it.
"Zak knows that Joanie isn't going to be happy about it, because it's right before the wedding. Zak making that mistake is a combination of things.
"Zak says that 'he always loved her and always will', which will refer more to Lisa than to Joanie, because he's not known Joanie for that long. His emotions are very mixed because he's drunk."
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On the moment that Zak realises Joanie is late for the wedding, Steve continued: "Sam has to ask Zak: 'Do you think I should keep them all entertained?' That's quite hilarious in some ways. I hope the viewers find it hilarious, because it was on the day!
"Sam starts to do his bird impersonations and various other animals too, trying to keep the guests entertained while they're waiting for Joanie to come. Zak eventually thinks the wedding is not going to happen. But we'll see."
Whatever happens at the wedding, it's clear that Emmerdale fans haven't given up hope of Zak and Lisa reuniting - and even Steve himself is hoping it could happen sooner or later.
© ITV
He laughed: "Viewers often say, 'What are you doing, you naughty man?' Sometimes they even shout things like, 'Get back with Lisa! I always say: 'It's in the hands of the writers, I don't know if he's going to get back with her, but he could well'. People also say to me: 'Joanie is alright but she's not Lisa'.
"I think I'd like to see Zak and Lisa get back together too. Much as I enjoy working with both of them equally, I think because of the long tradition of our family, their relationship was a symbol of loyalty and family values.
"I think that's what the viewers would like and I think it's what I would like too."
Emmerdale airs Zak and Joanie's wedding day on Tuesday, August 9 at 7pm on ITV.
Read more Emmerdale spoilers and news
Want up-to-the-minute soaps news and gossip on your social feeds? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Soaps Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @soapscoop Twitter account .
Digital Spy Soap Scoop video – hit play below for gossip on Grant Mitchell's EastEnders return, Robert going off the rails in Coronation Street, Zak and Joanie's Emmerdale wedding and a brand new McQueen scam in Hollyoaks.
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In which country were the first Olympic Games held in the Southern Hemisphere? | Why Winter Olympics Bypass the Southern Hemisphere
Why Winter Olympics Bypass the Southern Hemisphere
By Laura Poppick, Live Science Contributor |
February 5, 2014 04:54pm ET
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The Northern Hemisphere has considerably more landmass, and more people, than the Southern Hemisphere does.
Credit: NASA Earth Observatory/NOAA NGDC
Of the 22 Winter Olympics that have been held since 1924, none have been hosted in the Southern Hemisphere. Nearly the same is true of the Summer Olympics — only two games have been held down south, both in Australia (1956 and 2000), though the 2016 games are scheduled for Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro.
A number of factors play into the Northern Hemisphere's grip on the games, including various political and socio-economic reasons: Lots of financial resources go into planning and holding the games, and many of the world's wealthiest nations are located in the Northern Hemisphere. This year's Sochi Games are expected to cost Russia more than $50 billion — a bill that not many countries would be able or willing to foot.
But in the case of the Winter Olympics , geology and climate also play major roles in the northern monopoly. [ Images: World's Snow Cover Seen from Space ]
"To have a Winter Olympics, you need a place with snow," Richard Seager, a geologist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University in New York, told Live Science. "In the Southern Hemisphere, that would pretty much limit you to the Andes."
That is, of course, excluding Antarctica , which receives plenty of snow, but has too extreme an environment to hold the Olympics.
Chart shows average high and low temperatures of Olympics sites since 1924.
Credit: by Ross Toro, Infographics Artist
The Northern Hemisphere has greater snow accumulation rates than the Southern Hemisphere because more landmasses in the Northern Hemisphere are located at high latitudes, and therefore receive less direct sunlight in the winter and become colder — and more snow-prone — than landmasses in the Southern Hemisphere. Land in the Southern Hemisphere is concentrated closer to the equator, where more direct sunlight increases heat and lowers the chances of snow accumulation.
Still, other Southern Hemisphere locations get a fair amount of snow, including parts of southern Australia and New Zealand. But Australian snowfall is not consistent enough for the games, and New Zealand is a small country that is relatively isolated and difficult to get to — though it could feasibly be a good candidate in the future, Seager said.
In addition to its high latitudes, land in the Northern Hemisphere is also simply more abundant than land in the Southern Hemisphere, which affects regional and global climate patterns in a way that can slightly favor snowfall in the north.
"Northern Hemisphere winters do tend to be cold and snowy since the large landmasses — away from the moderating influences of the ocean — tend to get very cold," Seager said. Snowfall requires both cold air and moisture, Seager pointed out. "The large ocean areas in the Southern Hemisphere prevent winter from getting too cold, except in Antarctica. Hence, the snow falls in high and cold places — the Andes and the New Zealand Alps — where there is also abundant moisture supply from the ocean."
Seager listed Chile and New Zealand as the two most feasible candidates to host the Winter Olympics in the future.
Follow Laura Poppick on Twitter . Follow us @livescience , Facebook & Google+ . Original article on Live Science .
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| Australia |
How many players are on the field in a rugby union team? | Melbourne, 1956 Olympics
Athletes: 3,184 athletes (371 women, 2,813 men)
Sports:145 events in 17 sports
Did you know that the Olympics were also held at third country during 1956? the Olympics were also held in 1956 in Italy. The winter Olympics that is.
Boycotts
The Games were almost canceled due to an armed conflict both in Europe as well as Africa. In Europe, the Russians had invaded Hungary, while the British and French attacked Egypt in order to regain the Suez Canal. As a sign of protest 6 countries withdrew from the Olympics. The Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland because of the events in Hungary and Iraq and Lebanon because of the conflict in Suez. Less than two weeks before the opening ceremony, the People's Republic of China also pulled out because the Republic of China (Taiwan) had been allowed to compete. Although the Games were not canceled, there were many episodes such as in the water-polo match between Russia and Hungary.
Changes to the Closing Ceremony
Inspired by the Australian teenager John Wing, an Olympic tradition began when the athletes of different nations paraded together at the closing ceremony as a symbol of world unity, a tradition which continues to this day
"During the Games there will be only one nation. War, politics and nationalities will be forgotten. What more could anybody want if the world could be made one nation." - Extract from a letter by John Ian Wing to the Olympic Organizers, 1956.
Although many references imply that before this date the athletes marched with their national teams, in a personal message from John Wing, he points out that athletes did not march in the Closing Ceremony at all until his letter in 1956.
This gesture, and the general feeling around the Games, resulted in the Melbourne Games being nicknamed "the Friendly Games". The song that ended the closing ceremony at the 1956 games was 'Will Ye No Come Back Again?'
Trivia
The Olympic torchbearer for the 1956 Olympics was a virtually unknown 19 year old at the time he carried the torch into the stadium at Melbourne. Ron Clarke went on to become the world's finest distance runner in the 1960s.
The 1956 Games were the first games to be held in the southern hemisphere.
Many know of the grudge polo match between Hungary and the Soviet Union played at the 1956 Games, soon after the Soviets invaded Hungary, but the result? Hungary won 4-0, then went on to win gold.
As quarantine laws did not allow the entry of foreign horses into Australia, equestrian events were held in Stockholm in June 1956. The rest of the Games started in late November, when it was summertime in the Southern Hemisphere.
There were a few political crises: Lichtenstein, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden boycotted the games in protest of the Soviet invasion of Hungary. Egypt, Lebanon, and Iraq did the same as a result of the Suez crisis. The People's Republic of China refused to participate due to the inclusion of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
The Butterfly event in swimming was "invented" for the 1956 Games after some swimmers had begun to exploit a loophole in the breaststroke rules.
East and West Germany were represented by one combined unified team .
The Soviets dominated the field, winning 98 medals, while the Americans won 74.
Athletes
In 1956, the gold medal winning hammer thrower from America, Hal Connolly, won despite a physical disability - his left arm was inches shorter and much less developed that his right.
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Mittwoch is German for which day of the week? | Learn About Months, Dates, Seasons, and Days in German
By Hyde Flippo
Updated August 01, 2016.
After studying this lesson, you'll be able to: (1) say the days and months in German, (2) express calendar dates, (3) talk about the seasons and (4) talk about dates and deadlines (Termine) in German.
Luckily, because they are based on Latin, the English and German words for the months are almost identical. The days in many cases are also similar because of a common Germanic heritage. Most of the days bear the names of Teutonic gods in both languages. For example, the Germanic god of war and thunder, Thor, lends his name to both English Thursday and German Donnerstag (thunder = Donner).
The German Days of the Week (Tage der Woche)
Let's start with the days of the week (Tage der Woche). Most of the days in German end in the word (der) Tag, just as the English days end in "day." The German week (and calendar) starts with Monday (Montag) rather than Sunday. Each day is shown with its common two-letter abbreviation.
Tage der Woche
"sun day"
The seven days of the week are masculine (der) since they usually end in -tag (der Tag). The two exceptions, Mittwoch and Sonnabend, are also masculine. Note that there are two words for Saturday. Samstag is used in most of Germany, in Austria, and in German Switzerland. Sonnabend ("Sunday eve") is used in eastern Germany and roughly north of the city of Münster in northern Germany. So, in Hamburg, Rostock, Leipzig or Berlin, it's Sonnabend; in Cologne, Frankfurt, Munich or Vienna "Saturday" is Samstag. Both words for "Saturday" are understood all over the German-speaking world, but you should try to use the one most common in the region you're in. Note the two-letter abbreviation for each of the days (Mo, Di, Mi, etc.). These are used on calendars, schedules and German/Swiss watches that indicate the day and date.
Using Prepositional Phrases With Days of the Week
To say "on Monday" or "on Friday" you use the prepositional phrase am Montag or am Freitag. (The word am is actually a contraction of an and dem, the dative form of der. More about that below.) Here are some commonly used phrases for the days of the week:
Day Phrases
der
EXAMPLES: am Dienstag (on Tuesday, dative), jeden Tag (every day, accusative)
NOTE: The masculine (der) and neuter (das) make the same changes (look the same) in the dative case. Adjectives or numbers used in the dative will have an -en ending: am sechsten April.
Now we want to apply the information in the chart above. When we use the prepositions an (on) and in (in) with days, months or dates, they take the dative case. Days and months are masculine, so we end up with a combination of an or in plus dem, which equals am or im. To say "in May" or "in November" you use the prepositional phrase im Mai or im November. However, some date expressions that do not use prepositions (jeden Dienstag, letzten Mittwoch) are in the accusative case.
The Months (Die Monate)
The months are all masculine gender (der). There are two words used for July. Juli (YOO-LEE) is the standard form, but German-speakers often say Julei (YOO-LYE) to avoid confusion with Juni- in much the same way that zwo is used for zwei.
The Four Seasons (Die vier Jahreszeiten)
The seasons are all masculine gender (except for das Frühjahr, another word for spring). The months for each season above are, of course, for the northern hemisphere where Germany and the other German-speaking countries lie.
When speaking of a season in general ("Autumn is my favorite season."), in German you almost always use the article: "Der Herbst ist meine Lieblingsjahreszeit." The adjectival forms shown below translate as "springlike, springy," "summerlike" or "autumnal, falllike" (sommerliche Temperaturen = "summerlike/summery temperatures"). In some cases, the noun form is used as a prefix, as in die Winterkleidung = "winter clothing" or die Sommermonate = "the summer months." The prepositional phrase im (in dem) is used for all the seasons when you want to say, for instance, "in (the) spring" (im Frühling). This is the same as for the months.
Die Jahreszeiten - The Seasons
im Winter - in the winter
Prepositional Phrases With Dates
To give a date, such as "on July 4th," you use am (as with the days) and the ordinal number (4th, 5th): am vierten Juli, usually written am 4. Juli. The period after the number represents the -ten ending on the number and is the same as the -th, -rd, or -nd ending used for English ordinal numbers.
Note that numbered dates in German (and in all of the European languages) are always written in the order of day, month, year - rather than month, day, year. For example, in German the date 1/6/01 would be written 6.1.01 (which is Epiphany or Three Kings, the 6th of January 2001). This is the logical order, moving from the smallest unit (the day) to the largest (the year). To review the ordinal numbers, see our German Numbers page. Here are some commonly used phrases for the months and calendar dates:
Calendar Date Phrases
| Wednesday |
What is the name of the Indian python in Rudyard Kipling’s ‘Jungle Book’? | Weekdays in German | Learn German with Music #01 - YouTube
Weekdays in German | Learn German with Music #01
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Uploaded on Oct 24, 2011
In this song we learn the names of the seven days of the week and the ordinal numbers in German.
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1. English: Monday is the first day of the week. German: Montag ist der erste Wochentag.
2. English: Tuesday is the second day of the week. German: Dienstag ist der zweite Wochentag.
3. English: Wednesday is the third day of the week. German: Mittwoch ist der dritte Wochentag.
4. English: Thursday is the fourth day of the week. German: Donnerstag ist der vierte Wochentag.
5. English: Friday is the fifth day of the week. German: Freitag ist der fünfte Wochentag.
6. English: Saturday is the sixth day of the week. German: Sonnabend (oder Samstag) ist der sechste Wochentag.
7. English: Sunday is the seventh day of the week. German: Sonntag ist der siebente Wochentag.
This song in English: http://youtu.be/fHzFr3h5jfg
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Which word is used for the score of zero in a game of tennis? | Why is a score of 0 called 'Love' in tennis and other racquet games? - Quora
Quora
Sports
Why is a score of 0 called "Love" in tennis and other racquet games?
Tennis, Badminton, Table tennis, Squash (not exhaustive list) all these games start at "Love all" and a player remains in love until he scores a point.
At the same time this type of scoring is mainly in racquet games. If Brazil wins Spain 3-0 its called "Three nil" and not "Three Love"
What is the association of Love with no score and racquet games.
Written Jun 23, 2013
Great question.
The actual origin of the word "love" in racket sports is disputed. It was likely from French origin, and the most widely accepted theory is that it derives from the French word for an egg ( l'ouef ), because an egg looks like the number zero. This is similar to the origin of the term 'duck in cricket, as in a duck's egg, which implies that the batsman got out without scoring.
"Love" might also derive from l'heure "the hour" in French, or come from the Dutch expression iets voor lof doen, meaning to do something for praise, and not for monetary benefit. Another theory on the origins of the use of love comes from the acceptance that, at the start of a match, when the scores are still zero, the players still have "love for each other."
Written Nov 30, 2015
Many of the words used in Tennis today came from French Language.
The word Love (for zero score) comes from French word l'oeuf - which means egg which is the shape of zero.
The word Tennis itself originated from the French word tenez - which means to receive.
The word Deuce comes from French words à deux le jeu - which means both players have the game, anyone can win. That is score is tied.
See these articles about history of tennis terminology -
Written Nov 19, 2015
I've read that the reason "love" means "zero" in tennis is that it is a corruption of the French words "l'oeuf," meaning "the egg." Just as in other sports fans and commentators jocularly use metaphors for zero like "wearing the collar," in tennis "l'oeuf" came to mean zero, and in English it sounded like love.
Written Jul 10, 2013
Although the theory is often heard that it represents the French word l'oeuf an 'egg' (from the resembance between an egg and a nought) this seems unlikely. The term "love" is said to come from the English phrase "neither for love nor for money", indicating nothing. (Taken from the book entitled The Guinness Book of Tennis Facts & Feats and Fifteen Love).
Also, it can be traced to the 17th-century expression "play for love," meaning 'to play without any wager, for nothing'. It is this meaning of 'nothing' that love takes on when used in tennis--and in certain card games, as well as in the occasional British football commentary . The proper way to describe a score of zero to zero is to say love-all.
Source(s):
Written Jul 3, 2013
There are a couple theories, according to good ole Wikipedia ( Tennis score )
The origin of the use of "love" for zero is also disputed. It is possible that it derives from the French expression for "the egg" (l'œuf) because an egg looks like the number zero. [2] [3] This is similar to the origin of the term "duck" in cricket , supposedly from "duck's egg", referring to a batsman who has been called out without completing a run. "Love" is also said to derive from l'heure "the hour" in French[ citation needed ]. A third possibility comes from the Dutch expression iets voor lof doen, which means to do something for praise, implying no monetary stakes. [4] Another theory on the origins of the use of "love" comes from the acceptance that, at the start of any match, when scores are at zero, players still have "love for each other". [5]
| Love |
How many months of the year have only 30 days? | britishtennis.com - The British Tennis Website
Association of Tennis Professionals. The ATP are the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuit.
Backhand
To hit the ball across your body. across the left of your body if you are right handed, and across the right of your body if left handed.
Backspin
To hit the bottom of the ball making it spin backwards while moving forwards. See also Dropshot and Slice.
Baseline
The lines at either end of the tennis court, where you serve from.
Baseline Tennis
Lleyton Hewitt is the perfect example, as he is a Baseliner. It simply means that players remain on the baseline during a rally. This method of trying to win points can be tiring, but a good Baseliner will either wear down an opponent or set them up for passing shot.
Best Of Three (or Five)
This is the number of Sets to be played in a match. Men usually play Best Of Five where they need to win 3 Sets to win the game. Women usually play Best Of Three where they need to win 2 Sets to wint the game.
Blue Collar Tennis
You're under pressure in a match and need to work extra hard to win those points!
Break Point
The point in a game where the server risks losing his serve. For example, the score could be 30-40, 15-40, 40-Advantage, etc.
Break Of Serve
When the server loses the Break Point, and therefore loses the game, this is termed a Break Of Service.
Bye
Before the start of a tournament seeded players can be given a Bye, which means they are automatically awarded a place in the second round of the tournament.
Center Mark
This is the small line you find across the middle of the Baseline. You must be the correct side of this line while serving.
Champions Tie Break
Follows the same format as a regular Tie-Break, except the winner is the first to 10 points with 2 points clear. An example of where this is used is The Masters Tennis tournament, the most popular indoor tennis tournament in the UK.
Change Of Ends
Players are required to change ends after every uneven numbered game.
Clay Court
Not often found in the UK! These courts are made of crushed shale, brick, or stone. We do have some Green Clay courts in the UK (same type as in the USA) and they are quite fast, compared to the slower Red Clay courts found mostly in Europe.
Continental Grip
A way of holding your tennis racket in order to help you hit powerful serves, volleys, backhands, and smashes.
Cross Shot
A shot that you hit diagonally across the tennis court, from either the baseline or near the net. If near the net you will usually be required to put a lot more Topspin on the ball in order to bring the ball down quickly enough.
Deuce
If both you and your opponent have 40 points each this is called Deuce.
Donut
If you score zero (0) games in a set this may be referred to as a Donut.
Double Bagel
If you score zero (0) games in two sets this may be referred to as a Double Bagel.
Double Fault
If the server fails to serve correctly on both 1st and 2nd serves this is called a Double Fault. The server then loses this point.
Drive
A powerful shot using a bit of Topspin. Common as a passing shot down the line to leave your opponent scrambling for the ball.
Drop Shot
You need to use a lot of Backspin to perform this shot. It is a more severe version of a Slice, in that the idea is to get the ball just over the net and stop almost immediately just after the net without much bounce.
Eastern Grip
A Forehand grip which which enables the ball to be hit ahead of the body with good follow-through with the racket.
Exhibition Match
A match where no points are awarded to players towards their ATP or WTA rankings. This is for pure entertainment, apart from the fact that players are often paid large sums of appearance money!
Flat Serve
A serve hit very flat and low over the net without any spin. Generally used as a 1st serve as there is greater risk of hitting the net.
Follow-through
Used when performing a ground stroke. Rather than hitting the ball and stopping your racket head quickly, you Follow-through with the racket so it almost ends up over your shoulder. The Follow-through is very influential in the length, speed, and direction of the ground stroke.
Foot Fault
Where the server puts his foot onto or over the Baseline before hitting the ball. If performed on a 1st serve, you will only have your 2nd serve remaining. If performed on your 2nd serve you lose the point.
Forecourt
This is the part of the court between the net and the service line. Usually where you would attempt to volley the ball back over rather than letting it bounce first.
Forehand
To hit the ball from the side where you naturally hold your racket.
Game
Each Set is comprised of at least 6 Games.
Game Point
A point that either server or receiver needs to win a game.
Golden Set
A set of tennis which is won 6-0 without dropping a single point. Only one player in the history of professional tennis has ever achieved this, Bill Scanlon (USA). It was against Marcos Hocevar (Brazil) in the first round of the WCT Gold Coast Classic at Del Ray (Florida, USA) on 22 February 1983. Bill Scanlon won the match 6-2, 6-0.
Grand Slam
To win all 4 of major tennis tournaments (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open) in one season you are said to have won the Grand Slam. Therefore, the 4 major tournaments are also known as Grand Slam events.
Ground Strokes
Any type of shot (Forehand and Backhand) across the net where the ball bounces.
Half Court
The half of the court nearest to the service line.
Half-volley
To hit the tennis ball immediately after it has off the ground, so you're hitting the ball on it's upward bounce.
Hard Court
A tennis court which has a surface made from asphalt, concrete, etc.
Hot Dog
Used to describe a showoff on the tennis court i.e. a player smashing the ball at every opportunity or playing trick shots. A perfect example would be trick shot legend Mansour Bahrami.
Inside-Out
An Inside-Out Forehand is to run around the ball to take it on your forehand, even though it has been hit to you in a natural backhand position. An Inside-Out Backhand is the exact opposite.
Kick Serve
A serve with plenty of spin enabling it to change direction once hitting the ground. This can result in the receiver misreading the bounce of the ball and playing a sub-standard return shot.
Let
Called to announce that a point is to be replayed. A common example is when a serve clips the top of the net but still lands correctly in the court.
Lob
To hit the ball over your opponents head using a lot of Topspin. Best played when your opponent is at the net.
Love
When one of the tennis players has a score of zero (0).
Match Point
A point that either server or receiver needs to win a match.
Mini-break
If the server loses one of his two service points during a Tie-break, this is called a Mini-break.
Net
Same as a Let call (see above).
Overhead Smash
A shot played above the head, hitting the ball downwards, hard and fast into your opponents side of the court
Overrule
Where the Umpire decides his opinion of a line-call (etc.) is better than that of a line judge.
Passing Shot
A shot played down the line while your opponent is close to the net, but is unable to return.
Qualifying Competition
Seeded players are always pre-qualified for tournaments, but lesser players must perform well in Qualifying Competitions in order to earn their place in many tournaments.
Rubber
A term used in the Davis Cup, which essentially means a "heat" or a "leg". The Davis Cup consists of one Doubles Rubber and four Singles Rubbers. As an example, if you win the first Singles match, you have won a Rubber or a Singles Rubber.
Serena Slam
A term created after Serena Williams consecutively won all 4 Grand Slam events, but not in the same season. In 2002 Serena won the French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open, followed by the Australian Open in 2003.
Show Court (Showcourt)
A tennis court which is the one of the most prized of all to play on or to spectate on. For example, at Wimbledon the show courts are Centre Court, No.1 Court, and No.2 Court.
Slice
You use Backspin to perform this type of shot. Often used as a defensive shot to return fast served ball deep into your opponents court and slow the game down. Similar in execution to the Drop Shot.
Tie break
This method is used to determine the winner of a Set once the score in Games is 6-6. See Rules Of Tennis (Brief) for full details. Or see above for details of the Champions Tie Break variant.
Topspin
To hit the top of the ball making it spin forwards while moving forwards, and forcing the ball to curve down over the net.
Umpire
The person who controls the game, the players, the score, and his line judges!
Unforced Error
Where a player is not under any pressure from an opponent yet plays a shot which does not land in the court.
Volley
To hit the ball before it bounces.
Western
A way of holding your tennis racket in order to help you hit Topspin Forehand shots.
Wildcard
Given to select players who have not qualified for a tournament so they can participate. Preference usually given to young talent in the host country and also big name players who have slipped down the rankings.
Wing
Term often used meaning Backhand side and/or Forehand side. For example, a player may be comfortable to volley from either Wing.
WTA
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Who played Fred Flinstone in the 1994 film ‘The Flintstones’? | The Flintstones (1994) - IMDb
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In this live-action feature of the cartoon show, Fred Flintstone finally gets the job he's always wanted, but it may just come at a price.
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From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video
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6 wins & 10 nominations. See more awards »
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In this live-action prequel to the 1994 comedy hit, the Flintstones and the Rubbles go on a trip to Rock Vegas, where Wilma is pursued by playboy Chip Rockefeller.
Director: Brian Levant
The Szalinski family is back, this time hilarious disaster strikes when an experiment causes their new toddler son to grow many stories tall.
Director: Randal Kleiser
A paranormal expert and his daughter bunk in an abandoned house populated by three mischievous ghosts and one friendly one.
Director: Brad Silberling
The misadventures of two modern-day Stone Age families, the Flintstones and the Rubbles.
Stars: Alan Reed, Mel Blanc, Jean Vander Pyl
A rich young boy finds his family targeted in an inside job and must use his cunning to save them.
Director: Donald Petrie
The scientist father of a teenage girl and boy accidentally shrinks his and two other neighborhood teens to the size of insects. Now the teens must fight diminutive dangers as the father searches for them.
Director: Joe Johnston
When his parents have to go out of town, Dennis stays with Mr. and Mrs. Wilson. The little menace is driving Mr. Wilson crazy, but Dennis is just trying to be helpful. Even to the thief who's arrived in town.
Director: Nick Castle
Wayne Szalinzki a wacky, absent-minded inventor, is back again but only this time he decides to use his infamous shrink machine just one more time. After when his wife Diane asks him to get... See full summary »
Director: Dean Cundey
A woman kidnaps puppies to kill them for their fur, but various animals then gang up against her and get their revenge in slapstick fashion.
Director: Stephen Herek
Alfalfa is wooing Darla and his "He-Man-Woman-Hating" friends attempt to sabotage the relationship.
Director: Penelope Spheeris
A man raised in the jungle by apes falls in love with a wealthy American heiress.
Director: Sam Weisman
A slobbering St. Bernard becomes the center of attention for a loving family, but must contend with a dog-napping veterinarian and his henchmen.
Director: Brian Levant
Edit
Storyline
The Flintstones and the Rubbles are modern stone-age families. Fred and Barney work at Slate and Company, mining rock. Fred gives Barney some money so he and Betty can adopt a baby. When Fred and Barney take a test to determine who should become the new associate vice president, Barney returns the favor by switching his test answers for Fred's, whose answers aren't very good. Fred gets the executive position, but little does he know that he's being manipulated by his boss to be the fall guy for an embezzlement scheme. Written by Ed Sutton <[email protected]>
Rated PG for some mild innuendos | See all certifications »
Parents Guide:
27 May 1994 (USA) See more »
Also Known As:
The Flintstones: The Live-Action Movie See more »
Filming Locations:
Did You Know?
Trivia
The "Bowling Alley" scene, (that was Fred Flintstone's favorite hobby) was almost not in the movie, it was added at the last moment, especially to add five minutes to the length of filming, so it would surpass 90 minutes, (without the Opening Credits & Closing Credits) because Fred's "Twinkle Toes" bowling style was such a big part of the series, they felt they couldn't leave it out. See more »
Goofs
During the opening scene, the roof of Fred's car is shorter than it is for the rest of the movie. (See trivia.) See more »
Quotes
See more »
Crazy Credits
The Universal Pictures logo is designed in Bedrock fashion: it features a prehistoric Earth with the single continent of Pangaea and reads "Univershell". It is also accompanied by the 1960s theme music from Revue Productions (which Universal owned), which is fitting for a 1960s cartoon. See more »
Connections
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Frequently Asked Questions
(Escondido, California, USA) – See all my reviews
I'm rather disappointed to see that this film has such a low rating on IMDb, this film was great! I was a huge fan of the cartoon back in my childhood and it was great to see the live-action version of the cartoon! The story is pretty good, although it is obviously directed toward it's child audience, but I still loved it.
I can't talk about this movie without talking about the special effects! They were incredible!!! Dino looked absolutely spectacular! As did the other dinosaurs and beasts in the film. I really liked the sets and the wardrobe as well. You can tell that a lot of work went into this film and a great deal of thought.
The cast was nearly perfect! John Goodman was just fantastic as Fred Flintstone and was perfect for the part! Rick Moranis wouldn't have been my first choice for Barney Rubble, but he did a superb job! I've always liked Rick Moranis, this guy needs to do more films! Elizabeth Perkins was excellent as Wilma Flintstone, and is quite the looker in the film. The only complaint I have is Rosie O'Donnell, I'm sorry, but something about her just rubs me the wrong way. I've never really liked her acting very much, and I don't think she really fit the role of Betty Rubble. I would have preferred to see someone else in the role. Kyle MacLachlan was a very good villain and Halle Berry was PERFECT! Elizabeth Taylor was a nice touch as well, I wouldn't have expected to see her in the film, but she did a very good job.
If you like the cartoon, then you should definitely give this a shot. The comedy was very similar to the television show, so I don't think you'll be disappointed. Anyhow, I really enjoyed the film and I hope that you will too. Thanks for reading,
-Chris
37 of 54 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?
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| John Goodman |
Dr Robert Langdon is a fictional character in a series of novels by which author? | Fred Flintstone Biography (Animated Character)
Birthplace:
Best known as: Star of TV's The Flintstones
Fred Flintstone was the prehistoric dad in the animated comedy The Flintstones, a prime-time TV series that aired from 1960-66. Fred was a blustery, egotistical Stone Age family man who lived in the town of Bedrock and worked in a rock quarry. (The show had many parallels to Jackie Gleason 's hit show The Honeymooners.) The show's running gag was its caricatures of modern conveniences; Fred's construction crane was actually a long-necked dinosaur, a phonograph needle was actually a bird with a pointed beak, and so forth. Other characters included Fred's skeptical wife Wilma and daughter Pebbles, the neighbors Barney and Betty Rubble, and their boy Bam Bam. (In later episodes Fred was sometimes joined by the Great Gazoo, a tiny but powerful green being from outer space.) The Flintstones continued for decades in reruns and spun off several related cartoon series, and Fred's shout of "Yabba dabba doo!" was TV's most popular cartoon catch-phrase until Homer Simpson 's "D'oh!"
Extra credit:
The Flintstones was created by Hanna-Barbera studios… Alan Reed, who voiced Fred in the original series, played Pancho Villa opposite Marlon Brando in the 1952 film Viva Zapata !… Both Barney Rubble and Fred’s pet dinosaur Dino were voiced by Mel Blanc, who also voiced Bugs Bunny and many other Warner Brothers cartoon characters… Actor John Goodman played Fred in the 1994 live-action film The Flintstones; Mark Addy played Fred in the 2000 sequel, The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas.
Copyright © 1998-2017 by Who2?, LLC. All rights reserved.
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Ombrophobia is an irrational fear of which weather condition? | Ombrophobia – Symptoms and Causes of Ombrophobia – Treatment
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Ombrophobia
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Most of us are familiar with the idea of a “rainy day.” Rain is usually seen as a threat to our entertainment, forcing us to stay indoors and away from the inclement weather. However, some people may have even more of an issue with the idea of a rainy day. Ombrophobia is an abnormal fear of rain that may cause a person to experience symptoms very similar to severe anxiety attacks .
Symptoms of Ombrophobia
Symptoms that are commonly associated with an immense fear of the rain usually run parallel to most panic attacks or anxiety disorders . When placed in a stressful situation, presented with rain or images of rain, a sufferer may experience one or more of the following:
Inability to think or speak clearly
Trembling or muscle tension
Causes of Ombrophobia
There are several reasons why a person may develop an irrational fear or rain. Ombrophobia is commonly associated with a fear with either disease or sickness. These people may have been told, at a young age, that going outside into the rain would make them sick. Later in life, this fear can manifest itself and turn into a complete phobia. Another common cause for ombrophobia is the feeling of depression most people associate with a cloudy day or a gray sky. In this case, the person usually fears the effects of depression and worry that rain will slowly deteriorate their mental balance.
Ombrophobia can also be onset by a traumatic event experienced during their lifetime. In this case, the sight or idea of rain will trigger the repressed traumatic event and cause the person to relive the moment. Unfortunately, this phobia will likely worsen over time if it is not properly treated by either professional or self-help methods . If you allow ombrophobia to manifest itself, the fear may slowly become more intense and other severe symptoms, such as depression, may begin to appear.
Treatment of Ombrophobia
Professional methods may include exposure therapy, group therapy or the solution may be as simple as learning new breathing techniques to better manage your stress when presented with rain. The most important part of choosing a treatment method is finding one that you will be able to stick with and can easily adapt to your lifestyle. If you are tired of living with an irrational fear of rain and are looking for a way to overcome your ombrophobia, it may be time to start researching different treatment options available to you.
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| Rain |
Athlete Francis Morgan Thompson is better known by what name? | Pluviophobia - RightDiagnosis.com
Pluviophobia
Pluviophobia (medical condition): An exaggerated or irrational fear of rain or being... more »
See also:
» Treatments for Ombrophobia
Pluviophobia: Related Diseases
Pluviophobia: Pluviophobia is listed as a type of (or associated with) the following medical conditions in our database:
Some of the symptoms of Pluviophobia incude:
Irrational fear of rain
See full list of 11 symptoms of Pluviophobia (Ombrophobia)
Treatments for Pluviophobia (Ombrophobia)
Treatments for Pluviophobia (Ombrophobia) include:
Behavior therapy, anti-anxiety medication
Read more about treatments for Pluviophobia
Treatment of Pluviophobia: For more treatment information about Pluviophobia, see treatment of Ombrophobia (Pluviophobia)
Interesting Medical Articles:
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The Brix Scale is a system used in the US to measure the content of what in grapes and wine? | What is Brix? Winemaking Secrets | Wine Folly
What is Brix? Winemaking Secrets
Articles , Intermediate , Winemaking
If you’ve ever traveled to wine country or glanced at a wine bottle tech sheet then you’ve probably come across the words “Brix” with a number after it, such as 19.5, 23 or sometimes up to 26.
Brix measures must levels (sugar) in wine grapes that ultimately determines how much alcohol a wine will have. Learn the secrets to what Brix tells you on a wine stat sheet.
What is Brix?
Brix (°Bx) is a way to measure the potential alcohol content of a wine before it’s made by determining the sugar level in grapes. Each gram of sugar that’s fermented will turn into about a 1/2 gram of alcohol. Of course, different winemaking techniques will affect the final alcohol content, which is why Brix is interesting to us inquisitive wine explorers.
Brix Measures Alcohol Potential
Brix correlates to the potential alcohol content of a dry wine. If everything ferments perfectly at the winery, the Brix-to-alcohol chart looks like this:
Alcohol content is determined with an alcohol conversion factor of 0.59 and rounded to the nearest tenth. It’s common to see conversions from 0.55 – 0.65 depending on grape type, yeast strain, data collection error, etc.
The Secrets Brix Can Tell You About a Wine
If a Wine Has Lower Alcohol Than the Brix Scale Suggests
WINE WAS ‘WATERED BACK’: If the wine is dry and has less alcohol than the Brix scale suggests then the wine was most likely ‘watered back’ during vinification . ‘Watering back’ simply means some of the sweet grape juice is drained off and replaced with plain water. The leftover pink-tinted grape juice is used to create a rosé wine called Saignée . This technique is commonly practiced in warm climate regions where grapes become very sweet by the time they’re ready to be picked.
WINE IS SWEET: Another possibility is that the wine is sweet! For example, German law requires that all Spätlese Riesling wines have a minimum Brix level 20, but many of the wines only have 7.5% alcohol by volume (ABV). In this example, you could assume that the wine would have about 75 g/L of leftover grape sugar, called residual sugar (RS). By the way, 75 grams per liter RS is equal to about 3 teaspoons of sugar per 5 ounce (150 ml) serving.
If a Wine Has Higher Alcohol Than the Brix Scale Suggests
WINE WAS CHAPTALIZED: If the wine has higher alcohol than the Brix scale, then it’s possible that the winemaker added sugar or concentrated grape must to the fermentation to get the wine to have a higher alcohol level. This technique is called Chaptalization and it’s commonly practiced in cooler climate countries such as France where it’s very hard to ripen grapes properly.
For example, before 2011, Bourgogne Blanc (a.k.a. French Chardonnay) allowed a minimum must weight 153 g/L which would only make a wine with 8.5% ABV. Oddly enough, the minimum alcohol level was 10.5% ABV. Fortunately, France increased the minimum must weight to 170 g/L. Just so you know, French wine has some of the most rigid regulations in the world, so it’s nice to see that they adjusted the rules to ensure quality. Thank you France, that was nice of you.
How Brix is Measured
IN THE VINEYARD: Brix levels are collected in vineyards right before the harvest to determine whether the grapes are ready to get picked. In the vineyards, winemakers use a device called a refractometer where they can crush single grapes from different sections of their vineyard to see what sections are ripening first.
IN THE WINERY: Brix levels are collected again after the grapes have been pressed at the winery to analyze the final sugar content and the potential alcohol level of the wine. At this point, winemakers usually use a hydrometer, which is a simple mechanical tool that floats at a certain density similar to a cartisian diver or Galileo’s thermometer.
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| Sugar |
The Painted Desert is in which US state? | How To Use A Refractometer - grapestompers
How To Use A Refractometer in Winemaking
It's important for winemakers to know how to use a refractometer, because it is used to measure the amount of sugar (actually, the percentage Brix) in the juice of grapes or other fresh fruit. Winemakers know there is a direct correlation between the amount of sugar present and the ability to make wine. This portable instrument (it'll fit in your pocket) allows the winemaker to assess the ripeness of fruit by measuring Brix in the field or vineyard so he or she can decide the proper harvest time depending upon the readings taken.
This page explains what a refractometer does, how it works, how to calibrate and use it, tips for buying the best model, and how to take care of it.
What Is A Refractometer?
A refractometer is a relatively inexpensive yet essential piece of test equipment used by vineyard managers and winemakers. The rugged exterior of metal, rubber and plastic protects the highly polished optical glass, mirrors and prisms that are contained within. Once the sample is in place underneath the daylight plate, the winemaker can see the percentage Brix reading by looking through the monocular / eyepiece and reading the scale that is seen when he or she holds the refractometer in natural light.
What Does A Refractometer Do, and How Does It Work?
As previously stated, a refractometer allows the winemaker to figure the percentage Brix (the relative "sugar weight" of a sample compared to distilled water) of the juice of grapes or other fresh fruit. Brix is sometimes referred to as Balling - don't worry, the terms are interchangeable. Depending upon the readings observed, a winemaker can monitor the progress of ripening and adjust his/her plans for harvest, if necessary.
In simplest terms, the refractometer works much like a prism. Remember how, as a child, you could use a prism to separate out the different wavelengths of light (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) when a source of light was shone on the prism at the correct angle? Well, the modern refractometer works on the same principle - it reacts differently to light (by giving a reading on a scale) depending upon the amount of sugar that is available in the liquid sample held between the daylight plate and the main prism assembly.
How to Calibrate and Use Your Refractometer
Before you start taking readings, it's very important to calibrate the refractometer. Some refractometers require the use of a special calibration liquid to perform this task, while others (like the ones sold at grapestompers.com) are calibrated with distilled water.
Let's get to it!
Begin the calibration of your refractometer by lifting up the daylight plate and placing 2-3 drops of distilled water on top of the prism assembly. Close the daylight plate so the water spreads across the entire surface of the prism without any air bubbles or dry spots.
Allow the test sample to sit on the prism for approximately 30 seconds before you attempt calibration in the next step. This allows the sample to adjust to the ambient temperature of the refractometer.
FIGURE 3
Finally, we get to sample some real grapes! Don't fall into the trap of sampling only one or two grapes - select a group of grapes at random from across your vineyard and combine their juice to get a good cross section sample of your crop.
As you can see, this sample is reading 23% Brix. Looks like it's time to make wine!
Be sure to cleanse and dry the refractometer before putting it away in storage.
Warnings and Maintenance of Your Refractometer
Accurate measurement depends on careful calibration. Follow the instructions above closely. A reminder: Differences between the ambient room temperature of the prism and the temperature of the sample will throw off the accuracy of your reading. Remember to allow the sample to rest on the prism assembly for 30 seconds before taking a reading.
Do not expose the refractometer to damp working conditions. Do not immerse the instrument in water. If the instrument becomes foggy, water has entered the body. Call a qualified service technician or contact your dealer to purchase a new refractometer.
Do not measure abrasive or corrosive chemicals with this instrument, because they can damage the prism's coating.
Clean the instrument between each measurement using a soft, damp cloth. Failure to clean the prism on a regular basis will lead to inaccurate results and damage to the prism's coating.
The refractometer is an optical instrument. It requires careful handling and storage. Failure to do so can result in damage to the optical components and its basic structure. With care, this instrument will provide years of reliable service.
Buying Tips
When you purchase a refractometer, you'll need to know:
The range of readings (highest to lowest), to make sure it will suit your purpose. A standard range for home brewers is 0 to 32% Brix. For example, in order to achieve a 13% wine, you'll want to start your wine at a Brix of 23.
The ease with which the refractometer can be read and understood. Some less expensive refractometers are difficult to read, either due to a lack of a focus adjustment, inferior optics, or the eyepiece lacks a rubber seal and will not fit snugly over your eye.
The calibration temperature of the refractometer. The most common calibration temp is 20° C or 68° F. If your sample is not exactly 68° F, you will need to make mathematical corrections to compensate for the temperature difference. Luckily, many modern models of refractometers (like the ones stocked by grapestompers) are sold with ATC (automatic temperature compensation), so you never have to worry about the temperature of your sample.
How easy it is to calibrate. Must you purchase a calibration liquid, or can you calibrate with distilled water? Does it calibrate with a set screw or a dial or knob?
How easy it is to clean.
If it comes with a protective case (they're pretty fragile) and instruction manual.
Conclusion
There are many reasons why a winemaker might want to use a refractometer:
To measure the percentage Brix of grapes or other fresh fruit
To determine progress of crop ripening
To measure progress of fermentation
To measure the amount of sugar present in grapes or other fruit
To allow the winemaker to determine when fruit is at its peak of ripeness and should be harvested
Here's some other refractometer pages we recommend:
Refraction of Light - the first part of this page explains the principles of refractometry.
How a refractometer works - the bottom half of this page has a great explanation of how the refractometer works, as well as a diagram of its internal construction.
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In religion, according to Islam, who was the last of the prophets? | Belief in the Prophets - The Religion of Islam
The Six Pillars of Faith and Other Islamic Beliefs
Belief in the Prophets
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Description: The purpose and role of the Prophets, the nature of the message that they brought to humanity, and the emphasis that they were mere humans with no divine attributes.
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Published on 16 Jan 2006
Last modified on 04 Jan 2015
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Belief in certain prophets who God chose to relay His message to humans is a required article of Islamic faith.
"The Prophet (Muhammad) believes in what has been sent down to him from his Lord, and (so do) the believers.� Each one believes in God, His Angels, His Books, and His prophets.� (They say,) �We make no distinction between one another of His prophets...�" (Quran 2:285)
God conveys His message and relates His will through human prophets.� They form a link between the earthly beings and the heavens, in the sense that God has picked them to deliver His message to human beings.� There are no other channels to receive divine communications.� It is the system of communication between the Creator and the created.� God does not send angels to every single individual, nor does He open the skies so people can climb up to receive the message.� His way of communication is through human prophets who receive the message through angels.
To have faith in the prophets (or messengers) is to firmly believe that God chose morally upright men to bear His message and pass it to humanity.� Blessed were those who followed them, and wretched were those who refused to obey.� They faithfully delivered the message, without hiding, altering, or corrupting it.� Rejecting a prophet is rejecting the One who sent him, and disobeying a prophet is disobeying the One who commanded to obey him.
God sent to every nation a prophet, mostly from amongst them, to call them to worship God alone and to shun false gods.
"And ask (O Muhammad) those of Our prophets whom We sent before you: �Did We ever appoint gods to be worshipped besides the Most Merciful (God)?�" (Quran 43:45)
Muslims believe in those prophets mentioned by name in Islamic sources, such as Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, David, Solomon, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, to name a few.� A general belief is held in those not mentioned by name, as God says:
"And, indeed We have sent prophets before you (O Muhammad), of some of them We have related to you their story, and of some We have not related to you their story..." (Quran 40:78)
Muslims firmly believe the final prophet was the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, and there will be no prophet or messenger after him.
To appreciate this fact, one must understand that the teachings of the last prophet are preserved in original language in their primary sources.� There is no need for another prophet.� In the case of earlier prophets, their scriptures were lost or their message was corrupted to the point that truth was hardly distinguishable from falsehood.� The message of the Prophet Muhammad is clear and preserved and will remain so till the end of time.
The Purpose for Sending Prophets
We can identify the following main reasons for sending prophets:
(1)� Guiding humanity from the worship of created beings to the worship of their Creator, from being in a state of servitude to the creation to the freedom of worshipping their Lord.
(2)� Clarifying to humanity the purpose of creation: worshipping God and obeying His commands, as well as clarifying that this life is a test for each individual, a test of which its results will decide the type of life one will lead after death; a life of eternal misery or eternal bliss.� There is no other definite way to find the true purpose of creation.
(3)� Showing humanity the right path that will lead them to Paradise and to salvation from Hellfire.
(4)� Establishing proof against humanity by sending prophets, so people will not have an excuse when they will be questioned on the Day of Judgment.� They will not be able to claim ignorance to the purpose of their creation and life after death.
(5)� Uncovering the unseen �world� which exists beyond the normal senses and the physical universe, such as the knowledge of God, existence of angels, and the reality of the Day of Judgment.
(6)� Providing human beings practical examples to lead moral, righteous, purpose-driven lives free of doubts and confusion.� Innately, human beings admire fellow human beings, so the best examples of righteousness for humans to imitate are those of God�s prophets.
(7)� Purifying the soul from materialism, sin, and heedlessness.
(8)� Conveying to humanity the teachings of God, which is for their own benefit in this life and in the Hereafter.
Their Message
The single most important message of all prophets to their people was to worship God alone and none else and to follow His teachings.� All of them, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Moses, Aaron, David, Solomon, Jesus, Muhammad and others, in addition to those we do not know - invited people to worship God and shun false gods.
Moses declared: "Hear, O Israel The Lord our God is one Lord." (Deuteronomy 6:4).
This was repeated 1500 years later by Jesus, when he said: "The first of all the commandments is, �Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord.�" (Mark 12:29).
Finally, the call of Muhammad some 600 years later reverberated across the hills of Mecca:
"And your God is One God: there is no god but He..." (Quran 2:163)
The Holy Quran states this fact clearly:
"And We did not send any Messenger before you (O Muhammad) but We revealed to him (saying): �none has the right to be worshipped but I, so worship Me.�" (Quran 21:25)
The Message Bearers
God chose the best among humanity to deliver His message.� Prophethood is not earned or acquired like higher education.� God chooses whom He pleases for this purpose.
They were the best in morals and they were mentally and physically fit, protected by God from falling into cardinal, major sins.� They did not err or commit mistakes in delivering the message.� They were over one hundred thousand prophets sent to all mankind, to all nations and races, in all corners of the world.� Some prophets were superior to others.� The best among them were Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him.
People went to extremes with the prophets.� They were rejected and accused of being sorcerers, madmen, and liars.� Others turned them into gods by giving them divine powers, or declared them to be His children, like what happened to Jesus.
In truth, they were fully human with no divine attributes or power.� They were God�s worshipping slaves.� They ate, drank, slept, and lived normal human lives.� They did not have the power to make anyone accept their message or to forgive sins.� Their knowledge of future was limited to what God revealed to them.� They had no part in running the affairs of the universe.
Out of the Infinite Mercy and Love of God, He sent to humanity prophets, guiding them to that which is the best. He sent them as an example for humanity to follow, and if one does follow their example, they would live a life in accordance to the Will of God, earning His Love and Pleasure
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| Muhammad |
What are the two inferior planets in our solar system? | Belief in Scriptures - The Religion of Islam
The Six Pillars of Faith and Other Islamic Beliefs
Belief in Scriptures
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Description: Why God revealed His message in the form of scriptures, and a brief description of the �two of the Scriptures of God: the Bible, and the Quran.
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Published on 16 Jan 2006
Last modified on 04 Jan 2015
Printed: 1231
Viewed: 83779 (daily average: 21)
Rating: 4.2 out of 5
Rated by: 55
Belief in the scriptures revealed by God is the third article of Islamic faith.
We can identify four main reasons for the revelation of scriptures:
(1)� The scripture revealed to a prophet is a point of reference to learn the religion and obligations towards God and fellow human beings. �God reveals Himself and explains the purpose of human creation through revealed scriptures.
(2)� By referring to it, 'disputes and differences between its followers in matter of religious belief and practice or in matters of social practice could be settled.
(3)� The scriptures are meant to keep the religion safe from corruption and deterioration, at least for some time after the death of the prophet. �At the present time, the Quran revealed to our Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, is the only scripture to remain safe from corruption.
(4)� It is God�s proof against human beings.� They are not allowed to oppose or overstep it.
A Muslim firmly believes that divinely revealed books were actually revealed by the Compassionate God to His prophets to guide mankind.� The Quran is not the only spoken Word of God, but God also spoke to prophets before Prophet Muhammad.
"�and to Moses God spoke directly." (Quran 4:164)
God describes true believers are those who:
"�believe in what has been sent down to you (Muhammad) and what has been sent down before you�" (Quran 2:4)
The most important and central message of all scriptures was to worship God and God alone.
"And we sent never a prophet before you except that we revealed to him, saying, �there is no God but I, so worship Me.�" (Quran 21:25)
Islam is more inclusive in the holy revelations it affirms than any other heavenly religion in its present form.
Muslims uphold and respect the following scriptures:
(i)�� The Quran itself, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.
(ii)� The Torah (Tawrah in Arabic) revealed to the Prophet Moses (different from the Old Testament read today).
(iii) The Gospel (Injeel in Arabic) revealed to Prophet Jesus (different from the New Testament read in churches today).
(iv) The Psalms (Zaboor in Arabic) of David.
(v)� The Scrolls (Suhuf in Arabic) of Moses and Abraham.
Third, Muslims believe whatever is true in them and has neither been altered or �deliberately misconstrued.
Fourth, Islam affirms that God revealed the Quran as a witness over the previous scriptures and confirmation of them, because He says therein:
"And We have sent down to you (O Muhammad) the Book (the Quran) in truth, confirming the scripture that came before it and trustworthy in highness and a witness over it (the collection of old scriptures)�" (Quran 5:48)
Meaning the Quran confirms whatever is true in previous scriptures and rejects whatever alterations and changes human hands have made to them.
Original Scriptures and the Bible
We must distinguish between two matters: the original Torah, Gospel, and Psalms and the present day Bible.� The originals were God�s revelation, but the present day Bible does not have the exact original scripture.
No divine scripture exists today in the original language it was revealed in, except the Quran.� The Bible was not revealed in English. �Different books of today�s Bible are at best tertiary translations and different versions exist.� These multiple translations were done by people whose knowledge, skill, or honesty is not known.� As a result, some bibles are larger than others and have contradictions and internal inconsistencies! �No originals exist.� The Quran, on the other hand, is the only scripture in existence today in its original language and words.� Not one letter of the Quran has been changed since its revelation. �It is internally consistent with no contradictions.� It is today as it was revealed 1400 years ago, transmitted by a rock-solid tradition of memorization and writing.� Unlike other sacred texts, the entire Quran has been memorized by almost every Islamic scholar and hundreds of thousands of ordinary Muslims, generation after generation!
The previous scriptures essentially consist of:
(i)�� Stories of man�s creation and earlier nations, prophesies of what was to come like signs before the Judgment Day, appearance of new prophets, and other news.
The stories, prophecies, and news in the Bible read in churches and synagogues today are partly true and partly false.� These books consist of some translated fragments of the original scripture revealed by God, words of some prophets, mixed with explanations of scholars, errors of scribes, and outright malicious insertions and deletions.� Quran, the final and trustworthy scripture, helps us sort out fact from fiction.� For a Muslim, it is the criterion to judge the truth from the falsehood in these stories.� For example, the Bible still contains some clear passages pointing to God�s unity. [1] �Also, some prophecies regarding the Prophet Muhammad are found in the Bible as well. [2] �Yet, there are passages, even whole books, almost entirely recognized to be forgeries and the handiwork of men. [3]
(ii)� Law and rulings, the allowed and prohibited, like the Law of Moses.
If we were to assume the law, that is the lawful and the prohibited, contained in the previous books did not suffer corruption, the Quran still abrogates those rulings, it cancels the old law which was suitable for its time and is no longer applicable today.� For example, the old laws pertaining to diet, ritual prayer, fasting, inheritance, marriage and divorce have been cancelled (or, in many cases, �reaffirmed) by the Islamic Law.
The Holy Quran
The Quran is different from other scriptures in the following respects:
(1)� The Quran is miraculous and inimitable.� Nothing similar to it can be produced by human beings.
(2) After the Quran, no more scriptures will be revealed by God.� Just as the Prophet Muhammad is the last prophet, the Quran is the last scripture.
(3) God has taken it upon Himself to protect the Quran from alteration, to safeguard it from corruption, and to preserve it from distortion.� On the other hand, previous scriptures suffered alteration and distortion and do not remain in their originally revealed form.
(4)� The Quran, for one, confirms early scriptures and, for another, is a trustworthy witness over them.
(5)� The Quran abrogates them, meaning it cancels the rulings of the previous scriptures and renders them inapplicable.� The Law of the old scriptures is no longer applicable; the previous rulings have been abrogated with the new Law of Islam.
Footnotes:
[1] For example the declaration of Moses: "Hear, O Israel The Lord our God is one Lord" (Deuteronomy 6:4) and the announcement of Jesus: "...The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord." (Mark 12:29).
[2] Refer to (Deuteronomy 18:18), (Deuteronomy 33:1-2), (Isaiah 28:11), (Isaiah 42:1-13), (Habakkuk 3:3), (John 16:13), (John 1:19-21), (Matthew 21:42-43), and more.
[3] For example, refer to books of the Apocrypha.
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British actor Henry Cavill has been chosen to play which superhero in a film due to be released in 2013? | BREAKING: Henry Cavill Lands Superman; Macho British Actor To Play American Icon; Past Contender For Batman & James Bond | Deadline
BREAKING: Henry Cavill Lands Superman; Macho British Actor To Play American Icon; Past Contender For Batman & James Bond
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EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures have found their new Man of Steel.
Deadline had been hearing for the past weeks that British actor Henry Cavill was the frontrunner for the much coveted Clark Kent/Superman role in this much anticipated reboot. But as of last week, Warner Bros film chief Jeff Robinov hadn’t seen Cavill’s or the other screentests and made his decision in recent days. Repped by CAA, Cavill, known for his portrayal of Charles Brandon on Showtime’s The Tudors, just wrapped production on The Cold Light of Day and stars in the upcoming Immortals opening this fall. Directed by Tarsem Singh, Caville in Immortals plays the he-man Greek warrior Theseus who battles mythological gods including Poseidon, Zeus, Minotaur, and Herecles. Given that set up, Warner Bros clearly has chosen a more macho leading man for Superman than the previous Brandon Routh or even Christopher Reeve. “He’s got an amazing quality. He doesn’t look too much like Reeve and Routh but he’s big and strong and he has a very modern feel to him,” a Warner Bros exec just told us. “We’re really going to try and make Superman as contemporary as possible.” And just like it did with Christian Bale in the Batman reboot, the studio has gone with a British actor.
In fact, Cavill also auditioned for the Batman role but lost out to Bale in 2005. He also was a contender for James Bond but was deemed too young and lost out to Daniel Craig. Clearly, Cavill is a franchise waiting to happen. He also has a past with Superman. Before Bryan Singer came on to direct Superman Returns and cast Brandon Routh, Cavill had been one of the frontrunner choices for directers Brett Ratner and McG when they were going to helm the picture. That Superman was younger, and this time, the intention was to cast an actor near 30. Cavill, who will be 28 this year, was born in the Channel Islands and his film credits include The Count Of Monte Cristo.
The new film from Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures is being produced by Christopher Nolan ( It’s A Bird! It’s A Plane! It’s Chris Nolan! He’ll Mentor Superman 3.0 ) and directed by Zack Snyder, who made this statement: “In the pantheon of superheroes, Superman is the most recognized and revered character of all time, and I am honored to be a part of his return to the big screen. I also join Warner Bros., Legendary and the producers in saying how excited we are about the casting of Henry. He is the perfect choice to don the cape and S shield.” Warner Bros, Nolan, and Snyder cast a “wide net” to find the next Man of Steel. Last November, insiders told Deadline that the studio was open to creating a star as it rebooted the Superman franchise: specifically, that the actor would either be a discovery or on TV but likely someone who isn’t well known yet. And he’d be in the age range of 28-to-32. The studio considered hundreds of young actors before making a decision just like Sony Pictures did before choosing Andrew Garfield. There was buzz on actors like Armie Hammer, the strapping 6’5″ actor from The Social Network who was eyed to play Batman in a Justice League movie that Mad Max helmer George Miller was poised to direct, and True Blood’s Joe Manganiello, who claimed during a recent movie junket that he’d been considered, and Ian Somerhalder of The Vampire Diaries.
While the Batman films have been populated by established stars Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, and now Christian Bale, Superman has always lent itself to discoveries. Christopher Reeve was a find in the Salkind franchise, as was Brandon Routh in the Bryan Singer-directed Superman Returns. (Before Routh got the job, Matt Bomer was eyed seriously by almost-directors McG and Brett Ratner.) Even on the small screen, the original Superman TV series star George Reeves and Smallville’s Tom Welling and Lois & Clark‘s Dean Cain were discoveries. The lone exception we can recall was the time that Tim Burton tried to put together a Superman film with Nicolas Cage, an effort that failed because the budget became so high. And then Josh Hartnett was courted during the Ratner version (that got scrapped when Singer took over), but Hartnett didn’t take the role, even though he stood to potentially make $100 million for three pictures if all had been made. Trust us, the new guy is going to get hired on the cheap.
Other producers include Charles Roven, Emma Thomas, and Deborah Snyder. The screenplay is being written by David S. Goyer based on a story by Goyer and Nolan. Thomas Tull and Lloyd Phillips are serving as executive producers. The new Superman is targeted for release in December 2012.
| Superman |
The full moon seen closest to the time of the Autumn Equinox is commonly known as what? | Henry Cavill | Biography, News, Photos and Videos | Page 9 | Contactmusic.com
Ben Affleck Henry Cavill
The actor will be taking the reigns for Batman’s first solo outing in Warner Bros. DC cinematic universe.
Ben Affleck will be directing and starring in his own stand-alone Batman move, Warner Bros. chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara confirmed yesterday at CinemaCon. Affleck, who currently stars as the caped crusader in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, has also reportedly written the script for the movie.
Ben Affleck will be directing a stand-alone Batman movie.
Speaking about the recent record-opening of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, which was Affleck’s first Batman outing, Tsujihara said : "It set up a great foundation for our DC slate, which includes at least 10 movies through 2020.”
Melissa McCarthy Ben Affleck Henry Cavill
The comedy has dethroned 'Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice' at the US box office.
Melissa McCarthy ’s The Boss has taken the top spot at the US box office over the weekend, knocking off Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice. The comedy stars McCarthy as a former tycoon adjusting to life after prison and was directed by her husband Ben Falcone.
Melissa McCarthy’s The Boss is on top of the US box office.
The Boss took an estimated $23.5 million during its opening weekend, according to Forbes . It managed to narrowly beat Batman v Superman’s $23.4 million total, with one of the closest margins between any top two films in recent years.
Henry Cavill Ben Affleck Gal Gadot
The 'Batman v Superman' star explains the central conflict between the two comic book icons.
Batman and Superman are clashing on the big screen in Dawn of Justice, where Henry Cavill ’s character faces off against the debuting Ben Affleck . The pair are arguably the two most recognisable superheroes of all time, but as Cavill explains, they’ve always been on opposite sides of the spectrum.
Henry Cavill in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
“When it comes down to Batman, Clark, Superman doesn't agree with the way he carries out justice,” Cavill said. “He understands that Batman is trying to do this justice thing, but Clark’s view is entirely different.”
Henry Cavill James Bond Daniel Craig
With Daniel Craig widely believed to be quitting the role of 007 after 'Spectre', Cavill's name has been cited as a replacement.
He might currently be setting box offices alight with his role in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice as the world’s greatest superhero, but Henry Cavill has revealed he’d “love” the opportunity to play the world’s greatest spy.
With Daniel Craig reportedly finished for good with his role as James Bond , the 32 year old actor has been rumoured as in the running to be the next 007. He was asked about the whispers during filming for this week’s ‘Graham Norton Show’, and whether he’d like to take up the role as the suave British spy.
Henry Cavill at the London premiere of 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'
Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice Review
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After 2013's beefy Man of Steel, director Zack Snyder goes even bigger and darker with this sequel, cross-pollenating Clark Kent's story with flashbacks to the origins of Bruce Wayne and his Dark Knight alter-ego. The problem is that the film is so big and loud that it can't help but feel bloated, especially since so much of what's on screen feels rather vacuous. But it looks amazing and is relentlessly gripping.
After a Bat-origin prologue, the story kicks off with the climactic battle from Man of Steel as seen from the perspective of Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck), watching his city being destroyed by Superman (Henry Cavill). This further fuels the rage that began when his parents were murdered. And that fire is stoked by the mischievous millionaire Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg). Meanwhile, Superman/Clark is struggling with how the world is revering him as a god, which is straining his relationship with intrepid reporter Lois (Amy Adams). As these very different vigilante heros head toward a climactic confrontation, Luthor is up to something seriously nefarious. And the ensuing chaos brings another hero into the open, Wonder Woman Diana Prince (Gal Gadot).
While the various plot threads are fascinating, and Snyder maintains a snappy pace, the overall story centres on the fact that Affleck's prickly, bitter Bruce is easily manipulated into doing terrible things, which makes him rather unlikeable. And Cavill's fundamentally good Clark isn't much easier to identify with. Both are also oddly constrained by their costumes and bulked-up physicalities, which leave them unable to move properly. This allows the side characters to steal the show: Adams adds emotion and passion, Eisenberg provides the nutty nastiness, Irons is hilariously cynical as Bruce's butler Alfred, and Fishburne is all bluster as Lois' editor. But in the end, the film belongs to the gorgeous, clear-headed Gadot, instantly making her stand-alone movie the most anticipated superhero project on the horizon.
Henry Cavill
The actor has said there’s ‘a bit of a double standard’ when it comes to women hitting on men.
Actor Henry Cavill has said he’s tired of ‘disrespectful’ female fans hitting on him in front of his girlfriend. The Superman star has been dating 19-year-old college student Tara King since late 2014 and says there’s a "double standard" when it comes to women hitting on men.
Henry Cavill has called out girls who hit on him in front of his girlfriend.
“I’ve heard some things in my time, I’d best not say what,” Cavill told the Sunday Times . "I don’t mind it – not unless I’m with my girlfriend and someone is being complimentary to me in order to disrespect her.”
Henry Cavill Ben Affleck
Do you think these Batman v Superman plot details are true? Let us know in the comments section below
For those desperately looking for nuggets surrounding the upcoming Batman v Superman movie – entitled Dawn of Justice – a juicy new rumor has emerged via a supposed chatty extra that worked on the movie for 10 days. There are potential spoilers ahead, but they are simply rumors.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
According to this loquacious actor, the ending of the movie has already been shot, and featurs Batman breaking into Lexcorp to steal kryptonite. Also, apparently Lexcorp had somehow attained General Zod's body.
Henry Cavill Ben Affleck
Henry Cavill is a Jedi, and also Superman. So...that means...
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice director Zack Synder sent the comic book movie world into raptures on Thursday (July 24, 2014) after tweeting a photo of Henry Cavill - aka Superman - dressed in Jedi garb, holding a lightsaber.
Henry Cavill , the Man of Steel
Posted with the hashtag #SuperJedi, the photo features the Man of Steel himself dressed in black hood, with saber in hand. It's an intriguing little photo which is yet to be explained Synder and comes ahead of the Warner Bros Comic-Co panel.
Ben Affleck Henry Cavill Zack Snyder Jesse Eisenberg Gal Gadot
The film didn't quite feel real up until Zack Snyder unveiled his new take on the caped crusader.
Last night we caught our first glimpse of Ben Affleck in his new role as Batman ready to appear in Zack Snyder 's action sequel alongside Henry Cavill 's Superman. Following a long line of caped crusaders, Affleck doesn't push boundaries in his new get-up though he does look extremely cool.
The First Teaser Image Has Been Released Showing Ben Affleck As Batman.
The new snap shows Affleck clad as Batman entirely in black with the obligatory pointy-eared cowl, flowing black cloak and muscle armour. He is posed next to his formidable batmobile which looks otherworldly with its matte black finish, chunky tyres, tiny windows and jagged edges. The image is steeped in atmosphere - Adam West this is surely not - as Batman faces up to the challenge of reigning in the crime-stricken Gotham.
Gal Gadot Henry Cavill Ben Affleck Zack Snyder
We take a closer look at the woman chosen to play Diana Prince, aka Wonder Woman
Gal Gadot has been cast as Wonder Woman in the follow-up to this year's Superman blockbuster The Man of Steel. Gadot will star alongside Henry Cavill , who will be returning to his role as Clark Kent/Superman, and Ben Affleck , who will be portraying Bruce Wayne/Batman for the first time, in the hotly anticipated superhero movie that has been on our mind since it was announced earlier this year.
Gadot will be taking on her biggest role to date
The upcoming Man of Steel sequel was already looking as though it would be an action-packed spectacle, one that has had movie and comic nerds across the land salivating at the thought of seeing Superman take on Batman on the big screen. Now that we know Wonder Woman is getting involved, things just seem that much more exciting. Before we get any more excited at the thought of the upcoming DC movie, we've hardly had the chance to find out who the woman who will be wearing the indestructible bracelets in the movie is. So, just who is Gal Gadot?
Emma Watson Benedict Cumberbatch Tom Hiddleston Henry Cavill Ryan Gosling Scarlett Johansson Jennifer Lawrence
Empire readers demonstrated remarkably good taste in movie stars.
From Hermione Granger, nerd extraordinaire, to the sexiest female movie star on Earth, according to Empire readers. Emma Watson was voted the hottest actress in the world by the publication, with Benedict Cumberbatch being voted the sexiest male. This according to the British magazine’s reader poll, released earlier today.
Growing up in the public eye doesn't seem to have had any adverse effects on Ms. Watson.
Other guys, who made overly enthusiastic fans swoon this year include Tom Hiddleston , Henry Cavill and Ryan Gosling , who only made it to Number 4, strangely enough. In news that surprised absolutely no one, not only did Tom Hiddleston make the top 10, but so did fellow Avengers stars Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Hemsworth, respectively. Empire readers do have a point, after all, world saving abilities are always sexy. And of course, with the upcoming release of Thor: The Dark World and plenty of buzz surrounding Avengers: Age of Ultron, it's no wonder that these are the actors on everyone's mind right now.
Ben Affleck Henry Cavill Christian Bale Zack Snyder
Will new Batman Ben Affleck be the best yet or was this a bonkers choice? Plus, is it all in the chin?
Actor Ben Affleck has been announced as the next Batman who'll succeed from 'The Dark Knight' Christian Bale to battle Superman in the 2015 Batman Vs. Superman/Superman Vs. Batman (that's the bit they haven't decided yet) sequel to Man of Steel.
Ben Affleck Will Be The New Batman.
With Teen Wolf Tyler Hoechlin, Drive's Ryan Gosling and Mad Men's Jon Hamm all rumoured to be in line to adopt the black cowl and the gravelly voice, Ben Affleck's name has truly come out of the blue. The 41 year-old is a couple of years older than 39 year-old Bale so audiences will be presented with a slightly more mature caped crusader.
Henry Cavill Joseph Gordon-Levitt Zack Snyder Superman Batman
Even if you're not the biggest of comic book geeks, this round-up of hoped-for superhero movie cross-overs should hopefully get you excited about the upcoming Superman film, and any potential other cross-overs
At the San Diego Comic Con International this weekend, Man of Steel director Zack Snyder made the entire conventional - and pretty much everyone else in the world who was't able to show up to the four-day event - simultaneously jump for joy with the news that a Superman and Batman will cross paths when the sequel to the Man of Steel is released in 2015.
Henry Cavill will be back as Superman
The announcement really did a number on Marvel's big reveal; the title of the next Avengers movie (Avengers: Age of Ultron), but now that the door is well and truly open for big name superheroes to cross paths, who knows what could happen next. With the Avengers already out there as a major motion picture and Gardians of the Galaxy and a Justice League movie coming soon, we can hopefully expect to see more and more superheroes all in one movie. Until then, here's what we hope/pray we can see in the not-so-distant future.
Henry Cavill Zack Snyder
We've been waiting years for this.
Comic-Con 2013 hasn’t disappointed – the myriad TV announcements, with many extended trailers and air dates being divulged have seen geeks thrown into raptures on social networking sites and blogs. The most ‘Comic-Con’ of all the announcements, though, was the news that Batman and Superman would be appearing in the same film.
Henry Cavill played Superman in Man of Steel
The argument ‘who could win a fight, Batman or Superman’ is as old as… well not time itself, but it’s certainly as old as the first point Batman and Superman both existed in their respective universes. But that’s not as pity, so we’ll go with ‘old as time itself’.
Henry Cavill Zack Snyder Christian Bale Superman Batman Frank Miller
A sequel to Superman: Man of Steel was announced at the San Diego comic-con this weekend. The 2015 film will see Superman, once again played by Henry Cavill, face-to-face with Batman.
Warner Bros. announced, during their Comic-Con panel appearance, that Henry Cavill would be reprising his role as Superman . However Batman will also be dropping in to lend a helping hand. It will be the first time the caped heroes have appeared together on the big screen.
Henry Cavill at the Australian premiere of Superman: Man of Steel.
Many comic-book fans have welcomed the announced as it is a step towards such DC 'Avengers-like' teams as the Justice League. Marvel's superheroes are considerable more integrated with references to the various Avengers in their individual films. A Justice League movie was rumoured to be in production earlier this year, following the success of Superman: Man of Steel, however Cavill confirmed no such film had been mentioned to him. Should the Justice League movie be shot, it would feature a team of superheroes including Superman, Batman, The Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and Aquaman.
Henry Cavill Zack Snyder
The story finally continues with Warner Bros.'s latest announcement.
We recommend you take a breath before reading the following – Batman and Superman will team up in a 2015 movie, directed by Zack Snyder . The long-standing rumor about an upcoming Justice League franchise from Warner Bros. is finally coming to life, with Flash and Justice League films possibly in the works for 2016 and 2017, according to The Hollywood Reporter . The studio confirmed the news during a lengthy, two-and-a-half hour panel in Hall H this Saturday. To be fair, the panel also contained announcements about a number of upcoming projects, including a live action World of Warcraft movie, Godzilla, 300: Rise of an Empire and a freaking Lego movie – all prospects thoroughly exciting for geeks the world over.
Warner Bros. is once again betting on Snyder for its franchise plans.
We’re still willing to eat our hats, if anyone paid any attention to a word mentioned after the Batman/Superman announcement though. The movie is clearly a response to the success of Marvel’s Avengers and an obvious step towards a full-fledged Justice League film. Unlike Marvel however, Warner Bros. have apparently decided to take an additional step to raise expectations and fan excitement for the big one - a collaboration between two heroes, before unleashing the mayhem that is Justice League on the world. After all, while Man of Steel was a considerable success, it didn’t even come close to the earnings of Iron Man 3, released earlier in the summer. As far as excitement goes, a cross-over between the two most famous superheroes on the planet should probably do it.
Idris Elba Henry Cavill Chiwetel Ejiofor Benedict Cumberbatch Daniel Day Lewis Andrew Garfield Tom Hiddleston Dominic West Ben Barnes Max Irons Nicholas Hoult Aaron Johnson
The biggest Hollywood blockbusters of the past and coming months cast British talent in leading roles.
It used to be that British actors were traditionally cast by Hollywood filmmakers as villains; in endless kids' Disney flicks we'd hear exaggeratedly posh English voices coming out of the most evil of witches ('Snow White'), scary giant octopuses ('The Little Mermaid') and murderous lions ('The Lion King'), and even the creators of some of the biggest blockbusters such as 'Die Hard' and 'The Silence Of The Lambs' scoured the UK for the perfect sinister accent.
However, now the Brits are playing the good guys with a surge of overseas talent showcasing their well-practised foreign accents over the past few years - even one of the most American flicks of 2012, Steven Spielberg's 'Lincoln' cast London born Daniel Day-Lewis as the iconic US President. Here are our four biggest British stars that have been making their mark in Hollywood with seminal roles over the past and coming months.
Kaley Cuoco Henry Cavill
The actors have gone public after rumors started to surface.
Kaley Cuoco ’s Penny dates a man who worships Superman in the hit U.S show The Big Bang Theory. But now the 27-year-old actress has bagged the closest thing possible to the man with an S on his chest by dating Henry Cavill – the handsome devil who played him in Man of Steel.
Cuoco has bagged Superman
The pair went public with their romance when they stepped out holding hands to go shopping on Wednesday (July 3). “They are totally hot for each other," a friend told Us Weeky of the couple. Cavill recently ended his 10-month relationship with actress Gina Carano while Cuoco has a long list of ex-boyfriends. She most recently split up with Bret Bollinger, and previous to that, her and Josh "Lazie" Resnik's engagement got cancelled. She also dated her co-star on the Big Bang Theory, Johnny Galecki – who plays her nerdy boyfriend Leonard – for two years, and managed to keep it a secret!
Kaley Cuoco Henry Cavill
The Big Bang Theory's Kaley Cuoco apparently has begun dating Man of Steel's Henry Cavill in a romance that seems to have come out of nowhere.
In a pleasing irony Kaley Cuoco , who plays The Big Bang Theory's Penny, has started to date superhero and Man of Steel hunk, Henry Cavill . The pair have confirmed their relationship by being pictured out and about in California, hiking, grocery shopping and generally looking comfortable by each other's side.
After a refreshing hike through the hills, the loved-up pair went for sushi near Cuoco's home in Sherman Oaks, reports The Daily Mail . According to insiders, the stars are trying to keep their relationship "hush hush" despite spending the last few days together in public yet Cuoco sparked interest when she went to fetch her morning coffee - but bought two. Regardless of attempts to keep a low profile the couple, who were pictured smiling and holding hands, seem happy with the press attention and are happy to let the world new about their exciting new romance.
Christian Bale Christopher Nolan Joseph Gordon-Levitt Henry Cavill
The Dark Knight trilogy actor will not be reprising his role as Batman in the planned Justice League movie
The Dark Knight trilogy has been lauded as the greatest comic book adaption series ever committed to film and has re-written the way Hollywood sees superhero movies, but Christian Bale has decided that when it comes to wearing the famed black mask and cape; three times is enough. The Oscar-winning actor told Entertainment Weekly that although he cherishes the time he had making the movies, he thinks it better to leave things as they are and not tamper with Christopher Nolan 's astounding vision.
Bale wont be returning as Batman/Bruce Wayne
"We were incredibly fortunate to get to make three [Batman films]. That's enough. Let's not get greedy," said the Batman/Bruce Wayne actor during the interview to promote his new film, Out of the Furnace, adding; "Chris [Nolan] always said he wanted to make it one film at a time and we ended up sitting there looking at each other, saying 'We're about to make the third.' We never really knew if we were going to get to be there, but if that was how it was going to be, this was where it should end as well."
Henry Cavill Kaley Cuoco Gina Carano Superman Pepper Johnny Galecki
Henry Cavill has been linked to actress Kaley Cuoco, according to sources speaking to 'US Weekly'. The 'Superman: Man of Steel' star has previously dated actress Gina Carano and show-jumper Ellen Whitaker. If the source is speaking the truth, Cuoco will be Cavill's third girlfriend in the past 18 months.
Henry Cavill has been dating Big Bang Theory actress Kaley Cuoco , according to US Weekly . Apparently, the Superman : Man of Steel star split up from Gina Carano in May of this year. However other reports indicate the couple were still together as late as June 14th.
So why has Cavill been linked to Cuoco?
Kaley Cuoco at the 48th Annual MGM Awards, L.A.
Henry Cavill Kaley Cuoco
The Man of Steel star and the Big Bang Theory actress are reportedly dating, according to various reports
Henry Cavill may have something else to feel super about - other than being Superman - as reports are linking the latest actor to portray the man in the red pants with Big Bang Theory star Kaley Cuoco , who plays Penny on the hit sitcom. A source speaking to US Weekly revealed that the two have been in touch and both have the hots for each other and are going steady.
Kaley Cuoco has made no effort to conceal her feelings towards Superman
"They are totally hot for each other," a friend of Cavill told the magazine, adding that he is a "massive Big Bang Theory fan."
E.L. James Henry Cavill Ryan Gosling Josh Radnor
E.L James' Fifty Shades of Grey novels have taken the literary world by storm - but do they have any merit?
E.L James , the British novelist behind the polarizing Fifty Shades of Grey books, is the highest ranked author on Forbes Celebrity 100 list, placing at No.42 and beating the likes of crime specialist James Patterson, horror legend Stephen King, Hunger Games writer Suzanne Collins and Harry Potter author J.K Rowling.
E.L James Signing Copies Of Her Hugely Popular Fifty Shades of Grey Books
James' erotic novels Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed have taken the publishing world by storm, selling in their bucket load, catapulting Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey into public consciousness and spawning a soon-to-be-filmed movie likely to star Henry Cavill , Ryan Gosling , or...some other bloke.
Henry Cavill Batman Superman Christian Bale
In an interview with ABC, Henry Cavill ('Superman') says it is unlikely a Justice League movie is not on the cards for DC Comics. The Avengers-like movie would see Superman alongside Batman, The Green Lantern and Wonder Woman.
The Justice League (DC's version of Marvel's Avengers) movie will not, speculating from what Henry Cavill said in a recent interview, be in cinemas in the near future.
Should such a film be made would we see Cavill as Superman saving the world (or possibly the universe) alongside Christian Bale 's Batman and Ryan Reynolds's Green Lantern? They would, of course, be supported by a team of other less known superheroes: Wonder Woman, Martian Man-hunter, Flash and Aquaman.
Henry Cavill at the Superman: Man of Steel Premiere in London
John Goodman Billy Crystal Brad Pitt Zack Snyder Henry Cavill Seth Rogen
The summer flicks have been rolled out, with a hearty helping of monsters, zombies and superheroes.
It’s been a tense weekend at the box office, with contenders for a summer blockbuster out in full force. Unsurprisingly, the top spot over the weekend went to Monsters University with estimated $82 million earnings (all data courtesy of Hollywood.com), proving that even when the critics disagree, the folks over at the Emeryville studio know what they’re doing. For those keeping score at home, Pixar’s perfect streak of 14 out of 14 films debuting at number one on their first weekend remains unbroken.
Zombies came second to monsters, as Brad Pitt ’s crack at the contagion genre, World War Z, followed closely with $66 million; having debuted this weekend at 3607 theatres across the US. The film was based on the eponymous Max Brooks novel and helmed by Marc Foster. It’s no secret that the zombie genre is having its Renaissance in recent years and the Pitt production apparently manages to tap into the Zeitgeist. It turns out to be Brad Pitt’s best opening weekend, followed by Mr. and Mrs. Smith with $50.3 million.
The second runner-up again comes as no surprise, as Warner Bros’s Man of Steel continues to perform, despite the second weekend drop of 65%. With estimated weekend earnings of $41,2 million, Man of Steel is still going strong. Note: it isn’t matching the box office success of this year’s Iron Man 3 though, which, if reports of Warner Bros. modeling a Justice League franchise after The Avengers are true, would be the studio’s goal.
Henry Cavill Zack Snyder
Man of Steel is a moneymaking machine.
Zack Snyder may just be Warner Bros. golden boy, what with his Man of Steel currently being projected to earn 345.6 million worldwide by the end of the weekend (figures courtesy of Deadline.) The dark retelling of Superman’s story earned an impressive $19 million on Friday. Up until that point, the flick had made a cool 135.6 million over the nine days since its release, adding up to... one happy production company. Read what our own Rich Cline has to say about the film itself.
Looks like the folks at Warner Bros. have stumbled onto a particularly successful strategy – or borrowed one from Marvel, anyway. Rumors have been swirling for the past couple of weeks that Man of Steel is just the first step towards a film reunion of DC Comics’ Justice League superheroes – much like the phenomenally successful Avengers franchise. Of course, while it is no doubt a massive earner, Man of Steel isn’t quite catching up to the record takings of Iron Man 3 a few weeks prior. Just a few days ago, Iron Man crossed the $400 million mark domestically and has to date raked in over $1.2 billion domestically.
Henry Cavill
The workout that shows what you're made of (not steel, probably)
A curious video has been making the rounds online – that of “Man of Steel” actor Henry Cavill working out in preparation for filming. And, well, if you thought he was perfect for the part before, you really need to watch this. The two-and-a-half minute clip shows the actor doing a work out that will have you renewing your gym membership in shame – or just reaching for the potato chips, as the case may be.
Sure, it’s not just due to Cavill’s abs that “Man of Steel” grossed an impressive $128.7 million at the box office during its opening weekend. But they didn’t hurt either. According to the video, released by the National Guard, the British actor hands over all credit for the grueling workout – as well as his tough mentality – to his trainer Mark Twight.
Andrew Garfield Henry Cavill
Spiderman fans will be happy as two new films have been announced
With the announcement that Spiderman films three and four are on the way, we started pondering: is this the decade of the superhero movie? Sure, you’ll say the Batman Dark Knight trilogy launched the genre into new realms, giving it a new sense of respectability, and that was LAST decade, but we’ve got our own ideas.
With the recent releases of Iron Man 3 and Man of Steel – the latest entry to the Superman film franchise – we’ll be seeing many more comic book heroes see their characters realised with unprecedented production values before 2021. The Spiderman films will hit theaters on June 10, 2016 and May 4, 2018 respectively, Sony announced. "Spider-Man is our most important, most successful, and most beloved franchise, so we're thrilled that we are in a position to lock in these prime release dates over the next five years," said Jeff Blake, chairman of worldwide marketing and distribution for Sony in a statement. And with The Avengers 2 set for cinemas in 2014, and many other franchises due a reboot, this decade might just see the biggest 10 years for our comic book favourites ever, even if Batman’s moral tribulations set the scene in the naughties.
Man of Steel, the latest superhero film, could jeopardize that theory though; Henry Cavill ’s turn as the caped journalist-cum-hero has been received fairly well, but didn’t accumulate the glowing reviews expected from such a big budget affair.
Henry Cavill Russell Crowe Amy Adams
The film has becoming the top grossing debut released in June and is well on course to becoming one of the major hits of the year.
Man of Steel may not have won everyone over yet, but the latest Superman adaption still went on to show that the man from Krypton still knows how to pull in a crowd, with the new film collecting a whopping $125.1 million at the box office in it's opening weekend. This figure now makes Man of Steel the top grossing debut in the month of June, and should this success continue then it could be on course to draw over a billion dollars in ticket sales.
The phenomenal takings for the film means that it has already come close to recouping it's suspected $225 million budget, and as well as being to top grossing film in June of all time (beating Toy Story 3's 2010 record of $110.3 million), it is also the top grossing film that any of the movie's stars have appeared in. That includes Kevin Costner, Laurence Fishburne and even Russell Crowe , as well as any films that Henry Cavill or Amy Adams have appeared in or director Zack Snyder has worked on, not bad for a film that was so routinely given a hard time by critics in the lead-up to the actual release.
Right now, the film looks as though it could make up the entirety of it's budget within another week, although there has been a trend lately that has seen audience number plummet after first week sales and Man of Steel could be the latest to adhere to the trend. Eitherway, the early signs will probably be enough to encourage Warner Bros. that they have another hit or their way and, therefore, should determine whether we'll see another Superman film at some point. It should also go some way towards deciding whether a Justice League film should be made, which we hope happens with every fibre of our bodies.
Henry Cavill Christopher Nolan
Warner Bros. is aiming high with Man of Steel, but so far the film's earnings justify expectations.
The new Superman reboot “Man of Steel” is doing remarkably well at the box office this weekend. Shocking! Who could have assumed that people would want to see a new Superman flick, and one of the most hiped up movies of the year at that? The Zack Snyder-directed flick pulled in earnings of $113 million over the weekend, which puts it at the second earning spot this year, after Disney’s Iron Man 3, Bloomberg reports .
Watch the "Man of Steel" trailer below.
Henry Cavill Michael Shannon Russell Crowe Amy Adams
The new film has the potential to be one of the biggest and best superhero films for some time, but will it live up to the hype?
The Man of Steel is the latest foray onto the big screen from arguably the comic book-world's biggest star; Superman. There is often a sense of anticipation surrounding a new Superman adaptation whenever one is made, but now it seems as though anticipation levels are in over-drive, and with good reason too, as the latest big screen take on the man who wears his underwear on the outside of his trousers has the potential to be one of the biggest comic book movies to date. However that doesn't necessarily mean that the film will be a hit, as this overview will try to explain why the film could be as big a disappointment as Superman Returns.
Watch The Man Of Steel Trailer
There are two names hanging above Man of Steel that seem to indicate big things for the movie: Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan. Snyder has been lauded since his take on Frank Miller's 300 graphic novel and his work with Supermna is the first time he has had the chance to work with a proper superhero, and he now has the chance to bring something new to the Superman tale, a chance he is sure to take. As tempting as Snyder's name is, the real excitement is surrounding Christopher Nolan, the man who remade Batman and turned comic book movie-making into what it is today, and with the Brit filmaker on hand to write the story for the film, the chance to see a Superman film that retains the dark, seriousness of The Dark Knight shouldn't be one that you would want to pass up too easily. What usually happens when two greats come together though is usually a little underwhelming,a nd with Man of Steel this might be the case again - and the critical reception the film has so far received seems to indicate just that.
Henry Cavill Amy Adams Zack Snyder Emma Watson Sofia Coppola Armie Hammer Naomi Watts Woody Allen Cate Blanchett Ethan Hawke
The cast and crew of Man of Steel embark on a round-the-world red carpet tour, while new behind-the-scenes clips emerge for The Bling Ring and The Lone Ranger. Plus, we finally get a teaser for Naomi Watts' Princess Diana biopic...
The new Superman and Lois Lane, Henry Cavill and Amy Adams , were out on the red carpet this week for two big premieres for Man of Steel, the franchise reboot by Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan. After major events in Los Angeles and London, they're now heading to Shanghai. Critical reaction has been strongly positive to the film, which opens this weekend .
Also opening this weekend in America, and July 5th in the UK, The Bling Ring tells the true story of a group of teens who systematically robbed Hollywood homes, including those of Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. The film's star Emma Watson , discusses the movie in a special short feature alongside director Sofia Coppola and producer Youree Henley .
Henry Cavill Russell Crowe Diane Lane Michael Shannon Zack Snyder
Is Man of Steel as good as first assumed?
Today, Friday 14 June 2013, marks the day when the world falls back in love with Superman as the Man of Steel flies into cinemas across the globe as the man in the bright red underpants has been reinvented for the big screen once again and this time we might have a reboot worthy of rivalling the 1970’s movie series. At least, that’s what the movie execs behind the film are hoping for, however the expectations of movie producers is rarely met by audiences and critics and with Man of Steel, we may have another case of a rather disappointing foray into film by the planet Krypton’s most famous son.
On the whole, the critical response to the film has been mostly lukewarm, and only on occasion has a critics staunchly defended the film and said that it is the summer blockbuster we’ve all been waiting for (since The Avengers or The Dark Knight Rises at least). After a week of critical response to the film, it currently holds the rather underwhelming 58% on critic aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, however the film does have a much more appealing 82% approval rate from audience, with a number of people commending the film for being a successful enough spectacle to make the occasional detours into generic blockbuster territory barely discernible. With such a stark contrast between the two percentages, it might leave a few people scratching their heads and wondering whether it will be worth seeing or not, but the only real way to see who has the better opinion of the film would be to go see it yourself.
The overall criticism with the film, it seems, is that the overall spectacle that Zack Snyder has created is too erratic and all-over-the-place, rarely giving the story or development of the characters room to breath. But still, it is a spectacle and one that is still highly entertaining to watch, even if it is pretty hard to follow (think of a smarter version of Transformers). David Sexton’s review for the London Evening Standard seems to summarize the film pretty competently, saying; “some films make you wish you were 12 again so you could appreciate them as they deserve.”
Ben Affleck Clint Eastwood Brad Pitt George Clooney Mickey Rourke Matt Damon Jennifer Aniston Jessica Alba Snoop Dogg Vince Vaughn Jimmy Kimmel Henry Cavill Burt Reynolds Jeff Bridges Jake Gyllenhaal Jennifer Garner
Ben Affleck has certainly scored some awards over the past year.
Ben Affleck was awarded with the Spike’s Tv ‘Guy of the Year Award’ on Saturday (aired last night). The ceremony took place in Culver City, California. Affleck was presented his antler shaped (nicknamed ‘mantler’) award by fellow Oscar winning actor and director, Clint Eastwood . This is one of many awards; Affleck has received this year including an Oscar for his film Argo.
The Awards were first held in 2007 and previous winners have included Brad Pitt , George Clooney , Mickey Rourke , Maek Wahlberg and Matt Damon . As you’d expect, the awards are hardly female friendly (there is an award named the ‘holy grail of hot’) yet many turned out for the event including Jennifer Aniston and Jessica Alba .
The awards are hardly on par with the Oscars or a Golden Globes – there was a category in 2012 for ‘Hottest Zo(o)e(y)’. The nominations for this particular award were somewhat limited. However, the award’s lack of prestige did not prevent Affleck celebrating backstage with Snoop Dogg , Vince Vaughn and Jimmy Kimmel .
Henry Cavill
Is Superman: Man of Steel really that good?
Zack Synder's Superman reboot Man of Steel is really good - that's what you've heard right? It's sort of a fresh reimagining with an impressive new lead actor, right? Well, that's what we were hearing at the start of the week, when its Rotten Tomatoes score was riding high somewhere in the mid 70%'s and all was good with the world. Since then, a handful of seriously unimpressed critics have had their say, leaving Man of Steel surging towards the dreaded 50%'s. It's miles behind Superman Returns, put it that way.
Andrew O'Hehir of Salon.com said, ""Man of Steel" is second-tier and third-generation Chris Nolan-flavored neo-superhero material," while Chris Cabin at Slant wrote, "All its faux-patriotism isn't played for satire, but instead utilized to align the film with an idyllic, unquestioned vision of goodness." The A.V. Club were thinking along the same lines, writing, "By effectively denying Superman his defining traits-his complex relationships to duty and humanity-the movie robs the character of any depth or agency."
One thing pretty much every critic agreed on was the superb addition of Henry Cavill to the Superman story. The British actor - playing the Man of Steel himself - has superhero good lucks and is a seemingly perfect fit. "[Cavill is] a superb choice for someone who needs to convincingly convey innate modesty, occasional confusion and eventual strength," said Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times. Claudia Puig of USA Today agreed, "Henry Cavill has the strapping good looks of the comic icon, and humanity to match his superheroism," he wrote.
Henry Cavill Zack Snyder
Zack Snyder's new Superman movie, 'Man of Steel', is about to hit cinemas and the first reviews are in, but can Superman be saved from the critics' cynical eye?
A 35 year-old graphic novel myth given the CGI reboot on the big screen, the hotly anticipated Man of Steel hits screens this Friday in a long-awaited reinstatement that aims to better Bryan Singer's 2006 chancy incarnation, Superman Returns.
Directed by Zack Snyder , the film will, of course, follow Clark Kent - journalist and alien offspring from Krypton trying to find his place in our world - played by Henry Cavill (Stardust, Immortals) as he goes through the old tale of self-discovery, realising he has special powers but trying to live a normal life working at The Daily Planet, where he encounters Lois Lane (Amy Adams: The Fighter, Sunshine Cleaning).
Cue rebellious villain, General Zod, played by Michael Shannon (Take Shelter, Boardwalk Empire) who plays the Kryptonian general with fire and conviction.
Henry Cavill Dylan Sprayberry
The youngster opens up on playing a young Superman
Henry Cavill takes the column inches for his tall, dark portrayal of Superman in Man of Steel, but little Dylan Sprayberry provides a vital backdrop to the character, playing a 13-year-old Clark Kent as the film delves even deeper into the blue-spandex kryptonite-hating super hero.
“I think a lot of the percentage of young boys when they are growing up want to be a superhero. I know I did,” explains Sprayberry to MTV. “I would put a towel on my back, run around, and across my couch and try to practice flying and things like that. So I was definitely a fan just of superheroes in general and then you have Superman the ultimate superhero — it was like a dream come true.”
At the tender age of 14, Dylan has an impressive list of credits to his name from Criminal Minds to Glee, as well as starring alongside his 12-year-old sister Ellery Sprayberry in Soccer Mom. This will actually be his sixteenth movie, so we’re expecting a mature performance from the youngster.
Brad Pitt Angelina Jolie Michael Douglas Matt Damon Henry Cavill Russell Crowe John Goodman Billy Crystal
Brad and Angelina hit the London red carpet for World War Z, while Britain gets to see Behind the Candelabra on the big screen. Meanwhile, stars are out promoting Man of Steel and Monsters University, and we have our first glimpse of Machete Kills...
This week's big world premiere was in London for the zombie apocalypse thriller where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie made their first public appearance since news of Jolie's pre-cancer surgery . They were joined on the red carpet by director Marc Forster and other cast members. The film opens in two weeks.
This weekend British moviegoers get a chance to see Michael Douglas and Matt Damon on the big screen in the Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra. The film was broadcast last week on HBO in America, which means it isn't eligible for Oscars, but look for it to mop up Emmys and Golden Globes. And with glowing reviews from UK critics, Bafta nominations are also expected.
Henry Cavill
Henry Cavill says he only used 'positive pressure' during the shooting of Man of Steel.
Henry Cavill , the man tasked with portraying a reimagined version of Superman in Zack Synder's new movie Man of Steel, says he refused to get hung up on the pressures of donning the famous suit and potentially letting down a legion of fans. Cavill was the surprise choice to play the superhero in the big-budget movie - likely to form part of a franchise if successful - though he took things firmly in his stride.
"There is that external worldwide pressure of people wanting me to do this and that 'don't mess it up' kind of thing," he explains, "...and I chose not to acknowledge that because that's not going to help me in any way.The pressure I put on myself was far more positive." Cavill clearly boasts the right physique to play the legendary superhero, though the British star hinted that it was his acting talents that probably landed him the role and not his muscles. Brains not Brawn. "It's a story first and there's an emotional being at the centre of it first, he just happens to have these incredible abilities," he says, "You don't balance the two, you be them both. This is what makes this movie different."
Henry Cavill
Henry Cavill talked life as Superman in a recent interview.
If you’re looking for a new Hollywood heartthrob to fawn over, look no further than Henry Cavill . No, but seriously, the 30-year-old actor, hailing from the island of Jersey in the English channel has quite a list of achievements behind his back, including starring in The Tudors and in Immortals and, with the “Man of Steel” trailer looking as cool as it does, there’s a good chance that this might be a career-defining moment for the actor. As for Cavill’s take on the whole thing, he just wants to do the fans proud.
"This character matters so much to so many people," Cavill says in the June/July issue of Detailsmagazine. "I want to get that right. I want to do it justice. I want people to believe in the character and have faith in the character and kids to grow up wanting to be Superman." He also goes on to recount the experience of learning that he would get to play the iconic character:
Henry Cavill Tom Cruise
Warner Bros bank again on Man Of Steel star
Tom Cruise out Henry Cavill in! That’s the way it appears to be going in the film adaptation of the hit TV series The Man From U.N.C.L.E, if Variety are to be believed.
We already know that Tom Cruise has dropped out of the action spy film – we don’t blame him, with another Mission Impossible film and a new franchise in Jack Reacher on his hands, he probably doesn’t need another similar role. However, it would appear that Cavill is going to step into the role, with Variety claiming that he has entered talks with Warner Bros about the film. If he does get involved, he’ll be co-starring alongside Armie Hammer and Alicia Vikander in the flick, which will be directed by Guy Ritchie.
Cavill has a good relationship with the studio and had apparently already met for the Hammer role when Cruise had already been negotiations for the lead. He has worked with the studio before, on Superman film Man of Steel, while they’ve also apparently been looking at him for a co-starring role opposite Chris Hemsworth in In the Heart of the Sea. Given that Cavill currently has a pretty open schedule at the moment, it could be that Warner Bros have found their man. The wider success of the cult 1960’s TV adaptation remains to be seen.
Henry Cavill
Forget the Zod you knew as Superman re-boot draws ever nearer
We all love General Zod mincing around in Superman II back in the 80's, however the Zod who Superman must face in the 2013 re-boot Man Of Steel doesn't look he's going to offer any such comedy - instead he's going to bring pestilence, pain and more than a little mass killing. That's unless unassuming Daily Globe journalist Clark Kent's secret alias of Superman can stop him.
Watch the Man Of Steel trailer
Zod and his lieutenants are on their way down to planet earth to take vengeance on one of their own kind, who they believe to be hiding on planet Earth. You can guess who that is of course; however this is set during Superman's earlier years, and all he's known is the love of his adopted Texas family. While he knows his super powers, it's only when he finds out that Zod and co will stop at nothing to get at him, even if it means thhe extinction of the planet he's come to call home.
Henry Cavill as Superman in Man Of Steel
This summer will see a new Superman movie, Man of Steel, attempt to supersede the Batman Dark Knight trilogy as king of the comic book movie. No mean feat, but judging by the trailer, it’s got a good chance.
We’re not saying there haven’t been any good superhero films since Batman; the Iron Man franchise is strong, as are The Avengers movies, and The Wolverine is showing promise, but The Dark Knight stands as the saviour of the genre, and set the standards to which other films are judged. This epic trailer for Man of Steel takes us on a journey. From Superman’s journey to earth, to that incident on a bus, to saving humankind from the evil that threatens to destroy it. At 3 minutes, this is a ‘make a coffee’ trailer, so do that and watch. And let us know what you think! Either way, with the Superman movies so far being far from satisfactory, this will be a welcome addition to the franchise.
Henry Cavill Christopher Nolan
Everyone getting all excited about the forthcoming Justice League film just hold onto your hats – the movie might not even be getting made.
A recent report by Variety assesses the future of Warners studios and pinpoints that the Henry Cavill -starring Superman film Man Of Steel is the key target for them this year with regards commercial success. This much we already knew; what we didn’t know is the suggestion that the success of that film could impact plans further down the line – namely the production of the Justice League film. If the film tanks it’s unlikely that that film would then happen – disappointing news for all those who’ve reported on rumored directors, actors, plots and characters so vehemently. As Variety points out, Warners hasn’t been able to fully exploit its DC Comic titles that well – Christopher Nolan ’s Batman films aside – with Green Lantern most notably struggling at the box office.
The studio has of course been prospering elsewhere, with the likes of the Harry Potter films, The Hobbit, and The Hangover franchise all doing well in recent years, as well as Batman. Yet in turbulent economic times, even the biggest movie companies know that the collapse of their fan base could always be just one bad film around the corner, and so the suggestion that The Justice League is being treated cautiously is a sensible, if not slightly disappointing, decision.
Henry Cavill Gina Carano Zack Snyder
After breaking up with his fiancé after a five-year-relationship in 2012, Henry Cavill has officially revealed his relationship with 'Haywire''s Gina Carano.
'Man of Steel' star Henry Cavill has begun dating Gina Carano of 'Haywire'. The couple were seen walking arm-in-arm on Thursday 10th January (2013) out of the 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards in California, after Gina received a nomination for Best Actress in an Action Movie. While the couple have supposedly been dating since September 2012, 29-year-old Cavill and 30-year-old Carano have now made it official.
Related: Zack Snyder Tweets Picture of Cyberpunk Batmobile from 'Batman v Superman'
Cavill has shot into public eye since being cast as the Krypton-born, Kansas-raised Superman for the Zack Snyder reimagined reboot of the iconic superhero. In 2012, he secretly split up with his professional show jumper fiancé Ellen Whitaker after being together for five years. The news of the split came months afterwards in August of 2012; before he allegedly moved on to start dating Gina Carano.
Christopher Nolan Henry Cavill
Man of Steel, the newest Superman franchise reboot, is looking pretty good from the latest movie still.
The shot shows Clark Kent, sporting the classic Superman suit and cape and staring into the distance in classic pensive superhero fashion. Unfortunately, as far as costume reveals go, this one isn’t the most exciting. We only get to see Henry Cavill ’s back in this one, which is great as far as backs go, but doesn’t really give away much in terms of changes to the suit. Fans don’t get a good look in the trailers that have been released so far either, but they do, at least, give us a feel for the movie itself.
As origin stories go, this one will be pretty dark it seems, going for sleekness and style, which has been the trend these days, but with Christopher Nolan producing, is anyone really surprised. Nolan has set the bar high with The Dark Knight trilogy and there’s no question that comic book geeks and casual fans alike will be going into the theatres with high expectations. The flick will also be competing with Thor 2, which comes out later in 2013. Looks like it’s going to be a good year for superheros.
Henry Cavill Ryan Gosling Mark Wahlberg Michael De Luca Daniel Craig Ian Somerhalder Michael Fassbender
As Hollywood rolls into awards' season, the head honchos at Universal Pictures and Focus Features are probably busy plotting for 2013 having landed the rights to the Fifty Shades of Grey movie. Warner Bros, Sony Pictures, Paramount and Mark Wahlberg 's company all placed bids for the rights in one of fiercest movie bidding wars of recent times. Despite the general critical mauling of E.L. James book (though massive sales figures), the movie boasts a pretty impressive team. The Social Network producers Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti have signed on while Terra Nova's Kelly Marcel will pen the script.
But that's all the boring stuff. We want to know who's playing Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele right? Murmurings around Hollywood suggest Ryan Gosling is pretty much everyone's first choice to play the wealthy protagonist. Universal want Gosling, the producers want Gosling, the fans want Gosling, hell, Gosling probably wants the role himself. Irish bookmaker Paddy Power have the Drive actor as 2/1 favourite, though one man threw a pretty giant spanner into the works this week. He's the third favourite with the bookmaker, he plays Superman in the forthcoming movie Man of Steel. He is Henry Cavill .
The 29-year-old British actor - who screen-tested for the role of James Bond before Daniel Craig got the part - discussed Fifty Shades of Grey during a recent interview with Details magazine. When quizzed as to whether he would take the role, Cavill gave a curious answer. Whereas Gosling, Ian Somerhalder and Michael Fassbender have coyly laughed off suggestions of becoming Mr Grey, Cavill said, "Whether that happens, that decision will be made at the time it has to be made. It would be a very different kind of thing than Man of Steel." The interviewer observed that Cavill spoke in "the measured tones of someone who knows his way around a Hollywood gag order."
Leonardo Dicaprio Carey Mulligan Baz Luhrmann The Great Gatsby Brad Pitt James Franco Amanda Seyfried Colin Farrell Beyonce Knowles Superman Henry Cavill Lily Collins Jamie Campbell Bower Johnny Depp Armie Hammer John Goodman Billy Crystal Robert Downey Jr Gwyneth Paltrow Bruce Willis
Next year looks set to be a seminal year for movies. Forget sequels and the so-called impending apocalypse; 2013 is all about beginnings as we discover the dubious past of 'The Wizard of Oz' in upcoming sequel 'Oz: The Great and Powerful' and how loveable 'Monsters, Inc.' protagonists Sulley and Mike got qualified to become scarers. Move over 'Breaking Dawn', 'The Dark Knight Rises' and 'Skyfall', and let's see what 2013 has in store! There have been plenty of dodgy trailers come out for 2013 releases, but here are ten of the trailers we consider worthy of your time!
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Which English football club won the FA Cup in 2009? | FA Cup final 2009: Everton dared to dream of beating Chelsea - Telegraph
Chelsea
FA Cup final 2009: Everton dared to dream of beating Chelsea
For 20 minutes most of England dreamed. They dreamed that there was still magic in the FA Cup, they dreamed that the workers could overthrow the plutocrats.
Not their day: the Everton fans were hoping of an upset after Louis Saha scored after 25 seconds Photo: PA
By Mark Reason
11:27PM BST 30 May 2009
They dreamed that there was still a point to the world's oldest cup competition. Then Didier Drogba appeared like the dark lord in the middle of Everton's mortal defence and put an end to such fanciful nonsense.
When Louis Saha had scored the fastest goal in FA Cup history after just 25 seconds it was like the hope diamond.
The Everton fans surged up. All the way to Wembley they had sung their songs in vocal defiance of Chelsea's pitifully muted support. But now they really believed. They believed it was possible to beat a richer and better team.
The Everton players ran around like wild men. When has Saha ever worked this hard. Steven Pienaar was heroic and Marouane Fellaini was giving Chelsea no end of bother.
Then little by little, Everton started to come apart at the seam. It was the right hand seam of the team and it was starting to fray.
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You wouldn't wish it on anyone but Tony Hibbert, the Everton right back, was freezing in the sunshine. Slow to see the problem Phil Neville was not covering far enough across from his central position and Leon Osman was not working hard enough to get back. It proved Everton's downfall.
Once again Chelsea found room down their left and Florent Malouda, the game's outstanding player, curled in a cross that Drogba headed in. That was it. Everton's manager David Moyes tried to plug the gap at half-time. He pulled Hibbert off, told Osman to sit deeper and moved Neville further across, filling in for his captain with Fellaini.
Futile. It was like building the Thames barrier out of Lego. Even the switch contributed, in a mocking way, to Chelsea's winning goal. When Frank Lampard turned on the edge of the box Neville would have been there in the first half.
But having to scramble across from his wider position, he was wrong footed and Lampard does what he does best. Shoot. The sight of Roman Abramovich smiling like the white witch will have done little to soften the misery of the Everton fans as Chelsea crushed their team and powered on to deserved victory.
But at what cost to football. There was a posse of Everton fans heading towards the stadium before the start wearing blue T-shirts with the script: "Rage like lions after slumber, in unvanquishable number, shake your chains to earth like dew, which in sleep had fallen on you, ye are many, they are few."
It's not often you walk down Wembley Way and get an eyeful of Percy Bysshe Shelley, but you could see where the northern lads were coming from. There was hardly a Chelsea fan in sight in the hours leading up to the kick-off.
They were probably all still in the boozers off the King's Road. The Chelsea fans were the few. There seemed a feeling of "just another cup final" coming out of West London.
The fans just about turned up in time for kick-off, sending a huge blue "Chelsea FC Thank You Guus" rippling across their outstretched hands, but they didn't have a lot to say for themselves.
When the London Gospel Community Choir, decked out in the type of white suits that Liverpool players used to wear to Cup finals, gave a thrilling rendition of Abide with me it almost sounded like a personal plea from Abramovich.
Unfortunately a lot of neutrals, who used to love the strollers from Stamford Bridge in the days of Charlie Cooke and Peter Osgood, can't abide Chelsea any more.
They can't abide the fact that the FA Cup has been turned into the personal property of the big four. Once the glory of English football, the FA Cup is now a second rate, four team play-off that lags f behind the Champions League.
OK, so occasionally miracles do happen. Last year, Portsmouth beat Cardiff City in the final. But that was a freak of nature – 17 of the previous 19 Cup finals have been won by Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal or Liverpool. Predictability kills nostalgia.
Who can really, truly remember much about those past 19 finals. Those who were kids back in the Seventies still smile at memories of the late Ian Porterfield scoring for Sunderland or Bobby Stokes for Southampton – but we can't remember much of recent FA Cups.
If Saha's goal had proved the winner, if apples were oranges we might still have a smidgeon of faith. But a lot of us are now atheists as far as the FA Cup is concerned.
Is there an answer to the deadening domination of the big four? Is it worth considering excluding the Champions League qualifiers from that season's FA Cup? Probably not. But let's not forget it was Everton and their fans who made this day.
Chelsea won the match, but the extremes of joy and sadness, hope and despair, were all wearing an Everton shirt – losers yet unvanquishable.
| Chelsea |
Which notorious murderer is depicted in the 2001 film ‘From Hell’? | FA Cup | Fulham Football Club
Fulham Football Club
FA Cup
Non-League Heroics
It wasn’t until 1903/04 that Fulham, then in the First Division of the Southern League, passed through all seven Preliminary Qualifying Rounds to make their debut in the First Round of the FA Cup. The eighth game was one too many as Woolwich Arsenal won 1-0.
Final Four
Football League status was achieved in 1907 and in their first season in Division Two, Fulham’s FA Cup campaign began with an 8-3 victory at Southern League Luton Town, a scoreline which remains the Club's best away win in the competition.
Fulham then defeated non-League Norwich City, First Division title challengers Manchester City and Manchester United but lost to Newcastle United in the Semi-Final.
In 1936, Fulham again reached the Semi-Final, only to go down to a 2-1 defeat to Sheffield United.
Rooke's Record
In 1938/9, Fulham defeated Bury 6-0 in an all-Second Division Third-Round tie at the Cottage. Ronnie Rooke scored all six goals for the Whites, a feat that has not been equalled since – in league or cup.
Further Frustrations
In 1958, Fulham lost to Manchester United in the FA Cup Semi-Final after a replay, a game that came less than two months after the Munich disaster.
It was a similar story four years later, when First Division Fulham again fell at the penultimate hurdle after a defeat to Burnley.
At Last!
It was a long time coming but, when Second Division Fulham finally made it through to the FA Cup Final in 1975, it was well worth the wait.
And, in typical Fulham fashion, they took the longest and hardest route.
Every one of the five ties that were won on the way to Wembley were away from the Cottage, and no club, before or since, has played as many matches to get there. It took seven games to dispose of Hull City and Nottingham Forest, before a victory over First Division table-toppers Everton in the Fifth Round.
A win over Carlisle United in Round Six put the Cottagers up against their third opponents from the top flight, Birmingham City, in the Semi-Final, with John Mitchell’s scrappy 119th-minute goal in a replay sending Alec Stock’s men through to Wembley.
For many, the Final itself was anti-climatic, West Ham United winning 2-0 to take the trophy against a Fulham side that included former Hammers captain Bobby Moore in their starting XI.
Seventh Heaven
Third Division Fulham set an FA Cup record in 1995/6 when they thrashed Second Division Swansea City in a First-Round tie at the Cottage. Mick Conroy lead the charge with a hat-trick and the scoreline remains the largest-winning margin in the competition by a club over opponents from a higher division.
So Close Once Again
It wasn’t until the 2001/02 season that Fulham, now back in the top flight, made a mark on the FA Cup again when they reached the last four after disposing of Wycombe Wanderers, York City, Walsall and West Bromwich Albion.
They met bitter rivals Chelsea at Villa Park in the Semi-Final but a John Terry effort was enough to win the game for the Blues.
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A grunion is what type of creature? | Southern California Species | Cabrillo Marine Aquarium
Grunion
Leuresthes tenuis
Spend a night sitting on Southern California's sandy shore waiting for the �grunion run.� While it may sound like some kind of �snipe hunt,� a grunion run is a unique experience. From March through August, the small grunion wash themselves up on the beach 3-4 nights after the new and full moon.
Grunion (Leuresthes tenuis) is a member of the Silversides family of fish, which include the topsmelt and jacksmelt. Grunion range from San Francisco to Baja and are mostly found south of Point Conception. The unique thing about the grunion is not that its common name comes from a Spanish word that refers to a grunting sound they are supposed to make when spawning. The curious fact is that 1-3 hours after the high tide, female grunion and their male suitors wash up on the shore en masse while the females wriggle tail first into the sand laying some 1-3,000 eggs while the males encircle them depositing milt along her body fertilizing the eggs below the sand surface. In this protected pod the eggs develop for some ten days when the next high tide agitates and hatches the baby grunion out. They will mature in one year or at 5� and will complete the cycle. Grunion live for 3-4 years and females may spawn 4-8 times per season.
Grunion may be eaten by many kinds of fish including halibut and croakers; and probing shorebirds, sand worms, beetles and beach hoppers eat their eggs. Humans may only capture grunion with their bare hands (except during closed season-April and May) and grunion hunters over 16 must have a fishing license. Native Chumash and Tongva peoples feasted on grunion runs but the most curious question that is not fully answered is how do the grunion know when it is time to do the �grunion dance?� Is it the pull of the tides? The glow of the moon? Or something more subtle? Regardless of what draws you to the shore, this fish behavior is truly a Southern California phenomenon and a longstanding part of the Aquarium's programs history. Come join us as we celebrate this seaside ritual!
- Steve Vogel, Former Education Curator
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Which 1997 film, directed by Quentin Tarantino, is based on Elmore Leonard’s novel ‘Rum Punch’? | Ursula | Disney Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia
“Flotsam! Jetsam! I want you to keep an extra close watch on this pretty little daughter of his... She may be the key to Triton's undoing.”
―Ursula
Ursula with Flotsam and Jetsam in The Little Mermaid.
When Ursula first appears in the film, she states through monologue that she once lived in the royal palace of King Triton , the king of the underwater city of Atlantica. She was banished from Atlantica and made her home in the remains of a leviathan where she waits the chance to get her revenge on Triton and become Queen of Atlantica. She currently resides in a leviathan home lined with a garden of writhing polyps which were merfolk who had previously gone to Ursula for help, but found themselves unable to fulfil their side of the bargain, leading Ursula to claim them as her own and added them to her collection.
Though she remains powerful, Ursula laments her distaste for her living conditions, and secretly watches over King Triton's youngest daughter, Ariel , believing her to be "the key to Triton's undoing". With time, Ursula's assumptions are proven correct, as Ariel one day meets and falls in love with a human prince, named Eric , against Triton's explicit rules. Ursula commands her minions, moray eels Flotsam and Jetsam , to lure Ariel to her lair, claiming that only she can help make the princess' dreams of living on the surface, beside her apparent true love, a reality. Little does Ariel realize that this is part of Ursula's scam to take the kingdom.
Ursula manipulating Ariel.
Through the song " Poor Unfortunate Souls ", Ursula proposes an agreement where she will transform Ariel into a human for three days, during which Ariel must receive the "kiss of true love" from Eric. If Ariel succeeds, her transformation into a human will be permanent, but if she fails, she will turn back into a mermaid and be bound to Ursula for eternity.
The price for the transformation is Ariel's voice (which Ursula will keep no matter what happens). Ariel agrees and signs a contract that Ursula has conjured. As Ursula orders Ariel to sing, the sea witch summons magical hands to rip out Ariel's voice, which is then magically pulled into Ursula's Nautilus shell necklace . She then laughs gleefully as her plans begin to unfold: Ariel's tail is split into legs. In comparison, the original fairytale involves the sea witch taking the little mermaid's voice by cutting off her tongue, and her tail was transformed into legs by a magic potion which the mermaid was to drink on the beach surface.
During the time that Ariel is a human and must win a kiss from Eric in order to remain human permanently, Ursula takes every measure to prevent the kiss from occurring, such as when Flotsam and Jetsam tip over the boat in which Ariel and Eric are sitting on as the two are close to kissing. Fearing that Ariel may be better at performing the task than Ursula has thought and that Eric will be kissing Ariel by sunset for sure, Ursula decides to take matters into her own tentacles, determined to make Ariel hers for eternity and to make Triton writhe. She then takes the form of a beautiful human female with Ariel's voice in order to sabotage her relationship with Eric.
Vanessa, Ursula's human disguise.
After transforming herself into a human by the name of "Vanessa", Ursula bewitches Eric to marry her. However, Ariel's seagull companion, Scuttle , discovers Ursula's villainy and quickly alerts Ariel and King Triton's court composer, Sebastian , who rushes off to alert the king. Before she can completely misdirect Eric into marrying her, Scuttle is able to stall the wedding for the time being and, in the chaos, destroy the Nautilus shell containing Ariel's voice, which breaks the enchantment and returning Ariel's voice back to its rightful owner. However, the sun sets before Ariel and Eric can kiss and Ariel changes back into a mermaid. Ursula, restored to her normal form, grabs Ariel and jumps back into the sea, where she is confronted by King Triton. She reveals her true goal and forces Triton to choose between his freedom and his daughter's. Triton agrees to take Ariel's place, and once Triton is transformed into a polyp, Ursula takes the crown and magical trident.
Furious with Ursula and her cruelty, Ariel attacks the sea witch, who immediately retaliates and threatens to destroy the former with the power of the trident. Before she can, Ursula is attacked by Prince Eric, who has come to rescue Ariel. Flotsam and Jetsam are sent to capture the Prince and successfully do so while dragging him down into the sea. Ursula readies a killing shot for Eric, but Ariel grabs hold of her hair, thus redirecting the blast towards Flotsam and Jetsam—killing them.
Ursula with the ship rammed into her.
Saddened and enraged by the death of her minions, Ursula seeks vengeance on Ariel and magically alters herself to a massive size to permanently eliminate her. With her new form, Ursula declares herself as ruler of the entire ocean, and creates a deadly storm. The sea witch then imprisons Ariel at the bottom of a whirlpool and uses the trident to fire multiple destructive blasts at the latter, who just barely manages to avoid them. With her attention completely derailed, Ursula fails to notice the nearby Eric, who has successfully taken control of one of the surfaced ships, with apparent intentions to save his true love. Meanwhile, Ursula has Ariel cornered, and prepares an unavoidable blast to permanently kill the horrified latter, wickedly taunting the idea of "true love" conquering all as she does so. Before the killing blast is ignited, Eric impales the sea witch by plunging his ship's splintered bow through her abdomen. As Ursula screams in pain, the bow catches lightning, thus leaving her body to be brutally electrocuted until she completely loses her last ounce of life—dropping dead onto the ship and sinking into the sea, her body dismembering in the midst of this. After Ursula's fate was sealed, all the merfolk that have had been under her power, including Triton, are released from their bonds and transform back into their original forms.
In the 2006 Platinum Edition DVD release of the film, deleted scenes revealed early concept ideas where Ursula is Triton's sister, making her Ariel's aunt. This concept was not used in the final film, though it sometimes resurfaced in spin-off material, and is in the Broadway musical.
The Little Mermaid (TV series)
Ursula in The Little Mermaid series.
Ursula appears as the main villain of the The Little Mermaid prequel television series. The episodes she appears in are "Against the Tide", "Tail of Two Crabs", "Heroes" and "Ariel's Treasures". In all of these episodes, she executes various plans to antagonize King Triton and take over Atlantica.
In "Against the Tide", Ursula has been experiencing failures in her most recent magic spells. She believes it to be the work of an odd sea creature that is said to cause bad luck whenever it's around. Ursula decides to destroy the creature, but Ariel rescues it, as she believes it to be harmless. Eventually, the creature's whereabouts have been located at Triton's palace, and Ursula invades the palace during King Triton's homecoming. She prepares to eliminate the beast by using the stolen magic of the trident, though Sebastian was clever enough to make a makeshift version of the creature, and trick Ursula into destroying it instead. With the beast supposedly gone, Ursula departs.
In "Tail of Two Crabs", Ursula takes advantage of Sebastian's jealously towards his rival Zeus the Crab, by transforming into Sebastian's "Fairy God Crab". She offers him a wish if he can recover a rare artifact holding great power. Sebastian delivers, and Ursula is able to turn King Triton, Flounder, and Ariel into sea worms. Luckily, Zeus is able to subdue Ursula and revert her curse.
In "Heroes", Apollo, a legendary hero who once saved Atlantica from Ursula and her army of octopi, returns to Atlantica, just when Ursula decides to revive her old army in an attempt to dominate Atlantica once more. Like the previous battle, however, Apollo prevails with the help of the fire-breathing Sea Dragon. It is also implied in this episode that the reason behind her exile was because she tried to create copies of the Trident, referred to as dark tridents, for the aforementioned army against Atlantica.
Lastly in "Ariel's Treasures", Ursula enchants the human items in Ariel's grotto, in an attempt to wreak havoc on Atlantica.
The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea
Ursula's picture that Morgana hangs on her wall.
Ursula doesn't actually appear in this direct-to-video sequel, but she makes a cameo and is mentioned various times, mostly by her sister Morgana, also a Cecelia (who has eight tentacles instead of Ursula's six).
Ursula, herself, can be seen in a picture within Morgana's lair. Interestingly, she serves as the driving force for Morgana's story arc, though not exactly in the sense of revenge. Rather, Morgana feels eliminating Triton and stealing the throne would prove her superiority over her sister, as the former spent most of her life in Ursula's shadow.
At the end of the film, after Morgana is imprisoned within an icy statue and forced to sink to the darkest depths of the sea, the framed picture of Ursula makes one last appearance, sinking alongside her.
In the deleted, yet fully animated song " Gonna Get My Wish ", a younger Ursula makes a brief appearance in the form of a flashback, alongside Morgana and their mother. The scene also gives a visual representation of Ursula's past and relationship with Morgana. In their youth, Ursula wears a purple bow tied to her hair.
House of Mouse
Ursula in Mickey's House of Villains.
Despite her death in the film, Ursula made numerous cameos in the series House of Mouse , often seen alone or with Ariel.
In " Ask Von Drake ", she was seen popping out of Ariel's giant shell during the Ludwig Von Drake Song . In " Pete's House of Villains ", she replaced Daisy at her desk after Pete took over. In " Jiminy Cricket ", Jiminy gives Ariel advice resulting into taking her voice back from Ursula. Her mode of transportation was seen as a wave vehicle. At the end of " Max's Embarrassing Date ", Ursula is seen in an advertisement attempting to steal the voice of Max Goof 's girlfriend Roxanne . In " Mickey and Minnie's Big Vacation ", Ursula was one of the many guests to be annoyed when the Pink Elephants are briefly released. She was also part of the all-female guest list in the episode " Ladies' Night ".
In the episode " House of Crime ", Goofy interrogates Vanessa, asking if she has seen any disguised villains. She silently shakes her head and then transforms back into Ursula when Goofy leaves her table.
Ursula was also one of the lead villains in Mickey's House of Villains , and was also seen in Mickey's Magical Christmas telling Mickey that she wants his voice for Christmas.
Cameos
Ursula appears in the Hercules: Animated series episode, " Hercules and the Bacchanal " as she tries to sell perfume to Hercules and Hermes.
Live-action appearances
Sea Goddess
The Evil Queen posing as Ursula.
In the fantasy drama series, Ursula is a mythical sea goddess who is considered a myth by merfolk as she hasn't been seen for a thousand years. This identity appears in the episode " Ariel ", where in the episode, the eponymous Ariel prays to her for guidance so she can be able to continue her life as a human and forever be with Prince Eric . Using this opportunity, the Evil Queen appears as Ursula to Ariel and gives her a magic bracelet that gives the wearer Ariel's tail in exchange for their legs. Ariel, in an act of gratitude for Snow White 's earlier help, gives the bracelet to Snow so that she can live her life free from the Queen while Ariel gets to be with Eric.
However, Snow White tries to tell Ariel that Ursula isn't real. Much to Ariel's shock, Regina shows up and admits this was a way to get Snow using Ariel. She then gives Ariel an ultimatum: leave Snow with Regina and live happily with Prince Eric or perish along with Snow. Ariel appears to choose the first choice, but then stabs Regina with a fork and removes the bracelet from Snow, who then escapes with Ariel into the water. After delivering Snow safely onto land, Ariel returns to tell Eric how she feels, but when she attempts to speak, she discovers that her voice is missing. Regina, standing on the docks, reveals she had taken her voice so Ariel can never tell Prince Eric how she truly feels. Ariel becomes devastated, and Regina proceeds to tell Ariel to leave.
Ursula's statue.
When Regina returns to her castle, she looks into her mirror and discovers Ursula herself, proving that Ursula is indeed real. Ursula then grabs Regina with her tentacles through the mirror itself, threatening a fearful Regina to never pose as her again, or she will prove to Regina "just how real she is", before subsequently letting her go and disappearing.
Although Ursula's physical appearance is largely based on the Disney version, her personality is closer to that of the original Hans Christian Andersen tale, being largely a neutral entity, although will get vengeful when someone poses as her.
Sea Witch
Ursula in the fourth season of Once Upon a Time.
A second Ursula appeared as one of the main antagonists in the second half of the fourth season, played by actress Merrin Dungey while Tiffany Boone played the young Ursula. She made her season four début in the episode " Heroes and Villains ". She was originally a mermaid princess and the daughter of King Poseidon , named after the original sea goddess. Her back-story is similar to Ariel (from the movie), because she had a beautiful singing voice and lost her mother who had been killed by a pirate. Her father developed a xenophobic grudge against humans and use the voice talent of Ursula to lure sailors to their doom. However, she refused to attack the Jolly Roger , saving Captain Hook and his crew. In grudge with her father, she steals a magic bracelet from his vault, allowing her to become human. She becomes a pub singer and befriend Hook. However, Hook had concluded a pact with Poseidon to trap her singing voice within an enchanted shell in exchange for squid ink, to neutralize his nemesis Rumplestiltskin . Instead, Ursula herself steals the ink from the vault for him just as her father arrives to take the procured item away.
Angered that the ink has been crushed, Hook removes her voice so the King can never use her to sink another ship again. Betrayed and developing a great hate against the human and her father, Ursula decided she no longer wanted to be a mermaid and used her father's trident to transform her fin into tentacles, becoming the Sea Witch. Later, Ursula is invited to the Forbidden Fortress by Rumplestiltskin, where she meets Cruella De Vil and Maleficent . Rumple used the three villainesses to get the Dark Curse, but the witches in turn had to face the Chernabog . Later, she become good friends with the two witches and the three became associates. They work together to steal a magical gauntlet from Rumplestiltskin, capable of revealing the weaknesses of their enemies. Once they learn this crucial information, they'll be able to come out on top, having had enough of constantly facing defeat. To do so, the villains kidnapped Rumple's servant, Belle and held her for ransom. Once Rumple arrived at the transaction point, Belle was covered in Ursula's tentacles to prevent her from escaping. Her grasp increased with time due to Rumple's hesitation, but once the Dark One handed over the gauntlet, Belle was released. Later, she, Cruella and Maleficent ask for help from Snow White and Prince Charming in stopping the Evil Queen . But once their plan fails, Ursula asks if she can choke the duo with her tentacles, claiming that they are bored. She and Cruella remained Maleficent's primary associates (and somewhat henchmen) and guarded the cave in which Maleficent rested with her unborn child. After the baby is stolen by the heroes they previously worked with, Ursula and Cruella chase them down, where they end up being transported to the Land Without Magic, using the magic from dragon egg containing the baby to stay young.
Many years later after the Dark Curse, Ursula was seen in the Land Without Magic working as an aquarium worker in New York feeding the fish there. Mr. Gold finds her (after being forced out of Storybrooke by Belle) and offers her a chance to get even with the heroes and find the Author . They then head out to find Cruella De Vil and Maleficent. Ursula and Mr. Gold find Cruella De Vil in Long Island. Upon using Mr. Gold's cellphone, Ursula and Cruella make a deal with Regina to let them into Storybrooke in exchange for info on how to defeat the Chernabog. After the Chernabog disappeared upon being thrown over the town line, Ursula and Cruella were invited into Storybrooke. Later that night, Ursula and Cruella get Mr. Gold back into Storybrooke and work to bring Maleficent back from the dead.
Ursula regains her beautiful singing voice back.
But soon her intentions drift when she sees Hook in the forest so Ursula heads out to confront him, where he agrees to give back her singing voice so she can tell him about Mr. Gold's plans. Since the shell that trapped her voice is in the Enchanted Forest aboard the Jolly Roger, she uses a piece of the ship's rigging to open a portal and cross realms to bring the vehicle to Storybrooke's harbor. She succeeds, however, the ship arrives shrunken and encased in a bottle. From Will , it is restored to normal size with a magic essence. Below ship deck, Hook gives Ursula the shell containing her singing voice, but she is unable to reabsorb it. Disappointed, she considers her happy ending is still impossible without the Author's help, causing her to void her deal with Hook, who pulls a gun on her. She easily knocks him out and throws him into the water before returning to the cabin. There, she assaults Mary Margaret, who arrived with Emma and David to rescue August . As Ursula refuses to relent, Hook returns with her father, Poseidon, who can restore her voice since he originally enchanted the shell. Poseidon apologizes to Ursula for using her singing voice as a weapon and he expresses regret over not cherishing her gift to honor her mother's memory. After regaining her voice, Ursula fully reconciles with her father and decides to go home with him. Before leaving, she tells Hook about Mr. Gold's scheme to dethrone Emma as savior and make her evil. As Ursula explains, Emma gave everyone their happy endings in this world, and once she is not the savior anymore, only then the Author can give the villains what they want.
Printed material
An illustration of Ursula.
In the first two issues of the official "The Little Mermaid" comic, Ursula appears briefly to negotiate with a race of eel-men for the carcass of a Leviathan which she would convert into the home seen in the 1989 film. She also briefly appears in a segment of the fourth issue, where she tries to create a new hairstyle to entertain her due to banishment from Atlantica making her lonely on her birthday, but it backfired on her. She doesn't appear in the Marvel Comics serial for The Little Mermaid, although a character similar to her appears known as Pirhaia in the penultimate issue. Ursula frequently appears in Ariel's comics in the Disney Princess magazines, often in a villainous role. In the Disney Press book The Villain Files, it is implied that Ursula is Ariel's aunt, a concept that is based on the abandoned story concept of the 1989 film.
She also appears in the manga series of Kingdom Hearts and Kilala Princess .
In The Little Mermaid version of My Side of the Story, Ursula claimed she was a protagonist, and revealed to have been romantically infatuated with King Triton, supposedly.
Kingdom Keepers
Ursula is first mentioned in the saga in the third book when a cast member says Tigger was spying on her. In the fifth book, she appears at Typhoon Lagoon when King Triton is talking with Finn . She has the power of the water and even creates a whirlpool where Finn almost drowns. She also appears on the cover of Kingdom Keepers V: Shell Game .
The Beast Within: A Tale of Beauty's Prince
Ursula is mentioned in the second novel The Beast Within: A Tale of Beauty's Prince by author Serena Valentino . In the novel, it is mentioned that Ursula lives in a kingdom adjacent to that of Belle and the Prince , and when the Prince dumps his fiancée prior to Belle , she attempts to drown herself. Ursula then rescues her and trades her her life for her beauty. The Enchantress then goes to Ursula to convince her to give up her deal in exchange for something else. In the end, she convinces her.
Descendants: Isle of the Lost
Ursula is one of the villains brought back to life to be imprisoned in the Isle of the Lost . She owns a store called Ursula's Fish and Chips and she always chases out Ratigan and his crew every time they go there.
Poor Unfortunate Soul: A Tale of the Sea Witch
Ursula is at the center of the third Disney novel by Serena Valentino in a series that explores the untold backstories of famous Disney villains. It was released on July 26, 2016.
Ursula was the adopted daughter of a human fisherman and she grew up unaware of her powers or that she was King Triton's long-lost sister. After her powers were exposed the people in her village turned on her and attempted to burn her, her father tried to stop them but was killed in the process. From that moment on, Ursula was driven by the hatred of the people in the village and grief for the loss of her father. After attempting to destroy the village, King Triton reveals himself to be her brother and takes her home to his kingdom. But Ursula is not allowed to be around her brother's subjects in her octopus form, because he thinks she is ugly and a true monster. The only person who treats Ursula with kindness is Triton's wife Queen Athena , and she has heated discussions with her husband on Ursula's behalf. But after Athena's death, Ursula is banished to the Unprotected Waters by Triton. She tells her story to The Odd Sisters and they agree to help her kill Triton and in return she will them find their younger sister Circe .
Unfortunately little do the sisters know, Circe is in Ursula's Garden of Lost Souls.
It is revealed that Ursula has a heated rivalry with Maleficent , the Dark Fairy.
Video games
Kingdom Hearts series
Ursula is a recurring villain in four installments of the Kingdom Hearts series. Originally, she was a member of the legion of Disney villains led by Maleficent who sought to dominate the worlds via the power of darkness and control over fearsome creatures known as the Heartless.
In Kingdom Hearts , Ursula is able to manipulate Ariel into handing over the trident, wanting to use it take control of the ocean. However, due to the efforts of the game's protagonists Sora , Donald, and Goofy, Ursula is defeated and vanishes into the darkness, alongside other villains who were slain by Sora and co.
In Chain of Memories , Ursula makes an appearance in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories as a figment of Sora's memories, using Flounder to force Ariel into giving her the trident, claiming she'll have the guppy killed if she refuses.
Ursula returns yet again in Kingdom Hearts II , where she revives from the dead and offers Ariel her dream to live up on the surface in exchange for her voice. The plot that follows mirrors the original film, and upon Ursula acquisition of the trident, she becomes a monstrous giant and tries to eliminate Ariel, as well as Sora and friends. However, with their new ally, Prince Eric, Ursula is defeated and sealed yet again.
An apparition of Ursula appears in Dream Drop Distance as the first boss in the game. She is, suddenly attacking Sora and Riku with her tentacles and magic as the heroes were on their way to the Mark of Mastery exam. When Ursula is defeated and sealed, but she used her whirlpool to drag Sora and Riku underwater and towards the Keyhole to Destiny Islands and the entrance to the Sleeping Worlds, beginning their new journey. How Ursula came of being is unknown, though her motives were to simply have revenge on Sora.
Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion
Along with other toons, Ursula had her essence drained by Mizrabel and into a wasteland. When Mickey found her and explained it was Mizrabel's fault for this second "banishment", Ursula demanded to know where the witch was to prove there was only room for her. As Mickey didn't know, she was directed to the fortress to scheme against Mizrabel. She asks for a cauldron in exchange for not harming any of the other toons Mickey saved; she keeps her end of the bargain.
Ursula plays a small role in the game, being featured as a boss alongside Flotsam and Jetsam during The Little Mermaid stage.
Stage musical
Ursula in the Broadway musical adaptation.
A stage musical version of the 1989 film debuted in Denver for a pre-Broadway tryout, and in January 2008 opened on Broadway. Actress Sherie Rene Scott originated the live role. The role was later played by Heidi Blickenstaff and Faith Prince. The show closed on Broadway Aug.30, 2009.
In this version, Ursula is King Triton's sister. As revealed in the lyrics of Ursula's song " I Want the Good Times Back ", (later replaced with " Daddy's Little Angel ") when their father died, the pair were given equal share of the sea plus two magical items. Triton received the trident while Ursula received the magic Nautilus shell. Though the two were to rule the seas together, Ursula's greed and use of dark magic to usurp Triton led to her being banished. Her need for revenge is her motivation for the show.
Unlike the 1989 film, Ursula is depicted as being large but not obese, and the entire subplot where Ursula transforms into a human has been removed entirely. In the show's finale, Ursula is defeated by Ariel, not Eric, when the mermaid destroys Ursula's magical shell since the climax in which Ursula becomes a gargantuan monster and then impaled by the bow of a ship is too expensive and impractical for a staged show.
Ursula sings new songs in addition to the film's "Poor Unfortunate Souls". These songs are "I Want the Good Times Back", in which Ursula reminisces over her luxurious past, "Her Voice", in which Ursula anticipates the sunset of the third day and a reprise of "Poor Unfortunate Souls" in which Ursula 'negotiates' an agreement with Triton for Ariel's soul. Ursula also sings briefly at the end of a new sequence called "The Contest", in which Ariel's voice can be heard as the sun sets, but is then merged with Ursula's own voice.
When the show was heavily revamped for the national tour, Ursula's song "I Want the Good Times Back", was deleted in favor of a new song "Daddy's Little Angel", which gives her a new backstory. In this new history, Ursula was the youngest of seven sisters, who born as a Cecelia and not a mermaid disgusted her father Poseidon. Out of jealousy she murders her six older sisters, and becomes Queen, only for Triton, who in this new book is the younger brother, comes of age and deposes and exiles her.
An earlier demo workshop contained different songs written for Ursula that was eventually removed from the production. Ursula's introductory song is "Wasting Away", though it was later replaced by "I Want the Good Times Back". A different reprise of "Poor Unfortunate Souls" was written for Ursula just before she transforms into Vanessa, but since the Vanessa subplot was removed, so was the reprise. Another song, "All Good Things Must End" features Ursula gloating on her victory over Ariel, but the song was removed entirely. Emily Skinner performed as Ursula in this workshop.
Ursula in the Halloween parade at the Tokyo Disneyland.
Ursula has been prominently featured in dozens of park shows, parades, and merchandise.
She has been used in several promos with other characters for the Disney Halloween events and Water Parks.
Disneyland Resort
The Fantasmic! show debuted in 1992 in the California park, only a few years after The Little Mermaid debuted. Ursula appears in the finale, summoning the powers of the sea to destroy Mickey Mouse , though she herself is ultimately beaten. Originally, a twenty foot Audio-Animatronic Ursula float traveled around her segment in the show on the water, but the air constantly leaked from the blow-up tentacles, and the animatronic as a whole was a maintenance nightmare, so currently the character is only featured via animation projected onto water screens.
Walt Disney World Resort
In Voyage of the Little Mermaid , Ursula appears as an audio-animatronic living the same role as the film. After she strikes her deal with Ariel, the rest of her scenes are showcased on a screen where it shows her transforming into Vanessa, becoming a giant and her death.
In Disney's Hollywood Studios version of Fantasmic!, Ursula has a much smaller role compared to the original, taking part in the ensemble of villains.
At the Magic Kingdom , Ursula serves as one of the Fantasyland villains for the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game, where Hades revives her from her death and recruits her to steal a piece of the Crystal of the Magic Kingdom. However, like Maleficent , she plots to double-cross him and take the piece for herself. Once the piece is in her possession, Ursula plots to flood Cinderella Castle and rest of the Magic Kingdom so that she may dominate the park along with the rest of the seas. Likewise, in a similar manner to her transforming into Vanessa, she also disguises herself as Ariel at one point in an attempt to deceive Merlin and the guests into aiding her in her goal. She returns during the final battle with Hades. In the end, the park guests to defeat Ursula and the other villains by trapping them in the Crystal of the Magic Kingdom .
Ursula is a central character in the annual Halloween-themed fireworks show Hallowishes at the Magic Kingdom's Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party "hard ticket" event along with Jafar , Oogie Boogie and Maleficent.
A massive sculpture of Ursula is also one of the features of The Little Mermaid's area of Disney's Art of Animation Resort .
The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure
Ursula plays the part she did in the original film, first appearing in the ride's Poor Unfortunate Souls scene, represented by an 8-foot tall, 12-foot wide animatronic, to turn Ariel into a human. Her defeat is one of the last scenes of the attraction.
Ursula's animatronic is one of the most detailed that the Disney Imagineers have ever created. It was designed to move more fluidity than the average AA and gradually apart of one of the Disney Parks' greatest achievements of the year.
Gallery
The Disney Wiki has a collection of images and media related to Ursula .
Trivia
Ursula is one of the very rare characters (along with Maleficent , Scar , Clayton , Mother Gothel , and even Jafar ), whose manner of death is shown graphically (she was impaled by a ship's bow, electrocuted by lightning, along with her tentacles grabbing the ship, finally sinking down to the ocean floor, exploding, and having her pieces sink to the ocean floor all on-screen). Usually, characters (heroes/minor characters and villains alike) are either killed off-screen by a fall (such as Ratigan and Gaston ) or shown dead without a scratch ( Mufasa and Meg ).
As her death scene reveals, Ursula actually appears to have a skeleton, despite having an octopus lower body (as octopuses are cephalopods and do not have bones).
Ursula is one of the few Disney characters to eat something that is still alive (in this case, it was some sort of living shrimp).
In the original story, Ursula (simply known as "the Sea Witch") was not malevolent, but rather neutral.
Ursula's species is a cecaelia (a half person, usually woman, half octopus) and she was the inspiration for Donald Duck 's transformation "outfit" in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II in the Atlantica World. In the TV show, however, her species was referred to as Octopid .
"Ursula" is a Latin word meaning "Little Female Bear".
Despite being half-octopus, Ursula only has six tentacles. However, if her arms are counted as limbs as well, then she actually does have eight limbs altogether.
Although Ursula is usually depicted with light lavender skin, her appearance as a child in both the family photo and the song "Gonna Get My Wish" indicated that her natural skin color was actually light green colored similar to Morgana and their mother.
Saleen , a villainess from the Aladdin TV series, had her design based on Ursula's old concept art.
Ursula's blood's color is dark blue like cephalopods, as shown briefly when Eric's Harpoon scratches her arm, but appears black due to how dark it was.
The final battle with Ursula was intended to play out very differently than in the final film. First, Ariel initially succeeds in getting herself out of Ursula's grip, only for Flotsam and Jetsam to retrieve her. Also, she was to have accidentally killed Flotsam and Jetsam without any feelings of remorse or horror at what she had done, and her manner of death involved being impaled with the Trident by Eric before he passes out. The reason for the change was because Jeffrey Katzenberg had seen the Bruce Willis action thriller film Die Hard during the film's development, and advised that they "make the ending more like Die Hard." On a related note, Ariel's voice was to be released to her after she was killed.
Ursula's death scene in Kingdom Hearts II was actually the original storyboarded version for The Little Mermaid, but was changed to Eric ramming a wrecked ship's splintered bowsprit through Ursula's abdomen.
The animators created the character of Ursula for Bea Arthur , who declined as she was occupied with The Golden Girls . Jennifer Saunders then auditioned for the role of Ursula but was turned down. Then Nancy Marchand , Nancy Wilson , Roseanne Barr , Charlotte Rae and Elaine Stritch were all then considered. Then Stritch was cast in the part, but her style clashed with that of lyricist Howard Ashman , so Pat Carroll got the part.
Ursula's physical appearance was actually based on that of the drag queen Divine 's, who died in 1988 while the film was still in production.
As mentioned several times in this article, an original draft of the film was actually going to make Ursula King Triton's sister, which would have made her Ariel's aunt, as well as predate Scar as being the first Disney villain to be related to the protagonist biologically had it been kept. Whether it was kept as canon in the main franchise is debatable, although both the TV series and Return to the Sea strongly imply otherwise, where they made an entire race based on Ursula's design and she had a sister and a mother who were not merpeople, respectively.
In one of the Little Mermaid stories, "Reflections of Arsulu", Ursula disguises herself as Arsulu (an anagram of her original name), a beautiful Blonde mermaid with a red tail and magenta shells. She does this in order to gain entry to Atlantica, where she causes a great deal of discord. Ariel finds out about her whole plan and uses a mirror and a flock of goldfish to foil Ursula's plan by showing her family Arsulu's real reflection.
Ursula is the last female villain in a film with a female protagonist (Disney Princess or otherwise) until Mother Gothel in 2010.
Ursula's body gestures are modeled after Nora Desmond from Wikipedia:Sunset Boulevard (film)Sunset Boulevard .
For less than a second in the original film, when Ursula is transforming into Vanessa, one can hear Jodi Benson 's voice imitating Pat Caroll's low key laugh.
With Ursula's brief stint as Vanessa, she is one of the few villains to share a voice actress ( Jodi Benson ) with the film's heroine.
Vanessa is a type of butterfly, which was one of the ingredients Ursula used to turn herself into Vanessa.
In the Kingdom Hearts series, Ursula is often voiced by Kujira . Incidentally, Kujira's nickname means "whale" in Japanese, fitting in with the aquatic theme.
Ursula is the only female villain to come from the Disney Renaissance .
External links
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The crab represents which sign of the Zodiac? | Cancer Sun Sign - Zodiac Signs - Article by Astrology.com
Cancer Sun Sign - Zodiac Signs
BY ASTROLOGY.COM NOVEMBER 20, 2009 03:39 PM EST
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Cancer, the fourth sign of the zodiac, is all about home. Those born under this sign are 'roots' kinds of people, and take great pleasure in the comforts of home and family. Cancers are maternal, domestic and love to nurture others. More than likely, their family will be large, too -- the more, the merrier! Cancers will certainly be merry if their home life is serene and harmonious. Traditions are upheld with great zest in a Cancer's household, since these folks prize family history and love communal activities. They also tend to be patriotic, waving the flag whenever possible. A Cancer's good memory is the basis for stories told around the dinner table, and don't be surprised if these folks get emotional about things. Those born under this sign wear their heart on their sleeve, which is just fine by them.
The mascot of Cancer is the Crab, and much like this shelled little critter, Cancers are quick to retreat into their shells if it suits their mood. No wonder these folks are called crabby! For Cancer, it's not that big of a deal, though, since they consider this 'shell' a second home (and they do love home). The flip side of this hiding is that shell-bound Crabs are often quite moody. Further, in keeping with their difficulty in sharing their innermost feelings, it can become a Herculean task to pry a Crab out of its secret hiding place. What to do? Give the Crab time -- eventually these folks will come out to play again. When they do, they'll be the first to say so, in keeping with the Cardinal Quality attached to this sign. It's said that Crabs are first to laugh and first to cry, so you can bet they'll fill you in. That shell, by the way, isn't the only tough thing about Crabs. These folks are tenacious and strong-willed and like to get their way. If their well-documented kindness and gentleness doesn't do the trick, however, they're not above using emotional manipulation to make things happen. If that still doesn't work, they'll just go back to their shell and sulk, or find a way to get back at the source of their pain, since Crabs can be rather vindictive. That said, any self-respecting Crab would tell you that they are ultimately motivated by protecting their home and loved ones, a most noble goal.
Cancers are ruled by the Moon -- the Great Mother of the heavens in ancient times. Here on Earth, this is manifested in the Crab's maternal instincts and desire to protect home and hearth. This may appear smothering at times, but that's the Crab for you. The Moon is associated with fertility, too, a quality that is most pleasing to Cancers. The Moon is also the ruler of moods, and Cancers have plenty of those. These folks can cry you a river if they're so inclined, and they usually are. They can be overly sensitive, easily hurt and prone to brooding. Even so, Crabs find it easy to be sympathetic to others and are quick to show their affection. Their intuition is also a great help to them, especially in times of stress.
The element associated with Cancer is Water. Like the rolling waves of the sea, the Crab's emotions can make quite a splash. These folks tend to pick up on things and bring them in, with the outward result ranging from sentimentality to possessiveness. Crabs need to resist the temptation to become selfish or to feel sorry for themselves, since this behavior won't help. On the bright side, Cancers are good with money (although some consider them too thrifty), probably because they value a sense of security. Crabs are also quick to help others and tend to avoid confrontation. In keeping with their nurturing bent, those born under this sign are a whiz with food. A hearty picnic in the park is heaven-on-earth to most Crabs.
Cancers often find that a robust workout session is just the tonic for their touchy feelings. Team sports are always nice, since they offer a sense of community; water polo should be elemental to aquatic Crabs. What are their team colors? The Moon is silver and white. Since Cancers have a tendency to be lazy, however, they may need someone to push them out the door. When it comes to the game of love, eager Crabs are devoted, romantic and able to get things going on their own. Crabs are wise to listen to their gut, since this sign rules the stomach.
The great strength of the Cancer-born is the tenacity with which they protect their loved ones. These folks don't ask for much, either: a comfortable home and sense of peace about sums it up. It's that nurturing instinct which makes Cancers a pleasure to be with.
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The sclera is the white outer layer of which part of the human body? | 25 Graceful Cancer Sign Tattoos - SloDive
25 Graceful Cancer Sign Tattoos
by Nisha Patel | in Tattoos
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The cancer sign or the 69, is one of the most intriguing of all zodiac signs. Design-wise it represents a strange reverse symmetry, with the numbers 6 and 9 together making a circle. If you study Cancer Sign Tattoos and their rich designs, you should be able to see that too.
The cancer sign tattoo designs are generally done by people who bear the cancer zodiac sign. Also, people who can relate to the number 69, irrespective of whether they are Cancerian, often have these tattoos. There are many artistic variations of this very special tattoo, from the simple to the intricate. Cancer is recognized as the fourth zodiac sign, and it includes people born between 21st June and 22nd July. The cancer sign is also known as the sign of the crab. The cancer sign or the number 69 also represents harmony and balance. What that means is that you can imagine the circles of each 6 and 9 as spirals and their tails as the outward and inward movement of the spiral. Also, it should be mentioned that the Yin Yang sign is a mirror image of the 69 pattern. The magic and mystery of these tattoo designs make them popular among those who love patterned permanent body ink art. Here is a look at some amazing designs that use a play of 6 and 9 for interesting effects.
If you like this article, you might be interested in some of our other articles on Demi Lovato Tattoos , Tattoo Designs For Men , Selena Gomez Tattoos and Justin Bieber Tattoos .
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Simple Cancer Sign 69 Tattoo
The simple 69 tattoo in black done on the wrist looks great. It tells you the simple is truly beautiful.
Simple Cancer Sign 69 Tattoo
Roman 69 Tattoo With Stars
The 69 tattoo here has the digits written in Roman numerals, below the tattoo. The tattoo is crowned by three stars, two on either side and one at the top.
Roman 69 Tattoo With Stars
Hand And Wrist 69 Tattoo
Simply done but creating a powerful statement, these 69 tattoos inked in a group ink ceremony are just awesome.
Hand And Wrist 69 Tattoo
Artistic 69 Tattoo
The artistic 69 tattoo behind the ear has stars trailing 69 thus showing that 69 is a magical number.
Artistic 69 Tattoo
Spiraling In And Out 69 Tattoo
This cancer sign tattoo shows the 69 as spirals. Three magical stars are also visible in the design.
Spiraling In And Out 69 Tattoo
Tribal 69 Power Tattoo
This cancer sign 69 tattoo has a sense of power in it. Intricately done, this is a very creative tattoo.
Tribal 69 Power Tattoo
Fish Double 69 Tattoo
There are two fishes and one 69 in each fish. The double fish is also a zodiac sign called Pisces.
Fish Double 69 Tattoo
Circular Spiral 69 Tattoo
Red shades on either side of the cancer sign 69 add a touch of color to the design. There are also two stars that are visible on either side. 69 is done in black ink.
Circular Spiral 69 Tattoo
Sun 69 Tattoo
Glowing sun with 69 tattoo in the center of the sun makes for an awesome fiery tattoo design in shades of orange.
Sun 69 Tattoo
Musical 69 Tattoo
The musical 69 tattoo is done on the backside of the elbow. It shows the flow of music through the spiraling patterns.
Musical 69 Tattoo
Water 69 Tattoo
Here 69 has been imagined as two fishes in an amoeba like puddle of water. The digits have sharp edges and they have been done in black and white.
Water 69 Tattoo
Wrist 69 Tattoo
The simple 69 tattoo creates a subtle effect on the wrist. The 69 has been done in solid black.
Wrist 69 Tattoo
Weird Human 69 Tattoo
In this extremely creative tattoo, the cancer sign 69 has been imagined as a human figure in artistic strokes.
Weird Human 69 Tattoo
Skull Truth 69 Tattoo
This intense tattoo shows the pirate skull, or the danger sign, with Truth written. The tails of 6 and 9 are straight in this unusual tattoo.
Skull Truth 69 Tattoo
Blue Cancer Sign 69 Tattoo
Done in blue, the cancer sign 69 tattoo is on the backside of the hand. Simple to look at, this tattoo also has three stars.
Blue Cancer Sign 69 Tattoo
Blue Cancer 69 Tattoo On Wrist
This 69 crab tattoo is truly a cancerian tattoo. It shows the crab trying to grab a blue moon in the yellow sky.
Blue Cancer 69 Tattoo On Wrist
Zodiac Cancer 69 Tattoo
The zodiac cancer 69 tattoo has also the libra zodiac sign by its side in this pretty tattoo on the wrist.
Zodiac Cancer 69 Tattoo
3 Dimensional 69 Tattoo
Inked in a 2 dimensional space creating an effect of 3 dimensions, and intertwined with stars and leaves, this tattoo is just amazing.
Survivor 69 Tattoo
The survivor tattoo tells the story of a cancer survivor. This is a text plus image tattoo.
Survivor 69 Tattoo
Broken 69 Tattoo
Drawn in broken/segmented parts, the 69 tattoo here is very unique in the dotted effect done in pale shades.
Broken 69 Tattoo
Water Flowy 69 Tattoo
Done on the back of the neck, the 6 and 9 here are made of water, thus imparting a flowy feel to the tattoo.
Water Flowy 69 Tattoo
69 Tattoo With Eyes
The 69 tattoo with eyes is an eerie one. It appears to be looking straight into the eyes of the observer.
69 Tattoo With Eyes
Amazing Cancer Sign 69 Tattoo
Done in intricate detail, this is an amazing black and blue cancer sign 69 tattoo idea for a couple.
Amazing Cance Sign 69 Tattoo
Red Intertwined 69 Tattoo
The red 69 tattoo here has the two digits inked in an intertwined way. The tattoo has sharp and pointed edges.
Red Intertwined 69 Tattoo
Tribal 69 Tattoo
The tribal design 69 tattoo has a very artistic appearance. The cancer sign comes with intricate designs, creating a rich effect.
Tribal 69 Tattoo
69 In Infinity Loop Tattoo
The infinity loop holds the cancer 69 sign in one loop and the Capricorn zodiac sign in another loop. This is a tattoo that seems to have mysterious meanings.
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Barry Butler, who was killed in a car accident in 1966, was the captain of which English football team? | My Football Facts & Stats | Premier League | Norwich City Player of the Year
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Norwich City FC Player of the Year 1967 - 2014
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Norwich City FC Player of the Year 1967 - 2014
This is a table of the Norwich City Player of the Year awards from 1967 to 2014. The award is called the
Barry Butler Memorial Trophy, after the club captain who was killed in a car accident on 9th April 1966.
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Which soft drink ‘Gives you wings’? | About: Barry Butler (footballer, born 1934)
About: Barry Butler (footballer, born 1934)
An Entity of Type : athlete , from Named Graph : http://dbpedia.org , within Data Space : dbpedia.org
Barry Butler (30 July 1934 – 9 April 1966) was a professional footballer who, after trials with Middlesbrough and Dundee, played for Sheffield Wednesday and Norwich City. He is remembered by his team-mates and supporters as an inspirational captain and outstanding defensive player.Butler, who played for Norwich until his death in a car crash in 1966, was often referred to as one of the best defenders in the league by opponents and is regarded as one of Norwich's greatest ever players.
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Ann Davison became the first woman to single-handedly sail which body of water in 1952? | Wiki: Atlantic Ocean - upcScavenger
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upcScavenger » Oceans » Wiki: Atlantic Ocean
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The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's with a total area of about .
It covers approximately 20 percent of the Earth's surface and about 29 percent of its water surface area. It separates the " Old World " from the " New World ".
The Atlantic Ocean occupies an elongated, S-shaped basin extending longitudinally between Eurasia and Africa to the east, and the Americas to the west. As one component of the interconnected World Ocean , it is connected in the north to the Arctic Ocean , to the Pacific Ocean in the southwest, the Indian Ocean in the southeast, and the Southern Ocean in the south (other definitions describe the Atlantic as extending southward to Antarctica ). The Equatorial Counter Current subdivides it into the North Atlantic Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean at about 8°N.
Scientific explorations of the Atlantic include the Challenger expedition, the German Meteor expedition, Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the United States Navy Hydrographic Office.
Etymology
The oldest known mention of "Atlantic" is in The Histories of Herodotus around 450 BC (Hdt. 1.202.4): Atlantis thalassa (Greek: Ἀτλαντὶς θάλασσα; English: Sea of Atlas) where the name refers to "the sea beyond the pillars of Heracles" which is said to be part of the ocean that surrounds all land.
Thus, on one hand, the name refers to Atlas, the Titan of Greek mythology , who supported the heavens and who later appeared as a frontispiece in Medieval maps and also lend his name to modern atlases.
On the other hand, to early Greek sailors and in Ancient Greek mythological literature such as the Iliad and the Odyssey , this all-encompassing ocean was instead known as Oceanus , the gigantic river that encircled the world; in contrast to the enclosed seas well-known to the Greeks: the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
In contrast, the term "Atlantic" originally referred specifically to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco and the sea off the Strait of Gibraltar and the North African coast.
The Greek word thalassa has been reused by scientists for the huge Panthalassa ocean that surrounded the supercontinent Pangaea hundreds of million years ago.
The term " Aethiopian Ocean ", derived from Aethiopia , was applied to the Southern Atlantic as late as the mid-19th century.
Nicknames
In modern history , some refer to the ocean in a humorously diminutive way as "the Pond", describing both the geographical and cultural divide between North America and Europe, in particular between the English-speaking nations of both continents. Many Irish or British people refer to the United States and Canada as "across the pond", and vice versa.
Example: BBC Click – Episode 4 April 2009
The "Black Atlantic" refers to the role of this ocean in shaping black people's history, especially through the Atlantic slave trade. Irish migration to the US is meant when the term "The Green Atlantic" is used. The term "Red Atlantic" has been used in reference to the Marxian concept of an Atlantic working class, as well as to the Atlantic experience of indigenous Americans.
Extent and data
The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) defined the limits of the oceans and seas in 1953,
but some of these definitions have been revised since then and some are not used by various authorities, institutions, and countries, see for example the CIA World Factbook. Correspondingly, the extent and number of oceans and seas varies.
The Atlantic Ocean is bounded on the west by North and South America. It connects to the Arctic Ocean through the Denmark Strait , Greenland Sea , Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea . To the east, the boundaries of the ocean proper are Europe : the Strait of Gibraltar (where it connects with the Mediterranean Sea–one of its –and, in turn, the Black Sea , both of which also touch upon Asia ) and Africa.
In the southeast, the Atlantic merges into the Indian Ocean. The 20° East meridian, running south from Cape Agulhas to Antarctica defines its border. In the 1953 definition it extends south to Antarctica, while in later maps it is bounded at the 60° parallel by the Southern Ocean.
Mid-Atlantic Ridge
The MAR divides the Atlantic longitudinally into two halves, in each of which a series of basins are delimited by secondary, transverse ridges. The MAR reaches above 2000 m along most of its length, but is interrupted by larger transform faults at two places: the Romanche Trench near the Equator and the Gibbs Fracture Zone at 53°N. The MAR is a barrier for bottom water, but at these two transform faults deep water currents can pass from one side to the other.
The MAR rises above the surrounding ocean floor and its rift valley is the divergent boundary between the North American and Eurasian Plate plates in the North Atlantic and the South American and African Plate plates in the South Atlantic. The MAR produces Basaltic lava in Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland, and pillow lava on the ocean floor.
The depth of water at the apex of the ridge is less than in most places, while the bottom of the ridge is three times as deep.
Kenneth J. Hsü
Ocean floor
Continental shelves in the Atlantic are wide off Newfoundland, southern-most South America, and north-eastern Europe. In the western Atlantic carbonate platforms dominate large areas, for example the Blake Plateau and Bermuda Rise . The Atlantic is surrounded by except at a few locations where form deep oceanic trench : the Puerto Rico Trench ( maximum depth) in the western Pacific and South Sandwich Trench () in the South Atlantic. There are numerous submarine canyons off north-eastern North America, western Europe, and north-western Africa. Some of these canyons extend along the continental rises and farther into the abyssal plains as deep-sea channels.
The deep ocean floor is thought to be fairly flat with occasional deeps, abyssal plains , oceanic trench , , Oceanic basin , Oceanic plateau , Submarine canyon , and some . Various shelves along the margins of the continents constitute about 11% of the bottom topography with few deep channels cut across the continental rise.
The mean depth between 60°N and 60°S is , or close to the average for the global ocean, with a modal depth between .
In the South Atlantic the Walvis Ridge and Rio Grande Rise form barriers to ocean currents. The Laurentian Abyss is found off the eastern coast of Canada .
Salinity
On average, the Atlantic is the saltiest major ocean; surface water salinity in the open ocean ranges from 33 to 37 parts per thousand (3.3 – 3.7%) by mass and varies with latitude and season. Evaporation, precipitation, river inflow and sea ice melting influence surface salinity values. Although the lowest salinity values are just north of the equator (because of heavy tropical rainfall), in general the lowest values are in the high latitudes and along coasts where large rivers enter. Maximum salinity values occur at about 25° north and south, in subtropical regions with low rainfall and high evaporation.
The high surface salinity in the Atlantic, on which the Atlantic thermohaline circulation is dependent, is maintained by two processes: the Agulhas Leakage/Rings, which brings salty Indian Ocean waters into the South Atlantic, and the "Atmospheric Bridge", which evaporates subtropical Atlantic waters and exports it to the Pacific.
34.64–34.72
34.85–34.94
The Atlantic Ocean consists of four major, upper with distinct temperature and salinity. The Atlantic Subarctic Upper Water in the northern-most North Atlantic is the source for Subarctic Intermediate Water and North Atlantic Intermediate Water. North Atlantic Central Water can be divided into the Eastern and Western North Atlantic central Water since the western part is strongly affected by the Gulf Stream and therefore the upper layer is closer to underlying fresher subpolar intermediate water. The eastern water is saltier because of its proximity to Mediterranean Water. North Atlantic Central Water flows into South Atlantic Central Water at 15°N.
There are five intermediate waters: four low-salinity waters formed at subpolar latitudes and one high-salinity formed through evaporation. Arctic Intermediate Water, flows from north to become the source for North Atlantic Deep Water south of the Greenland-Scotland sill. These two intermediate waters have different salinity in the western and eastern basins. The wide range of salinities in the North Atlantic is caused by the asymmetry of the northern subtropical gyre and the large number of contributions from a wide range of sources: Labrador Sea, Norwegian-Greenland Sea, Mediterranean, and South Atlantic Intermediate Water.
The North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) is a complex of four water masses, two that form by deep convection in the open ocean — Classical and Upper Labrador Sea Water — and two that form from the inflow of dense water across the Greenland-Iceland-Scotland sill — Denmark Strait and Iceland-Scotland Overflow Water. Along its path across Earth the composition of the NADW is affected by other water masses, especially Antarctic Bottom Water and Mediterranean Overflow Water.
The NADW is fed by a flow of warm shallow water into the northern North Atlantic which is responsible for the anomalous warm climate in Europe. Changes in the formation of NADW have been linked to global climate changes in the past. Since man-made substances were introduced into the environment, the path of the NADW can be traced throughout its course by measuring tritium and radiocarbon from nuclear weapon tests in the 1960s and CFCs.
Gyres
The clockwise warm-water North Atlantic Gyre occupies the northern Atlantic, and the counter-clockwise warm-water South Atlantic Gyre appears in the southern Atlantic.
In the North Atlantic surface circulation is dominated by three inter-connected currents: the Gulf Stream which flows north-east from the North American coast at Cape Hatteras ; the North Atlantic Current, a branch of the Gulf Stream which flows northward from the Grand Banks; and the Subpolar Front , an extension of the North Atlantic Current, a wide, vaguely defined region separating the subtropical gyre from the subpolar gyre. This system of currents transport warm water into the North Atlantic, without which temperatures in the North Atlantic and Europe would plunge dramatically.
North of the North Atlantic Gyre, the cyclonic North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre plays a key role in climate variability. It is governed by ocean currents from marginal seas and regional topography, rather than being steered by wind, both in the deep ocean and at sea level.
The subpolar gyre forms an important part of the global thermohaline circulation. Its eastern portion includes eddying branches of the North Atlantic Current which transport warm, saline waters from the subtropics to the north-eastern Atlantic. There this water is cooled during winter and forms return currents that merge along the eastern continental slope of Greenland where they form an intense (40–50 Sverdrup ) current which flows around the continental margins of the Labrador Sea . A third of this water become parts of the deep portion of the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW). The NADW, in its turn, feed the meridional overturning circulation (MOC), the northward heat transport of which is threatened by anthropogenic climate change. Large variations in the subpolar gyre on a decade-century scale, associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation, are especially pronounced in Labrador Sea Water, the upper layers of the MOC.
The South Atlantic is dominated by the anti-cyclonic southern subtropical gyre. The South Atlantic Central Water originates in this gyre, while Antarctic Intermediate Water originates in the upper layers of the circumpolar region, near the Drake Passage and Falkland Islands. Both these currents receive some contribution from the Indian Ocean. On the African east coast the small cyclonic Angola Gyre lies embedded in the large subtropical gyre.
The southern subtropical gyre is partly masked by a wind-induced Ekman layer . The residence time of the gyre is 4.4–8.5 years. North Atlantic Deep Water flows southerward below the thermocline of the subtropical gyre.
Sargasso Sea
The Sargasso Sea in the western North Atlantic can be defined as the area where two species of Sargassum ( S. fluitans and natans) float, an area wide and encircled by the Gulf Stream , North Atlantic Drift, and North Equatorial Current. This population of seaweed probably originated from Tertiary ancestors on the European shores of the former Tethys Ocean and has, if so, maintained itself by vegetative growth, floating in the ocean for millions of years.
Other species endemic to the Sargasso Sea include the sargassum fish , a predator with algae-like appendages who hovers motionless among the Sargassum. Fossils of similar fishes have been found in fossil bays of the former Tethys Ocean, in what is now the Carpathian region, that were similar to the Sargasso Sea. It is possible that the population in the Sargasso Sea migrated to the Atlantic as the Tethys closed at the end of the Miocene around 17 Ma.
The origin of the Sargasso fauna and flora remained enigmatic for centuries. The fossils found in the Carpathians in the mid-20th century, often called the "quasi-Sargasso assemblage", finally showed that this assemblage originated in the Carpathian Basin from were it migrated over Sicily to the Central Atlantic where it evolved into modern species of the Sargasso Sea.
The location of the spawning ground for European eels remained unknown for decades. In the early 19th century it was discovered that the southern Sargasso Sea is the spawning ground for both the European eel and American eel and that the former migrate more than and the latter . Ocean currents such as the Gulf Stream transport eel larvae from the Sargasso Sea to foraging areas in North America, Europe, and Northern Africa.
Natural hazards
are common from February to August in the Davis Strait , Denmark Strait , and the northwestern Atlantic and have been spotted as far south as Bermuda and Madeira . Ships are subject to superstructure icing in the extreme north from October to May. Persistent fog can be a maritime hazard from May to September, as can hurricanes north of the equator (May to December).
The United States' southeast coast, especially the Virginia and North Carolina coasts, has a long history of shipwrecks due to its many shoals and reefs.
The Bermuda Triangle is popularly believed to be the site of numerous aviation and shipping incidents because of unexplained and supposedly mysterious causes, but Coast Guard records do not support this belief.
Hurricanes are also a natural hazard in the Atlantic, but mainly in the northern part of the ocean, rarely tropical cyclones form in the southern parts. Hurricanes usually form annually between June and November.
Central Atlantic
The break-up of Pangaea began in the Central Atlantic, between North America and Northwest Africa, where rift basins opened during the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic. This period also saw the first stages of the uplift of the Atlas Mountains. The exact timing is controversial with estimates ranging from 200 to 170 Ma.
The opening of the Atlantic Ocean coincided with the initial break-up of the supercontinent Pangaea , both of which were initiated by the eruption of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP), one of the most extensive and voluminous large igneous provinces in Earth's history associated with the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event, one of Earth's major .
Theoliitic dikes, sills, and lava flows from the CAMP eruption at 200 Ma have been found in West Africa, eastern North America, and northern South America. The extent of the volcanism has been estimated to of which covered what is now northern and central Brazil.
The formation of the Central American Isthmus closed the Central American Seaway at the end of the Pliocene 2.8 Ma ago. The formation of the isthmus resulted in the migration and extinction of many land-living animals, known as the Great American Interchange, but the closure of the seaway resulted in a "Great American Schism" as it affected ocean currents, salinity, and temperatures in both the Atlantic and Pacific. Marine organisms on both sides of the isthmus became isolated and either diverged or went extinct.
Northern Atlantic
Geologically the Northern Atlantic is the area delimited to the south by two conjugate margins, Newfoundland and Iberia, and to the north by the Arctic Eurasian Basin . The opening of the Northern Atlantic closely followed the margins of its predecessor, the Iapetus Ocean , and spread from the Central Atlantic in six stages: Iberia–Newfoundland, Porcupine Bank –North America, Eurasia–Greenland, Eurasia–North America. Active and inactive spreading systems in this area are marked by the interaction with the Iceland hotspot .
South Atlantic
West Gondwana (South America and Africa) broke up in the Early Cretaceous to form the South Atlantic. The apparent fit between the coastlines of the two continents was noted on the first maps that included the South Atlantic and it was also the subject of the first computer-assisted plate tectonic reconstructions in 1965.
This magnificent fit, however, has since then proven problematic and later reconstructions have introduced various deformation zones along the shorelines to accommodate the northward-propagating break-up.
Intra-continental rifts and deformations have also been introduced to subdivide both continental plates into sub-plates.
Geologically the South Atlantic can be divided into four segments: Equatorial segment, from 10°N to the Romanche Fracture Zone (RFZ);; Central segment, from RFZ to Florianopolis Fracture Zone (FFZ, north of Walvis Ridge and Rio Grande Rise); Southern segment, from FFZ to the Agulhas-Falkland Fracture Zone (AFFZ); and Falkland segment, south of AFFZ.
In the southern segment the Early Cretaceous (133–130 Ma) intensive magmatism of the Paraná–Etendeka Large Igneous Province produced by the Tristan hotspot resulted in an estimated volume of . It covered an area of in Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay and in Africa. in Brazil, Angola, eastern Paraguay, and Namibia, however, suggest the LIP originally covered a much larger area and also indicate failed rifts in all these areas. Associated offshore basaltic flows reach as far south as the Falkland Islands and South Africa. Traces of magmatism in both offshore and onshore basins in the central and southern segments have been dated to 147–49 Ma with two peaks between 143–121 Ma and 90–60 Ma.
In the Falkland segment rifting began with dextral movements between the Patagonia and Colorado sub-plates between the Early Jurassic (190 Ma) and the Early Cretaceous (126.7 Ma). Around 150 Ma sea-floor spreading propagated northward into the southern segment. No later than 130 Ma rifting had reached the Walvis Ridge–Rio Grande Rise.
In the central segment rifting started to break Africa in two by opening the Benue Trough around 118 Ma. Rifting in the central segment, however, coincided with the Cretaceous Normal Superchron (also known as the Cretaceous quiet period), a 40 Ma period without magnetic reversals, which makes it difficult to date sea-floor spreading in this segment.
The equatorial segment is the last phase of the break-up, but, because it is located on the Equator, magnetic anomalies cannot be used for dating. Various estimates date the propagation of sea-floor spreading in this segment to the period 120–96 Ma. This final stage, nevertheless, coincided with or resulted in the end of continental extension in Africa.
About 50 Ma the opening of the Drake Passage resulted from a change in the motions and separation rate of the South American and Antarctic plates. First small ocean basins opened and a shallow gateway appeared during the Middle Eocene. 34–30 Ma a deeper seaway developed, followed by an Eocene–Oligocene climatic deterioration and the growth of the Antarctic ice sheet.
Closure of the Atlantic
An embryonic subduction margin is potentially developing west of Gibraltar. The Gibraltar Arc in the western Mediterranean is migrating westward into the Central Atlantic where it joins the converging African and Eurasian plates. Together these three tectonic forces are slowly developing into a new subduction system in the eastern Atlantic Basin. Meanwhile, the Scotia Arc and Caribbean Plate in the western Atlantic Basin are eastward-propagating subduction systems that might, together with the Gibraltar system, represent the beginning of the closure of the Atlantic Ocean and the final stage of the Atlantic Wilson Cycle .
Human origin
Human evolution in Africa; first by diverging from other apes around 7 Ma; then developing stone tools around 2.6 Ma; to finally evolve as modern humans around 100 kya. The earliest evidences for the complex behaviour associated with this behavioral modernity has been found in the Greater Cape Floristic Region (GCFR) along the coast of South Africa. During the latest glacial stages the now-submerged plains of the Agulhas Bank were exposed above sea level, extending the South African coastline farther south by hundreds of kilometres. A small population of modern humans — probably fewer than a thousand reproducing individuals — survived glacial maxima by exploring the high diversity offered by these Palaeo-Agulhas plains. The GCFR is delimited to the north by the Cape Fold Belt and the limited space south of it resulted in the development of social networks out of which complex Stone Age technologies emerged.
Human history thus begins on the coasts of South Africa where the Atlantic Benguela Current and Indian Ocean Agulhas Current meet to produce an intertidal zone on which shellfish, fur seal, fishes and sea birds provided the necessary protein sources.
The African origin of this modern behaviour is evidenced by 70,000 years-old engravings from Blombos Cave , South Africa.
Old World
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) studies indicate that 80–60,000 years ago a major demographic expansion within Africa, derived from a single, small population, coincided with the emergence of behavioural complexity and the rapid MIS 5–4 environmental changes. This group of people not only expanded over the whole of Africa, but also started to disperse out of Africa into Asia, Europe, and Australasia around 65.000 years ago and quickly replaced the archaic humans in these regions.
During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) 20,000 years ago humans had to abandon their initial settlements along the European North Atlantic coast and retreat to the Mediterranean. Following rapid climate changes at the end of the LGM this region was repopulated by Magdalenian culture. Other hunter-gatherers followed in waves interrupted by large-scale hazards such as the Laacher See volcanic eruption, the inundation of Doggerland (now the North Sea ), and the formation of the Baltic Sea .
The European coasts of the North Atlantic were permanently populated about 9–8.5 thousand years ago.
This human dispersal left abundant traces along the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean. 50 ka-old, deeply stratified found in Ysterfontein on the western coast of South Africa are associated with the Middle Stone Age (MSA). The MSA population was small and dispersed and the rate of their reproduction and exploitation was less intense than those of later generations. While their middens resemble 12-11 ka-old Late Stone Age (LSA) middens found on every inhabited continent, the 50-45 ka-old Enkapune Ya Muto in Kenya probably represents the oldest traces of the first modern humans to disperse out of Africa.
The same development can be seen in Europe. In La Riera Cave (23-13 ka) in Asturias, Spain, only some 26,600 molluscs were deposited over 10 ka. In contrast, 8-7 ka-old shell middens in Portugal, Denmark, and Brazil generated thousands of tonnes of debris and artefacts. The Ertebølle middens in Denmark, for example, accumulated of shell deposits representing some 50 million molluscs over only a thousand years. This intensification in the exploitation of marine resources has been described as accompanied by new technologies — such as boats, harpoons, and fish-hooks — because many caves found in the Mediterranean and on the European Atlantic coast have increased quantities of marine shells in their upper levels and reduced quantities in their lower. The earliest exploitation, however, took place on the now submerged shelves, and most settlements now excavated were then located several kilometres from these shelves. The reduced quantities of shells in the lower levels can represent the few shells that were exported inland.
New World
During the LGM the Laurentide Ice Sheet covered most of northern North America while Beringia connected Siberia to Alaska. In 1973 late U.S. geoscientist Paul S. Martin proposed a "blitzkrieg" colonization of America by which Clovis culture migrated into North America around 13,000 years ago in a single wave through an ice-free corridor in the ice sheet and "spread southward explosively, briefly attaining a density sufficiently large to overkill much of their prey."
Others later proposed a "three-wave" migration over the Bering Land Bridge.
These hypotheses remained the long-held view regarding the settlement of the Americas, a view challenged by more recent archaeological discoveries: the oldest archaeological sites in the Americas have been found in South America; sites in north-east Siberia report virtually no human presence there during the LGM; and most Clovis artefacts have been found in eastern North America along the Atlantic coast.
Furthermore, colonisation models based on mtDNA, yDNA , and atDNA data respectively support neither the "blitzkrieg" nor the "three-wave" hypotheses but they also deliver mutually ambiguous results. Contradictory data from archaeology and genetics will most likely deliver future hypotheses that will, eventually, confirm each other.
A proposed route across the Pacific to South America could explain early South American finds and another hypothesis proposes a northern path, through the Canadian Arctic and down the North American Atlantic coast.
Early settlements across the Atlantic have been suggested by alternative theories, ranging from purely hypothetical to mostly disputed, including the Solutrean hypothesis and some of the Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact theories.
The Norse settlement of the Faroe Islands and Iceland began during the 9th and 10th centuries. A settlement on Greenland was established before 1000 CE, but contact with it was lost in 1409 and it was finally abandoned during the early Little Ice Age. This setback was caused by a range of factors: an unsustainable economy resulted in erosion and denudation, while conflicts with the local Inuit resulted in the failure to adapt their Arctic technologies; a colder climate resulted in starvation; and the colony got economically marginalised as the Great Plague and Barbary pirates harvested its victims on Iceland in the 15th century.
Iceland was initially settled 865–930 CE following a warm period when winter temperatures hovered around which made farming favourable at high latitudes. This did not last, however, and temperatures quickly dropped; at 1080 CE summer temperatures had reached a maximum of . The Landnámabók ( Book of Settlement) records disastrous famines during the first century of settlement — "men ate foxes and ravens" and "the old and helpless were killed and thrown over cliffs" — and by the early 1200s hay had to be abandoned for short-season crops such as barley.
Atlantic World
Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas in 1492 under Spanish flag.
Six years later Vasco da Gama reached India under Portuguese flag, by navigating south around the Cape of Good Hope, thus proving that the Atlantic and Indian Oceans are connected. In 1500, in his voyage to India following Vasco da Gama, Pedro Alvares Cabral reached Brazil, taken by the currents of the South Atlantic Gyre. Following these explorations, Spain and Portugal quickly conquered and colonized large territories in the New World and forced the Native American population into slavery in order to explore the vast quantities of silver and gold they found. Spain and Portugal monopolised this trade in order to keep other European nations out, but conflicting interests nevertheless lead to a series of Spanish-Portuguese wars. A peace treaty mediated by the Pope divided the conquered territories into Spanish and Portuguese sectors while keeping other colonial powers away. England, France, and the Dutch Republic enviously watched the Spanish and Portuguese wealth grow and allied themselves with pirates such as Henry Mainwaring and Alexandre Exquemelin. They could explore the convoys leaving America because prevailing winds and currents made the transport of heavy metals slow and predictable.
In the American colonies depredation, disease, and slavery quickly reduced the indigenous American population to the extent that the Atlantic slave trade had to be introduced to replace them — a trade that became norm and an integral part of the colonisation. Between the 15th century and 1888, when Brazil became the last part of America to end slave trade, an estimated ten million Africans were exported as slaves, most of them destined for agricultural labour. The slave trade was officially abolished in the British Empire and the United States in 1808, and slavery itself was abolished in the British Empire in 1838 and in the U.S. in 1865 after the Civil War.
From Columbus to the Industrial revolution Trans-Atlantic trade, including colonialism and slavery, became crucial for Western Europe. For European countries with a direct access to the Atlantic (including Britain, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain) 1500–1800 was a period of sustained growth during which these countries grew richer than those in Eastern Europe and Asia. Colonialism evolved as part of the Trans-Atlantic trade, but this trade also strengthened the position of merchant groups at the expense of monarchs. Growth was more rapid in non-absolutist countries, such as Britain and the Netherlands, and more limited in absolutist monarchies, such as Portugal, Spain, and France, where profit mostly or exclusively benefited the monarchy and its allies.
Trans-Atlantic trade also resulted in an increasing urbanisation : in European countries facing the Atlantic urbanisation grew from 8% in 1300, 10.1% in 1500, to 24.5% in 1850; in other European countries from 10% in 1300, 11.4% in 1500, to 17% in 1850. Likewise, GDP doubled in Atlantic countries but rose by only 30% in the rest of Europe. By end of the 17th century the volume of the Trans-Atlantic trade had surpassed that of the Mediterranean trade.
Economy
The Atlantic has contributed significantly to the development and economy of surrounding countries. Besides major transatlantic transportation and communication routes, the Atlantic offers abundant petroleum deposits in the of the continental shelves.
The Atlantic harbours petroleum and gas fields, fish , ( Pinniped and whales), sand and gravel aggregates, , polymetallic nodules, and precious stones.
Gold deposits are a mile or two under water on the ocean floor, however the deposits are also encased in rock that must be mined through. Currently, there is no cost-effective way to mine or extract gold from the ocean to make a profit.
Various international treaties attempt to reduce pollution caused by environmental threats such as oil spills, marine debris , and the incineration of toxic wastes at sea.
Fisheries
The shelves of the Atlantic hosts one of the world's richest Wild fisheries . The most productive areas include the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, the Scotian Shelf , Georges Bank off Cape Cod , the Bahama Banks , the waters around Iceland, the Irish Sea , the Dogger Bank of the North Sea, and the Falkland Banks.
Fisheries have, however, undergone significant changes since the 1950s and global catches can now be divided into three groups of which only two are observed in the Atlantic: fisheries in the Eastern Central and South-West Atlantic oscillate around a globally stable value, the rest of the Atlantic is in overall decline following historical peaks. The third group, "continuously increasing trend since 1950", is only found in the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific.
In the North-East Atlantic total catches decreased between the mid-1970s and the 1990s and reached 8.7 million tonnes in 2013. Blue whiting reached a 2.4 million tonnes peak in 2004 but was down to 628,000 tonnes in 2013. Recovery plans for cod, sole, and plaice have reduced mortality in these species. Arctic cod reached its lowest levels in the 1960s-1980s but is now recovered. Arctic saithe and haddock are considered fully fished; Sand eel is overfished as was capelin which has now recovered to fully fished. Limited data makes the state of and deep-water species difficult to assess but most likely they remain vulnerable to overfishing. Stocks of northern shrimp and Norwegian lobster are in good condition. In the North-East Atlantic 21% of stocks are considered overfished.
In the North-West Atlantic landings have decreased from 4.2 million tonnes in the early 1970s to 1.9 million tonnes in 2013. During the 21th century some species have shown weak signs of recovery, including Greenland halibut, yellowtail flounder, Atlantic halibut , haddock , spiny dogfish , while other stocks shown no such signs, including cod, witch flounder, and redfish. Stocks of invertebrates, in contrast, remain at record levels of abundance. 31% of stocks are overfished in the North-west Atlantic.
In 1497 John Cabot became the first to explore mainland North America and one of his major discoveries was the abundant resources of Atlantic cod off Newfoundland. Referred to as "Newfoundland Currency" this discovery supplied mankind with some 200 million tonnes of fish over five centuries. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries new fisheries started to exploit haddock , mackerel , and lobster . From the 1950s to the 1970s the introduction of European and Asian distant-water fleets in the area dramatically increased the fishing capacity and number of exploited species. It also expanded the exploited areas from near-shore to the open sea and to great depths to include deep-water species such as Sebastes , Greenland halibut, witch flounder, and grenadiers. Overfishing in the area was recognised as early as the 1960s but, because this was occurring on international waters, it took until the late 1970s before any attempts to regulate was made. In the early 1990s this finally resulted in the collapse of the Atlantic northwest cod fishery. The population of a number of deep-sea fishes also collapsed in the process, including American plaice , redfish, and Greenland halibut, together with flounder and grenadier.
In the Eastern Central Atlantic small constitute about 50% of landings with sardine reaching 0.6–1.0 million tonnes per year. Pelagic fish stocks are considered fully fishes or overfished, with sardines south of Cape Bojador the notable exception. Almost half of stocks are fished at biologically unsustainable levels. Total catches have been fluctuating since the 1970s; reaching 3.9 million tonnes in 2013 or slightly less than the peak production in 2010.
In the Western Central Atlantic catches have been decreasing since 2000 and reached 1.3 million tonnes in 2013. The most important species in the area, Gulf menhaden , reached a million tonnes in the mid-1980s but only half a million tonnes in 2013 and is now considered fully fished. Round sardinella was an important species in the 1990s but is now considered overfished. and Lutjanidae are overfished and northern brown shrimp and Eastern oyster are considered fully fished approaching overfished. 44% of stocks are being fished at unsustainable levels.
In the South-East Atlantic catches have decreased from 3.3 million tonnes in the early 1970s to 1.3 million tonnes in 2013. Horse mackerel and hake are the most important species, together representing almost half of the landings. Off South Africa and Namibia deep-water hake and shallow-water Cape hake have recovered to sustainable levels since regulations were introduced in 2006 and the states of Southern African pilchard and anchovy have improved to fully fished in 2013.
In the South-West Atlantic a peak was reached in the mid-1980s and catches now fluctuate between 1.7 and 2.6 million tonnes. The most important species, the Illex argentinus , which reached half a million tonnes in 2013 or half the peak value, is considered fully fished to overfished. Another important species was the Brazilian sardinella, with a production of 100,000 tonnes in 2013 it is now considered overfished. Half the stocks in this area are being fished at unsustainable levels: Whitehead’s round herring has not yet reached fully fished but Cunene horse mackerel is overfished. The sea snail Haliotis midae is targeted by illegal fishing and remain overfished.
Environmental issues
Endangered marine species include the manatee , Pinniped , , , and . Drift net fishing can kill , and other seabirds ( , ), hastening the fish stock decline and contributing to international disputes.
Municipal pollution comes from the eastern United States, southern Brazil, and eastern Argentina; oil pollution in the Caribbean Sea , Gulf of Mexico, Lake Maracaibo , Mediterranean Sea, and North Sea ; and industrial waste and municipal sewage pollution in the Baltic Sea, North Sea, and Mediterranean Sea.
North Atlantic hurricane activity has increased over past decades because of increased sea surface temperature (SST) at tropical latitudes, changes that can be attributed to either the natural Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) or to anthropogenic climate change .
A 2005 report indicated that the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) slowed down by 30% between 1957 and 2004.
If the AMO was responsible for SST variability then the AMOC would have increased in strength, which is apparently not the case. Furthermore, it is clear from statistical analyses of annual tropical cyclones that these changes do not display multidecadal cyclicity.
Therefore, these changes in SST must be caused by human activities.
The ocean mixed layer plays an important role heat storage over seasonal and decadal time-scales, whereas deeper layers are affected over millennia and has a heat capacity about 50 times that of the mixed layer. This heat uptake provides a time-lag for climate change but it also results in a thermal expansion of the oceans which contribute to sea-level rise. 21st century global warming will probably result in an equilibrium sea-level rise five times greater than today, whilst melting of glaciers, including that of the Greenland ice-sheet, expected to have virtually no effect during the 21st century, will probably result in a sea-level rise of 3–6 m over a millennium.
On 7 June 2006, Florida's wildlife commission voted to take the manatee off the state's endangered species list. Some environmentalists worry that this could erode safeguards for the popular sea creature.
Marine pollution is a generic term for the entry into the ocean of potentially hazardous chemicals or particles. The biggest culprits are rivers and with them many agriculture fertilizer chemicals as well as livestock and human waste. The excess of oxygen-depleting chemicals leads to hypoxia and the creation of a dead zone.
Sebastian A. Gerlach "Marine Pollution", Springer, Berlin (1975)
Marine debris , which is also known as marine litter, describes human-created waste floating in a body of water. Oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the centre of Oceanic gyres and coastlines, frequently washing aground where it is known as beach litter.
| Atlantic Ocean |
What is the title of the Arthur Conan Doyle novel in which Sherlock Holmes made his first appearance? | Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres (41.1 million square miles), it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek mythology, making the Atlantic the "Sea of Atlas". The oldest known mention of this name is contained in The Histories of Herodotus around 450 BCE (I 202); see also: Atlas Mountains. Another name historically used was the ancient term Ethiopic Ocean, derived from Ethiopia, whose name was sometimes used as a synonym for all of Africa and thus for the ocean. Before Europeans discovered other oceans, the term "ocean" itself was to them synonymous with the waters beyond Western Europe that we now know as the Atlantic and which the Greeks had believed to be a gigantic river encircling the world; see Oceanus.
The Atlantic Ocean occupies an elongated, S-shaped basin extending longitudinally between the Americas to the west, and Eurasia and Africa to the east. A component of the all-encompassing World Ocean, it is connected in the north to the Arctic Ocean (which is sometimes considered a sea of the Atlantic), to the Pacific Ocean in the southwest, the Indian Ocean in the southeast, and the Southern Ocean in the south. (Alternatively, in lieu of it connecting to the Southern Ocean, the Atlantic may be reckoned to extend southward to Antarctica.) The equator subdivides it into the North Atlantic Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean.
The Atlantic Ocean, not including Arctic and Antarctic regions.
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Cultural significance
Transatlantic travel played a major role in the expansion of Western civilization into the Americas. Today, it can be referred to in a humorously diminutive way as the Pond in idioms, in reference to the geographical and cultural divide between North America and Europe. Some British people refer to the USA as "across the pond".[2]
Ocean bottom
Map that uses color to show ocean depth
The principal feature of the bathymetry (bottom topography) is a submarine mountain range called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It extends from Iceland in the north to approximately 58° South latitude, reaching a maximum width of about 1,600 kilometres (990 mi). A great rift valley also extends along the ridge over most of its length. The depth of water over the ridge is less than 2,700 metres (8,900 ft) in most places, and several mountain peaks rise above the water and form islands. The South Atlantic Ocean has an additional submarine ridge, the Walvis Ridge.
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge separates the Atlantic Ocean into two large troughs with depths from 3,700–5,500 metres (12,000–18,000 ft). Transverse ridges running between the continents and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge divide the ocean floor into numerous basins. Some of the larger basins are the Blake, Guiana, North American, Cape Verde, and Canaries basins in the North Atlantic. The largest South Atlantic basins are the Angola, Cape, Argentina, and Brazil basins.
The deep ocean floor is thought to be fairly flat, although numerous seamounts and some guyots exist. Several deeps or trenches are also found on the ocean floor. The Puerto Rico Trench, in the North Atlantic, is the deepest at 8,605 metres (28,230 ft). The Laurentian Abyss is found off the eastern coast of Canada. In the South Atlantic, the South Sandwich Trench reaches a depth of 8,428 metres (27,650 ft). A third major trench, the Romanche Trench, is located near the equator and reaches a depth of about 7,454 metres (24,460 ft). The shelves along the margins of the continents constitute about 11% of the bottom topography. Several deep channels cut across the continental rise.
Ocean sediments are composed of terrigenous, pelagic, and authigenic material. Terrigenous deposits consist of sand, mud, and rock particles formed by erosion, weathering, and volcanic activity on land and then washed to sea. These materials are found mostly on the continental shelves and are thickest near large river mouths or off desert coasts. Pelagic deposits, which contain the remains of organisms that sink to the ocean floor, include red clays and Globigerina, pteropod, and siliceous oozes. Covering most of the ocean floor and ranging in thickness from 60–3,300 metres (200–10,800 ft) they are thickest in the convergence belts and in upwelling zones. Authigenic deposits consist of such materials as manganese nodules. They occur where sedimentation proceeds slowly or where currents sort the deposits
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Geography
The Atlantic Ocean as seen from the western coast of Portugal
The Atlantic Ocean is bounded on the west by North and South America. It connects to the Arctic Ocean through the Denmark Strait, Greenland Sea, Norwegian Sea, and Barents Sea. To the east, the boundaries of the ocean proper are Europe, the Strait of Gibraltar (where it connects with the Mediterranean Sea, one of its marginal seas, and, in turn, the Black Sea), and Africa. In the southeast, the Atlantic merges into the Indian Ocean. The 20° East meridian, running south from Cape Agulhas to Antarctica defines its border. Some authorities show it extending south to Antarctica, while others show it bounded at the 60° parallel by the Southern Ocean.[1] In the southwest, the Drake Passage connects it to the Pacific Ocean. The man-made Panama Canal links the Atlantic and Pacific. Besides those mentioned, other large bodies of water adjacent to the Atlantic are the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, Hudson Bay, the Arctic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, and the Celtic Sea.
Covering approximately 22% of Earth's surface, the Atlantic is second in size to the Pacific. With its adjacent seas it occupies an area of about 106,400,000 square kilometres (41,100,000 sq mi); without them, it has an area of 82,400,000 square kilometres (31,800,000 sq mi). The land that drains into the Atlantic covers four times that of either the Pacific or Indian oceans. The volume of the Atlantic with its adjacent seas is 354,700,000 cubic kilometers (85,100,000 cu mi) and without them 323,600,000 cubic kilometres (77,640,000 cu mi).
The average depth of the Atlantic, with its adjacent seas, is 3,339 metres (10,950 ft); without them it is 3,926 metres (12,880 ft). The greatest depth, 8,605 metres (28,230 ft), is in the Puerto Rico Trench. The Atlantic's width varies from 2,848 kilometres (1,770 mi) between Brazil and Sierra Leone to over 6,400 km (4,000 mi) in the south.
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Current environmental issues
Endangered marine species include the manatee, seals, sea lions, turtles, and whales. Drift net fishing can kill dolphins, albatrosses and other seabirds (petrels, auks), hastening the fish stock decline and contributing to international disputes.[5] Municipal pollution comes from the eastern United States, southern Brazil, and eastern Argentina; oil pollution in the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Lake Maracaibo, Mediterranean Sea, and North Sea; and industrial waste and municipal sewage pollution in the Baltic Sea, North Sea, and Mediterranean Sea.
In 2005, there was some concern that warm northern European currents were slowing down, but no scientific consensus formed from that evidence.[6]
On June 7, 2006, Florida's wildlife commission voted to take the manatee off the state's endangered species list. Some environmentalists worry that this could erode safeguards for the popular sea creature.
Marine pollution
Main article: Marine pollution
Marine pollution is a generic term for the entry into the ocean of potentially hazardous chemicals or particles. The biggest culprits are rivers and with them many agriculture fertilizer chemicals as well as livestock and human waste. The excess of oxygen-depleting chemicals leads to hypoxia and the creation of a dead zone.[7]
Marine debris, also known as marine litter, describes human-created waste floating in a body of water. Oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the center of gyres and coastlines, frequently washing aground where it is known as beach litter.
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The Atlantic harbors petroleum and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales), sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, and precious stones.
Natural hazards
Iceberg A22A in the South Atlantic Ocean
Icebergs are common from February to August in the Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, and the northwestern Atlantic and have been spotted as far south as Bermuda and Madeira. Ships are subject to superstructure icing in the extreme north from October to May. Persistent fog can be a maritime hazard from May to September, as can hurricanes north of the equator (May to December).
The United States' southeast coast has a long history of shipwrecks due to its many shoals and reefs. The Virginia and North Carolina coasts were particularly dangerous.
The Bermuda Triangle is popularly believed to be the site of numerous aviation and shipping incidents because of unexplained and supposedly mysterious causes, but Coast Guard records do not support this belief.
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Path of the thermohaline circulation. Purple paths represent deep-water currents, while blue paths represent surface currents.
Map of the five major ocean gyres
On average, the Atlantic is the saltiest major ocean; surface water salinity in the open ocean ranges from 33 to 37 parts per thousand (3.3 - 3.7%) by mass and varies with latitude and season. Evaporation, precipitation, river inflow and sea ice melting influence surface salinity values. Although the salinity values are just north of the equator (because of heavy tropical rainfall), in general the lowest values are in the high latitudes and along coasts where large rivers enter. Maximum salinity values occur at about 25° north and south, in subtropical regions with low rainfall and high evaporation.
Surface water temperatures, which vary with latitude, current systems, and season and reflect the latitudinal distribution of solar energy, range from below −2 °C (28.4 °F). Maximum temperatures occur north of the equator, and minimum values are found in the polar regions. In the middle latitudes, the area of maximum temperature variations, values may vary by 7–8 °C (45–46 °F).
The Atlantic Ocean consists of four major water masses. The North and South Atlantic central waters make up the surface. The sub-Antarctic intermediate water extends to depths of 1,000 metres (3,300 ft). The North Atlantic Deep Water reaches depths of as much as 4,000 metres (13,000 ft). The Antarctic Bottom Water occupies ocean basins at depths greater than 4,000 meters.
Within the North Atlantic, ocean currents isolate the Sargasso Sea, a large elongated body of water, with above average salinity. The Sargasso Sea contains large amounts of seaweed and is also the spawning ground for both the European eel and the American eel.
The Coriolis effect circulates North Atlantic water in a clockwise direction, whereas South Atlantic water circulates counter-clockwise. The south tides in the Atlantic Ocean are semi-diurnal; that is, two high tides occur during each 24 lunar hours. In latitudes above 40° North some east-west oscillation occurs.
Climate
Waves in the trade winds in the Atlantic Ocean—areas of converging winds that move along the same track as the prevailing wind—create instabilities in the atmosphere that may lead to the formation of hurricanes
Climate is influenced by the temperatures of the surface waters and water currents as well as winds. Because of the ocean's great heat retention capacity, maritime climates are more moderate and have less extreme seasonal variations than inland climates. Precipitation can be approximated from coastal weather data and air temperature from water temperatures. The oceans are the major source of the atmospheric moisture that is obtained through evaporation. Climatic zones vary with latitude; the warmest zones stretch across the Atlantic north of the equator. The coldest zones are in high latitudes, with the coldest regions corresponding to the areas covered by sea ice. Ocean currents influence climate by transporting warm and cold waters to other regions. The winds that are cooled or warmed when blowing over these currents influence adjacent land areas. The Gulf Stream and its northern extension towards Europe, the North Atlantic Drift, for example, warms the atmosphere of the British Isles and north-western Europe, and the cold water currents contribute to heavy fog off the coast of eastern Canada (the Grand Banks of Newfoundland area) and Africa's north-western coast. In general, winds transport moisture and air over land areas. Hurricanes develop in the southern part of the North Atlantic Ocean.
History
Animation of showing the separation of Pangaea, which formed the Atlantic Ocean known today
The Atlantic Ocean appears to be the second youngest of the five oceans. Apparently it did not exist prior to 130 million years ago, when the continents that formed from the breakup of the ancestral super continent, Pangaea, were drifting apart from seafloor spreading. The Atlantic has been extensively explored since the earliest settlements along its shores. The Vikings, the Portuguese, and Christopher Columbus were the most famous among early explorers. After Columbus, European exploration rapidly accelerated, and many new trade routes were established. As a result, the Atlantic became and remains the major artery between Europe and the Americas (known as transatlantic trade). Scientific explorations include the Challenger expedition, the German Meteor expedition, Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the United States Navy Hydrographic Office.
Notable crossings
In 1000, the Icelander, Leif Ericson was the first European to discover North America's Atlantic coast, including Vinland. The Norse discovery was documented in the 13th century Icelandic Sagas and was corroborated by recent archeological evidence.
In 1003, Thorfinnr Karlsefni led an attempted Viking settlement in North America but was driven off by the natives.
In 1004, Snorri Thorfinnsson was the first European born on the American continent.
In 1419 and 1427, Portuguese navigators reached Madeira and Azores, respectively.
From 1415 to 1488, Portuguese navigators sailed along the Western African coast, reaching the Cape of Good Hope.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed somewhere in The Bahamas.
From 1499 to 1502, Amerigo Vespucci mapped South America's east coast, proving that the Americas are not Asia's east edge.
In 1500, Pedro Álvares Cabral reached Brazil.
In 1524, Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano discovered the United States of America east coast.
In 1764 William Harrison (the son of John Harrison) sailed aboard the HMS Tartar, with the H-4 time piece. The voyage became the basis for the invention of the global system of Longitude.
In 1858, Cyrus West Field laid the first transatlantic telegraph cable (it quickly failed).
In 1865 Brunel's ship the SS Great Eastern laid the first successful transatlantic telegraph cable .
On April 15, 1912 the RMS Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg with a loss of more than 1,500 lives.[3]
1914-1918, the First Battle of the Atlantic took place.
In 1919, the American NC-4 became the first fixed-wing aircraft (seaplane) to cross the Atlantic (though it made a couple of landings on islands and the sea along the way, and taxied several hundred miles).
Later in 1919, a British aeroplane piloted by Alcock and Brown made the first non-stop transatlantic flight, from Newfoundland to Ireland.
In 1921, the British were the first to cross the North Atlantic in an airship.
In 1922, Sacadura Cabral and Gago Coutinho were the first to cross the South Atlantic in an airship.
The first transatlantic telephone call was made on January 7, 1927.
In 1927, Charles Lindbergh made the first solo non-stop transatlantic flight in an aircraft (between New York City and Paris).
In 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first female to make a solo flight across the Atlantic
1939-1945, the Second Battle of the Atlantic. Nearly 3,700 Allied ships were sunk at a cost of 783 German U-boats.[4]
In 1952, Ann Davison was the first woman to single-handedly sail the Atlantic Ocean.
In 1980, Gérard d'Aboville was the first man to cross the Atlantic Ocean rowing.
In 1994, Guy Delage was the first man to allegedly swim across the Atlantic Ocean (with the help of a kick board, from Cape Verde to Barbados.)
In 1998, Benoît Lecomte was the first man to swim across the northern Atlantic Ocean without a kick board, stopping for only one week in the Azores.
In 1999, after rowing for 81 days and 4,767 kilometres (2,962 mi), Tori Murden became the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean by rowboat alone when she reached Guadeloupe from the Canary Islands.
[edit] Ethiopic Ocean
The Ethiopic Ocean or Ethiopian Ocean (Okeanos Aithiopos) is an old name for what is now called the South Atlantic Ocean, which is separated from the North Atlantic Ocean by a narrow region between Natal, Brazil and Monrovia, Liberia. Use of this term illustrates a past trend towards referring to the whole continent of Africa by the name Aethiopia. The modern nation of Ethiopia, in northeast Africa, is nowhere near the Ethiopic Ocean, which would be said to lie off the west coast of Africa. The term Ethiopian Ocean sometimes appeared until the mid-19th century.[citation needed]
Economy
The Atlantic has contributed significantly to the development and economy of surrounding countries. Besides major transatlantic transportation and communication routes, the Atlantic offers abundant petroleum deposits in the sedimentary rocks of the continental shelves. The Atlantic hosts the world's richest fishing resources, especially in the waters covering the shelves. The major fish are cod, haddock, hake, herring, and mackerel. The most productive areas include Newfoundland's Grand Banks, the Nova Scotia shelf , Georges Bank off Cape Cod, the Bahama Banks, the waters around Iceland, the Irish Sea, the Dogger Bank of the North Sea, and the Falkland Banks. Eel, lobster, and whales appear in great quantities. Because environmental threats from oil spills, marine debris, and the incineration of toxic wastes at sea, various international treaties attempt to reduce pollution.
Terrain
From October to June the surface is usually covered with sea ice in the Labrador Sea, Denmark Strait, and Baltic Sea. A clockwise warm-water gyre occupies the northern Atlantic, and a counter-clockwise warm-water gyre appears in the southern Atlantic. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge , a rugged north-south centerline for the entire Atlantic basin, first discovered by the Challenger Expedition dominates the ocean floor. This was formed by the vulcanism that also formed the ocean floor and the islands rising from it.
The Atlantic has irregular coasts indented by numerous bays, gulfs, and seas. These include the Norwegian Sea, Baltic Sea, North Sea, Labrador Sea, Black Sea, Gulf of Saint Lawrence, Bay of Fundy, Gulf of Maine, Mediterranean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea.
Islands include Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Great Britain (including numerous surrounding islands), Ireland, Rockall, Newfoundland, Sable Island, Azores, Madeira, Bermuda, Canary Islands, Caribbean, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Annobón Province, St. Peter Island, Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Ascension Island, Saint Helena, The Islands of Trindad, Tristan da Cunha, Gough Island (Also known as Diego Alvarez), Falkland Islands, Tierra del Fuego, South Georgia Island, South Sandwich Islands, and Bouvet Island.
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What is sodium bicarbonate known as in the kitchen? | What is Sodium Bicarbonate? - Structure, Formula & Uses - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com
What is Sodium Bicarbonate? - Structure, Formula & Uses
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Lesson Transcript
Instructor: Nissa Garcia
Nissa has a masters degree in chemistry and has taught high school science and college level chemistry.
Have you experienced heartburn? Do you like cooking and baking? Have you encountered stubborn stains? If you answered yes to any of these, then sodium bicarbonate is your friend. In this lesson, we will discuss sodium bicarbonate and its many uses.
What Is Sodium Bicarbonate?
Sodium bicarbonate, commonly known as baking soda, is a staple in the kitchen. It is a must-have ingredient if you love baking cookies and other sweets. It is also very useful in deodorizing your shoes and your refrigerator. You will find this very useful and affordable ingredient in the baking aisle of the grocery store as baking soda. Its chemical formula is NaHCO3. Its formula consists of one sodium (Na) atom, one hydrogen (H) atom, one carbon (C) atom and three oxygen (O) atoms. It is commonly known as baking soda, bread soda, bicarbonate of soda, and cooking soda. Its physical appearance is usually a white, odorless, fine powder and has alkaline or basic properties. It dissolves in water, so it is water-soluble, and it is non-flammable.
Uses of Sodium Bicarbonate - At Home
Sodium bicarbonate has many uses: cooking, medicine, and hygiene, among other things. Sodium bicarbonate is found in the grocery store in the baking aisle as baking soda. Baking soda is a staple in the kitchen. If you like baking cookies, bread, or making pancakes, you should always have this ingredient with you. In baking, sodium bicarbonate acts as a leavening agent. The purpose of a leavening agent is that it releases gas in dough and batter, causing it to rise and expand. You may notice if you leave out this ingredient, your cookies may appear flat and not as soft. Did you ever wonder how restaurants have tender beef? Prior to cooking, baking soda is rubbed on the meat to tenderize it, resulting in tender meat.
Baking soda is also a very effective deodorizer. It can deodorize garbage disposals, carpets, closets, vacuum cleaners, and more. It is commonly used to deodorize the refrigerator. We normally put an open box of baking soda in the refrigerator to help deodorize the refrigerator and keep it smelling fresh. It's also very effective in cleaning: if you spill something in your refrigerator (or for more persistent odor), you can empty the contents of your refrigerator, sprinkle baking soda inside, and rub scrub it with a damp sponge.
Baking soda is a very effective cleaning agent on floors, stains, furniture, ovens, and more. For stubborn stains on your stainless steel kitchen appliances, coffee and tea stains in cups, as well as tarnish on your precious silver, it is highly effective at ridding all of these problems. It's also very effective in removing rust. When you want to deodorize clothes in your washing machine and soften them at the same time, you can also use baking soda as an alternative for fabric softener.
Uses of Sodium Bicarbonate - In Medicine
Have you ever had too much spicy food or too much coffee? These substances are normally acidic and can cause indigestion or heartburn. To treat this, we take antacids, which contain sodium bicarbonate. Antacids, because sodium bicarbonate is alkaline or basic, neutralize excess stomach acids.
If you've ever had the misfortune of being stung by a bee, a common remedy is to apply baking soda paste to the sting. The sodium bicarbonate in the baking soda neutralizes the bee venom and relieves the itch. Also, if you ever experience being stung by a jellyfish, a remedy for this is to also apply a baking soda paste to deactivate the stinger.
Sodium bicarbonate is also used for intravenous (IV) injection to help replenish electrolytes. Sodium bicarbonate is basic, so it also helps neutralize any excess hydrogen ions in the body by raising the pH of the blood if the patient is suffering from metabolic acidosis. Metabolic acidosis can occur if you have renal disease and diabetes.
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| Sodium bicarbonate |
Millbank Prison, which closed in 1890, was located near which English river? | SODIUM BICARBONATE (BAKING SODA)
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Sodium Bicarbonate, commonly called baking soda, is a white odourless, crystalline solid, completely soluble in water but slightly soluble in ethanol. It is the mildest of all sodium alkalis. It is prepared from purified sodium carbonate or sodium hydroxide solution with passing carbon dioxide which is bubbled into the solution of pure carbonate, and the bicarbonate precipitates out to be dried as the bicarbonate is less soluble than the carbonate. Sodium bicarbonate is also made as an intermediate product in the Solvay process which is to make sodium carbonate from calcium carbonate by treating sodium chloride with ammonia and carbon dioxide. The major use of sodium bicarbonate is in baking powders. Sodium Bicarbonate plays an important role in the products of many diverse industries with functions of releasing CO2 when heated above about 50 C or when reacted with a weak acid makes sodium bicarbonate a key ingredient in food leavening as well as in the manufacture of effervescent salts and beverages. It can react as an acid or a base in water treatment. In health and beauty applications, mild abrasivity and ability to reduce odors chemically by neutralizing the acid by-products of bacteria are utilized. It is also used in treating wool and silk, fire extinguishers, pharmacy, leather, oredressing, metallurgy, in cleaning preparations and industrial & chemical processe.
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
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Who did Ringo Starr replace as the Beatles drummer in August 1962? | The Beatles’ Many Drummers | Blogcritics
Home / Music / The Beatles’ Many Drummers
The Beatles’ Many Drummers
Posted by: Johnny Rhythm August 8, 2012 in Music 8 Comments
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Ringo Starr was undoubtedly the backbone of The Beatles, the biggest band in rock history. His heavy-hitting style and sublime subtlety blended together perfectly to enhance the group’s early dynamic.
A less talented drummer may have failed to rally the group during important early sessions, while a more technically gifted drummer may have swamped their emerging style and sound. Finding Starr was never easy however and the group were plagued as a wandering collection of guitarists with no permanent drummer during their early days. “The rhythm is in the guitars” Lennon would allegedly quip when asked about their lack of a drummer.
Even after they found Starr, he was replaced on Beatles recordings by a further four individuals on five occasions and once on a major tour.
On the approaching half-century anniversary of Ringo Starr replacing Pete Best as The Beatles’ drummer on August 18, 1962, we look at the various individuals who have occupied the drum stool during The Beatles’ (and its earlier formative line-ups) career.
Colin Hanton
The original drummer with Lennon’s group The Quarry Men, Hanton must hold the distinction of being the first drummer to back John, Paul and George on stage and in the recording studio.
Two years older than Lennon, Hanton had already left school and was serving an apprenticeship when he joined the group. His main asset was that he was in possession of a brand new drum kit. His tenure as the group’s drummer witnessed the departure of several floating Quarry Men members and the arrival of the future Beatles core of Paul McCartney and George Harrison alongside the already present John Lennon. Hanton was playing with the group the day McCartney saw them perform at Woolton Village fete and he also played drums on the group’s first studio recording featuring Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be the Day” and the very first original Beatles recording; “In Spite of All the Danger”.
In a sign of things to come, the arrival of McCartney was not exactly met with joy by all group members, particularly Hanton, whose drumming skills were allegedly called into question by the group’s latest arrival on guitar. Hanton quit the group after a drunken performance in early 1959, apparently never seeing John, Paul or George again. In 1997, he joined the reformed Quarry Men. The inclusion of “In Spite of All the Danger” on Anthology 1 in 1995 guaranteed that Hanton was eventually featured playing drums on a Beatles album.
With Hanton’s departure in January 1959, The Quarry Men/Johnny and the Moondogs entered the most inactive period of their musical career, playing only a handful of gigs between then and May 1960. However, after acquiring bassist Stuart Sutcliffe early in 1960, the group was ready to shed their skiffle skin and get serious as a rock and roll band by May of 1960. Hamburg: T-minus three months.
Tommy Moore
Tommy Moore was recruited into The Silver Beetles by their booking agent/manager Alan Williams in May 1960. All reports indicate that Moore was a solid and capable drummer who owned his own kit and who suitably impressed Paul McCartney with his abilities to reproduce the tricky drumming on the Everly Brothers’ hit, “Cathy’s Clown”. Moore’s age at the time has been questioned with some sources claiming he was 28 and others 36. Nevertheless, Moore was significantly older than the rest of the group.
A nervous and slight man, he was an easy target for John Lennon who seemed to delight in making his life a misery with his cruel tongue. Moore had joined the group just before their infamous and pivotal audition for London promoter Larry Parnes. Parnes was seeking a backing group for one of his major artistes; Billy Fury, and The Silver Beetles had squeezed into the audition.
Legend has always maintained that Parnes was put off by Stuart Sutcliffe’s non-existent bass guitar skills. However, Parnes himself later claimed that it was the flustered and unprofessional late arrival of drummer Tommy Moore halfway through the group’s set which put him off. Moore had been dashing to collect his kit from another venue and while he was en route, Johnny Hutchinson of Cass and the Casanovas was instructed by Alan Williams to sit behind the drums. Parnes booked the group to tour Scotland with another of his artistes: Johnny Gentle.
That tour was a disaster from start to finish with Moore losing teeth and suffering a concussion in an automobile accident while remaining under the unrelenting lash of John Lennon’s acerbic verbal abuse. On his return to Liverpool, Moore had had enough and quit the group by failing to show up for a gig. When they arrived to inquire about his absence, his girlfriend allegedly leaned out of a window to instruct them to p*ss-off, before informing them that Moore had been taken back at his old job as a night-shift forklift driver in a bottle factory. Moore, it seems, had decided not to quit his day (or night) job.
Interviewed on camera by the BBC at a Mersey Beat reunion in 1971, Moore by then cut a slightly worse-for-wear looking figure who admitted he was struggling and regretted his decision to quit the group. Within 10 years he would be dead. Like his brief rhythm section bandmate Sutcliffe before him, Moore succumbed to a brain hemorrhage (in 1981), less than a year after the death of John Lennon.
Johnny Hutchinson
Also known as Johnny Hutch, Hutchinson was the drummer with Cass and the Casanovas when he stood in for Tommy Moore at the Larry Parnes audition. No fan of The Silver Beetles, Hutchinson – who cut an imposing figure and who allegedly terrified even John Lennon – was known to have remarked that they [Silver Beetles] “weren’t worth a carrot” and were a “bunch of posers”. Hutchinson also plugged the two-day gap between Pete Best’s dismissal on August 16 and Ringo Starr’s agreed arrival on August 18, 1962.
Cliff Roberts
Mersey Beat magazine editor and founder Bill Harry recalled how during a performance at Liverpool’s Lathom Hall in May 1960, the group’s (Silver Beetles) drummer – probably Tommy Moore – had failed to bring his kit. Upon arrival he asked the drummer of a rival band for the use of his drums. However, Cliff Roberts – of Cliff Roberts and The Rockers – refused to allow Moore to sit behind his brand new Olympic kit. He at least did offer to sit in with the group, playing six songs with them. So we have one more fleeting addition to the long line of Beatles stick men.
Norman Chapman
Following the departure of regular drummer Tommy Moore, the group were sitting in the Jacaranda one night they heard the sounds of a practicing drummer drifting across the summer night air. Tracking down the source of the racket, they discovered Norman Chapman; a picture framer and part-time drummer. No sooner was Chapman invited to join the group – playing three gigs – when the British Army made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. Chapman was conscripted for National Service in June of 1960 and thus missed his chance with rock’s hottest ticket.
Towards the end of the summer of 1960, The Silver Beetles were offered a contract to play a stint in Hamburg, an unbelievable turn of fortune. But, the job spec required them to have a permanent drummer. Cue Pete Best.
Pete Best
Pete Best’s story is well documented. The Beatles’ drummer from August 1960 until August 1962, he was unceremoniously dismissed from the group by Brian Epstein who informed him that the others simply wanted him out.
To this day, debate still continues as to whether he was dumped because of his dire performance at the group’s EMI artist test in June 1962 or because the moody and quiet loner simply never fitted in. Lennon later admitted that they were cowards to fire him in the manner they did, but the fact remained that Best was cut from a different cloth than Lennon, McCartney & Harrison. He was apparently never particularly close to any member of the group and when George Martin – the EMI producer who held the keys to their professional careers – flagged Best’s drumming as sub-standard, his days were numbered. Best’s sacking was unpopular with the group’s fans, many of whom viewed Best as the ‘looker’ in the band, and some scuffles among fans in the Cavern resulted in George Harrison obtaining a black eye.
Although Best formed another group after his dismissal from The Beatles, he was soon left behind. He attempted to commit suicide during the height of Beatlemania and by the time his former bandmates were recording the White Album, Best was loading bread onto delivery trucks. Following a successful career as a civil servant, Best finally came out of retirement as a musician in 1988 and has pursued a successful career as a musician and Beatles celebrity ever since. Best’s version of “Love Me Do” and the German Polydor recordings were eventually released on 1995’s Anthology 1, giving Best a windfall of royalties while finally placing him on a Beatles album.
Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr stepped in as the Beatles drummer on August 18, 1962, however his initial tenure was not a particularly happy one.
Turning up at EMI Studios on September 4 for a second attempt at recording a debut single (the previous session on June 6 had featured Best), Starr found himself partaking in a slightly shaky version of “Love Me Do” which failed to please producers George Martin and Ron Richards. When they returned for a third and final time a week later, Starr was sandbagged by Richards, who had hired trusty session musician Andy White to replace him. Starr feared EMI was pulling a Pete Best on him, although curiously despite the version recorded with White on drums resulting in a tighter and more accomplished version, it was Starr’s recording which was originally released on the group’s debut disc in 1962.
Starr’s incandescent performance on the “Please Please Me” single in November 1962 secured his status and EMI felt no further need for session drummers thereafter. Soon growing into the role, Starr’s steady timing in particular helped to facilitate much of the editing that went into the band’s early releases. As they grew more adventurous, Starr became critically important as the conducer who facilitated translating the songwriters’ increasingly left-field desires onto tape. In particular, his unorthodox style of leading drum fills with his left hand instead of his right – he was actually left-handed playing right-handed – resulted in Starr’s contributions to various Beatles songs becoming as sublime and important as the vocals, melody and various instrumental parts. The most notable songs include “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “A Day in the Life”.
Additionally, Starr was instrumental – no pun intended – in introducing the drummer as an equal and integral part of the emerging format of the rock group. His influence outside of the Beatles was also massive with Phil Collins (Genesis), Dave Grohl (Nirvana) and Max Weinberg (Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band) among many others citing him as a major influence.
Often flippantly referred to as the luckiest man in music, you might argue that while he undoubtedly received the ultimate winning lottery ticket, The Beatles and rock music itself were equally lucky to land him. No Ringo. No Beatles.
He may have been small, he may not have been handsome, and he may have been the convenient figure of fun in Beatles movies and press conferences, but underestimate his importance and role at your peril. Starr was a giant in his field and was also an equal partner and contributor to the unrepeatable phenomenon that was The Beatles.
Andy White
Glaswegian drummer Andy White was booked to drum on the third attempt to record “Love Me Do” in September 1962. He played on both the A-side and the single’s flip-side, “P.S. I Love You”. He appeared uncredited on The Beatles’ debut LP, Please Please Me.
Jimmy Nicol
Struck down with Tonsillitis on the eve of The Beatles’ European and Australasian tour in June 1964, Ringo Starr was ruled out of travelling with the group. Faced with the enormous headache of cancelling sections of such a huge tour, Epstein made the somewhat unpopular decision of calling in a replacement. George Martin suggested a session drummer he was familiar with: Jimmy Nicol. Nicol was familiar with the group’s recordings and so just over 24 hours after he was called in for an audition he found himself on stage in Denmark before thousands of screaming Beatles fans.
From obscure nobody to celebrated Beatle, Nicol was automatically returned to obscurity after 10 days following Starr’s return to the group. Although he earned a substantial amount of money and supported Andy Warhol’s 15 minutes of fame theory, Nicol’s sudden propulsion into the international limelight and his subsequent hard-breaking return to normality left him with adjustment problems. He later remarked that “[s]tanding in for Ringo was the worst thing that ever happened to me. Until then I was quite happy earning thirty or forty pounds a week. After the headlines died, I began dying too.” (Mojo Special Limited Edition, 2002).
If Nicol had been altered by 10 days exposure to the incomprehensible madness of Beatlemania, what did eight years exposure do to the other four?
Paul McCartney
Never shy to bump Harrison out of the way for a lead guitar solo, McCartney had initially served sporadic terms as the group’s drummer during their Quarry Men days and again at various periods in Hamburg and Liverpool, particularly during Pete Best’s absence or solo singing spots. When Ringo Starr quit the group and walked out of the recording sessions for the White Album (ironically over an argument with McCartney about his drum part) McCartney took over. He taped a particularly credible – if slightly wooden – perfromance on “Back in the USSR”, “Dear Prudence” and later on “The Ballad of John and Yoko”.
John Lennon & George Harrison
During the same session for “Back in the USSR” in which Starr walked out, Harrison and Lennon also overdubbed drum tracks to augment McCartney’s. Allegedly on the stereo mix McCartney’s drum track can be heard in the left speaker, with Harrison’s and Lennon’s blended on the right. Incredibly, “Back in the USSR” is unique in that it features all three Beatles minus Starr on drums, with his colleagues taking over his part after his playing fell under criticism.
This was no easy band to be in, for sure!
Photo credit: Brian Farrell
12 days ago
Britt
While Richard Starkey/Ringo Starr may not choose to mark this 50th anniversary, there are countless of his grateful fans who will! Much has and will continue to be written about the guy who became the heart(beat) and soul of the greatest band ever, so I won’t try to say it all here — except to add this one thing: Ringo was and is the best looking member of The Beatles. Handsome beyond words –absolutely striking, elegant, and masculine, so I chafe a little when I read that he wasn’t. The other three were fine looking, too, but a little delicate, to be frank. Ritchie was and is the man. Take a good look, world — you’ll see.
And I’d bet good money that it was his easy-going, conciliatory nature — coupled with his well-documented unique and egoless drumming — that kept the other three comfortable, and John and Paul in particular from becoming overly jealous of him, thereby preserving the Fab Four for almost 10 years.
Peace & Love, Ringo!
Johnny Rhythm
Fair point Britt. What I meant was that he wasn’t handsome in a conventional way. Whatever that really means. But you’re right he was the bee’s knee’s. Ringo forever.
edvado
No creditable source for that John Lennon quote about Ringo not being the best drummer in the Beatles exists.
Johnny Rhythm
Granted, edvado. Allegedly replied. Thanks for the comment
Liz
I realize it’s pick on McCartney these days in Ireland and the UK. But the fact is: Paul’s drumming is terrific on Dear Prudence. And his drumming on both Back in the USSR and Ballad of John and Yoko fit rough-rock sensibility of both tunes. Plus, let’s face it, there are plenty of examples where Ringo’s drumming was “slightly wooden.”
Just listen to the drumming Paul did on Band on the Run to get a feel for how good he was. And George Martin himself said Paul was “an excellent drummer.” Paul worked with Ringo throughout the Beatles’ recording, and the drumming arrangements were usually Paul’s ideas. Ringo was versatile enough to be able to do what Paul wanted.
A moratorium on knee-jerk slams at Paul would be nice.
Johnny Rhythm
Liz, relax, no one is knee-jerk slamming Paul McCartney, at least I’m not. And nobody is attacking his drumming on the three songs mentioned.
Paul’s drumming on all three song’s is top notch, but a tad forced. I said a little wooden because as a trained drummer with over 30 years experience I (think I) have a good ear for the difference between the groove of someone who is natural at it (Ringo) and someone who has to work at it a little (Paul).
Paul and the others certainly gave direction to Ringo, and other band members. But Ringo played the drums.
It’s no secret at all that Paul was the pushiest of the group in the studio, he’s admitted it himself. And from memoirs to Let It Be film scenes the evidence is out there. Have a look around.
He pushed the others a little harder.
So, I’m not attacking Paul at all, I’m merely stating fact. He argued with Ringo about his drum parts (evidence shows he was doing it as far back as Love Me Do in September 1962) and Ringo walked out. You can also catch he and George doing the same thing in a heated exchange in Let It Be.
Paul was a perfectionist. You could argue that had it’s pro’s (Sgt Pepper for one) and its con’s (contributing factor in the groups demise.)
Either way, I’m expressing an opinion based on available evidence and aural analysis. I invite you to disagree with my opinion. That’s what the great debate is all about, and what makes listening to these records so glorious.
Thanks and have a good weekend
Johnny
Johnny Rhythm
By the way, Liz. In my opinion. Paul’s drumming on Band On The Run is great and does the job, but is slightly stiff and wooden. Just my opinion you understand.
james knaggs
with out a good drummer like ringo you have no rythem every band needs a good drummer and by god they had it thanks johnny for a great article all the best james knaggs native roses ps moses bogarde has rythem
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Lachanophobia is the irrational fear of which food items? | Ringo Starr - Drummer, Actor, Songwriter, Singer - Biography.com
Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr first rose to fame in the early 1960s as the drummer for the legendary rock group the Beatles, and is now the richest drummer of all time.
IN THESE GROUPS
Ringo Starr - Mini Biography (TV-14; 2:46) Born Richard Starkey on July 7, 1940, in Liverpool, England, Ringo Starr, known for his easy-going personality, rose to fame in the early 1960s as a member of the legendary rock group the Beatles.
Synopsis
Born Richard Starkey on July 7, 1940, in Liverpool, England, Ringo Starr, known for his easygoing personality, rose to fame in the early 1960s as a member of the legendary rock group the Beatles. Primarly a drummer, Starr also sang and occasionally wrote songs for the group, singing "With a Little Help from My Friends" and writing "Octopus's Garden."
Ringo Starr poses for a portrait circa 1963 in London, England. (Photo by Cyrus Andrews/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images )
Early Life
Musician, singer, songwriter and actor Ringo Starr was born Richard Starkey on July 7, 1940, in Liverpool, England. He was an only child, and while his mother doted on him, his father lost interest in family life early on. His parents split up when Starkey was only four, and he never saw much of his father after that. His mother worked as a cleaning woman and then a barmaid to support them.
At age six, Starkey had an appendectomy and then contracted peritonitis, forcing him to live at a local children's hospital for 12 months while he recovered. This put him considerably behind in school, but just as he caught up (with the help of a tutor), he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and spent the next two years in a sanatorium. One of the ways the staff tried to distract and occupy their patients was to have them form a band, and it was here where young Starkey first discovered percussion, using a wooden mallet to strike the cabinets next to his bed. From then on, despite musical talent with other instruments, he was a drummer.
In 1953 his mother remarried, and his new stepfather encouraged his interest in music. By 1955, when he returned from the sanatorium, school wasn’t much of an option anymore as he was too far behind. He tried a series of different jobs, which were unrewarding professionally, but introduced him to skiffle music via one of his co-workers. Skiffle was played with household objects instead of musical instruments (which were often out of the financial reach of struggling musicians) and Starkey started playing regularly with a band. He got his first real drum kit for Christmas in 1957. A few years later, he joined a real band with real instruments, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, and started going by the name Ringo Starr to reflect both the rings he wore and his interest in country and western music. His drum solos were called "Starr Time." The band grew in popularity, and on a tour in Hamburg, they first met the Beatles, a new group consisting of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison , Stu Sutcliffe, and Pete Best. In October of 1960, Starr played with Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison on a track backing Hurricanes singer Lu Walters.
The Beatles
In 1962, he officially joined the Beatles, replacing Pete Best. After their first gig at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, Best's fans were so angry about the switch that they gave Starr a black eye. Eventually, Beatles fans came around, and Starr was accepted, and eventually beloved.
But first, musically, he had to get past George Martin, who had signed the Beatles to EMI and was producing their first singles. Not ready to trust Starr yet, he replaced him with another drummer and assigned him to tambourine and maracas. Starr thought he was going to be fired, but things started to gel with the fans as well as the group itself; soon all four were on the same wavelength and the alchemy began.
The Beatles' next single "Please Please Me" made the group a pop sensation in England. Their first album together, Please Please Me (1963), added fuel to the already growing frenzy that would soon become known as Beatlemania. Starr made a rare appearance on lead vocals for the song "Boys" on the album.
Ringo Starr performs with The Beatles in 1965. (Photo By Michael Ochs Archives/Stringer/Getty Images )
With their "mop top" hair and matching suits, the Beatles crossed the Atlantic Ocean to launch their own pop invasion of America in 1964. Beatlemania was in full force during their first U.S. television appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. Their single, "I Want to Hold Your Hand," had already climbed to the top of the charts before the taping and was followed by a succession of hits. And throngs of screaming fans—many of which were love-struck teenagers—filled the audiences of their live shows.
In June of 1964, Starr became ill again, when he was hit by pharyngitis and tonsillitis, and he was temporarily replaced on the road by Jimmie Nicol. He rejoined the tour a few weeks later, relieved to find out he wasn't being permanently replaced.
That same year, the Beatles took their music to the big screen with the humorous documentary film A Hard Day's Night (1964). For their next film venture and soundtrack album, Help! (1965), Starr provided the vocals for "Act Naturally." Both projects allowed Starr's comedic and acting talents to shine through. That same year, Starr married longtime girlfriend Maureen Cox. Beatles manager Brian Epstein was his best man, and George Harrison was one of his witnesses, along with the stepfather who had bought him his first drum set.
Also that year, the Beatles finally met one of their idols, Bob Dylan . According to legend, Starr was the first one to smoke pot with Dylan, while the others initially hung back. Times would change.
The Band Breaks Up
While Lennon and McCartney were widely praised for their songwriting talents, Starr's contributions were not as readily acknowledged. He was known for his strong drumming talents, but he also assisted in the group's creative process and was a key ingredient of the group's emotional stability and good humor, and very likely the reason they stayed together as long as they did. Unlike past drummers who remained firmly in the background, Starr was seen an equal part of the Fab Four. Despite not being a songwriter of the same caliber as his band mates, he was always given one song on each album to star in, and was happy with the arrangement. His unique drumming style was an integral part of what made the Beatles so iconic, and would influence future generations of drummers for decades to come.
In 1966, the Beatles stopped touring, giving their last concert in August at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park. They continued to record together, taking their music in new directions. They created one of rock's first concept albums with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), which was meant to be listened to in its entirety, in order. Other commercial and critical successes included The Beatles (often referred to as The White Album) (1968), to which Starr contributed the track "Don't Pass Me By."
During the recording sessions for The White Album, each member of the group started feeling alienated from the others, thinking the other three had a connection he was missing out on. When Starr saw himself increasingly left out of recording sessions (such as "Why Don't We Do It In The Road," which McCartney recorded entirely on his own), he quit the band, becoming the first member to do so.
His bandmates realized they had not been clear with him on how talented he was and how valuable, and sent him telegrams calling him the best drummer in the world. When he returned to the studio, he found his drum kit covered in roses, spelling out "Welcome back Ringo." The band was back together, at least for a while.
The Beatles play their last live concert together on top of the Apple Corps, Ltd. building in January 1969. (Photo by Express/Express/Getty Images )
Personal and creative tensions continued to erode the group. Starr spent some time on other projects, starring in the film The Magic Christian (1969) with Peter Sellers . They played their last gig together on top of the Apple Corps, Ltd. building in London, in January 1969, for the concert film Let It Be (1970). In April 1970, the Beatles finally called it a day, with Paul McCartney's announcement that he was leaving the group. One of the most successful groups in popular music finished their run with more than 45 top 40 hits in the United States alone—and left an incalcuable impression on millions of fans worldwide.
Solo Career
After the Beatles broke up, Starr embarked on a solo career. His first album, Sentimental Journey (1970), was a collection of Tin Pan Alley tunes, with arrangers including Quincy Jones , Maurice Gibb , George Martin, and Paul McCartney. For his next effort, Starr went for country with Beaucoup of Blues (1971).
Starr was the one Beatle who continued to work with each of the others. He drummed on albums for John Lennon (and Yoko Ono too) and George Harrison, and he and Harrison co-wrote the hit single "It Don't Come Easy," for his 1973 album Ringo. Ringo gave him two #1 hits in the U.S., and was his best-selling solo record. The key to his success, it seemed, was a combination of his charisma and a rock solid group of collaborators. The same personality that made him the glue that held the Beatles together for so long is what drew other artists to him; the formula was a good one.
In addition to recording, Starr was flourishing in other creative directions at this time. As an actor, Starr appeared films like 200 Motels (1971), That'll Be the Day (1973) and Son of Dracula (1974) with musician Harry Nilsson. His first directorial effort was a 1972 documentary about the band T. Rex called Born to Boogie.
He founded his own record label, and continued recording, but as he later admitted, he was drinking and doing drugs to the point that he wasn't able to accomplish much else. During this period, Starr and Keith Moon , the hard partying drummer for The Who, were members of a drinking club called The Hollywood Vampires.
In 1976, a year after his divorce from Maureen Cox, he released Ringo's Rotogravure, which included songs written by, separately, each of the other Beatles. He had a few minor hits off it. Other albums followed, without much commercial success.
In early 1980, he co-starred in the comedy Caveman with Barbara Bach, and the two soon fell in love, marrying a year later. After John Lennon was killed at the end of 1980, he appeared on a song with George Harrison and Paul and Linda McCartney , "All Those Years Ago." Originally written by Harrison for Starr, the song, with modified lyrics, was released as a George Harrison single in 1981 and hit #2 on the U.S. charts. The same year, Starr's album Stop and Smell the Roses came out, with songs produced by Harry Nilsson, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ronnie Wood and Stephen Sills. It was supposed to include two songs John Lennon had offered him, but Starr no longer felt it was appropriate to record them.
Starr reteamed with Paul McCartney for the musical drama Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984). The 1980s also brought his fame to a new generation, as he became the narrator of the kids' TV series Thomas and Friends, delighting children who probably didn't know he'd been a member of the most famous band in the world. (The show went on to use other famous voices, including George Carlin and Alec Baldwin .) For the show's spin-off, Shining Time Station, Starr played Mr. Conductor for a season as well.
On the musical front, Starr emerged as a bandleader in the late 1980s, touring with the first incarnation of his All Starr Band, which included Joe Walsh from the Eagles, Nils Lofgren and Clarence Clemons from Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, Rick Danko and Levon Helm from the Band, and Billy Preston and Dr. John, among others. Over the years, Starr has done numerous tours with various artists under the All Starr Band banner and produced several live albums of this continuously changing and evolving collaborative project.
While he continued to produce numerous solo albums, Starr received some his strongest reviews in years for 1992's Time Takes Time.
Two years later, he reunited with McCartney and Harrison to recreate some of the Beatles' magic. Using a John Lennon demo for a song called "Free as a Bird," the trio released the first "new" Beatles single since 1970. They also collaborated on the Beatles Anthology project, giving extensive interviews about their time together for a miniseries and CD project.
"Free as a Bird" was released in 1995 and became a top ten hit. Another Lennon song, "Real Love," was also reworked and did well on the charts in 1996. Two years later, Starr appeared on the VH1 Storytellers television series, sharing his music and experiences as a recording artist, which resulted in an accompanying album.
Starr released Liverpool 8 in 2008. In 2009, he found himself onstage at the E3 conference with Olivia Harrison (George's widow), Yoko Ono, and Paul McCartney, promoting The Beatles: Rock Band, a new video game that sold over half a million copies in its first month.
Continuing to explore his career as a solo artist, Starr put out Y Not (2010) Ringo 2012, and Postcards from Paradise in 2015.
Ringo Starr attends his birthday fan gathering on July 7, 2015 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic )
In 2013, Starr showed off his talent for photography. He published Photograph, which featured many never-seen-before, intimate images of the Beatles. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Starr felt that the photo book could tell the story of his life as a Beatle better than a traditional autobiography. "They only want eight years, really . . . . and I did have a life before that and after that."
He is currently the richest drummer in the world, with a net worth estimated at 300 million dollars and is a staple of top ten drummer lists even today, with other artists citing him as an influence and an inspiration.
Personal Life
Starr has been married twice. Wed to Maureen Cox from 1965 to 1975, the couple had three children together, Zak, Jason and Lee. Zak has followed in his father's footsteps and become an accomplished drummer in his own right, playing with such bands as The Who and Oasis. Starr and his friend Keith Moon had encouraged his interest from an early age. When Cox died of leukemia in 1994, Starr was there at her bedside.
He married his second wife, Barbara Bach, in 1981. Together, they struggled with alcoholism and went to rehab, with successful results, and they are still together.
Starr has seven grandchildren, and in August of 2016, he became the first Beatle to become a great-grandfather.
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What were said to have been built at the orders of Nebuchadnezzar II in order to stop his wife feeling homesick? | NIMROD
NIMROD
compiled by Dee Finney
3-3-09 - VISIONS - I saw a man holding a letter addressed to Airman Nimrod Shellas_______, giving him instructions. The letter was quite lengthy on the page.
VISION 2: I saw a closeup of Nimrod's face. He had thick blonde hair and blue eyes with bangs over his forehead. He raised his hand to brush his bangs upward, and I saw a thick blonde braid right in the center that was cut short so it wouldn't stick out from under the bangs which hid it.
The first thing I thought was 'unicorn', and then I remembered that when I was young, I had a very prominent 'widow's peak in that same spot and I was blonde and blue-eyed as well as a child.
NIMROD'S BRAID
Braiding usually consists of the interweaving of at least three strands of material into an overlapping pattern. Braiding can usually be done with a number of different materials such as hair, string, yarn and rope and will often serve to increase the strength and aesthetic value of the interwoven materials.
by Brannon M. Wheeler - 2002 - Religion - 391 pages
It is also mentioned that the two braids were like horns on his head.
MOSES WITH A HORN OF HAIR
of Julius II. San Pietro
in Vincoli, Rome.Italy
... The believers were Solomon, David, and Alexander. The disbelievers were Nimrod and Nebuchadnezzar. ...
books.google.com/books?isbn=0826449573...
In the Pagan religion of Mithraism, Saturn was another name of Nimrod or Tammuz as The hidden god."
Tiberian
נִמְרֹד ; Nimrōḏ Persian : نمرود ) is a Mesopotamian monarch mentioned in the Book of Genesis , who also figures in many legends and folktales. He is depicted in the Bible as a mighty ruler and nation builder who founded many cities including the great Babel or Babylon .
�Biblical Data:
Son of Cush and grandson of Ham; his name has become proverbial as that of a mighty hunter. His "kingdom" comprised Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Sinar, otherwise known as the land of Nimrod (Gen. x. 8-10; I Chron. i. 10; Micah v. 5 [A. V. 6]).
E.
�In Rabbinical Literature:
Nimrod is the prototype of a rebellious people, his name being interpreted as "he who made all the people rebellious against God" (Pes. 94b; comp. Targ. of pseudo-Jonathan and Targ. Yer. to Gen. x. 9). He is identified with Cush and with Amraphel, the name of the latter being interpreted as "he whose words are dark" (
; Gen. R. xlii. 5; for other explanations see below). As he was the first hunter he was consequently the first who introduced the eating of meat by man. He was also the first to make war on other peoples (Midr. Agadah to Gen. x. 9).
Nimrod was not wicked in his outh. On the contrary, when a young man he used to sacrifice to
Yhwh
the animals which he caught while hunting ("Sefer ha-Yashar," section "Noa," pp. 9a et seq., Leghorn, 1870). His great success in hunting (comp. Gen. x. 9) was due to the fact that he wore the coats of skin which God made for Adam and Eve (Gen. iii. 21). These coats were handed down from father to son, and thus came into the possession of Noah, who took them with him into the ark, whence they were stolen by Ham. The latter gave them to his son Cush, who in turn gave them to Nimrod, and when the animals saw the latter clad in them, they crouched before him so that he had no difficulty in catching them. The people, however, thought that these feats were due to his extraordinary strength, so that they made him their king (Pirḳe R. El. xxiv.; "Sefer ha-Yashar," l.c.; comp. Gen. R. lxv. 12).
Made King.
According to another account, when Nimrod was eighteen years old, war broke out between the Hamites, his kinsmen, and the Japhethites. The latter were at first victorious, but Nimrod, at the head of a small army of Cushites, attacked and defeated them, after which he was made king over all the people on earth, appointing Terah his minister. It was then, elated by so much glory, that Nimrod changed his behavior toward
Yhwh
and became the most flagrant idolater. When informed of Abraham's birth he requested Terah to sell him the new-born child in order that he might kill it (see
Jew. Encyc.
Abraham in Rabbinical Literature
). Terah hid Abraham and in his stead brought to Nimrod the child of a slave, which Nimrod dashed to pieces ("Sefer ha-Yashar," l.c.).
Nimrod is generally considered to have been the one who suggested building the Tower of Babel and who directed its construction. God said: "I made Nimrod great; but he built a tower in order that he might rebel against Me" (Ḥul. 89b). The tower is called by the Rabbis "the house of Nimrod," and is considered as a house of idolatry which the owners abandoned in time of peace; consequently Jews may make use of it ('Ab. Zarah 53b). After the builders of the tower were dispersed Nimrod remained in Shinar, where he reestablished his kingdom. According to the "Sefer ha-Yashar" (l.c.), he at this time acquired the name "Amraphel" in allusion to the fall of his princes (
) during the dispersion. According to the Targum of pseudo-Jonathan (to Gen. x. 11), however, Nimrod had left Babylonia before the building of the tower, and had gone to Assyria, where he built four other cities, namely, Nineveh, Rehobot, Calah, and Resen (comp. Naḥmanides ad loc.).
Nimrod's Dream.
The punishment visited on the builders of the tower did not cause Nimrod to change his conduct; he remained an idolater. He particularly persecuted Abraham, who by his command was thrown into a heated furnace; and it was on this account, according to one opinion, that Nimrod was called "Amraphel" (
= "he said, throw in"; Targ. pseudo-Jonathan to Gen. xiv. 1; Gen. R. xlii. 5; Cant. R. viii. 8). When Nimrod was informed that Abraham had come forth from the furnace uninjured, he remitted his persecution of the worshiper of
Yhwh
; but on the following night he saw in a dream a man coming out of the furnace and advancing toward him with a drawn sword. Nimrod thereupon ran away, but the man threw an egg at him; this was afterward transformed into a large river in which all his troops were drowned, only he himself and three of his followers escaping. Then the river again became an egg, and from the latter came forth a small fowl, which flew at Nimrod and pecked out his eye. The dream was interpreted as forecasting Nimrod's defeat by Abraham, wherefore Nimrod sent secretly to kill Abraham; but the latter emigrated with his family to the land of Canaan. Ten years later Nimrod came to wage war with Chedorlaomer, King of Elam, who had been one of Nimrod's generals, and who after the dispersion of the builders of the tower went to Elam and formed there an independent kingdom. Nimrod at the head of an army set out with the intention of punishing his rebellious general, but the latter routed him. Nimrod then became a vassal of Chedorlaomer, who involved him in the war with the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, with whom he was defeated by Abraham ("Sefer ha-Yashar," l.c.; comp. Gen. xiv. 1-17).
Nimrod was slain by Esau, between whom and himself jealousy existed owing to the fact that they were both hunters (Targ. pseudo-Jonathan to Gen. xxv. 27; "Sefer ha-Yashar," section "Toledot," p. 40b; Pirḳe R. El. l.c.; comp. Gen. R. lxv. 12).
W.
�Critical View:
Two prominent theories are now held in regard to Nimrod's identity: one, adopted by G. Smith and Jeremias, is that Nimrod is to be identified with the Babylonian hero Izdubar or Gishdubar (Gilgamesh); the second, that of Sayce,
Pinches, and others, identifies Nimrod with Marduk, the Babylonian Mercury. The former identification is based on the fact that Izdubar is represented in the Babylonian epos as a mighty hunter, always accompanied by four dogs, and as the founder of the first great kingdom in Asia. Moreover, instead of "Izdubar"�the correct reading of which had not yet been determined�Jeremias saw the possibility of reading "Namra Udu" (shining light), a reading which would have made the identification with Nimrod almost certain. Those who identify Nimrod with Marduk, however, object that the name of Izdubar must be read, as is now generally conceded, "Gilgamesh," and that the signs which constitute the name of Marduk, who also is represented as a hunter, are read phonetically "Amar Ud"; and ideographically they may be read "Namr Ud"�in Hebrew "Nimrod." The difficulty of reconciling the Biblical Nimrod, the son of Cush, with Marduk, the son of Ea, may be overcome by interpreting the Biblical words as meaning that Nimrod was a descendant of Cush.
Two other theories may be mentioned: one is that Nimrod represents the constellation of Orion; the other is that Nimrod stands for a tribe, not an individual (comp. Lagarde, "Armenische Studien," in "Abhandlungen der G�ttinger Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften," xxii. 77; N�ldeke, in "Z. D. M. G." xxviii. 279).
Bibliography
�In Arabic Literature:
By the Arabs Nimrod is considered as the supreme example of the tyrant ("al-jabbar"). There is some confusion among Arabian historians as to Nimrod's genealogy. According to one authority he was the son of Mash the son of Aram, and consequently a Semite; he built the Tower of Babel and also a bridge over the Euphrates, and reigned five hundred years over the Nabat�ans, his kinsmen. But the general opinion is that he was a Hamite, son of Canaan the son of Cush, or son of Cush the son of Canaan (Ṭabari gives both); that he was born at the time of Reu, and was the first to establish fire-worship. Another legend is to the effect that there were two Nimrods: the first was the son of Cush; the second was the well-known tyrant and contemporary of Abraham; he was the son of Canaan and therefore a great-grandson of the first Nimrod. According to Mas'udi ("Muruj al-Dhahab," ii. 96), Nimrod was the first Babylonian king, and during a reign of sixty years he dug many canals in 'Iraḳ.
Nimrod and Abraham.
The author of the "Ta'rikh Muntaḥab" (quoted by D'Herbelot in his "Biblioth�que Orientale") identifies Nimrod with Daḥḥak (the Persian Zoak), the first Persian king after the Flood. But Al-Kharizmi ("Mafati al-'Ulum," quoted by D'Herbelot) identifies him with Kai Kaos, the second king of the second Persian dynasty. Nimrod reigned where Bagdad is now situated, and at first he reigned with justice (
Nimrod in Rabbinical Literature
); but Satan perverted him, and then he began to persecute all the worshipers of God. His chief vizier was Azar (Terah), the father of Abraham; and the midrashic legends of Abraham's birth in which Nimrod is mentioned, as well as those concerning Nimrod's persecution of Abraham�whom he cast into a furnace�are narrated also by the Mohammedans (
in Mohammedan Legend
).
Nimrod is referred to in the Koran (xxi. 68-69). When Nimrod saw Abraham come unharmed from the furnace, he said to him: "Thou hast a powerful God; I wish to offer Him hospitality." Abraham told him that his God needed nobody's hospitality. Nevertheless Nimrod ordered thousands of horned and small cattle brought, and fowl and fish, and sacrificed them all to God; but God did not accept them. Humiliated, Nimrod shut himself in his palace and allowed no one to approach him. According to another tradition, Nimrod challenged Abraham, when the latter came out of the furnace, to fight with him. Nimrod gathered a considerable army and on the appointed day was surprised to find Abraham alone. Asked where his army was, Abraham pointed to a swarm of gnats, which routed Nimrod's troops (see, however, below). Nimrod assembled his ministers and informed them of his intention to ascend into the heavens and strike down Abraham's God. His ministers having told him that it would be difficult to accomplish such a journey, the heavens being very high, Nimrod conceived the idea of building a high tower, by means of which he might accomplish his purpose (comp. Sanh. 109a). After many years had been spent in the construction of the tower, Nimrod ascended to its top, but he was greatly surprised to find that the heavens were still as remote from him as when he was on the ground. He was still more mortified on the following day, when the tower collapsed with such a noise that the people fainted with terror, those that recovered losing their speech (an allusion to the confusion of tongues).
Undaunted by this failure, Nimrod planned another way to reach the heavens. He had a large chest made with an opening in the top and another in the bottom. At the four corners of the chest stakes were fixed, with a piece of flesh on each point. Then four large vultures, or, according to another source, four eagles, previously fed upon flesh, were attached to the stakes below the meat. Accompanied by one of his most faithful viziers, Nimrod entered the chest, and the four great birds soared up in the air carrying the chest with them (comp. Alexander's ascent into the air; Yer. 'Ab. Zarah iii. 42c; Num. R. xiii. 13). The vizier opened alternately the upper and lower doors of the chest in order that by looking in both directions he might know whether or not he was approaching heaven. When they were so high up that they could see nothing in either direction Nimrod took his bow and shot arrows into the sky. Gabriel thereupon sent the arrows back stained with blood, so that Nimrod was convinced that he had avenged himself upon Abraham's God. After wandering in the air for a certain length of time Nimrod descended, and the chest crashed upon the ground with such violence
that the mountains trembled and the angels thought an order from God had descended upon the earth. This event is alluded to in the Koran (xiv. 47): "The machinations and the contrivances of the impious cause the mountains to tremble." Nimrod himself was not hurt by the fall.
After these adventures Nimrod continued to reign wickedly. Four hundred years later an angel in the form of a man appeared to him and exhorted him to repent, but Nimrod declared that he himself was sole ruler and challenged God to fight with him. Nimrod asked for a delay of three days, during which he gathered a considerable army; but this was exterminated by swarms of gnats. One of these insects is said to have entered Nimrod's nose, reached the chambers of his brain, and gnawed at it. To allay the pain Nimrod ordered some one to strike with a hammer upon an anvil, in order that the noise might cause the gnat to cease gnawing (comp. the same story in connection with Titus in Giṭ. 56b). Nimrod died after forty years' suffering.
Bibliography
i. 78, 81-83; ii. 96; iii. 240
;
vol. i., pp. 126-128, 134-144
;
M.
Sel.
Despite his stance as a powerful leader, his reputation was tarnished by his traditional association with the construction of the Tower of Babel . Outside of the Bible, several ruins preserve Nimrod's name, [1] and he is featured in the midrash .
Mention of Nimrod in the Bible is rather limited. According to the " documentary hypothesis " of the Bible's origin, the Jahwist writer(s) make the earliest mention of Nimrod. [1] He is described as the son of Cush , grandson of Ham , great-grandson of Noah ; and as "a mighty one on the earth" and "a mighty hunter before the Lord ". He also appears in the First Book of Chronicles and in the Book of Micah .
Nimrod is said to be the founder and king of the first empire after the Flood , and his realm is connected with the Mesopotamian towns Babylon ( Babel ), Uruk , Akkad and Calneh . He is mentioned in the Table of Nations (Genesis 10), where he is said to have founded many cities. Owing to an ambiguity in the original Hebrew text, it is unclear whether it is he or Asshur who additionally founded Nineveh , Resen , Rehoboth-Ir and Calah , and both of these interpretations are reflected in the various English versions.( Genesis 10:8�10 )
Traditions and legends
Though not clearly stated in the Bible, Nimrod has since ancient times traditionally been considered the creator of the Tower of Babel. Since his kingdom included the towns in Shinar , it is usually further assumed that it was under his direction that the building began; this is the view adopted in the Targums and later texts such as the writings of Josephus . Some extrabiblical sources,[ specify ] however, assert to the contrary, that Nimrod left the district before the building of the tower.
According to Hebrew traditions, Nimrod was of Mizraim by his mother, but came from Cush son of Ham and expanded Asshur, which he inherited. His name has become proverbial as that of a "mighty hunter". His "kingdom" comprised Babel (Babylon), Erech (Uruk), Accad (Akkad), and Calneh, in the land of Shinar, otherwise known as the land of Nimrod ( Genesis 10:8 -10; 1 Chronicles 1:10 , Micah 5:6 ).
Josephus wrote:
Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah, a bold man, and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God, as if it were through his means they were happy, but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness. He also gradually changed the government into tyranny , seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence on his power� Now the multitude were very ready to follow the determination of Nimrod, and to esteem it a piece of cowardice to submit to God; and they built a tower, neither sparing any pains, nor being in any degree negligent about the work: and, by reason of the multitude of hands employed in it, it grew very high, sooner than any one could expect; but the thickness of it was so great, and it was so strongly built, that thereby its great height seemed, upon the view, to be less than it really was. It was built of burnt brick, cemented together with mortar, made of bitumen , that it might not be liable to admit water. When God saw that they acted so madly, he did not resolve to destroy them utterly, since they were not grown wiser by the destruction of the former sinners; but he caused a tumult among them, by producing in them diverse languages, and causing that, through the multitude of those languages, they should not be able to understand one another. The place wherein they built the tower is now called Babylon , because of the confusion of that language which they readily understood before; for the Hebrews mean by the word Babel , confusion�
The Book of Jubilees mentions the name of "Nebrod" (the Greek form of Nimrod) only as being the father of Azurad , the wife of Eber and mother of Peleg (8:7). This account would thus make him an ancestor of Abraham, and hence of all Hebrews.
An early Arabic work known as Kitab al-Magall or the Book of Rolls (part of Clementine literature ) states that Nimrod built the towns of Had�ni�n, Ellasar , Seleucia , Ctesiphon , R�h�n, Atrapatene , Telal�n, and others, that he began his reign as king over earth when Reu was 163, and that he reigned for 69 years, building Nisibis , Raha ( Edessa ) and Harran when Peleg was 50. It further adds that Nimrod "saw in the sky a piece of black cloth and a crown; he called Sasan the weaver to his presence, and commanded him to make him a crown like it; and he set jewels in it and wore it. He was the first king who wore a crown. For this reason people who knew nothing about it, said that a crown came down to him from heaven." Later, the book describes how Nimrod established fire worship and idolatry, then receives instruction in divination for 3 years from Bouniter, the fourth son of Noah [2] .
In the Recognitions (R 4.29), one version of the Clementines, Nimrod is equated with the legendary Assyrian king Ninus , who first appears in the Greek historian Ctesias as the founder of Nineveh. However, in another version, the Homilies (H 9.4-6), Nimrod is made to be the same as Zoroaster .
The Syriac Cave of Treasures (ca. 350) contains an account of Nimrod very similar to that in the Kitab al-Magall, except that Nisibis, Edessa and Harran are said to be built by Nimrod when Reu was 50, and that he began his reign as the first king when Reu was 130. In this version, the weaver is called Sisan, and the fourth son of Noah is called Yonton.
Jerome , writing ca. 390, explains in Hebrew Questions on Genesis that after Nimrod reigned in Babel, "he also reigned in Arach [Erech], that is, in Edissa; and in Achad [Accad], which is now called Nisibis; and in Chalanne [Calneh], which was later called Seleucia after King Seleucus when its name had been changed, and which is now in actual fact called Ctesiphon." However, this traditional identification of the cities built by Nimrod in Genesis is no longer accepted by modern scholars, who consider them to be located in Sumer, not Syria.
The Ge'ez Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan (ca. 5th century) also contains a version similar to that in the Cave of Treasures, but the crown maker is called Santal, and the name of Noah's fourth son who instructs Nimrod is Barvin.
In the History of the Prophets and Kings by the 9th century Muslim historian al-Tabari , Nimrod has the tower built in Babil, Allah destroys it, and the language of mankind, formerly Syriac , is then confused into 72 languages. Another Muslim historian of the 13th century, Abu al-Fida relates the same story, adding that the patriarch Eber (an ancestor of Abraham) was allowed to keep the original tongue, Hebrew in this case, because he would not partake in the building.
In Armenian legend, Haik , the founder of the Armenian people, defeated Nimrod in battle near Lake Van.
According to the medieval Hungarian chronicle Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum , the ancestors of Huns and Magyars ( Hunor and Magor , respectively) were the twin sons of Menrot (son of Tana) and Eneth. In some of the different versions of this legend ( Gesta Hungarorum , Chronicon Pictum ), Menrot is referred to as Nimrod, the son of Kush, the "wise and just king" of the "marvellously beautiful and wealthy city of Ur " (where "Ur" is also a Hungarian name for God.) and Attila the Hun is referred to by the title "Attila, by the grace of God - son of Bendeguz ( Mundzuk ), grandson of the great Nimrod - the king of Huns , Medes , Goths , Danes , the Fear of World, Scourge of God".
One tradition[ who? ] suggests that Nimrod was killed by a wild animal. Another[ who? ] says that Shem killed him because he had led the people into the worship of Baal . Then tore his body to pieces and had them sent them out as a warning to others not to indulge in the false worship. Later his mother or wife, Shemiramis, collected them, put them together and claimed he was still alive, but had become a god, similar to the legend of Isis and Osiris[ citation needed ]. Still another mention of Nimrod is in the Book of Jasher Chapter 27:7 , which ascribes his death to Esau (grandson of Abraham ), who supposedly beheaded him.
The evil Nimrod vs. the righteous Abraham
The Bible does not mention any meeting between Nimrod and Abraham . In fact, there is a gap of seven generations between them, Nimrod being Noah 's great grandson while Abraham was ten generations removed from Noah (Genesis 10,11). Nevertheless, later Jewish tradition brings the two of them together in a cataclysmic collision, a potent symbol of the cosmic confrontation between Good and Evil, and specifically of Monotheism against paganism and idolatry .
This tradition is first attested in the writings of Pseudo-Philo (van der Toorn and van der Horst 1990, p. 19), continues in the Talmud , goes through later rabbinical writings in the Middle Ages [3] , and is still being added to by contemporary rabbis.[ citation needed ]
In some versions - as in Josephus - Nimrod is a man who sets his will against that of God. In others, he proclaims himself a god and is worshipped as such by his subjects, sometimes with his consort Semiramis worshipped as a goddess at his side. (see also Ninus )
A portent in the stars tells Nimrod and his astrologers of the impending birth of Abraham, who would put an end to idolatry . Nimrod therefore orders the killing of all newborn babies. However, Abraham's mother escapes into the fields and gives birth secretly (in some accounts, the baby Abraham is placed in a manger).
Abraham grows up and already at a young age he recognizes God and starts worshipping Him. He confronts Nimrod and tells him face-to-face to cease his idolatry, whereupon Nimrod orders him burned at the stake. In some versions, Nimrod has his subjects gather wood for four whole years, so as to burn Abraham in the biggest bonfire the world had seen (a story possibly inspired or confused with Nimrod's building of the Tower). Yet when the fire is lighted, Abraham walks out unscathed.
In some versions, Nimrod then challenges Abraham to battle. When Nimrod appears at the head of enormous armies, Abraham produces an army of gnats which destroys Nimrod's army. Some accounts have a gnat or mosquito enter Nimrod's brain and drive him out of his mind (a divine retribution which Jewish tradition also assigned to the Roman Emperor Titus , destroyer of the Temple in Jerusalem).
In some versions, Nimrod repents and accepts God, offering numerous sacrifices that God rejects (as with Cain ). Other versions have Nimrod give to Abraham, as a reconciliatory gift, the slave Eliezer , whom some accounts describe as Nimrod's own son. (The Bible also mentions Eliezer, though not making any connection between him and Nimrod. He was Abraham's majordomo, entrusted with missions such as fetching a bride for Abraham's son, and he has entered Jewish tradition as the archetype of a loyal servant.)
Still other versions have Nimrod persisting in his rebellion against God, or resuming it. Indeed, Abraham's crucial act of leaving Mesopotamia and settling in Canaan , which effectively sets the stage for the rest of the Bible, is sometimes interpreted as an escape from Nimrod's revenge. Some accounts place the building of the Tower many generations before Abraham's birth (as in the Bible, also Jubilees ). In others, it is a later rebellion after Nimrod failed in his confrontation with Abraham, and in still other versions, Nimrod does not give up after the Tower fails, but goes on to try storming Heaven in person, in a chariot driven by birds.
The story attributes to Abraham elements from the story of Moses ' birth (the cruel king killing innocent babies, with the midwives ordered to kill them) and from the careers of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who emerged unscathed from the fire. Nimrod is thus made to conflate the role and attributes of two archetypal cruel and persecuting kings - Nebuchadnezzar and Pharaoh . Some Jewish traditions also identified him with Cyrus whose birth according to Herodotus was accompanied by portents which made his grandfather try to kill him.
The same confrontation is also found extensively in the Islamic Qur'an , between Namrood, the arch-rebel against Allah's authority, and the Prophet Ibrahim (Arabic version of "Abraham"), honoured in Islam as "Allah's khalil", meaning he who has reached a high state of love for Allah. The Qur'an takes an even dimmer view of Nimrod than the rabbinic tales. While some Jewish sources have him repenting in the end of the tale, Muslim sources usually depict him as obdurate to the bitter end, however many times his plots were foiled. In Ibrahim's confrontation with Namrood, the former argues that Allah is the one who gives life and gives death. Namrood responds by bringing out two people sentenced to death. He releases one and kills the other as a poor attempt at making a point that he also brings life and death. Ibrahim refutes by stating that Allah brings the Sun out from the East, and so he asks Namrood to bring it from the West. Namrood is then perplexed and angered. He arranges for Ibrahim to be thrown into a great fire, but Allah protects him from it by commanding the fire to be cool and safe for Ibrahim.
Whether or not conceived as having ultimately repented, Nimrod remained in Jewish and Islamic tradition an emblematic evil person, an archetype of an idolater and a tyrannical king. In rabbinical writings up to the present, he is almost invariably referred to as "Nimrod the Evil"( Hebrew : נמרוד הרשע), and to Muslims he is "Nimrod al-Jabbar" (The Tyrant or Thug).
The story of Abraham's confrontation with Nimrod did not remain within the confines of learned writings and religious treatises, but also conspicuously influenced popular culture. A notable example is "Quando el Rey Nimrod" ("When King Nimrod"), one of the most well-known folksongs in Ladino , (Judeo-Spanish), apparently written during the reign of King Alfonso X of Castile .
Beginning with the words: "When King Nimrod went out to the fields/ Looked at the heavens and at the stars/He saw a holy light in the Jewish quarter/A sign that Abraham, our father, was about to be born", the song gives a poetic account of the persecutions perpetrated by the cruel Nimrod and the miraculous birth and deeds of the savior Abraham [4] .
Text of the Midrash Raba Version
The following version of the Abraham vs. Nimrod confrontation appears in the Midrash Raba , a major compilation of Jewish Scriptural exegesis . The part relating to Genesis , in which this appears (Chapter 38, 13), is considered to date from the sixth century.
"נטלו ומסרו לנמרוד. אמר לו: עבוד לאש. אמר לו אברהם: ואעבוד למים, שמכבים את האש? אמר לו נמרוד: עבוד למים! אמר לו: אם כך, אעבוד לענן, שנושא את המים? אמר לו: עבוד לענן! אמר לו: אם כך, אעבוד לרוח, שמפזרת עננים? אמר לו: עבוד לרוח! אמר לו: ונעבוד לבן אדם, שסובל הרוחות? אמר לו: מילים אתה מכביר, אני איני משתחוה אלא לאוּר - הרי אני משליכך בתוכו, ויבא אלוה שאתה משתחוה לו ויצילך הימנו! היה שם הרן עומד. אמר: מה נפשך, אם ינצח אברהם - אומַר 'משל אברהם אני', ואם ינצח נמרוד - אומַר 'משל נמרוד אני'. כיון שירד אברהם לכבשן האש וניצול, אמרו לו: משל מי אתה? אמר להם: משל אברהם אני! נטלוהו והשליכוהו לאור, ונחמרו בני מעיו ויצא ומת על פני תרח אביו. וכך נאמר: וימת הרן על פני תרח אביו." (בראשית רבה ל"ח, יג)
(...) He [Abraham] was given over to Nimrod. [Nimrod] told him: Worship the Fire! Abraham said to him: Shall I then worship the water, which puts off the fire! Nimrod told him: Worship the water! [Abraham] said to him: If so, shall I worship the cloud, which carries the water? [Nimrod] told him: Worship the cloud! [Abraham] said to him: If so, shall I worship the wind, which scatters the clouds? [Nimrod] said to him: Worship the wind! [Abraham] said to him: And shall we worship the human, who withstands the wind? Said [Nimrod] to him: You pile words upon words, I bow to none but the fire - in it shall I throw you, and let the God to whom you bow come and save you from it!
Haran [Abraham's brother] was standing there. He said [to himself]: what shall I do? If Abraham wins, I shall say: "I am of Abraham's [followers]", if Nimrod wins I shall say "I am of Nimrod's [followers]". When Abraham went into the furnace and survived, Haran was asked: "Whose [follower] are you?" and he answered: "I am Abraham's!". [Then] they took him and threw him into the furnace, and his belly opened and he died and predeceased Terach, his father.
[The Bible ( Genesis 11:28, mentions Haran predeceasing Terach, but gives no details.]
Interpretations
It is often assumed that Nimrod's reign included war and terror, and that he was a hunter not only of animals, but also a person who used aggression against other humans. The Hebrew translated "before" in the phrase "Mighty hunter before the L
ORD
" is commonly analysed as meaning literally "in the Face of" in this interpretation, to suggest a certain rebelliousness in the establishment of a human government. Since some of the towns mentioned were in the territory of Assyria , which is connected to Shem 's son Asshur , Nimrod is sometimes speculated to have invaded territory that did not belong to him. However, various translations of the Hebrew text leave it ambiguous as to whether the towns in Assyria were founded by Nimrod or by Asshur.
Inscription of Naram Sin found at the city of Marad
Historians and mythographers have long tried to find links between Nimrod and figures from other traditions. Marduk (Merodach), has been suggested as a possible archetype for Nimrod, especially at the beginning of the 20th century.[ citation needed ] Nimrod's imperial ventures described in Genesis may be based on the conquests of the Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I (Dalley et al., 1998, p. 67). Alexander Hislop , in his tract The Two Babylons ( Chapter 2, Section II, Sub-Section I ) decided that Nimrod was to be identified with Ninus , who according to Greek legend was a Mesopotamian king and husband of Semiramis (see below); with a whole host of deities throughout the Mediterranean world, and with the Persian Zoroaster . The identification with Ninus follows that of the Clementine Recognitions; the one with Zoroaster, that of the Clementine Homilies, both works part of Clementine literature . [5] Ninus (and Venus presumed to be his great mother Queen Semiramis) ruled Nineveh in 1269 BC, but Greeks placed Ninus as 52 years of 2060-2009 BC (Abram's birth being year 43 of 52) in Eusebius.
David Rohl , like Hislop, identified Nimrod with a complex of Mediterranean deities; among those he picked were Asar , Baal , Dumuzi and Osiris . In Rohl's theory, Enmerkar the founder of Uruk was the original inspiration for Nimrod, because the story of Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta (see: [4] ) bears a few similarities to the legend of Nimrod and the Tower of Babel, and because the -KAR in Enmerkar means "hunter". Additionally, Enmerkar is said to have had ziggurats built in both Uruk and Eridu , which Rohl postulates was the site of the original Babel.
Because another of the cities said to have been built by Nimrod was Accad, a+n older theory connects him with Sargon the Great , grandfather of Naram-Sin, since, according to the Sumerian king list , that king first built Agade (Akkad). The assertion of the king list that it was Sargon who built Akkad has been called into question, however, with the discovery of inscriptions mentioning the place in the reigns of some of Sargon's predecessors, such as kings Enshakushanna and Lugal-Zage-Si of Uruk. Nimrod is the son of Cush (founder of the city Kish) who is the son of Ham in Ararat (thus Nimrod is grandson of Ham). Sargon is the grandson of Purzur-Sin being that he is the son of Ur-Zababa, who is the son of Puzur-Sin, the son of the woman Ku-Baba of Ararat (daughter of Noah's vineyard).
The Church of the Great God has also asserted that Nimrod is to be identified with the Egyptian god Osiris , and was posthumously father of Gilgamesh [6] .
Nimrod figures in some very early versions of the history of Freemasonry , where he was said to have been one of the fraternity's founders. According to the Encyclopedia of Freemasonry: The legend of the Craft in the Old Constitutions refers to Nimrod as one of the founders of Masonry. Thus in the York MS., No. 1, we read: "At ye making of ye toure of Babell there was a Masonrie first much esteemed of, and the King of Babilon yt called Nimrod was a Mason himself and loved well Masons." However, he does not figure in the current rituals.
Notes
"נמרוד" . Jewish Encyclopedia Daat. Herzog College. http://www.daat.ac.il/encyclopedia/value.asp?id1=1058 .
(Hebrew)
^ Full original text and an English translation appear in the Ladino wikipedia article; see also [1] , [2] , [3]
References
The Legacy of Mesopotamia; Stephanie Dalley et al. (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1998)
Noah's Curse: The Biblical Justification of American Slavery; Stephen R. Haynes (NY, Oxford University Press, 2002)
"Nimrod before and after the Bible" K. van der Toorn; P. W. van der Horst, The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 83, No. 1. (Jan., 1990), pp. 1-29
A song by American Alternative Rock band the Pixies is called "Nimrod's son" referring to incest.
External links
Genesis 10:8-12 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
8 Cush fathered Nimrod, who was the first powerful man on earth. 9 He was a powerful hunter in the sight of the LORD. That is why it is said, "Like Nimrod, a powerful hunter in the sight of the LORD." 10 His kingdom started with Babylon, ( A ) Erech, [ a ] Accad, [ b ] and Calneh, [ c ] in the land of Shinar. ( B ) [ d ] 11 From that land he went to Assyria ( C ) and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-ir, Calah, 12 and Resen, between Nineveh and the great city Calah.
Footnotes:
Genesis 11:9 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
9 Therefore its name is called Babylon, ( A ) [ a ] for there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
Abram Rescues Lot
1 In those days Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and
Tidal king of Goiim
Genesis 14:1 A region in southwest Iran
Genesis 14:1 The name Tidal may be related to the Hittite royal name Tudhaliya.
6 They will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
the land of Nimrod with a drawn blade.
So He will rescue us from Assyria
when it invades our land,
when it marches against our territory.
4 000 BC - Nimrod was also a descendent of Noah . The bible is silent on the time-frame of the building of the "tower" of Babel, but conservative bible scholars have placed it between 3500 and 4000 BC It could have been much earlier than this, and then again, much later.According to the biblical account, the "tower" was built during the reign of "King Nimrod", the first "King" of Babylon. Nimrod was also a descendent of Noah . The bible is silent on the time-frame of the building of the "tower" of Babel, but conservative bible scholars have placed it between 3500 and 4000 BC It could have been much earlier than this, and then again, much later.
2348 BC - Civilizations that could not have existed until after the Tower of Babel, are routinely dated at 1000 or more years before the global Flood in 2348 BC, to which my reply is, �how long can you tread water!?� Time texts in the Bible are the main point of Satan�s ...Civilizations that could not have existed until after the Tower of Babel, are routinely dated at 1000 or more years before the global Flood in 2348 BC, to which my reply is, �how long can you tread water!?� Time texts in the Bible are the main point of Satan�s attack on the authority of the Scriptures. Whether they are in Genesis 1, Kings, Luke or elsewhere,
2188 BC - THE natives of Africa are supposed to be descended from Noah't �on Ham , who went thither and settled in Egypt after the building of the tower of Babel, this country being near the land of Shinar, The kingdom of Egypt is very ancient, and was founded by Menes one ...THE natives of Africa are supposed to be descended from Noah't �on Ham , who went thither and settled in Egypt after the building of the tower of Babel, this country being near the land of Shinar, The kingdom of Egypt is very ancient, and was founded by Menes one of the children of Ham, 2188 BC In the Bible he is called Misraim. 2. Egypt is bounded north by the Mediterranean Sea, east by th� Red Sea, south by Nubia, and west by the desert.
600 BC - Many Jews would have seen it with their own eyes when they were deported to Babylon in about 600 BC. This would have no doubt reminded them of the events at the Tower of Babel. The Bible reveals very little about the ziggurat. There are other sources outside of ...Babylon in the time of Nebuchadnezzar II was large even by our standards. In the city they would see the ziggurat, which would seem to them, usually living in single story houses, to reach almost to heaven. Many Jews would have seen it with their own eyes when they were deported to Babylon in about 600 BC. This would have no doubt reminded them of the events at the Tower of Babel. The Bible reveals very little about the ziggurat.
The Tower of Babel ( Hebrew : מגדל בבל Migdal Bavel Arabic : برج بابل Burj Babil) according to chapter 11 of the Book of Genesis , was an enormous tower built at the city of Babel , the Hebrew name for Babylon ( Akkadian Babilu). According to the biblical account, a united humanity , speaking a single language and migrating from the east, took part in the building after the Great Flood ; Babel was also called the "beginning" of Nimrod 's kingdom. The people decided their city should have a tower so immense that it would have "its top in the heavens."(וְרֹאשׁוֹ בַשָּׁמַיִם) However, the Tower of Babel was not built for the worship and praise of God, but was dedicated to the glory of man, with a motive of making a 'name' for the builders: "Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.'" (Genesis 11:4). God, seeing what the people were doing, confounded their languages and scattered the people throughout the earth. It had been God's original purpose for mankind to grow and fill the earth. In the Hebrew scriptures Nimrod is portrayed as a 'mighty hunter'
Babel is the Hebrew equivalent of Akkadian Babilu (Greek Babylon), a cosmopolitan city typified by a confusion of languages. [1] The Tower of Babel has often been associated with known structures, notably the Etemenanki , the ziggurat to Marduk , by Nabopolassar ( 610s BC ). A Sumerian story with some similar elements is preserved in Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta .
Biblical narrative and themes
German Late Medieval (ca. 1370s) depiction of the construction of the tower.
Narrative
The story is found in Genesis 11:1-9 ( King James Version ) as follows:
1
And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
2
And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
3
And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.
4
And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
5
And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children built.
6
And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do; and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
7
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
8
So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
9
Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
The phrase Tower of Babel does not actually appear in the Bible; it is always, "the city and its tower" (אֶת-הָעִיר וְאֶת-הַמִּגְדָּל) or just "the city" (הָעִיר).
Themes
The story explains the origin of nations, of their languages, and of Babylon (Babel). The story's theme of competition between the Lord and humans appears elsewhere in Genesis, in the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. [1] The story displays the Lord's contempt for human pride. [1]
The traditional Judaeo-Christian interpretation, as found for example in Flavius Josephus , explains the construction of the tower as a hubristic act of defiance against God, ordered by the arrogant tyrant, Nimrod .
Historical context
The Tower of Babel in the background of a depiction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon by Martin Heemskerck .
The Greek form of the name is from the native Akkadian Bāb-ilim, which means "Gate of the god". This correctly summarizes the religious purpose of the great temple towers (the ziggurats ) of ancient Sumer (Biblical Shinar ). In Genesis 10, Babel is said to have formed part of Nimrod 's kingdom. It is not specifically mentioned in the Bible that he ordered the tower to be built, but Nimrod is often associated with its construction in other sources. The Hebrew version of the name of the city and the tower, Babel, is attributed in Gen. 11:9 to the verb balal, which means to confuse or confound in Hebrew. The ruins of the city of Babylon are near Hillah , Babil Governorate , Iraq .
The peoples listed in Chapter 10 of Genesis (the Table of Nations ) are stated by 11:8-9 to have been scattered over the face of the earth from Shinar only after the abandonment of the Tower. Some see an internal contradiction between the mention already in Genesis 10:5 that "From these the maritime peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with his own language" and the subsequent Babel story, which begins "Now the entire earth was of one language and uniform words" (Genesis 11:1). [2] However, this view presupposes a rigid chronological sequence of 10:5 and 11:1, whereas the Judeo-Christian interpretation is that 10:5 refers to the same later scattering as mentioned more fully in 11:9.
Destruction
The account in Genesis makes no mention of any destruction of the tower. The people whose languages are confounded simply stop building their city, and are scattered from there over the face of the Earth. However, in other sources such as the Book of Jubilees , Cornelius Alexander (frag. 10), Abydenus (frags. 5 and 6), Josephus (Antiquities 1.4.3), and the Sibylline Oracles (iii. 117-129), God overturns the tower with a great wind.
Etemenanki, the ziggurat at Babylon
Reconstruction of the Etemenanki (total height 91 m)
Main article: Etemenanki
Etemenanki (Sumerian: "temple of the foundation of heaven and earth") was the name of a ziggurat dedicated to Marduk in the city of Babylon. It was famously rebuilt by the 6th century BC Neo-Babylonian dynasty rulers Nabopolassar and Nebuchadnezzar II . According to modern scholars such as Stephen L. Harris, the biblical story of the Tower of Babel was likely influenced by Etemenanki during the Babylonian captivity of the Hebrews.
Nebuchadnezzar wrote that the original tower had been built in antiquity: "A former king built the Temple of the Seven Lights of the Earth, but he did not complete its head. Since a remote time, people had abandoned it, without order expressing their words. Since that time earthquakes and lightning had dispersed its sun-dried clay; the bricks of the casing had split, and the earth of the interior had been scattered in heaps."
The Greek historian Herodotus (440 BC) later wrote of this ziggurat, which he called the "Temple of Zeus Belus", giving an account of its vast dimensions.
Book of Jubilees
The Book of Jubilees contains one of the most detailed accounts found anywhere of the Tower.
And they began to build, and in the fourth week they made brick with fire, and the bricks served them for stone, and the clay with which they cemented them together was asphalt which comes out of the sea, and out of the fountains of water in the land of Shinar. And they built it: forty and three years were they building it; its breadth was 203 bricks, and the height [of a brick] was the third of one; its height amounted to 5433 cubits and 2 palms, and [the extent of one wall was] thirteen stades [and of the other thirty stades]. (Jubilees 10:20-21, Charles' 1913 translation)
The Book of Jubilees recounts Genesis and the first twelve chapters of Exodus , elaborating on the text (similar to a Midrash ). It is often categorized as one of the Pseudepigrapha and dated to the late 2nd century BC [1] , but it is still in the canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church [3] .
Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews
The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus , in his Antiquities of the Jews (c 94 AD), recounted history as found in the Hebrew Bible and mentioned the Tower of Babel. He wrote that it was Nimrod who had the tower built and that Nimrod was a tyrant who tried to turn the people away from God. In this account, God confused the people rather than destroying them because destroying people with a Flood hadn't taught them to be godly.
Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah, a bold man, and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God, as if it were through his means they were happy, but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness. He also gradually changed the government into tyranny , seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence on his power... Now the multitude were very ready to follow the determination of Nimrod, and to esteem it a piece of cowardice to submit to God; and they built a tower, neither sparing any pains, nor being in any degree negligent about the work: and, by reason of the multitude of hands employed in it, it grew very high, sooner than any one could expect; but the thickness of it was so great, and it was so strongly built, that thereby its great height seemed, upon the view, to be less than it really was. It was built of burnt brick, cemented together with mortar, made of bitumen , that it might not be liable to admit water. When God saw that they acted so madly, he did not resolve to destroy them utterly, since they were not grown wiser by the destruction of the former sinners [in the Flood]; but he caused a tumult among them, by producing in them diverse languages, and causing that, through the multitude of those languages, they should not be able to understand one another. The place wherein they built the tower is now called Babylon , because of the confusion of that language which they readily understood before; for the Hebrews mean by the word Babel , confusion...
Greek Apocalypse of Baruch
Third Apocalypse of Baruch (or 3 Baruch, c 2nd century), one of the pseudepigrapha , describes the just rewards of sinners and the righteous in the afterlife. [1] Among the sinners are those who instigated the Tower of Babel. In the account, Baruch is first taken (in a vision) to see the resting place of the souls of "those who built the tower of strife against God, and the Lord banished them." Next he is shown another place, and there, occupying the form of dogs,
Those who gave counsel to build the tower, for they whom thou seest drove forth multitudes of both men and women, to make bricks; among whom, a woman making bricks was not allowed to be released in the hour of child-birth, but brought forth while she was making bricks, and carried her child in her apron, and continued to make bricks. And the Lord appeared to them and confused their speech, when they had built the tower to the height of four hundred and sixty-three cubits. And they took a gimlet, and sought to pierce the heavens, saying, Let us see (whether) the heaven is made of clay, or of brass, or of iron. When God saw this He did not permit them, but smote them with blindness and confusion of speech, and rendered them as thou seest. (Greek Apocalypse of Baruch, 3:5-8)
Midrash
Rabbinic literature offers many different accounts of other causes for building the Tower of Babel , and of the intentions of its builders. The Mishnah (the first written record of the Jewish Oral Law , c 200 AD) describes the Tower as a rebellion against God. Some later midrash record that the builders of the Tower, called "the generation of secession" in the Jewish sources, said: "God has no right to choose the upper world for Himself, and to leave the lower world to us; therefore we will build us a tower, with an idol on the top holding a sword, so that it may appear as if it intended to war with God" (Gen. R. xxxviii. 7; Tan., ed. Buber, Noah, xxvii. et seq.).
The building of the Tower was meant to bid defiance not only to God, but also to Abraham , who exhorted the builders to reverence. The passage mentions that the builders spoke sharp words against God, not cited in the Bible, saying that once every 1,656 years, heaven tottered so that the water poured down upon the earth, therefore they would support it by columns that there might not be another deluge (Gen. R. l.c.; Tan. l.c.; similarly Josephus, "Ant." i. 4, � 2).
Some among that sinful generation even wanted to war against God in heaven (Talmud Sanhedrin 109a.) They were encouraged in this wild undertaking by the notion that arrows which they shot into the sky fell back dripping with blood, so that the people really believed that they could wage war against the inhabitants of the heavens ( Sefer ha-Yashar , Noah, ed. Leghorn, 12b). According to Josephus and Midrash Pirke R. El. xxiv., it was mainly Nimrod who persuaded his contemporaries to build the Tower, while other rabbinical sources assert, on the contrary, that Nimrod separated from the builders.
Kabbalah
Some Kabbalistic mystics provide intriguing and unusual descriptions of the Tower of Babel. According to Menachem Tsioni, an Italian Torah commentator of 15th century, the Tower was a functional flying craft, empowered by some powerful magic or technology [4] ; the device was originally intended for holy purposes, but was later misused in order to gain control over the whole world. Isaac of Acre wrote that the Tower builders had reached, or at least planned to reach the distance of 2,360,000,000 parsas or 9-10 billion kilometers above the Earth surface, which is about the radius of the Solar System , including most Trans-Neptunian objects. [5] . Similar accounts are also found in the writing of Jonathan Eybeschutz and the ancient book Brith Menuchah [6] , according to which the builders of the Tower planned to equip it with some shield technology ("shielding wings") and powerful weapons. Many Kabbalists believed that the ancient peoples possessed magic knowledge of the Nephilim , which allowed them to construct such powerful devices. Moreover, according to some commentaries, some Talmudic sages possessed a manual for building such a flying tower.
These accounts coincide with some of Zecharia Sitchin 's speculations and the ufological theories concerning the ancient Indian vimanas [ citation needed ]. According to another mysterious Kabbalistic account, one third of the Tower builders were punished by turning into various semi-demonic creatures and banished into three parallel dimensions, inhabited now by their descendants [7] .
Qur'an and Islamic traditions
Though not mentioned by name, the Qur'an has a story with similarities to the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel, though set in the Egypt of Moses. In Suras 28:38 and 40:36-37 Pharaoh asks Haman to build him a clay tower so that he can mount up to heaven and confront the God of Moses .
Another story in Sura 2:102 mentions the name of Babil , but tells of when two angels taught the people of Babylon the tricks of magic and warned them that magic is a sin and that their teaching them magic is a test of faith. A tale about Babil appears more fully in the writings of Yaqut (i, 448 f.) and the Lisan el-'Arab (xiii. 72), but without the tower: mankind were swept together by winds into the plain that was afterwards called "Babil", where they were assigned their separate languages by Allah, and were then scattered again in the same way.
In the History of the Prophets and Kings by the 9th century Muslim historian al-Tabari , a fuller version is given: Nimrod has the tower built in Babil, Allah destroys it, and the language of mankind, formerly Syriac , is then confused into 72 languages. Another Muslim historian of the 13th century, Abu al-Fida relates the same story, adding that the patriarch Eber (an ancestor of Abraham) was allowed to keep the original tongue, Hebrew in this case, because he would not partake in the building.
Book of Mormon
In the Book of Mormon (a scriptural text of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ), a man named Jared and his family are warned by God about the destruction of the tower. Because of their prayers, God preserves their language and leads them across the sea into the Americas. See the Book of Ether [1] in the Book of Mormon .
Sumerian parallel
There is a Sumerian myth similar to that of the Tower of Babel, called Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta , where Enmerkar of Uruk is building a massive ziggurat in Eridu and demands a tribute of precious materials from Aratta for its construction, at one point reciting an incantation imploring the god Enki to restore (or in Kramer's translation, to disrupt) the linguistic unity of the inhabited regions � named as Shubur , Hamazi , Sumer, Uri-ki (Akkad), and the Martu land, "the whole universe, the well-guarded people � may they all address Enlil together in a single language." [9]
One recent theory first advanced by David Rohl associates Nimrod, the hunter, builder of Erech and Babel, with Enmerkar (i.e., Enmer the Hunter) king of Uruk , also said to have been the first builder of the Eridu temple. ( Amar-Sin (c. 2046�2037 BC), third monarch of the Third Dynasty of Ur , later attempted to complete the Eridu ziggurat.) This theory proposes that the remains of the historical building that via Mesopotamian legend inspired the story of the Tower of Babel are the ruins of the ziggurat of Eridu , just south of Ur . Among the reasons for this association are the larger size of the ruins, the older age of the ruins, and the fact that one title of Eridu was NUN.KI ("mighty place"), which later became a title of Babylon [10] . Both cities also had temples called the E-Sagila .
Towers
Various traditions similar to that of the tower of Babel are found in Central America . One holds that Xelhua , one of the seven giants rescued from the deluge, built the Great Pyramid of Cholula in order to storm Heaven. The gods destroyed it with fire and confounded the language of the builders. The Dominican friar Diego Duran (1537-1588) reported hearing this account from a hundred-year-old priest at Cholula, shortly after the conquest of Mexico.
Another story, attributed by the native historian Don Ferdinand d'Alva Ixtilxochitl (c. 1565-1648) to the ancient Toltecs , states that after men had multiplied following a great deluge, they erected a tall zacuali or tower, to preserve themselves in the event of a second deluge. However, their languages were confounded and they went to separate parts of the earth.
Still another story, attributed to the Tohono O'odham Indians, holds that Montezuma escaped a great flood, then became wicked and attempted to build a house reaching to heaven, but the Great Spirit destroyed it with thunderbolts. ( Bancroft , vol. 3, p.76; also in History of Arizona )
According to Dr Livingstone , the Africans whom he met living near Lake Ngami in 1849 had such a tradition, but with the builders' heads getting "cracked by the fall of the scaffolding" (Missionary Travels, chap. 26).
In his 1918 book, Folklore in the Old Testament , Scottish social anthropologist Sir James George Frazer documented similarities between Old Testament stories, such as the Flood, and indigenous legends around the world. He identified Livingston's account with a tale found in Lozi mythology , wherein the wicked men build a tower of masts to pursue the Creator-God, Nyambe, who has fled to Heaven on a spider-web, but the men perish when the masts collapse. He further relates similar tales of the Ashanti that substitute a pile of porridge pestles for the masts. Frazer moreover cites such legends found among the Kongo people , as well as in Tanzania , where the men stack poles or trees in a failed attempt to reach the moon [11] . He further cited the Karbi and Kuki people of Assam as having a similar story. The traditions of the Karen people of Myanmar , which Frazer considered to show clear 'Abrahamic' influence, also relate that their ancestors migrated there following the abandonment of a great pagoda in the land of the Karenni 30 generations from Adam, when the languages were confused and the Karen separated from the Karenni. He notes yet another version current in the Admiralty Islands where mankind's languages are confused following a failed attempt to build houses reaching to heaven. Some of these stories were later revealed to have derived recently from Christian missionary teaching.
Traces of a somewhat similar story have also been reported among the Tharus of Nepal and northern India (Report of the Census of Bengal, 1872, p. 160).
Multiplication of languages
There have also been a number of traditions around the world that describe a divine confusion of the one original language into several, albeit without any tower. Aside from the Ancient Greek myth that Hermes confused the languages, causing Zeus to give his throne to Phoroneus , Frazer specifically mentions such accounts among the Wasania of Kenya , the Kacha Naga people of Assam, the inhabitants of Encounter Bay in Australia, the Maidu of California, the Tlingit of Alaska, and the K'iche' of Guatemala [12] .
Height of the tower
The narrative in the book of Genesis does not mention how tall the Biblical tower was, but the tower's height is discussed in various extra-canonical sources.
The Book of Jubilees mentions the tower's height as being 5433 cubits and 2 palms, or nearly 2.5 kilometers (about 1.55 miles). The Third Apocalypse of Baruch mentions that the 'tower of strife' reached a height of 463 cubits (696 feet or 212 meters), taller than any structure built in human history until the construction of the Eiffel Tower (1,063 feet or 324 meters) in 1889.
Gregory of Tours (I, 6) writing ca. 594, quotes the earlier historian Orosius (ca. 417) as saying the tower was "laid out foursquare on a very level plain. Its wall, made of baked brick cemented with pitch, is fifty cubits wide, two hundred high, and four hundred and seventy stades in circumference . A stade contains five agripennes . Twenty-five gates are situated on each side, which make in all one hundred. The doors of these gates, which are of wonderful size, are cast in bronze. The same historian [Orosius] tells many other tales of this city, and says: 'Although such was the glory of its building still it was conquered and destroyed.'"
A typical mediaeval account is given by Giovanni Villani (1300): He relates that "it measured eighty miles round, and it was already 4,000 paces high (5,920 m (19,423 ft)) and 1,000 paces thick, and each pace is three of our feet." [14] . The 14th century traveler John Mandeville also included an account of the tower, and reported that its height had been 64 furlongs (= 8 miles), according to the local inhabitants.
The 17th century historian Verstegan provides yet another figure - quoting Isidore, he says that the tower was 5164 paces high, about 7.6 kilometers, and quoting Josephus that the tower was wider than it was high, more like a mountain than a tower. He also quotes unnamed authors who say that the spiral path was so wide that it contained lodgings for workers and animals, and other authors who claim that the path was wide enough to have fields for growing grain for the animals used in the construction.
In his book, Structures or why things don't fall down (Pelican 1978�1984), Professor J.E. Gordon considers the height of the Tower of Babel. He wrote, 'brick and stone weigh about 120 lb per cubic foot (2000 kg per cubic metre) and the crushing strength of these materials is generally rather better than 6000 lbf per square inch or 40 megapascals. Elementary arithmetic shows that a tower with parallel walls could have been built to a height of 7000 feet or 2 kilometres before the bricks at the bottom were crushed. However by making the walls taper towards the top they ... could well have been built to a height where the men of Shinnar would run short of oxygen and had difficulty in breathing before the brick walls crushed beneath their own dead weight."
Enumeration of scattered languages
There are several mediaeval historiographic accounts that attempt to make an enumeration of the languages scattered at the Tower of Babel. Because a count of all the descendants of Noah listed by name in chapter 10 of Genesis (LXX) provides 15 names for Japheth's descendants, 30 for Ham's, and 27 for Shem's, these figures became established as the 72 languages resulting from the confusion at Babel � although the exact listing of these languages tended to vary over time. (The LXX Bible has two additional names, Elisa and Cainan, not found in the Masoretic text of this chapter, so early rabbinic traditions such as the Mishna speak instead of "70 languages".) Some of the earliest sources for 72 (sometimes 73) languages are the 2nd century Christian writers Clement of Alexandria ( Stromata I, 21) and Hippolytus of Rome (On the Psalms 9); it is repeated in the Syriac book Cave of Treasures (c. AD 350), Epiphanius of Salamis ' Panarion (c. 375) and St. Augustine 's The City of God 16.6 (c. 410). The chronicles attributed to Hippolytus (c. 234) contain one of the first attempts to list each of the 72 peoples who were believed to have spoken these languages.
Isidore of Seville in his Etymologiae (c. 600) mentions the number of 72, however his list of names from the Bible drops the sons of Joktan and substitutes the sons of Abraham and Lot, resulting in only about 56 names total; he then appends a list of some of the nations known in his own day, such as the Longobards and the Franks . This listing was to prove quite influential on later accounts which made the Lombards and Franks themselves into descendants of eponymous grandsons of Japheth, eg. the Historia Brittonum (c. 833), The Meadows of Gold by al Masudi (c. 947) and Book of Roads and Kingdoms by al-Bakri (1068), the 11th cent. Lebor Gab�la �renn , and the midrashic compilations Yosippon (c. 950), Chronicles of Jerahmeel , and Sefer haYashar .
Other sources that mention 72 (or 70) languages scattered from Babel are the Old Irish poem Cu cen mathair by Luccreth moccu Chiara (c. 600); the Irish monastic work Auraicept na n-�ces ; History of the Prophets and Kings by the Persian historian Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (c. 915); the Anglo-Saxon dialogue Solomon and Saturn ; the Russian Primary Chronicle (c. 1113); the Jewish Kabbalistic work Bahir (1174); the Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson (c. 1200); the Syriac Book of the Bee (c. 1221); the Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum (c. 1284; mentions 22 for Shem, 31 for Ham and 17 for Japheth for a total of 70); Villani 's 1300 account; and the rabbinic Midrash ha-Gadol (14th c.). Villani adds that it "was begun 700 years after the Flood, and there were 2,354 years from the beginning of the world to the confusion of the Tower of Babel. And we find that they were 107 years working at it; and men lived long in those times". According to the Gesta Hunnorum et Hungarorum, however, the project was begun only 200 years following the Deluge.
The tradition of 72 languages persisted into later times. Both Jos� de Acosta in his 1576 treatise De procuranda indorum salute, and Ant�nio Vieira a century later in his Serm�o da Epifania, expressed amazement at how much this 'number of tongues' could be surpassed, there being hundreds of mutually unintelligible languages indigenous only to Peru and Brazil, respectively.
See also: Eridu: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=site%3Agreatdreams.com++Eridu
The Bible in Genesis 10 indicates that Nimrod was the original founder of Babel (Babylon). Joan Oates claims in her book Babylon that the rendering "Gateway of the gods" is no longer accepted by modern scholars.
Over the years, the power and population of Babylon waned. From around the 20th century BC, it was occupied by Amorites , nomadic tribes from the west who were Semitic speakers like the Akkadians, but did not practice agriculture like them, preferring to herd sheep.
Map showing the Babylonian territory upon Hammurabi's ascension in 1792 BC and upon his death in 1750 BC
Old Babylonian period
The First Babylonian Dynasty was established by Sumu-abum, but the city-state controlled little surrounding territory until it became the capital of Hammurabi 's empire (ca. 18th century BC). Subsequently, the city continued to be the capital of the region known as Babylonia � although during the almost 400 years of domination by the Kassites (1530�1155 BC), the city was renamed Karanduniash.
Hammurabi is also known for codifying the laws of Babylonia into the Code of Hammurabi that has had a lasting influence on legal thought.
The city itself was built upon the Euphrates , and divided in equal parts along its left and right banks, with steep embankments to contain the river's seasonal floods. Babylon grew in extent and grandeur over time, but gradually became subject to the rule of Assyria .
It has been estimated that Babylon was the largest city in the world from ca. 1770 to 1670 BC, and again between ca. 612 and 320 BC. It was perhaps the first city to reach a population above 200,000. [2]
Detail of the Ishtar Gate
Assyrian period
During the reign of Sennacherib of Assyria, Babylonia was in a constant state of revolt, led by Mushezib-Marduk , and suppressed only by the complete destruction of the city of Babylon. In 689 BC, its walls, temples and palaces were razed, and the rubble was thrown into the Arakhtu , the sea bordering the earlier Babylon on the south. This act shocked the religious conscience of Mesopotamia; the subsequent murder of Sennacherib was held to be in expiation of it, and his successor Esarhaddon hastened to rebuild the old city, to receive there his crown, and make it his residence during part of the year. On his death, Babylonia was left to be governed by his elder son Shamash-shum-ukin , who eventually headed a revolt in 652 BC against his brother in Nineveh, Assurbanipal .
Once again, Babylon was besieged by the Assyrians and starved into surrender. Assurbanipal purified the city and celebrated a "service of reconciliation", but did not venture to "take the hands" of Bel. In the subsequent overthrow of the Assyrian Empire, the Babylonians saw another example of divine vengeance. ( Albert Houtum-Schindler , "Babylon," Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th ed.)
Neo-Babylonian Chaldean Empire
Main article: Neo-Babylonian Empire
Mural near the reconstructed Ishtar Gate, depicting the palace quarter of Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon. The Ishtar Gate is shown in the top left corner of the image.
Under Nabopolassar , Babylon threw off the Assyrian rule in 626 BC and became the capital of the Neo-Babylonian Chaldean Empire. [3] [4] [5]
With the recovery of Babylonian independence, a new era of architectural activity ensued, and his son Nebuchadnezzar II (604�561 BC) made Babylon into one of the wonders of the ancient world. [6] Nebuchadnezzar ordered the complete reconstruction of the imperial grounds, including rebuilding the Etemenanki ziggurat and the construction of the Ishtar Gate � the most spectacular of eight gates that ringed the perimeter of Babylon. The Ishtar Gate survives today in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin . Nebuchadnezzar is also credited with the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world ), said to have been built for his homesick wife Amyitis . Whether the gardens did exist is a matter of dispute. Although excavations by German archaeologist Robert Koldewey are thought to reveal its foundations, many historians disagree about the location, and some believe it may have been confused with gardens in Nineveh .
Persia captures Babylon
In 539 BC, the Neo-Babylonian Empire fell to Cyrus the Great , king of Persia , with an unprecedented military maneuver. The famed walls of Babylon were indeed impenetrable, with the only way into the city through one of its many gates or through the Euphrates, which ebbed beneath its thick walls. Metal gates at the river's in-flow and out-flow prevented underwater intruders, if one could hold one's breath to reach them. Cyrus (or his generals) devised a plan to use the Euphrates as the mode of entry to the city, ordering large camps of troops at each point and instructed them to wait for the signal. Awaiting an evening of a national feast among Babylonians (generally thought to refer to the feast of Belshazzar mentioned in Daniel V), Cyrus' troops diverted the Euphrates river upstream, causing the Euphrates to drop to about 'mid thigh level on a man' or to dry up altogether. The soldiers marched under the walls through thigh-level water or as dry as mud. The Persian Army conquered the outlying areas of the city's interior while a majority of Babylonians at the city center were oblivious to the breach. The account was elaborated upon by Herodotus, [7] and is also mentioned by passages in the Hebrew Bible. [8] [9] Cyrus claimed the city by walking through the gates of Babylon with little or no resistance from the drunken Babylonians.
Cyrus later issued a decree permitting captive people, including the Jews , to return to their own land (as explained in the Old Testament), to allow their temple to be rebuilt back in Jerusalem .
Under Cyrus and the subsequent Persian king Darius the Great , Babylon became the capital city of the 9th Satrapy (Babylonia in the south and Athura in the north), as well as a centre of learning and scientific advancement. In Achaemenid Persia, the ancient Babylonian arts of astronomy and mathematics were revitalised and flourished, and Babylonian scholars completed maps of constellations. The city was the administrative capital of the Persian Empire , the preeminent power of the then known world, and it played a vital part in the history of that region for over two centuries. Many important archaeological discoveries have been made that can provide a better understanding of that era. [10] [11]
The early Persian kings had attempted to maintain the religious ceremonies of Marduk , but by the reign of Darius III , over-taxation and the strains of numerous wars led to a deterioration of Babylon's main shrines and canals, and the disintegration of the surrounding region. Despite three attempts at rebellion in 522 BC, 521 BC and 482 BC, the land and city of Babylon remained solidly under Persian rule for two centuries, until Alexander the Great 's entry in 331 BC.
Hellenistic period
In 331 BC, Darius III was defeated by the forces of the Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great at the Battle of Gaugamela , and in October, Babylon fell to the young conqueror. A native account of this invasion notes a ruling by Alexander not to enter the homes of its inhabitants. [12]
Under Alexander, Babylon again flourished as a centre of learning and commerce. But following Alexander's death in 323 BC in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, his empire was divided amongst his generals, and decades of fighting soon began, with Babylon once again caught in the middle.
The constant turmoil virtually emptied the city of Babylon. A tablet dated 275 BC states that the inhabitants of Babylon were transported to Seleucia , where a palace was built, as well as a temple given the ancient name of Esagila . With this deportation, the history of Babylon comes practically to an end,[ citation needed ] though more than a century later, it was found that sacrifices were still performed in its old sanctuary. By 141 BC, when the Parthian Empire took over the region, Babylon was in complete desolation and obscurity.
Persian Empire period
Main article: Babylonia (Persian province)
Under the Parthian, and later, Sassanid Persians, Babylon remained a province of the Persian Empire for nine centuries, until about 650 AD. It continued to have its own culture and peoples, who spoke varieties of Aramaic , and who continued to refer to their homeland as Babylon. Some examples of their cultural products are often found in the Babylonian Talmud , the Mandaean religion, and the religion of the prophet Mani .
Archaeology of Babylon
Babylon in 1932
Historical knowledge of Babylon's topography is derived from classical writers, the inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar, and several excavations, including those of the Deutsche Orientgesellschaft begun in 1899. The layout is that of the Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar; the older Babylon destroyed by Sennacherib having left few, if any, traces behind.
Most of the existing remains lie on the east bank of the Euphrates, the principal ones being three vast mounds: the Babil to the north, the Qasr or "Palace" (also known as the Mujelliba) in the centre, and the Ishgn "Amran ibn" All, with the outlying spur of the Jumjuma, to the south. East of these come the Ishgn el-Aswad or "Black Mound" and three lines of rampart, one of which encloses the Babil mound on the north and east sides, while a third forms a triangle with the southeast angle of the other two. West of the Euphrates are other ramparts, and the remains of the ancient Borsippa .
We learn from Herodotus and Ctesias that the city was built on both sides of the river in the form of a square, and was enclosed within a double row of lofty walls, or a triple row according to Ctesias. Ctesias describes the outermost wall as 360 stades (68 kilometers/42 mi) in circumference, while according to Herodotus it measured 480 stades (90 kilometers/56 mi), which would include an area of about 520 square kilometers (200 sq mi).
The estimate of Ctesias is essentially the same as that of Q. Curtius (v. I. 26) � 368 stades � and Cleitarchus (ap. Diod. Sic. ii. 7) � 365 stades; Strabo (xvi. 1. 5) makes it 385 stades. But even the estimate of Ctesias, assuming the stade to be its usual length, would imply an area of about 260 square kilometers (100 sq mi). According to Herodotus, the width of the walls was 24 m.
Reconstruction
In 1985, Saddam Hussein started rebuilding the city on top of the old ruins (because of this, artifacts and other finds may well be under the city by now), investing in both restoration and new construction. He inscribed his name on many of the bricks in imitation of Nebuchadnezzar. One frequent inscription reads: "This was built by Saddam Hussein, son of Nebuchadnezzar, to glorify Iraq". This recalls the ziggurat at Ur , where each individual brick was stamped with "Ur-Nammu, king of Ur, who built the temple of Nanna ". These bricks became sought after as collectors' items after the downfall of Hussein, and the ruins are no longer being restored to their original state. He also installed a huge portrait of himself and Nebuchadnezzar at the entrance to the ruins, and shored up Processional Way, a large boulevard of ancient stones, and the Lion of Babylon , a black rock sculpture about 2,600 years old.
When the Gulf War ended, Saddam wanted to build a modern palace, also over some old ruins; it was made in the pyramidal style of a Sumerian ziggurat . He named it Saddam Hill. In 2003, he was ready to begin the construction of a cable car line over Babylon when the invasion began and halted the project.
An article published in April 2006 states that UN officials and Iraqi leaders have plans for restoring Babylon, making it into a cultural center. [13] [14]
Effects of the U.S. military
US forces were criticised for building the military base "Camp Alpha", comprising among others a helipad on ancient Babylonian ruins following the 2003 invasion of Iraq , under the command of General James T. Conway of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force .
US Marines in front of the rebuilt ruins of Babylon, 2003.
US forces have occupied the site for some time and have caused damage to the archaeological record. In a report of the British Museum 's Near East department, Dr. John Curtis describes how parts of the archaeological site were levelled to create a landing area for helicopters, and parking lots for heavy vehicles. Curtis wrote that the occupation forces
"caused substantial damage to the [replica of the] Ishtar Gate , one of the most famous monuments from antiquity [...] US military vehicles crushed 2,600-year-old brick pavements, archaeological fragments were scattered across the site, more than 12 trenches were driven into ancient deposits and military earth-moving projects contaminated the site for future generations of scientists [...] Add to all that the damage caused to nine of the moulded brick figures of dragons in the Ishtar Gate by soldiers trying to remove the bricks from the wall."
A US Military spokesman claimed that engineering operations were discussed with the "head of the Babylon museum". [15]
The head of the Iraqi State Board for Heritage and Antiquities, Donny George, said that the "mess will take decades to sort out". [16] In April 2006, Colonel John Coleman, former chief of staff for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, offered to issue an apology for the damage done by military personnel under his command. However he claimed that the US presence had deterred far greater damage from other looters. [17] Some antiquities were removed since creation of Camp Alpha, without doubt to be sold on the antiquities market, which is booming since the beginning of the occupation of Iraq [18] .
Further reading
Joan Oates, Babylon, [Ancient Peoples and Places], Thames and Hudson, 1986. ISBN 0-500-02095-7 (hardback) ISBN 0-500-27384-7 (paperback)
See also
Northwest Semitic Tammuz ( Hebrew תַּמּוּז, Standard Hebrew Tammuz, Tiberian Hebrew Tamm�z), Arabic تمّوز Tammūz; Akkadian Duʾzu, Dūzu; Sumerian Dumuzid (DUMU.ZID 𒌉𒍣 "the true son") was the name of a Sumerian god of food and vegetation .
Dumuzid in the Sumerian king list
In the Sumerian king list two kings named Dumuzi appear:
Dumuzid of Bad-tibira , the shepherd (reigning 36000 years), the fifth King before the Flood
Dumuzid of Kuara , the fisherman (reigning 100 years), the third King of the first dynasty or Uruk , reigning between Lugalbanda and Gilgamesh
Other Sumerian texts showed that kings were to be married to Inanna in a mystical marriage , for example a hymn that describes the mystical marriage of King Iddid-Dagan (ca 1900 BCE). [5]
Dumuzid and Inanna
Today several versions of the Sumerian death of Dumuzi have been recovered, "Inanna's Descent to the Underworld", "Dumuzi's dream" and "Dumuzi and the galla", as well as a tablet separately recounting Dumuzi's death, mourned by holy Inanna, and his noble sister Ge�tinanna, and even his dog and the lambs and kids in his fold; Dumuzi himself is weeping at the hard fate in store for him, after he had walked among men, and the cruel galla of the Underworld seize him. [6]
A number of pastoral poems and songs relate the love affair of Inanna and Dumuzid the shepherd. A text recovered in 1963 recounts "The Courtship of Inanna and Dumuzi " in terms that are tender and frankly erotic.
According to the myth of Inanna's descent to the underworld , represented in parallel Sumerian and Akkadian [7] tablets, Inanna (Ishtar in the Akkadian texts) set off for the netherworld, or Kur, which was ruled by her sister Ereshkigal , perhaps to take it as her own. She passed through seven gates and at each one was required to leave a garment or an ornament so that when she had passed through the seventh gate she was entirely naked. Despite warnings about her presumption, she did not turn back but dared to sit herself down on Ereshkigal's throne. Immediately the Anunnaki of the underworld judged her, gazed at her with the eyes of death, and she became a corpse, hung up on a nail.
Based on the incomplete texts as first found, it was assumed that Ishtar/Inanna's descent into Kur occurred after the death of Tammuz/Dumuzid rather than before and that her purpose was to rescue Tammuz/Dumuzid. This is the familiar form of the myth as it appeared in M. Jastrow's Descent of the Goddess Ishtar into the Lower World, 1915, widely available on the Internet. New texts uncovered in 1963 filled in the story in quite another fashion, [8] showing that Dumuzi was in fact consigned to the Underworld himself, in order to secure Inanna's release.
Inanna's faithful servant attempted to get help from the other gods but only wise Enki / Ea responded. The details of Enki/Ea's plan differ slightly in the two surviving accounts, but in the end, Inanna/Ishtar was resurrected. However, a "conservation of souls" law required her to find a replacement for herself in Kur. She went from one god to another, but each one pleaded with her and she had not the heart to go through with it until she found Dumuzid/Tammuz richly dressed and on her throne. Inanna/Ishtar immediately set her accompanying demons on Dumuzid/Tammuz. At this point the Akkadian text fails as Tammuz' sister Belili, introduced for the first time, strips herself of her jewelry in mourning but claims that Tammuz and the dead will come back.
There is some confusion here. The name Belili occurs in one of the Sumerian texts also, but it is not the name of Dumuzid's sister who is there named Geshtinana , but is the name of an old woman whom another text calls Bilulu.
In any case, the Sumerian texts relate how Dumuzid fled to his sister Geshtinana who attempted to hide him but who could not in the end stand up to the demons. Dumuzid has two close calls until the demons finally catch up with him under the supposed protection of this old woman called Bilulu or Belili and then they take him. However Inanna repents.
Inanna seeks vengeance on Bilulu, on Bilulu's murderous son G̃irg̃ire and on G̃irg̃ire's consort Shirru "of the haunted desert, no-one's child and no-one's friend". Inanna changes Bilulu into a waterskin and G̃irg̃ire into a protective god of the desert while Shirru is assigned to watch always that the proper rites are performed for protection against the hazards of the desert.
Finally, Inanna relents and changes her decree thereby restoring her husband Dumuzi to life; an arrangement is made by which Geshtinana will take Dumuzid's place in Kur for six months of the year: "You (Dumuzi), half the year. Your sister (Ge�tinanna), half the year!" This newly-recovered final line upset Samuel Noah Kramer 's former interpretation, as he allowed: "my conclusion that Dumuzi dies and "stays dead" forever (cf e.g. Mythologies of the Ancient World p. 10) was quite erroneous: Dumuzi according to the Sumerian mythographers rises from the dead annually and, after staying on earth for half the year, descends to the Nether World for the other half". [9]
The "Courtship of Inanna and Dumuzi"
Aside from this extended epic "The Descent of Inanna," a previously unknown "Courtship of Inanna and Dumuzi" was first translated into English and annotated by Sumerian scholar Samuel Noah Kramer and folklorist Diane Wolkstein working in tandem, and published in 1983. [10] In this tale Inanna's lover, the shepherd-king Dumuzi, brought a wedding gift of milk in pails, yoked across his shoulders.
The myth of Inanna and Dumuzi formed the subject of a Lindisfarne Symposium, published as The Story of Inanna and Dumuzi: From Folk-Tale to Civilized Literature: A Lindisfarne Symposium, ( William Irwin Thompson , editor, 1995).
Notes
^ Joseph Campbell "the dead and resurrected god Tammuz (Sumerian Dumuzi), prototype of the Classical Adonis, who was the consort as well as son by virgin birth, of the goddess-mother of many names: Inanna, Ninhursag, Ishtar, Astarte, Artemis, Demeter, Aphrodite, Venus" (in Oriental Mythology: The Masks of God pp 39-40).
^ Marcovich,"From Ishtar to Aphrodite" Journal of Aesthetic Education 30.2, Special Issue: Distinguished Humanities Lectures II (Summer 1996) p 49.
^ Edwin M. Yamauchi, "Tammuz and the Bible" Journal of Biblical Literature 84.3 (September 1965:283-290).
^ Inana and Bilulu: an ulila to Inana, from Black, J.A., Cunningham, G., Robson, E., and Z�lyomi, G., The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (Oxford) [1] [2]
^ Samuel Noah Kramer , "Cuneiform studies and the history of literature: The Sumerian sacred marriage texts", ''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 107 (1963:485-527).
^ Samuel Noah Kramer, "The Death of Dumuzi: A New Sumerian Version" Anatolian Studies 30, Special Number in Honour of the Seventieth Birthday of Professor O. R. Gurney (1980:5-13).
^ Two editions, one ca 1000 BCE found at Ashur , the other mid seventh century BCE from the library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh .
^ Edwin M. Yamauchi, "Tammuz and the Bible" Journal of Biblical Literature 84.3 (September 1965:283-290).
^ S. N. Kramer, "Dumuzi's Annual Resurrection: An Important Correction to 'Inanna's Descent'" Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 183 (October 1966:31), interpreting this newly-recovered final line as uttered by Inanna, though the immediately preceding context is incomplete.
^ Diane Wolkstein and Samuel Noah Kramer editors/translators 1983. Inanna, Queen of Heaven & Earth: Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer. (New York: Harper Colophon).
External links
| Hanging Gardens of Babylon |
What type of root does a dandelion have? | Research and Analysis – Ancient Art
A Glimpse into the Mysterious Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Long ago in ancient times many cities were developed in the desert despite the inhospitable environment it provided. During this time mankind not only prevailed in this harsh environment, they thrived in it, building the most miraculous cities known to this day. Some of these cities were so spectacular that they are renowned as part of the ancient wonders of the world. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are one of the seven marvelous spectacles that existed in this time period with exotic flowers and other greenery cascading from the heavens. This city demanded attention and has been documented by many with its towering walls and beautiful landscape overlooking a vast, dry desert, although its existence is still questionable today.
As the story tales by ancient sources the nature and idea of building this unbelievable feat came about through the King Nebuchadnezzar around 600 BC. The city was constructed for his wife Amytis because she was homesick from her verdant and mountainous homeland Media. She was depressed from the flat and arid landscape of Babylon, thus the elaborate garden was constructed to replicate her lush homeland (Ancient History).
New evidence provided by an 18 year study by Stephanie Dalley of Oxford University has concluded that the gardens were not built by the Babylonians but instead by the Assyrians in the north Mesopotamia. She believes that this unbelievable feature was achieved by the Assyrian king, Sennacherib. Sennacherib describes his city as an “unrivaled palace” and a “wonder for all peoples.” He goes on to describe the water – raising screw made using the new method of casting bronze. “Dalley said this was part of a complex system of canals, dams and aqueducts to bring mountain water from streams 50 miles away to the citadel of Nineveh and the hanging garden. The script records water being drawn up “all day” (The Guardian).
“A vast labour force was put to work producing mud bricks in uncountable numbers which, under the supervision of the royal architects, became palaces, temples, gates and magnificent city walls, on a scale that must have overawed visiting dignitaries and subject people alike. A particular hallmark of this architecture was the use of blue glazed bricks to face the most imposing monumnets, while similar bricks with moulded reliefs of lions, bulls and dragons were added to reinforce the splendour and power of the king’s city (Clayton and Price).”
Herodotus, a greek historian, wrote “ In addition to its size Babylon surpasses in splendor any city in the known world.” “Herodotus claimed the outer walls were 56 miles in length, 80 feet thick and 320 feet high. Wide enough, he said, to allow two four-horse chariots to pass each other. The city also had inner walls which were “not so thick as the first, but harshly less strong.” Inside these doubled walls were fortresses and temples containing immense statues of solid gold. Rising above the city was the famous Tower of Babel, a temple to the god Marduk, that seemed to reach to the heavens.” Although, archaeological excavations have disputed many of his claims (unmuseums). Berossus is the only writer to credit the king Nebuchadnezzar II with the construction of the Hanging Gardens by saying “In this palace he erected very high walks, supported by stone pillars; and by planting what was called a pensile paradise, and replenishing it with all sorts of trees, he rendered the prospect an exact resemblance of a mountainous country. This he did to gratify his queen, because she had been brought up in Media, and was fond of a mountainous situation.”
Diodorus Siculus, a writer from 60-30 BC, describes the city, “The park extended four plethra on each side, and since the approach to the garden sloped like a hillside and the several parts of the structure rose from one another tier on tier, the appearance of the whole resembled that of a theatre. When the ascending terraces had been built, there had been constructed beneath them galleries which carried the entire weight of the planted garden and rose little by little one above the other along the approach; and the uppermost gallery, which was fifty cubits high, bore the highest surface of the park, which was made level with the circuit wall of the battlements of the city. Furthermore, the walls, which had been constructed at great expense, were twenty-two feet thick, while the passage-way between each two walls was ten feet wide. The roof above these beams had first a layer of reeds laid in great quantities of bitumen , over this two courses of baked brick bonded by cement , and as a third layer of covering of lead , to the end that the moisture from the soil might not penetrate beneath. On all this again earth had been piled to a depth sufficient for the roots of the largest trees; and the ground, when levelled off, was thickly planted with trees of every kind that, by their great size or other charm, could give pleasure to the beholder. And since the galleries , each projecting beyond another, all received the light, they contained many royal lodgings of every description; and there was one gallery which contained openings leading from the topmost surface and machines for supplying the gardens with water, the machines raising the water in great abundance from the river, although no one outside could see it being done. Now this park, as I have said, was a later construction.”
Quintus Curtius Rufus, active in the 1st century AD, referred to the writings of Cleitharchus when writing his own documentation about the Hanging Gardens describing it, “The Babylonians also have a citadel twenty stades in circumference . The foundations of its turrets are sunk thirty feet into the ground and the fortifications rise eighty feet above it at the highest point. On its summit are the hanging gardens, a wonder celebrated by the fables of the Greeks. They are as high as the top of the walls and owe their charm to the shade of many tall trees. The columns supporting the whole edifice are built of rock, and on top of them is a flat surface of squared stones strong enough to bear the deep layer of earth placed upon it and the water used for irrigating it. So stout are the trees the structure supports that their trunks are eight cubits thick and their height as much as fifty feet; they bear fruit as abundantly as if they were growing in their natural environment. And although time with its gradual decaying processes is as destructive to nature’s works as to man’s, even so this edifice survives undamaged, despite being subjected to the pressure of so many tree-roots and the strain of bearing the weight of such a huge forest. It has a substructure of walls twenty feet thick at eleven foot intervals, so that from a distance one has the impression of woods overhanging their native mountains. Tradition has it that it is the work of a Syrian king who ruled from Babylon. He built it out of love for his wife who missed the woods and forests in this flat country and persuaded her husband to imitate nature’s beauty with a structure of this kind.”
Based of the lost account of Onesicritus Strabo from 64 BC – 21 AD describes the gardens, “Babylon, too, lies in a plain; and the circuit of its wall is three hundred and eighty-five stadia. The thickness of its wall is thirty-two feet; the height thereof between the towers is fifty cubits; that of the towers is sixty cubits; and the passage on top of the wall is such that four-horse chariots can easily pass one another; and it is on this account that this and the hanging garden are called one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The garden is quadrangular in shape, and each side is four plethra in length. It consists of arched vaults , which are situated, one after another, on checkered, cube-like foundations. The checkered foundations, which are hollowed out, are covered so deep with earth that they admit of the largest of trees, having been constructed of baked brick and asphalt – the foundations themselves and the vaults and the arches. The ascent to the uppermost terrace -roofs is made by a stairway; and alongside these stairs there were screws, through which the water was continually conducted up into the garden from the Euphrates by those appointed for this purpose, for the river, a stadium in width, flows through the middle of the city; and the garden is on the bank of the river (World Public Library).”
To date there is no archeological evidence proving the existence of the Hanging Gardens in Babylon, even with Dallas’ research concluding a huge garden was built by the Assyrians the true identity and whereabouts of this remarkable city are still unknown. However, there are accounts documenting this marvelous city and therefore allow it to remain as one of the ancient wonders of the world.
http://www.unmuseum.org/hangg.htm
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/may/05/babylon-hanging-garden-wonder-nineveh
http://netlibrary.net/articles/hanging_gardens_of_babylon
https://books.google.com/books?id=vGhbJzigPBwC&pg=PA38&lpg=PA38&dq=hanging+gardens+of+babylon+peer+review&source=bl&ots=2ssNBw3IBd&sig=s5OxhQTCNhbX04TGCXYY7EqBMxM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=w7c6VYW6CeTlsATCl4GoBg&ved=0CDwQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q&f=false
Love and Loss in Ancient Greece
By Carly Gagstetter
Since the dawn of human existence, the topics of love and death have heavily shaped many cultures. In fact, many archaeologists use grave goods and the state of burial grounds to determine the priorities of a society that they are studying. There were many classic myths from Ancient Greece that depict both of these topics, often beautifully intertwining them. One of the common tropes in the Greek mythos that displays this meshing is the death of the maiden. The tales of Orpheus and Eurydice, and The Rape of Persephone embody this trope. One tells the tale of a loss of romantic love, the other of familial love. Both myths combine both the themes of love and loss in a classic way, inspiring many works of art even to this day.
Image subject to fair use through the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s OASC program.
Orpheus is arguably the most famous magician in the Greek mythos, second only to the God Apollo. He was born to the muse of epic poetry, Calliope and was gifted with an uncanny ability to play the lyre. Hardy Fredricksmeyer his music as “So powerful that its influence extends beyond the human realm to enchant wild animals, stop birds in flight, and uproot rocks and trees” (Fredricksmeyer 253). He was to marry the lovely Eurydice, but on their wedding day she unexpectedly perished due to being bit by a venomous snake. In his Metamorphoses Ovid writes, “Inflam’d by love and urg’d by deep despair,/He leaves the realms of light and upper air;/Daring to tread the dark Tenarian road;/And tempt the shades in their obscure abode;/Thro’ gliding spectres of th’ interr’d go,/And the phantom people of the world below” (Ovid 10.17-22). Orpheus, consumed by grief, decided to make the descent into the underworld in order to save his beloved Eurydice. There he ran into Hades and Persephone, the king and queen of the underworld. Due to his beautiful musical prowess, he was able to charm the god and goddess into agreeing to allow him to take back Eurydice to the world of the living. There was one condition to this pact, however. Until they reached the surface and the world of the living, Orpheus would not be allowed to look back at his wife. The musician agreed to the terms and fetched his wife. Just as they were coming up to the surface, Orpheus broke his promise and turned around. There he saw Eurydice in a grotesque state of both life and death, a secret that no human should be allowed to see. Hades and Persephone reclaimed the soul of Eurydice, and Orpheus met an untimely end. Some sources say that he was torn apart, either by animals or the Maenads, and others say that Zeus himself struck him down in order to keep him from repeating the secrets of the underworld. In the terra cotta vessel pictured above Orpheus, pictured with his lyre, is awaiting his fate at the hands of the woman with the sickle. According to John MacQueen, “Eurydice has an ambiguous, and even sinister, significance. She is the thought which Orpheus sought to lead to the light above; she is also the desire which turned him back to darkness from the bounds of light” (MacQueen 261). The themes of light and dark appear often, not only during the course of lost love myths, but in tales of heroic journeys. Orpheus during the tale of The Death of Eurydice could fall into the heroic pattern, due to his journey into the underworld. This trope has been seen among many stories of heroism throughout human existence. In fact it is such a common theme that it is even a part of Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth, or The Hero’s Journey. One can even say that his performance for Hades in an attempt to gain back the soul of his late wife could fall under the stage of the monomyth called the atonement with the father. The atonement is described as the “stage the hero confronts a being with immense power that represents both the hero’s God, his superego, and his sins, his repressed id” (Reidy 215). However, Orpheus’ journey deviates slightly from the heroic format, as he is murdered at the end. One could claim that his death was not in vain, as he was finally reunited with his wife, Eurydice, in the afterlife. While the terra cotta vessel depicts and ominous scene on the cusp of the bard’s demise, the admirer must remember that his death is not the end of his story.
Image subject to fair use through the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s OASC program.
While the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is about the struggles of romantic love and loss, the myth of The Rape of Persephone tells about motherly love in the context of loss. Persephone, also called Kore, was a young maiden. She was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, and was much beloved by her mother. One day the girl was out with her friends, picking flowers in a meadow. In Greek mythology, meadows and flower picking tend to be symbolic of the transition from maidenhood to womanhood. Susan Deacy describes the Greek meadow as “a place of sexual allure, whose sensual pleasures emanate from the visual appeal of the flowers combined with the heady scent generated by their profusion” (Deacy). Persephone was engaging in these activities when she came upon a lovely and large narcissus bloom. When Kore went to reach for the flower, Hades sprung from the earth on his chariot and swept her away to the underworld. Demeter was devastated over the disappearance of her daughter. In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, it is said that for nine days she “wandered the earth with flaming torches in her hands, so grieved that she never tasted ambrosia and the sweet draught of nectar, nor sprinkled her body with water” (Homer 2. 44-46). As Demeter was a goddess of fertility and the harvest, her despair caused crops to die around her. With help from Helios and Hecate, Demeter was able to locate her daughter. However, since Persephone had consumed pomegranate arils in the underworld, she would not be able to fully return. Instead, Demeter and Hades struck a deal. For half of the year Persephone would stay with her mother in the world of the living and the plants would grow and prosper. For the other half of the year, Kore would remain in Hades with her husband, and the crops would wither and die. There are many facets to the tale, as it is both an explanation for a natural phenomenon, symbolism for the loss of innocence tied to maturation of women, a lamentation of a mother’s love, and a cautionary tale. In the terra cotta vessel above there is a vivid depiction of Persephone’s abduction, and the chaos that was created in its aftermath. The middle of the vase depicts Hades’ chariot: the very one used to abduct the young Kore. Around the chariot scene are many of the other gods including, Hecate with her torches, Aphrodite and Eros encouraging Hades’ lust, as well as Demeter and Athena. There are also stalks of grain, which play on the themes of fertility and growth that are heavily relied on in the myth. The tale of Persephone and Demeter also influenced one of the largest cults in the ancient world: the Eleusinian Mysteries. The cult was said to have to do with “benefits of some kind in the afterlife” (Encyclopedia Britannica). In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter the mysteries are described by saying “Happy is he among men upon earth who has seen these mysteries; but he who is uninitiate and who has no part in them, never has lot of like good things once he is dead, down in the darkness and gloom” (Homer 2.476-478). The story of Persephone and Demeter, like the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice, involve a journey from maidenhood to the afterlife. This is symbolism for the loss of innocence and childhood whimsy that comes with marriage and reaching childbearing age. While it marks the end of one era, it ushers in the next. The afterlife was seen as a necessary step in the journey of life, just as marriage is to a woman. Adding to the themes of loss of innocence, the pomegranate is often seen as a symbol for testes; they are full of red and life giving seeds surrounded by milky white flesh. Between the picking of the flowers and the consumption of Hades’ arils, it is quite clear that Persephone was no longer an innocent maiden.
Much insight into the Greek culture regarding its views on love and loss, as well as maidenhood and the heroic cycle just through the stories of Orpheus and Eurydice and The Rape of Persephone. Both tales place a great deal of emphasis on the severity of the cross into womanhood and the loss of a maiden’s innocence, and both are depicted many times in art throughout the years. Love, whether it be romantic or familial, is a basic human emotion; the loss of that love can wreck even the strongest man deep down into his core. Orpheus was willing to risk his life to dive into the underworld to save his beloved, and Demeter crippled herself by denying her personal needs while consumed by her grief. Even as an immortal god, her refusal of both ambrosia and nectar severely weakened her body and mind. Because of the pandering to basic human emotion, the myths resonate deeply in the souls of those who consume them. Parents gasp in horror at the idea of the literal loss of a child, and many an older parent can even relate to the idea of losing their child to marriage. Anyone who has been in love before gawks at the thought of losing their beloved, many even side with Orpheus’ actions after the loss of his wife. And while many mock him for disobeying orders and turning around to get a look at Eurydice, the deep ache of not knowing whether or not she was actually following him would be too much for the average person to bear. It is human nature to grieve, to turn around to face the unknown just to make sure that a loved one would be okay. Parent to child, lover to lover, these emotions lie within us all and shape our very lives and very world. The ideas portrayed in Ancient Greece still affect the very lives that we as a society live in today.
Works Cited
MacQueen, John. “Article by John MacQueen.” Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800 20 (1993): 261. Accessed April 12, 2015. http://go.galegroup.com.libdata.lib.ua.edu/ .
http://classics.mit.edu/Ovid/metam.html
Fredricksmeyer, Hardy. “Black Orpheus, Myth and Ritual: A Morphological Reading.”International Journal of the Classical Tradition 14, no. 1/2 (2007): 148-75. Accessed April 12, 2015. http://www.jstor.org.libdata.lib.ua.edu/ .
Reidy, Brent. “Our Memory of What Happened Is Not What Happened.” American Music 28, no. 2 (2010): 211-27. Accessed April 12, 2015. http://www.jstor.org.libdata.lib.ua.edu/ .
Evelyn-White, H.G. “Homeric Hymns.” Classical E-Text: THE HOMERIC HYMNS 1. January 1, 2011. Accessed April 13, 2015. http://www.theoi.com/Text/HomericHymns1.html#2 .
Deacy, Susan. “From “Flowery Tales” to “Heroic Rapes”: Virginal Subjectivity in the Mythological Meadow.” Arethusa 46, no. 3 (2013). Accessed April 12, 2015. http://muse.jhu.edu.libdata.lib.ua.edu/.
The Parthenon, Athena, and the Ideal Greek
Allison Lee
The Ancient Greek temple known as the Parthenon has long since been considered a great illustration of the ideal, Classical architectural construction. This could simply be attributed to the fact that during the Classical period of Greek art, symmetry and balance were essential, which can easily be seen in the structure of this temple. Most likely, however, there is a more complex, multi-faceted reasoning behind the nature of the Parthenon becoming a part of the ideal form. Therefore, if one wants to better understand why this architectural structure is given such a title, one must understand just how important power and status, in conjunction with art, were in Greek culture. Greek society was quite focused on what it meant to be Greek, as well as being heavily considered a man’s world. This can be seen in a quote by Socrates wherein he says that one is very lucky if they are born human, not a beast, a man, not a woman, and a Greek, not a barbarian. That said, it should not seem surprising that one’s “self” was defined by where one stood in the hierarchical system within Greek society. In addition to this, the gods were central to Greek culture. Generally in art, the gods were shown in temples and cult-like areas to be used for sacrifices and religious reasons, such as Athena at the Parthenon. In terms of style, they were depicted as perfect, highly dominant forms, which set the stage for the average Greek citizen. There was a constant pursuit of that god-like appearance because they considered perfection to be the ideal form, as well as one being an integral member of society. All of that said, one can certainly see that desire to achieve perfection in Greek art and architecture, such as with the Parthenon. The Parthenon embodied that highly sought-after ideal representation of perfection and power, due in part to its classical style and functionality, as well as through statuettes such as Athena with her owl, which stood as a physical testament to Greek power and form.
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The Parthenon is located in Athens, Greece, at the Acropolis of Athens. In short, an acropolis is a settlement built upon an elevated ground, generally on a hillside, for defense purposes as well as for status. Therefore, because the Parthenon was to be dedicated to the goddess Athena, it is not surprising that is located in such a position. Construction of the Parthenon began around 447 B.C.E. and was envisioned to be the centerpiece of this acropolis complex. A generation prior, the Athenians – as part of an alliance the Greek city-states formed – had led victories against Persian invaders during the Greco-Persian wars. This alliance led to a de facto empire under Athenian rule, where in numerous cities across the Aegean paid Athens huge sums of what amounted to protection money, of sorts. Basking in this new glory, the Athenians planned this new temple complex to be of an unprecedented scale (Hadingham Smithsonian). Despite its size, it only took around fifteen years to fully complete the Parthenon.
Just to get an idea of its size and scale at the time of completion, it seems necessary to address some of the technicalities of this construction. The Parthenon is a Doric peripteral temple, which essentially means that it is a rectangular floor plan with a series of steps on every side, and a colonnade of Doric order columns extending around the perimeter of the structure (Silverman Paragraph 3). The colonnade consists of eight columns at the façade and seventeen columns at the flanks (ancient-greece.org Paragraph 3). The architects that have been accredited to constructing this temple were Iktinos and Kallikrates, and as previously stated, it was dedicated to the goddess Athena. The Parthenon’s main function was to house and shelter the monumental figure of Athena that was constructed by Pheidias, and made of gold and ivory (ancient-greece.org Paragraph 1). This statue would be kept in the cella, the innermost room of the temple. Because of both the room and the statue’s unusually large scales, the front and back porches of the temple were smaller and more confined that previous temples. Therefore, a line of six columns supported the porches, and a colonnade of twenty-three columns encompassed Athena’s statue in a two-storied arrangement. Again, this was an unusual arrangement for a Doric temple, which normally only had columns surrounding the flanks, but this new design allowed for a more dramatic backdrop of columns instead of a wall (ancient-greece.org Paragraph 4). In concurrence with this dramatic atmosphere, the functionality of multiple rows of columns created an almost supernatural effect. The alternating rows would immerse the viewer in continual transition between darkness and light as they walked, creating the illusion that the columns formed a solid wall at times, then shifted to open space again. What is also important to note about temples such as the Parthenon is that common people were only allowed to see the exterior porticos and porches. The inner chambers where the statues were housed were for specific members of society. Therefore, because the exterior was seen by all members of society, there was a great amount of precedence placed on idealized forms and shapes.
What seems important to note in relation to the Parthenon and Athenian culture would be the prominent statesman, orator, and general of Athens at the time, Pericles. His influence on Athenian society was so great that a contemporary, Thucydides, named him “the first citizen of Athens” (Mark Paragraph 2). Pericles helped to form the Athenian empire and lead his countrymen during the first two years of the Peloponnesian Wars. He promoted the arts, literature, and philosophy, and as a result of this, saw the building of the acropolis and the Parthenon (Mark Paragraph 3). All of that stated, the last speech Pericles ever made in front of the Athenians seemed a noteworthy one to mention. While the citizens were in a trying time of war, Pericles’ words echoed that life-long desire for power and perfection, such as when he says, “My own opinion is that when the whole State is on the right course it is a better thing for each separate individual than when private interests are satisfied but the State as a whole is going downhill” (Adams, CSUN). Until his last days, Pericles was a strong advocate of unity among the city-states, or the polis, as it was known, which was essential to Classical Greek society.
However, what is generally regarded as one of the more remarkable sculptural features of the entire temple would be the Ionic frieze. Spanning some 525 feet, this frieze is a continuous relief that represents one of the most important and central events in Athenian social and religious life: the Panathenaic Procession (oneonta.edu Paragraph 16). The Panathenaic Festival, or “All Athens Festival” was celebrated annually, as a celebration for the mythical birth of Athena. While this festival occurred each year, every four years saw a grander celebration of which is depicted on the frieze. The Panathenaic Procession began outside the walls of the city and wound wind its way through the city, passing numerous civic spots, finally mounting the acropolis (oneonta.edu Paragraph 17). Due to the massive size of the frieze, it represents a variety of phases of the popular procession. It begins in the southwest corner where riders are depicted mounting their horses, ready to participate in the procession, and gradually moves along to the east end of the temple where it culminates with an image of a young woman offering cloth to a priest (oneonta.edu Paragraph 17 and 18). When one looks closely at the figures featured in the frieze, it becomes apparent that no two look identical. Yet, they also lack a sense of any individual identity. For example, one might observe numerous young, beardless males as opposed to older, bearded ones, and even fewer females. Therefore, it seems apparent that the artist was utilizing types rather than focusing on specific individuality (oneonta.edu Paragraph 18). This, however, fits in well with Greek logic at the time, when they felt that perfection and god-like imagery was something to aspire to so as to become a more integral part of society. All of that said, the procession is meant to be a representation of all Athenian citizens, not particular ones (oneonta.edu Paragraph 22). As Evan Hadingham says in his article for the Smithsonian’s website, “By incorporating this scene of civic celebration, the scholars suggest, the Parthenon served not merely as an imperial propaganda statement but also as an expression of Athens’ burgeoning democracy – the will of the citizens who had voted to fund this exceptional monument” (Hadingham Smithsonian). The Parthenon, as well as the frieze, were physical symbols of perfection and the ideal for the Greeks at the time, proving that when one achieved true perfection, they would attain power and status.
With all of this in mind, what seems most important to point out is how the Parthenon is viewed as an archetypal form of Classical architecture. The Parthenon is a post and lintel temple, which is a system in which two upright members, the posts, support a third member, the lintel, which is laid horizontally across the posts (Encyclopedia Britannica Paragraph 1). Therefore, it presents no engineering breakthrough, at least in terms of building construction. Instead, it is the temple’s stylistic conventions that have become the paradigm of architecture for many centuries (ancient-greece.org Paragraph 9). Its aesthetic appeal does not come from its size, but from the refinement of established norms of Greek architecture as well as the quality of the sculptural elements. As it is stated on ancient-greece.org’s article, “The Parthenon epitomizes all the ideals of Greek thought during the apogee of the Classical era through artistic means. The idealism of the Greek way of living, the attention to detail, as well as the understanding of a mathematically explained harmony in the natural world, were concepts that in every Athenian’s eyes set them apart from the barbarians. These ideals are represented in the perfect proportions of the building, in its intricate architectural elements, and in the anthropomorphic statues that adorned it” (ancient-greece.org Paragraph 10). This excerpt basically says that those ideals that Greeks focused on so heavily – perfection, the state, civic duties – are neatly and adequately expressed in the Parthenon’s stylistic elements, such as the symmetrical colonnades, or the fact that the Panathenaic frieze features everyday citizens of Greece. This was a revolutionary decision by the architects and artists to include common people in a monumental piece of architecture such as the Parthenon, and was most likely due to the fact that for the first time in history every citizen of a city was recognized as an integral member and moving force in the polis, as well as the observable universe (ancient-greece.org Paragraph 18).
Digital image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection, The Collection Online.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Copyright and Proprietary Rights. The text, images, trademarks, data, audio files, video files and clips, software, documentation or other information contained in these files, and other content on the Websites (collectively, the “Materials”) are proprietary to the Museum or its licensors. The Museum retains all rights, including copyright, in the Materials. Copyright and other proprietary rights may be held by individuals or entities other than, or in addition to, the Museum.
In terms of physically embodying Greece’s striving for perfection, one can look to statues such as this one of Athena. She was known as the virgin goddess of wisdom, intelligent activity, arts, and literature. What made her unusual even for gods was that she was speculated to have been born without a mother, but instead sprang from her father Zeus’ head, fully grown and clad in armor. Possible due to this story, she was always depicted as fierce and brave in battle, something of which would have greatly appealed to Greek citizens. Further relating to that logic, she only took part in wars that defended the state from outside forces, allowing for celebration of that ever-strengthening polis within in Greek culture. She was the embodiment of wisdom, reason, and purity, as well as the patron of the city, handicraft, and agriculture (greekmythology.com Paragraph 1 and 2). That last fact is important to this depiction of Athena because an owl rests on her arm. It was said that her holy tree was the olive tree, and she was often symbolized as an owl (greekmythology.com Paragraph 2). In this statuette, she is depicted in an armored helmet and holding an owl, which was the emblem of her wisdom. While it is not certain, because she lacks armor anywhere else, this statuette could have been created during a time of peace for Athens. Regardless, this statuette symbols that desire for power and perfection that all Greeks were engrained to strive for all of their lives. Athena was known for her strength and bravery, so it should not come as a surprise that Athens, at the time of wartime victory, would choose to dedicate a prodigious temple to one such as her.
The Parthenon embodied that highly sought-after ideal representation of perfection and power, due in part to its classical style and functionality, as well as through statuettes such as Athena with her owl, which stood as a physical testament to Greek power and form. The Parthenon has long since been considered a prime example of that ideal, Classical architecture that one identifies with Greek society. That said, as stated in the beginning of this essay, it would appear that there is a specific reasoning and logic behind the nature of the Parthenon, from its construction, to its locale choice, and particularly to its deity choice. After completing this essay, it should seem quite clear that numerous outside forces did in fact contribute to the forming of such a complex architectural structure. As it is so adequately said on the academic.reed page, “When work began on the Parthenon in 447 BC, the Athenian Empire was at the height of its power; the Parthenon, then, represents the tangible and visible efflorescence of Athenian imperial power, unencumbered by the depredation of the Peloponnesian War. Likewise, it symbolizes the power and influence of the Athenian politician, Pericles, who championed its construction” (academic.reed.edu Paragraph 1). Essentially, that passage states that the Athenians had achieved imperial power and success from the lengthy battles, and because of that, they chose to dedicate monuments in honor of their successes. Power and perfection – the ideal form – were absolutely essential to Greek culture, particularly during the Classical period, and the Parthenon certainly encompasses that. However, the fact that it was dedicated to the goddess Athena further hammers that notion home. While the original monument of Athena may no longer exist after centuries of degradation and destruction to the area, one can still get a glimpse of her importance through other statues of her within Greece. She, much like the Parthenon, symbolized power and perfect form, something of which all Greeks were expected to embody.
Works Cited
Adams, John Paul. “Pericles: Last Speech (Thucydides Book II, 59-64).” Csun.edu. April 23, 2011. Accessed April 13, 2015. http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/thuc-sp.html.
Mark, Joshua J. “Pericles,” Ancient History Encyclopedia. Last modified September 02, 2009. http://www.ancient.eu/Pericles/.
“The Parthenon.” Ancient-greece.org. Accessed April 13, 2015. http://ancient-greece.org/architecture/parthenon.html.
“The Parthenon.” Academic.reed.edu. Accessed April 13, 2015. http://academic.reed.edu/humanities/110Tech/Parthenon.html.
Hadingham, Evan. “Unlocking Mysteries of the Parthenon.” Smithsonian.com. February 1, 2008. Accessed April 13, 2015. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/unlocking-mysteries-of-the-parthenon-16621015/?no-ist.
“The Parthenon: Religion, Art, and Politics.” Oneonta.edu. Accessed April 13, 2015. https://www.oneonta.edu/faculty/farberas/arth/arth200/politics/parthenon.html.
Encyclopædia Britannica Online, s. v. “post-and-lintel system”, accessed April 15, 2015, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/472032/post-and-lintel-system.
“The Parthenon.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Accessed April 12, 2015. http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/10482?rpp=30&pg=1&ao=on&ft=parthenon&pos=1
“Bronze statuette of Athena flying her owl.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Accessed April 12, 2015. http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/254648?rpp=30&pg=1&ft=athena&pos=4
Greek Mythology.com. “Athena.” Accessed April 16, 2015. http://www.greekmythology.com/Olympians/Athena/athena.html
21 April 2015
Every Empire Needs an Emperor
Throughout the class we have learned about many different cultures and early civilizations. In essentially every one there was a period when a strong ruler came into power and created an empire, or at least stabilized the culture for an extended period under their rule. Specifically I will analyze the similarities and differences between the Greek empire that rose and fell under the rule of Alexander the Great, and the Roman Empire that emerged under the rule of Augustus Caesar. The Romans most definitely learned and adopted many traditions, styles and culture from the Greeks, but always changing them to give it a Roman twist. The building of an empire is no different. Augustus had to have been thinking of Alexander and how his empire fell after his death, so his Roman twist was building an empire that would last past his death. A few of the works that will be examined are: the Portrait of Alexander the Great, Portrait Bust of Cato the Elder and the Augustus Primaporta.
One major thing that Alexander and Augustus had in common was their influential fathers and the foundation each of them laid for their sons to take charge. Augustus’s father Julius was actually his great uncle who adopted him when his name was Octavius, it became Octavian after adoption and in 26 BCE the senate granted him the name Augustus meaning “the exalted.” Alexander, however, was raised by his birth father King Philip II to be a great leader. Aristotle tutored Alexander from an extremely early age, and at eighteen he took over as leader of the Companion Cavalry to assist his father in defeating the Athenians and the Thebans at the battle of Chaeronea. Leading up to this point King Philip had came to power in 360 BCE and in less than a decade defeated most of Macedonia’s neighboring enemies. Philip put lots of interest on innovations in military technology such as catapults and siege machines, innovations such as these laid the ground work for what Alexander would go on to do. The battle of Chaeronea was the last phase of Philip’s plan to become the sole ruler of Greece, and with the help of Alexander he accomplished it. Shortly thereafter in 336 BCE Philip was assassinated. It was now time for Alexander to take charge, and he had his father to thank for the prime foundation to expand and conquer. (Hemingway)
Augustus was not brought up the same way as Alexander. His great uncle Julius Caesar, the last ruler of the Roman Republic, adopted Augustus. Julius had laid the groundwork in similar fashion the way Philip did for Alexander, and was also assassinated before his own rule could actually begin. It wasn’t until the death of Julius that Augustus learned he was being adopted and named chief personal heir, Augustus was eighteen at the time. Augustus was involved in celebrating public games, which had been instituted by Julius, to incorporate himself into the city populous. He succeeded in winning over a substantial number of Julius’s troops to join his alliance. Essentially the main thing Julius did for Augustus was adopt him; from there Augustus made the calls. (Encyclopedia Britannica)
Soon after Augustus had won over the troops the Senate called on him for help against Antony, who was then forced to head Gaul. Augustus then made an agreement with Antony and Marcus Ledipus in which each of them got a five-year doctoral appointment to see over the reconstruction of the state. They came up with a list of political enemies and proceeded to take them out. They executed 300 senators and 2,000 knights who ranked just below the senators. Augustus continued his progression towards becoming emperor by becoming such a successful military leader, though he had some low points along the way such as his first operations against Sextus Sicilian. (Encyclopedia Britannica)
Augustus finally assumed full control of Rome after he defeated Antony’s ships at the battle of Actium in 31 BCE. As a result of the battle Antony fled with his lover Queen Cleopatra of Egypt who had come to his aid but failed miserably. The couple escaped to Egypt where they then committed suicide. With his opponents now dead, Augustus was the undisputed ruler of Rome. (Fagan)
Now that the foundation has been laid, it’s time to examine the reign of each ruler once they took power. As mentioned earlier Alexander had already become a commander at eighteen; by the age twenty he was king, and by twenty-six he had conquered the Persian Empire. Alexander died at the age of thirty-two, so the fact that he was able to expand the empire so vastly in such a short amount of time speaks volumes to his brilliance as a military leader. However, Alexander was lacking in some other areas like politics and regulation as his main interest, really his only interest was conquest. Alexander’s ambition was unmatched, but his popularity was not so great during his rule. Alexander was actually quite hated among many of the Greeks, one Athenian orator had this to see when he learned of Alexander’s death, “What? Alexander dead? Impossible! The world would reek of his corpse!” Essentially Alexander was simply interested in expanding the empire just because he could, and he has his father to thank for that because without the foundation he laid for Alexander, none of it would have been possible. (Foner)
Augustus was much more politically driven than Alexander. After he defeated Antony in 31 BCE he spent the next four years securing his rule on almost every front, he seized Cleopatra’s treasure, which allowed him to pay his soldiers handsomely to insure their loyalty. To ease the minds of the senate and other powerful classes Augustus passed laws that seemed to stretch back to the Roman Republic. He also put a significant amount of effort into the improvement and beautification of the city of Rome in order to win over the general public. Augustus reigned for forty years, basically doubled the size of the empire by adding new territories in both Europe and Asia and locking down alliances to secure his territory from Britain to India. Much of his time was spent on the move as he was strengthening his power in the provinces by establishing a census and tax system that would span the whole empire. This system led to the expansion of road networks throughout the empire, the foundation of the Praetorian Guard and the Roman Postal Service. He also built a new forum and added more practical services such as a police force and fire departments. Augustus knew he had to have the military might to first become emperor, but it was his political genius that made him such an effective ruler. (History.com Staff)
When looking at the Portrait of Alexander the Great by Lysippos the first thing that one should notice is Alexander is depicted clean-shaven. This was a huge statement because all portraits done before depicting Greek statesmen or rulers had beards. This marked a shift in royal fashion in art that stood for nearly five hundred years. That being true it highly impacted depictions of Augustus because it spanned well into the Roman Empire. The portrait discussed is one of just a few, mainly due to Alexander only choosing a small number of artist to depict his image, the biggest name being Lysippos. No paintings of Alexander survive, only sculptures and coins. The early depictions of Alexander make him appear more god-like due to his young appearance, long hair, but it does resemble his description in literary sources. Also, Alexander was young throughout his rule dying at thirty-two as mentioned earlier, so the depictions of a young Alexander would make sense because much of conquering was done early on when he was in his twenties. Later on, after his death, depictions began to show him as older and more mature; the sculptures of his younger self were done while he was alive. (British Museum Staff)
Another work that was influenced by the style change under Alexander is the Portrait Bust of Cato the Elder from the Roman Republic; the influence spans into the Roman Empire extensively, but the work analyzed in class is the Augustus Primaporta. The sculpture of Augustus reflects the more individualized and detailed depiction of the face shown in the bust of Cato. The Augustus Primaporta was most likely commissioned by Augustus’s adopted son Tiberius. It is definitely more individualized than the Portrait of Alexander the Great, but the influence is still extremely obvious. One difference besides the facial features being more detailed is Augustus is shown with shorter hair when compared to depictions of Alexander. (Museos Vaticanos)
Everything considered Alexander the Great’s success can credited in part to his father for laying the foundation needed with numerous innovations and advances in military, then the young ambitious ruler set out to conquer with all his resources and never looked back. Similarly Augustus owes partial credit to Julius Caesar for doing him the tremendous favor of adopting him and naming him heir; Augustus took advantage of the opportunity, but was genius in the way he maneuvered to gain complete control of Roman and began a lasting empire. The influence of art from Alexander the Great can be seen in the art of both the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Overall the Roman Empire under Augustus has many similarities with Greece under Alexander the Great ranging from origins of the respective empires to the art depicting the rulers.
Encyclopædia Britannica Online, s. v. “Augustus”, accessed April 20, 2015, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/43047/Augustus .
Hemingway, Colette and Seán Hemingway. “The Rise of Macedonia and the
Conquests of Alexander the Great”. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History.
New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/alex/hd_alex.htm (October 2004)
Fagan, Garrett G. “Augustus (31 B.C. – 14 A.D.)”
Foner, Eric and Garraty, John A. “Alexander the Great.” Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt Publishing Company, 1991.
Augustus the Divine
by Josh Ford
A great leader can be be many things and do many things, but few if any could call themselves worthy enough to stand next to Augustus. Starting when he was only nineteen years old, he built a powerful army through his own self motivation as well as his own money. So, needless to say, he had quite a large following. Well, it was large enough that there were several monuments made for him like Augustus of Primaporta which is the particular work of focus for this discussion. The purpose is to investigate the object and how the style reflects upon the time period while also to explore Augustus’ power and how it was shown through art.
First off, I will start with a formal analysis of the object. Augustus of Primaporta, which now sits in the Vatican Museum, is a white marble sculpture of a strong and handsome young man in his armor. From the frontal view, a very detailed scene plays out upon his breastplate. He is standing with his right foot forward and his left foot slightly lifted of the behind him. He is pointing upward and to his right with his right hand as if he were pointing to the land he must now take over. His pointing hand is not balled into a fist but rather slightly opened and relaxed as if he were making a friendly and calm gesture. Augustus has an intent and focused look on his face shown by his furrowed brow and hard almost emotionless lips.
His outfit is very detailed and dramatic with high contrast from the deeply carved features and accessories like the ruffled sleeves that protrude from beneath his armor. Even more contrast of light and dark is seen in the cloth he has wrapped around his waist and left arm. The folds are highly worked to create deep spaces between the folds. Underneath the fantastically carved folds of the draped cloth falls the bottom portion of his garb which would be close to what we call skirts today, but looks very manly on Augustus. To the lower right side of Augustus is a knee high little angel that may be Cupid. There have been many copies of this particular statue and in some cases he holds a staff and sometimes is painted in very bright colors.
Sculpted in the period of Imperial Rome the style of the sculpture is not unlike other statues of the time. Shown in military clothing and carrying a baton and addressing what we can assume would be his troops, fits with the style of other leaders’ statues we have seen. The statue is obviously an idealization of Augustus for he is shown at a very youthful age and at the time this was created he would have been much older even dead. However, Augustus was the founder of the Roman Empire and the first Emperor of Rome so he could have been shown any way he pleased. Also, the forever young representation of Augustus shows that he will always have power and fits in perfectly with his propaganda goals. Powerful enough to destroy empires and take their lands, Augustus certainly had the respect to have such a statue made of him and placed in the city for all to see. It was dedicated to Augustus and placed in a public space which coincides with the political beliefs. Political figures were often publicly praised at the time.
An extremely interesting account was made in a historical document called Res Gestae Divi Augusti. Written by the hand of Augustus this account lists many great feats accomplished by the powerful ruler. Translated into English the title reads The Deeds of the Divine Augusti in which he starts by recalling a seemingly impossible task for today’s standards. “In my nineteenth year, on my own initiative and at my own expense, I raised an army with which I set free the state, which was oppressed by the domination of a faction” (Augustus translated by Thomas Bushnell, under “The Deeds of the Divine Augustus”). Afterwards he was made consul and was charged with the deed of settling the state. His power was already great, but he was just getting started. He goes on to state that he avenged his father’s death by driving out the men who killed his father and forced them into exile. He punished their crime and then they brought on a war in which Augustus “conquered them in two battles” (Bushnell). Keep in mind that he is still very young at this time. This sounds like Augustus was ruthless but he was fair. As to speak of foreign nations Augustus stated that he would prefer to preserve than to destroy. This would be the case if he could forgive the nation while not in fear of his or his people’s safety of course. Fair I would say is an accurate word for the man.
Although the artist is unknown, the statue is dated to the First Century A.D. It was discovered exactly 152 years ago on April 20, 1863 in the Villa of Livia at Prima Porta. Livia was Augustus’ wife who retired at the villa after his death. Along with this statue, which is very famous around the world, the villa was also the place of discovery for another exemplar of their type. I am speaking of the garden paintings found in the underground complex of the villa. As part of Jane Clark Reeder’s excerpt from the American Journal of Philology, who in an attempt to “illuminate the symbolic interrelationships between this augural imagery and the iconography of three features of the art and architecture of the villa-garden,” she expresses that “imagery and symbolism played an essential role not only in the decoration of the villa, but formed an important part of Augustan ideology ” ( Reeder 89-118). Such ideology was not uncommon for the statues made around this time. The statue of Augustus can be closely compared with statues like Doryphoros and Apollo. “Since one knows how important the laurel was as an age-old symbol of Apollo and as a new emblem of Augustus and since one is aware how pervasive the Apollonian propaganda became in Augustan ideology, it is no wonder that H. Kähler (1959, 12-13; 28; pl. 32) found the laurel integral to the sacral character of the statue’s image and hence restored the laurel branch in the hand of Augustus on the statue from Prima Porta.” (Reeder). Reeder also goes on to say that there is a connection with the laurel and idea of triumph for Augustus.
Some may look at Augustus of Primaporta and say that it has a Polykleitan look or a Polykleitan style. It is definitely similar to Polykleitos’ Doryphoros. Perhaps if Doryphoros had armor or at least some clothing on, he would look almost identical to Augustus of Primaporta. Polykleitos had a very recognizable style to say the least. “It is really the Canon, then, and its illustration in the Doryphoros, that makes us think of Polykleitos as a distinctive, unusual, and important artist” (J.J. Pollitt 2). The stance of the two statues by looking at their feet are the same. The way they both stand with their hips slightly dropping to one side and one foot raised in the back is eerily similar. The contrapposto technique is the same in the way their body is positioned. Doryphoros’ stance might be a little more dramatic, but perhaps this is because he has no clothes and you can see every bend in his body.
As I stated earlier, this Augustus of Prima Porta statue is most likely a copy of the original. The original sculpture which was “ probably constructed in 20 B.C. to celebrate Augustus’ victory over the Parthians” (Karl Galinsky, under Augustan Culture). “ The Parthian empire dominated Central Asia and was a formidable power against Roman rule” (Edward Hopkins). The Parthians were a powerful adversary and were worthy of the great monument to symbolize Roman victory over them. The Romans fought the Parthians three times and lost. Humiliation was a driving factor for Julius Caesar to reclaim Rome, however his assassination cut his war efforts short. Augustus was able to do what his predecessor could not. After thirty years under Parthian Rule “ He incorporated Armenia into the Roman Empire as a client kingdom” (Galinsky). “Because Armenia ‘s geographic location, Rome gained a valuable offensive position against the Parthians” until the Parthian king requested a truce from Augustus and order was restored to Rome (Galinsky). So this was a major victory for Augustus to have done something that another Roman ruler died trying to do. To restore the Roman standard is plenty a reason to have a statue made for your savior and put into the middle of town. Augustus certainly deserved it.
“I was triumvir for the settling of the state for ten continuous years. I was first of the senate up to that day on which I wrote this, for forty years. I was high priest, augur, one of the Fifteen for the performance of rites, one of the Seven of the sacred feasts, brother of Arvis, fellow of Titus, and Fetial” (Bushnell). Augustus held many title and did many jobs for the people of his country which is why they thought he was a great leader and why we have so many art works of him. He was a powerful man and could be very influential but that does not mean he wanted to always be in charge. “When the dictatorship was offered to me, both in my presence and my absence, by the people and senate, when Marcus Marcellus and Lucius Arruntius were consuls (22 B.C.E.), I did not accept it” (Bushnell). He spoke loudly with his actions for he was seemingly a selfless person who just wanted to help the greater good of the people. He lived for the cause. What more could a civilization ask of their leader?
The artist of this amazing sculpture must have been a brilliant mind to create this image of such an important figure. Is it possible he had help from another source? Louise Adams Holland suggested that the sculpture’s design was inspired by a passage in the Aeneid. Virgil, the author of Aeneid, wrote the story of Aeneas, a trojan who went to Italy where he became the ancestor of the Romans. This could be a perfect model for a near perfect ruler. If it is true that Augustus’ statue was modeled after a description in the Aeneid, then there may be even more of reason to believe that whoever the artist was, he was an educated man.
It is not just power that is on display with Augustus of Primaporta, but also a sense of national pride is present. Being compared or modeled after the ancestor of all romans is quite a compliment. It is safe to say that there were some admirers of Augustus. He definitely has a historical significance for Rome and a great deal of the world around it. He served as Emperor of Rome from 27 B.C. to 14 A.D. when he died. He had a long and very eventful time as a ruler. He was dedicated to the country he called home. He was dedicated to the people who shared it as well. Augustus reported millions even billions of units of his own money going to various Roman causes. “I paid out rewards in cash to the soldiers whom I had led into their towns when their service was completed, and in this venture I spent about HS 400,000,000” (Bushnell). HS 260,000,000 was reportedly spent on provincial fields. He was a wealthy man but also a very generous one. He is incomparable to any man of power today. It is hard to even try to think of a leader or any man otherwise that would make some of the sacrifices Augustus made for his country. His great power was only part of the reason we have so much evidence of his life.
The money he paid out was also just a small part of what made him great. There are few men throughout history that made as big of an impact on the world as he did as young as he did. His career began when he was a teenager and lasted until his death. Augustus accomplished things before he was twenty-five years old to which other ruler could not grasp in their lifetime. “I built the senate-house and the Chalcidicum which adjoins it and the temple of Apollo on the Palatine with porticos, the temple of divine Julius, the Lupercal, the portico at the Flaminian circus” (Bushnell). He also built the Capitol and the theatre of Pompey which were both tremendously expensive. He always kept himself busy with such projects that it is hard to think of what a life he could have outside of his work.
Augustus of Primaporta is a strong and powerful piece of art, but can it come close to the power of his legacy? I think it can, in fact, it is the perfect example of a masterpiece for the artist and the model. The strength of the image will forever stay with me and will always serve as a comparison for the image of any great ruler. Although, I predict that few images can compare to the execution of this marble sculpture. The style and the technique may be replicated but the ideas that fueled the creation of this marvelous piece of art will never be. To close, the title of this paper is such because I think people genuinely seen his as divine or at least I can understand their reason why they would given his reputation.
Works Cited
Holland, Louise Adams. “Aeneas-Augustus of Prima Porta.” In Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, pp. 276-284. American Philological Association, 1947.
Hopkins, Edward. “Parthia.com.” (2005).<www.parthia.com> Accessed October 2005.
Galinsky, Karl. Augustan Culture. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1996.
Pollitt, Jerome J. “The Canon of Polykleitos and other canons.” Polykleitos, the Doryphoros, and Tradition (1995): 19-24.
Reeder, Jane Clark. “The statue of Augustus from Prima Porta, the underground complex, and the omen of the gallina alba.” American Journal of Philology 118, no. 1 (1997): 89-118.
Augustus, Emperor, and Thomas Bushnell. “The Deeds of the Divine Augustus.” (1998).
Note: The last citation was the primary historical document.
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What was the name of England’s first offshore Pirate Radio station? | What was the first pirate radio station? | Notes and Queries | guardian.co.uk
What was the first pirate radio station?
Caroline Scanlan, Dublin
Offshore UK the first was Radio Caroline closely followed by Radio London, then followed by either Radio City or Radio King - both broadcasting from disused defence platforms. There have been unlicensed radio stations ever since radio broadcasting was first regulated; but the use of pirate implies the marine connection and 1960's UK.
Peter Brooke, Kinmuck Scotland
By pirate I assume that you mean unauthorised broadcasting to the UK and in that sense it would have been Radio Luxembourg which was the only medium wave outsider for many years. Later on came the converted lightship moored outside territorial waters off the east coast.The name escapes me as I never heard any broadcasts.
Jack Hill, St Albans England UK
Radio Caroline off the east coast of England, just outside legal waters! Tony Blackburn was one of the first RC DJ's
Richard Sixsmith, Belgrade Yugoslavia
It is widely but mistakenly believed that it all started with Radio Caroline. The first of the 'modern' pirates was actually Radio Mercur, which operated from a small fishing boat off Denmark in 1958. It didn't last too long, but was joined by Radio Veronica off the Dutch coast in April 1960 (and which would keep broadcasting for the next 15 years). Radio Caroline herself started in March 1964 with Simon Dee making the opening broadcast. She was followed later that year by numerous other UK and European pirates (Sutch, Atlanta, London, Noordzee, etc). However, a claim that Radio Luxemburg predated these as a pirate cannot go unchallenged. Whether or not you regard Fab 208 as a pirate, she was certainly not the first unauthorised station to broadcast to the UK and to incur the UK Government's displeasure. This title would go to Radio Normandy, which broadcasted commercially sponsored programs to England from 1926 to 1939. In an internal memo of 7th April 1933, the Postmaster General wrote to the Head of the BBC saying: "We must use all our influence to stop this." In this, the P/G started a long tradition of bashing stations which the government could not control. It was Tony Benn in the same role who shut down (most of) the offshore pirates at the end of the 1960s.
Paul Reilly, Cambridge UK
Radio Veronica, a Dutch ship-based station, preceded Caroline, and indeed was Ronan O'Reilly's template for it.
Kip Stipala, Witham, England
Radio Veronica, which began regular transmissions to Holland on May 6, 1960, is generally credited as the world's first offshore pirate broadcaster. It transmitted programmes to the UK in English (briefly) in early 1961. Radio Luxembourg was never an "unauthorised" broadcaster; it was legally permitted to transmit in English by international agreement in the 1930s.
Caudillo, London, UK
Re the answer quoting Simon Dee as being the first DJ to broadcast on Radio Caroline; I always thought that honour went to Tony Blackburn with the record "Walk on by" by Dionne Warwick. Blackburn went on to do the same on Radio One three years later by playing the first ever record broadcast on that station - "Flowers in the Rain" by the Move.
John Goodall, Cheam UK
The leaders of the Easter Rising in Dublin took over the Irish School of Radio Telegraphy in April 1916, the first attempt to put up the aerial ended when Tom Weafer was shot by a snipers bullet, eventually an aerial was put up and broadcasts on shipping frequencies took place giving details of the uprising, maybe not pop music but pirate radio for sure.
John Spendlove, Ripley, Derbyshire
Check these out for the true story of the worlds first pirate radio station http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAdVZM-GmS0&feature=plcp or http://1916pirateradio.webs.com/index.htm
Eamon O'Buadhachain, Dublin, Republic of Ireland Ireland
| Radio Caroline |
Who was the trainer of three-times English Grand National winner Red Rum? | PIRATE MEMORIES - Jingles
FIRST GOLD - GUILDFORD UK 1988 - PAMS - CD
Here's a PAMS jingle package for "Wonderful Music - First Gold Radio" - Guildford - Surrey UK, from 1988. This CD contains the on-air jingles from the very first AM split - Gold station in the UK. The station was originally called "County-Sound Radio". The overall sound of the station was unashamedly 60's Pirate based, most notably using many of the jingles made famous by Radio London. Pams Jingles are world renowned, and First Gold Radio rekindled those heady days of the mid 60's, with a mix of great tunes, and personality jocks. The Stations strap line was "Wonderful Music", and it certainly was! All of the Jingles included in the set have references to "Wonderful Music - First Gold Radio" and include: - "It's a Blast - Greatest Hits"..., "Thank Goodness It's Fun"..., "The Fastest Thing in the Air"..., "Have You Ever Been - Needless to Say - You're OK...", "You're Hearing Things...", "Merry Go-Go Round...", "Go-Go - Charge"..., "Music" - (Sonovox) - That's Our Middle Name"..., "Much More Music Every Morning"..., "Let The Good Times Roll"..., Pams Swissle Series jingles and beds..."1 - 2 - 3 Jumps Ahead"..., "Smooth Sounds of the Smart Set"...(Series), "Happiness Is"..., "Good Morning - Instant Heaven"..., "Remember This Golden Classic"..., "Here's Yours Truly With the Weather"..., "News Around the Clock". ........ Pams Jingles are unmistakable even after all these years, and this series is a great reminder of those Pams Classics, and Britains FIRST GOLD station!
Price: £5.99
VIKING GOLD - HULL UK 1989 - PAMS - CD
Here's a PAMS jingle package for "1161 - Viking Gold" - Hull-UK, from 1989. This CD contains the on-air jingles from the very successful AM station which originally broadcast to Hull and surrounding areas in 1989 and 1990. The station was then incorporated into "Classic Gold" (NOT the United Kingdom - GWR version, by the way), and became part of a Gold network broadcasting to Hull, Sheffield and Bradford in Northern England.. The overall sound of the station was unashamedly 60's Pirate based, most noteably using many of the jingles made famous by the 60's Offshore radio station:- Radio London....... Pams Jingles are world renowned, and Viking Gold rekindled those heady days of the mid 60's, with a mix of great tunes, and personality jocks. The station strap line was "Good Times and Great Oldies", and didn't it show"! ........ All of the Jingles included in the set have references to "1161 - Viking Gold" and include: - "Instant Heaven".."A Merry Go Round of Music and Fun"..."It's a Blast"..."Remember this Golden Classic"..."Great Oldies and Memories Just For You"..."Stay With the Fun"..."Remember, You've Heard it and Danced to It..." Everybody Loves V.I.K.I.N.G...."(Deep sung)...It's Smooth Sailing"..."Your Best Friend Station"..."News Around the Clock" (Very Radio London!!)...news stabs...accappellas, shouts...AND the Viking Gold Theme Tune, which was an exact copy of the Radio London / BIG L Sonovox waltz theme.................. There is an additional second track on this CD featuring MITCH CRAIG PRODUCTIONS. This early 1990's demo features "Power Connectors", a series of drops and jingles for stations as diverse as Y100, WZPL, Z100, XL93, LNEL, BJ105, Y95, KISS-FM, WBMX, Laser104.1, POWER108, and numerous others. Using the great strap line "If this is too loud, then you're too old", this Jingles demo hits home really hard, and shows how jingle inserts can really make a good station great!
Price: £5.99
CLASSIC GOLD - YORKSHIRE UK 1989 - PAMS - 2 CD SET
Here's CD a Two CD set, featuring "Classic Gold" - Yorkshire, UK from 1989..... A few years ago, Classic Gold was recognised as the AM brand of GWR stations nationwide in the UK, however in 1989, after a very successful start, Viking Gold from Hull East Yorkshire, teamed up with the AM services of Radio Hallam in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, and Pennine Radio in Bradford, West Yorkshire, to become "Classic Gold"...."Good Times and Great Oldies".........
This station was based on the sounds of the 60's Pirate station "Radio London" and soon became the most successful station across the North of England. (So much so, that another leading Radio Company - Metro Radio based in Newcastle, bought up the stations in 1992). The "Classic Gold" jingle package was supplied by the World's leading Jingle Company - PAMS, and when you hear these jingles, you are instantly transported back to the Hazy days of Carnaby Street, The Austin Mini, and the Pop Pirates.
There are over a hundred and sixty cuts of some of the most famous jingles in English Radio history.. Jingles include..."Smooth Sailing, with the Highly Successful Sound"..., "Remember...You've Heard it and Danced to It"..., "Good Morning"..., "Great Oldies"..., "Much More Music"..., "Up, Up, Up...With Your Musical Enjoyment"..., "You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet"..., "It's a Blast" ....etc etc....All of the jingles are indentified with "Classic Gold", and there are references to the station strap line "Good Times and Great Oldies"...... There are the fully sung versions, Top only, and Tail only versions, accappella's, and shorts.
As part of the presentation for the CD jewel case, I have endevoured to copy the written information on the back of the tape box...This will give you an idea of the variety of cuts that the station used on air....All this includes the engineers remarks, crosses and ticks, and the famous PAMS logo....
It's a great collection!
Price: £7.99
RADIO CAROLINE JINGLE PACKAGE
This CD contains the first station produced jingles used by Offshore Pirate Station - Radio Caroline, several months after it came on air in March 1964. The recording session, according my research, occurred sometime in late 64, possibly, early 1965 and features session singer Madeleine Bell, with the unmistakable Hammond Organ heard on many of the original Caroline jingles in those early pirate days. There is some dispute as to when the session was actually recorded, but whenever it was - many well known jingles feature in the set - "Caroline - The Sound of the Nation" ... "Sounds Fine It's Caroline" ..."Man That's Groovy"...as well as instrumental beds, shouts and accappellas. This uncut recording session sounds pretty basic by today's standards, but can be considered as a milestone in broadcasting history.
There is an additional track on the CD featuring organist Jimmy McGriff playing "'Round Midnight". This tune was used to start transmissions on Easter Sunday 1964, and became the station's Anthem, closing broadcasts each evening. The tune was originally used as the theme to a programme called " Sunset Serenade".
Running time - approx 30 minutes
Price: £5.99
PIRATE RADIO JINGLES - 3 CD Set
Over 250 jingles. Tunes, Sung Logos and Themes from the cream of the Offshore Pirates:
Disc One:
Tk 1 - 46 Radio London
47 - 58 Britain Radio
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In the nursery rhyme who cut off the ‘Three Blind Mice’ tails? | Three Blind Mice - Nursery Rhymes
Nursery Rhymes
Three blind mice. Three blind mice.
See how they run. See how they run.
They all ran after the farmer's wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did you ever see such a sight in your life,
As three blind mice?
Nursery Rhymes › Funny Songs › Three Blind Mice
Viewed By 5597 Kids
NurseryRhymes.com is a free site offering lyrics and music to hundreds of popular nursery rhymes that have been passed down through the ages. Use our site to keep kids entertained, find lyrics to a nursery rhyme that you can't remember, or bring you back to a happy time when you were child.
| The Farmer's Wife |
Which band released a 2003 album entitled ‘Youth and Young Manhood’? | Three Blind Mice
Three Blind Mice
Three blind mice. Three blind mice.
See how they run. See how they run.
They all ran after the farmer's wife
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife.
Did you ever see such a thing in your life
As three blind mice ?
History:
The wife in the verse may relate to Mary I, wife of King Henry VIII of England, sometimes referred to as "Bloody Mary. " She is called a "farmer's wife" because of the big estates owned by her and her husband, King Philip II of Spain. The mice in the verse may relate to Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, and Thomas Cranmer, three Anglican noblemen convicted of plotting against the Queen. They were later burned at the interest. Three blindfolded mice was too used as a topic song for The Three Stooges and a Curtis Fuller agreement of the verse is featured on the Art Blakey lively album of the same figure.
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What colour is the dragon on the national flag of Wales? | Welsh Flag - History, Facts and Downloads for the National Flag of Wales
Welsh Flag
Welsh Flag – Flag of Wales – Y Ddraig Goch
Facts about Wales
GDP per capita: $30,546 (2006 estimate)
Currency: UK £ GBP
Government: Welsh Assembly and UK Parliament
Patron Saint: Saint David (Dewi Sant)
About the Flag
The Welsh flag is one of the most recognisable in the world. It is one of only three national flags to display a mythological creature, the other two being the Snow Lion flag of Tibet and the Thunder Dragon flag of Bhutan.
It is often said that it is one of the oldest national flags in Europe although this is almost impossible to verify. Certainly, the association of the Red Dragon with the people of Wales has existed far longer than that of the English with the Cross of St George. However, it was not made the official flag of Wales until 1959 and before then many alternatives had been in use.
How long has the Red Dragon been a symbol of Wales? The short answer is that it was probably a symbol of the Celts in Britain since the time of the Romans and probably well before the Anglo-Saxon invasion in the 5th century.
History of the Flag
The Welsh flag mixes two major influences, namely that of the Red Dragon and the colours green and white, taken from the heraldry of the Tudor family.
The House of Tudor was a Welsh aristocratic family who seized the throne of England at the Battle of Bosworth, ending the 15th-century War of the Roses. On the 22nd of August 1485 Henry Tudor (Harri Tudur) marched into this battle carrying this version of the Red Dragon. By the end of that day he had been crowned King Henry VII on a small hill near the village of Stoke Golding before marching with the standard proudly on display to London.
The origins of the Red Dragon as a symbol of the Celtic people of Britain and later Wales are, however, far older. The oldest historical mention of this symbol in relation to the Welsh people is to be found in the Historia Britonnum (History of Britain) written or compiled by the the Welsh monk Nennius c. AD 830.
Reconstructing the early history of Great Britain from ancient legends he writes a story of a boy born without a father, an apparent virgin birth, who is called before the wicked King Vortigern, last of the Celtic kings of Britain. At this stage in history the Anglo-Saxons were a small invading force who had yet to claim much land in what was later to become England.
The boy reveals to the King two serpents, one white and one red, who had been hidden deep underground. They began to fight and the white serpent three times threw the red serpent down, apparently winning the battle, until finally the red one summoned his strength and drove him away.
The story is then explained by the mysterious child: “the two serpents are two dragons; the red serpent is your dragon, but the white serpent is the dragon of the people who occupy several provinces and districts of Britain, even almost from sea to sea: at length, however, our people shall rise and drive away the Saxon race from beyond the sea, whence they originally came.” (Source: http://www.vortigernstudies.org.uk/arthist/vortigernquoteshb.htm)
The fact that Nennius chose to lend credence to this story in the early 9th century demonstrates that the red dragon had likely been an emblem of the Welsh people for a long time before. There is even evidence to suggest that it was a widespread symbol of British society as early as the Roman occupation.
The Origins and Meaning of the Dragon
When the Romans were conquering much of Britain after AD43 they brought with them much of their culture and symbolism. The dragon was one of the most prominent symbols of the Roman military. Roman Legions, military units of a hundred men commanded by a Legate, were led into battle by someone carrying an eagle mounted on a pole. The legions were themselves usually sub-divided into ten smaller Cohorts and each of these would, in turn, be led into battle by a standard-bearer carrying a dragon.
This dragon was composed of a wolf’s head with a forked tongue and a serpent-like body made of fabric which would ripple out in the wind. Some accounts of Roman battles have implied that these dragons would be fitted with a sort of whistle in their mouths to screech as the soldiers charged into battle. The Romans themselves had taken this dragon primarily from the Dacians in Eastern Europe who had also used it as a battle standard, although Roman dragon mythology also betrays Greek and Iranian influences. In other words, there is no clear distinction between European and Asian dragons and the dragons on the flags of Bhutan and Wales should be considered symbolic cousins.
After centuries of extracting resources from Britain (including gold, copper and tin from mines in Wales and western England) the Romans finally abandoned the colony c. AD 410. At a time when the Roman Empire was finding it difficult to defend its widespread colonial interests it had eventually become more effort than it was worth to continue to subdue the island province of Britannia. They left behind a Romano-British society of Celts who had until then been Roman citizens and who spoke a mixture of Britonic languages and Celticised Latin. In the absence of Roman leadership a British monarchy evolved, many of whom used the dragon as a primary symbol of their monarchical power.
The lives of these Kings are recorded only in legend and the most famous of these are Uther Pendragon and his son King Arthur. Pendragon’s name is a mixture of Latin and Britonic and means “head dragon” or “chief dragon” and partly on this basis many have assumed that the battle flag of the legendary King Arthur would have been an ancestor of the Red Dragon of Wales.
Further evidence for the idea that the dragon was a symbol of the Britonic (Celtic) peoples of Britain comes in the form of the Anglo-Saxon poem ‘The Wanderer’. It’s hard to tell exactly when, but this poem could have been composed at any time from the 6th to the 10th century in English Britain. The poem is a tale of an old warrior who has been banished from his home country and wanders in exile in a desolate land. In it, the protagonist comes across a “weal wundrum heah, wyrmlicum fah” or in Modern English “a wall, woundrously high, decorated with serpents [dragons?]”. Scholars have struggled with these lines but one possible explanation is that when the Anglo Saxons invaded Britain they discovered the ruins of Romano-British villas decorated with dragons. If we assume that this was a widespread symbol of the British culture of the day then this would make sense. According to this theory the memory of this Romano-British symbol was preserved in their culture until much later, partly in the form of this poem.
As the Anglo-Saxons slowly consolidated their position in the East of Britain, and eventually established English kingdoms there, those who wished to maintain their Britonic culture inevitably had to flee. Wales was far away from the main centres of Anglo-Saxon power and partly protected from invasion by its challenging terrain, leading it to become the centre of Celtic culture in Britain. As the Britons converged on Wales they brought with them their language, which would eventually evolve into Modern Welsh, and national symbols including the dragon.
From then on the dragon had begun its second life as a symbol of the Celtic nation of Wales. As a result, it would become enshrined in Welsh literature through Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain) and the masterpiece of medieval Welsh folklore, the Mabinogion. Finally the association was cemented when it was taken up various Welsh kings and leaders, especially the 7th-century Cadwaladr ap Cadwallon, King of Gwynedd.
On the topic of surviving elements of Britonic culture, it is also worth noting that a dragon-like symbol has survived as an emblem of the county of Dorset in the form of the wyvern. The area has longstanding Celtic connections and indeed there have been suggestions that the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Wessex that was once based in the area betrayed greater Britonic influence than any of the other Kingdoms. The idea that the dragon may have survived in multiple Celtic societies with minimal influence on one another testifies to the importance that this symbol may have had to the pre Anglo-Saxon British.
Throughout its history the use of dragon symbolism has been associated with war and aggression. In its association with Wales from the time of Nennius at least it has come to mean something nearer to a “never say die” attitude, indomitable in the face of cultural hegemony and ferocious in the defence of its own identity. It is a symbol that has served as an emblem of the Celtic British since before records began and whose cultural significance shows no sign of waning in the early twenty-first century. Thus, Y Ddraig Goch itself can be said to represent the tenacity of national identity, its symbols and institutions.
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Which opera by Verdi is based on the Alexander Dumas book ‘La Dame aux Camelias’? | The Welsh dragon: The most important object in Welsh history? - Wales Online
Is the Welsh dragon the most important object in Welsh history?
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I’m not Welsh. I arrived here about five years ago with no knowledge whatsoever of Welsh history or culture.
What I did do immediately, however, was buy a UK registration plate for my car with an image of the Welsh dragon.
Not for a moment did I consider the reasons for that decision, but it was an aspect of Welsh culture to which I was able to relate.
A few months later, having driven my car to the continent to visit relatives, I was waiting in front of a red light.
The driver of the car in front of me suddenly got out and raced to his boot. I was slightly puzzled, until he revealed... a Welsh flag!
Excitedly, he waved it around in between our cars, until beeping cars behind me made him jump back in his car and drive off.
Fleeting though this moment was, somehow the image of the Welsh flag was able to create an immediate sense of connection between two strangers.
Identity is a strange thing.
In Cymraeg, “Cymru” means “land of fellow countrymen”; in English, “Wales” means “land of foreigners”: two contrasting definitions; one nation.
In a country divided by its languages, football allegiance, politics, and geography, few symbols seem able to unite the nation – among these, the dragon spans the crown.
So, in a country which incorporates both community and foreignness, perhaps it is not wholly inappropriate for a foreigner to discuss its most iconic object and symbol.
In order to understand the object of the Welsh flag, we will need to dig deep in Welsh and indeed world history, beginning thousands of years ago, with dragons. Before we dig, however, we need to understand what it is we are digging for.
An introduction to Welsh History Month
What’s in a name?
The English word “dragon” and the Welsh “draig” are both derived from the ancient Greek word drakon, which basically means “large serpent”. This does not mean that there were no stories of dragons before the ancient Greeks, but that this particular word merely became common in many languages.
To us, the Welsh dragon seems quite typical in its dragon-like appearance with four legs and wings, but in many cultures, what we call dragons were essentially large serpents, as iconography from ancient Mesopotamia, Greece, and Egypt suggests.
Other words in English attest to this serpent-like original nature of the dragon.
One alternative to the word “dragon” is worm.
There are many folktales featuring worms in Britain, and a famous Welsh example is Worm’s Head at Rhossili on the Gower, which – incidentally – looks more like a giant sea serpent than a stereotypical dragon.
Another Welsh term is the gwiber: nowadays used for a viper, in former days this term was used for flying serpents particularly prone to terrify people in the Glamorgan area. Other English terms include basilisk (literally “the king of serpents”), wyvern (a cognate of the gwiber), and knucker.
As belief in dragons faded in the 19th century, however, so did these exotic terms.
From the Middle Ages, dragons were increasingly represented along the lines of the Welsh flag, whether four-legged or two-legged, and often with wings. It is in this context that we need to look for the origins of the Welsh flag.
The Welsh flag and the Union Jack
The flag in its current format – with “a red ffyry dragon peyntid upon white and greene sarcenet” (“a red fiery dragon painted upon white and green silk”) – first saw the light of day on August 22, 1485, at the battle of Bosworth Field, when Henry Tudor defeated Richard III.
In this flag, Henry combined the dragon – already a symbol associated with the Welsh – with the green and white colours which had been used as Welsh military colours independently of the dragon from the 13th century onward.
Since this first appearance of the Welsh flag, its prominence in Welsh history has fluctuated greatly.
While it was held in great esteem during the Tudor reign, it was forgotten by the Stuarts whose arms contained a unicorn instead.
The red dragon was not in any way included in the first Union Flag designed in 1606 to mark the union with Scotland, nor in 1801 when the British flag was redesigned to include Ireland.
In fact, it was not until 1807 that the British parliament decided that “a red dragon passant standing on a mound” would be the king’s badge for Wales (the term “passant” means it walked with the right forepaw raised).
As political pressure from an increasingly nationalistic Wales grew, Queen Elizabeth, in 1953, decreed that the badge for Wales was to be augmented (meaning it was modified, as a mark of honour) with the motto “Y ddraig goch ddyry cychwyn”, which translates as “the red dragon advances”.
The Welsh refusal of this new flag, however, was absolute, and the Tudor flag continued to be used by the people at sports and cultural events.
When officials refused to grant its appearance on St David’s Day on the grounds that “there is no such thing as a Welsh national flag”, the Western Mail rebuked with the title “The Red Dragon banned again!”.
Protest flared up, and after a forceful campaign by the Gorsedd (the unofficial assembly of Welsh bards), the Queen was forced to intervene: in 1959, she finally conceded that, without needing to seek permission from the crown, “only the Red Dragon on a green and white flag should be flown on Government buildings in Wales”.
The earliest Welsh flags
This is a summary version of events leading up to the acknowledgement of the Welsh flag.
What the motto and the Western Mail’s headline emphasise is the prominence of the red dragon on the Welsh flag: both suggest that, for the Welsh people, the flag was equated to the dragon. In other words, the flag was the dragon.
As pointed out, however, Henry Tudor cleverly united the background colours with the red dragon, both of which had been connected with the Welsh independently before.
The earliest Welsh uses of the heraldic dragon, however, were most likely a Roman import. In the Roman army, the dragon was the traditional symbol of the cohort, the basic military unit which was used throughout the Roman Empire (the Romans themselves borrowed this custom from the Indians and Parthians).
The Welsh did not have a monopoly on the heraldic use of the dragon, and many Celtic and Germanic tribes used this image.
Indeed, contradictory though it may sound, in several campaigns, the English bore the Red Dragon against the Welsh, for example by Henry III in Snowdonia in 1245.
It was only when the image of St George slaying the dragon became increasingly popular in England – it had come over from the Near East where the legend originated – that the English abandoned the dragon flag.
It is clear, however, that the dragon was not only a Roman import, but also native to Britain: dragon-like iconography can be found on objects from prehistoric times onwards.
It has long been thought that the connection of Wales to the dragon stems from Arthurian times: according to Geoffrey of Monmouth (a Welsh historiographer from the 12th century), Arthur bore a golden dragon standard in battle.
There is little evidence to support this, though the colour of the Welsh dragon does seem to have varied between gold and red: Owain Glyndwr famously bore a golden dragon at the siege of Caernarfon in 1401, thereby explicitly connecting his ancestry with the Arthurian tradition.
To find the earliest traces of a Welsh connection to the dragon, we tread firmer ground looking at the language: the first mentions of the Welsh word draig (in the sixth century) do not refer to the mythological creature, but rather to a human “leader”.
This suggests a strongly developed metaphor of fierce warriors as dragons.
Indeed, Welsh poets long talked about a deliverer who would free the Welsh from the English yoke, and described him as draig.
It is noteworthy that no Welsh royal families had a dragon in their arms. The dragon seems to have developed as a symbol of the Welsh as a people, and perhaps that is the reason for its endurance.
From flag to dragon
The heraldic use of the dragon was, as discussed, common throughout Europe, though Wales is the only nation that sustained the image on its national flag.
While popular opinion may equate the Welsh flag to the dragon, however, we cannot equate the dragon to the flag.
The flag as object has remained relatively unchanged in its imagery since Tudor times.
The Welsh dragon, in contrast, has existed in a variety of stories and images for centuries, and continues to do so, whether in sports logos, food and drinks branding, or toys.
It seems reasonable to believe that the modern branding of things as “Welsh” by means of the red dragon stems back to the flag, and to some extent, this might be so.
However, we could also argue that the flag contains merely one manifestation of y ddraig goch, which has symbolised the Welsh as a people for centuries – even if it was not even always red.
In its function as national flag, the image may have become iconic, but ultimately does not encompass the symbol of the Welsh dragon itself.
Most Welsh people will know the story of the red dragon fighting the white dragon as symbolism of the Welsh defeating the English – few, however, seem to know the context.
Let us move on, then, to the story underlying the heraldic imagery which, as we will see, is entirely unique.
The earliest sources of the story are the ninth century Historia Brittonum, attributed to a Welsh monk called Nennius, and two medieval texts: Geoffrey of Monmouth's “History of the Kings of Britain” and the Mabinogion, a famous Welsh collection of medieval manuscripts.
All three texts are believed to be based on much earlier tales and oral tradition.
If we combine the sources, the story can be summarised as follows. Llud and Llefelys are brothers, and kings of Britain and France respectively.
When three plagues descend upon the British kingdom, Llud seeks out his brother for help.
The second plague is described as a terrifying shriek, and Llefelys tells his brother that the source of the shriek is a dragon being attacked by a foreign dragon.
In order to rid the country of the plague, Llud needs to dig a pit in the centre of the land and put a cauldron of mead in it.
The two fighting dragons will fall into the pit, drink the mead, and fall asleep.
All happens as Llefelys predicts, and Llud buries the dragons in Snowdonia.
Centuries later, Vortigern, a Briton king who was ousted by the invading Picts, attempted to build a castle in Snowdonia, but every night the castle walls were torn down.
Advised by his magicians to find a boy without a father and sprinkle the castle walls with his blood, Vortigern finds the child and the boy asks him to dig a pit underneath the castle, hence releasing the dragons.
The king obeys, the dragons fly forth, and after a fierce battle, the red dragon defeats the white one.
The child then explains that the red dragon represents the Welsh, and the white dragon represents the English.
The child predicts that the Britons will rise and drive away the intruders.
It is clear that this story, which dates as early as the ninth century, already depicted the Welsh by means of a red dragon.
This tale, in combination with the Arthurian imagery of the golden dragon, ultimately led to the sustained use of the dragon in Welsh heraldry.
The story contains many elements that are similar to other tales throughout Europe: eyewitness reports of dragons fighting in the air, drugging dragons with alcohol, and imprisoning them, were common folklore themes.
The unique element in the Welsh story, however, is the release of the dragon.
This stands in stark contrast with the many stories of dragon-slaying heroes which abound in folklore around the globe: the Near Eastern St George, the ancient Greek Heracles, the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf, the Norse Siegfried, and even Tolkien’s Bilbo Baggins – dragons exist to be slain by heroes, not released.
This is to a large degree due to the Christian ideology underlying much of European folklore: in Christian thought, the serpent was rapidly equated with the devil, and so the dragon became a key symbol of evil. Heroes slaying dragons thereby symbolised the Christian god overcoming the devil.
As I noted earlier, however, the heraldic dragon imagery originated in the East.
There, unlike in Europe, the dragon was and is a positive symbol, often associated with wealth and power – everyone is familiar with the dragon processions taking place during Chinese New Year.
Ultimately, it is impossible to trace precisely why the positive rather than the destructive image of the dragon prevailed in Wales as it did in the East, while it did not in other European stories.
What we can tell is that the Welsh dragon is unique in Europe in its positive role in the formation of a nation.
From legend back to reality
The ending of the red dragon tale is bizarre, and one cannot help but wonder what happened to the red dragon afterwards. Did it merely fly away? The sources are silent – the dragon has played its role in predicting the future of the Welsh, and disappears from the narrative, only to survive in imagery.
I have long been bewildered by the omnipresence of the dragon in everyday life in Wales.
St David’s Day gave me a perfect excuse to explore whether it is merely a stereotype, and as part of a community project, I have been running workshops on “The image of the dragon and Welsh identity” for local year 10 pupils from deprived areas, for the South West Wales Reaching Wider Partnership.
The workshops so far have revealed that Welsh pupils are very proud about the dragon and feel it strongly symbolises Wales.
They also felt that foreigners coming into Wales might be somewhat intimated by its aggressive stance, and this view was corroborated by a number of non-Welsh pupils.
When asked what the story is underneath the symbol, however, none of the pupils were able to dig deeper than “a red dragon fought a white dragon”.
To a certain extent, this is a typical example of not knowing what is at your own doorstep, of which everyone is guilty.
Nevertheless, at a crisis point in Welsh as well as global history, I am surprised not more attention is paid to this deep-rooted symbol and its history.
For it not only connects Wales with global symbolism, but also sets it apart as a unique and vibrant people.
Author profile: Dr Evelien Bracke
I was born in Belgium, where I studied Classical Philology at Ghent University.
An Erasmus Exchange programme in Ireland turned into PhD studies at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, where I researched the notion of cunning intelligence in Greek myth – this is where I became interested in dragon stories, as the ancient Greeks described dragons as particularly cunning creatures.
I am currently ancient Greek and Latin tutor in the Department of History and Classics (Swansea University), and have also developed a number of Outreach programmes, bringing ancient languages and cultures to local school children.
My favourite Welsh ‘object’ must be the ruins of Carreg Cennen Castle near Llandeilo.
The steep and windy climb to the castle, the breath-taking views upon arrival, the descent into the cave, and the many hours my son and I have played there as knights (I’m inevitably the baddy!) make this one hard to beat.
to find out more about Welsh history visit www.cadw.wales.gov.uk
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Which Apollo spacecraft landed on the Moon in February 1971? | Feb. 5, 1971: Apollo 14 Moon Landing Video - ABC News
ABC News
ABC News coverage as astronauts collect samples on the lunar surface.
3:00 | 09/28/14
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Astronauts are ordered back to lunar module before reaching goal of cone crater.
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| Apollo 14 |
Which letter of the alphabet is represented by one dot in the International Morse Code? | Apollo 14 Mission
Apollo 14 Mission
Mission Overview
The Apollo 14 mission, with a crew including Alan Shepard Jr., Stuart A. Roosa, and Edgar D. Mitchell, was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on January 31, 1971. It was the third mission to achieve lunar landing. The spacecraft landed in the Fra Mauro highlands, the same area that was to have been explored on Apollo 13. Although the primary mission objectives for Apollo 14 were the same as those of Apollo 13, provisions were made for returning a significantly greater quantity of lunar material and scientific data than had been possible previously. An innovation that allowed an increase in the range of lunar surface exploration and the amount of material collected was the provision of a collapsible, two-wheeled cart, the modular equipment transporter (MET), for carrying tools, cameras, a portable magnetometer, and lunar samples. Lunar liftoff occurred on February 6 with mission completion on February 9.
Landing Site
The landing site is located in a broad, shallow valley between radial ridges of the Fra Mauro Formation and approximately 500 kilometers from the edge of the Imbrium Basin. The major crater Copernicus lies 360 kilometers to the north, and bright ray material that emanates from Copernicus Crater covers much of the landing site region. In the immediate landing site area, an important feature is the young, very blocky Cone Crater, which is approximately 340 meters in diameter and which penetrates the regolith on the ridge to the east of the landing site.
Surface Operations
During their 33.5 hours on the Moon, the Apollo 14 crew performed two extravehicular activities (EVAs) totaling over 9 hours on the lunar surface. These EVAs covered a total traverse distance of 3.5 kilometers and involved collecting at 13 locations, deploying or performing 10 experiments, and examining and photographing the lunar surface. The following map of the landing area shows where these activities took place.
Lunar Samples
The Apollo 14 landing site was in the Fra Mauro formation, which is material ejected by the impact that produced the Imbrium Basin. As one would expect in a region formed by impact-basin debris, most of the 42 kilograms of rocks and soil collected on Apollo 14 are breccias (rocks that are composed of fragments of other, older rocks). The countless impacts that have sculpted the Moon's surface broke many rocks down into small fragments. The heat and pressure of such impacts can sometimes fuse these fragments into new rocks, called breccias. In some cases, the rock fragments that form a breccia are themselves breccias. Such rocks obviously have experienced complex histories with multiple generations of impact events.
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‘Parky’ is the nickname of which former British talk show host? | Channel 10: Sir Michael Parkinson on Ian Thorpe being gay
Last July, Parkinson’s interview with Ian Thorpe made headlines. The Olympic champion revealed he is gay and had battled depression and alcohol abuse .
The two-part Parky’s Favourite Australians collects the best of those celebrated interviews.
Are there any qualities that link the Aussies you’ve interviewed over the years?
“This laconic humour that you have. It is a wonderful put-down of pompous people and an irreverent attitude towards all kinds of authority. In the show we have several people who could not in any way be described as conventional — not only (comedy characters) Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson but people like Bob Hawke and Kerry Packer.”
You say that Kerry Packer is your favourite Aussie interview. Why?
Favourite interview ... Kerry Packer with wife Ros Packer at a film premiere in October, 1984.Source:News Corp Australia
“It was a remarkable interview — a very frank interview. You’re not messing with a lightweight here. You’re messing with a very clever, very shrewd man. Mr Packer was in the throes of inventing World Series Cricket (when I interviewed him) which I thought was an act of vandalism — and I told him so. So we started off with a row. Kerry Packer having a row is a frightening sight let me tell you — but he liked people who weren’t sycophantic with him. People forget he wasn’t the chosen son. He proved them all wrong.
Revealed he was gay ... Sir Michael Parkinson interviews Ian Thorpe. Picture: Ten NetworkSource:Channel 10
Your interview with Ian Thorpe gained world attention. What did you make of his coming out?
“I said to him at the time ‘why the hell did you think that because you were gay that you had to keep it a secret? Who gives a toss? I know that a while ago maybe attitudes were different and certainly it (men’s swimming) is a butch sport. I can see the reasons why — but it is sad. We talked about this. Why did he waste all that time feeling cut off — unable to be honest with himself and his parents and everybody. I think it (the interview) purged him of a great feeling of guilt. It is an indication of how Australia has grown up … that he has been accepted.”
Ian Thorpe: The Parkinson Interview - First Look0:26
With no question off limits, Sir Michael Parkinson CBE explores the private and sometimes troubled world of Ian Thorpe OAM.
July 6th 2014
3 years ago
/video/video.news.com.au/Entertainment/
‘A maverick” ... Sir Michael Parkinson on former cricketing great Shane Warne. Picture: Gregg PorteousSource:News Corp Australia
Shane Warne divides opinion. What do you think of him?
“I like Shane. I like mavericks and he’s a maverick. We can all tut-tut about him but you should also remember the joy he gave you. In the days before he was better known for his cricket than his texts and his girlfriends, he was a star. He is the greatest spin bowler I’ve ever seen and am ever likely to see in my lifetime.”
Are there any famous Australians you didn’t get to interview?
“Sir Donald Bradman was the one I would have given my eye teeth to interview. He was a very sensitive man. His confidantes managed to convince him that I was a friend of people, like Keith Miller, who criticised him. He thought I would be an aggressive interviewer (and so he wouldn’t agree to be interviewed).”
A Prime Minister and an actor who made him a parody ... Michael Parkinson interviews Bob Hawke and actor Max Gillies in Australia in 1985.Source:News Limited
You and your wife Mary spend a considerable amount of time in Australia. What appeals about our country?
“Mary and I love the relaxed tone of the place. We particularly like the friendliness. We come from the north of England where everyone is friendly and talks to each other and we have found the same in Australia.”
| Michael Parkinson |
Which British darts player is known by the nickname ‘Mr Glitter’? | Michael Parkinson - IMDb
IMDb
Actor | Writer | Producer
Michael Parkinson was educated at Barnsley Grammar School. He left at the age of 16 and his ambition of becoming a professional cricketer was dashed when he was rejected by Yorkshire County Cricket Club. He turned to journalism, worked on several local newspapers in Yorkshire before joining the Manchester Guardian. Michael covered all sorts, from ... See full bio »
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How many paintings make up William Hogarth’s ‘A Rake’s Progress’? | A Rake's Progress | artble.com
A Rake's Progress
A Rake's Progress Story / Theme
Plate 3: Cavorting with prostitutes
Plate 5: Marrying an old maid
In A Rake's Progress Hogarth depicts the story of Tom Rakewell, a young man who inherits money from his late father and squanders it on expensive clothes, prostitutes and gambling.
Although Tom is not portrayed as an evil character, he is certainly out of his depth, thrown into a life trying to emulate the aristocracy without the knowledge or the funds to sustain it.
Over eight plates Hogarth illustrates the life of Tom Rakewell; after losing his father and his fortune, he indulging in orgies and drunkenly cavorting with prostitutes. Having squandered his fortune Tom is forced to marry an older, wealthy woman in order to pay his debts. However, his attention is directed at the maid rather than his new wife.
He then loses his second fortune and is sent to the debtor's jail and eventually ends up in the notorious Bedlam Hospital for the insane which is full of a range of characters. Tom is comforted by the ever present Sarah Young, the maid he so greatly admires.
A Rake's Progress Inspirations for the Work
Plate 6: A gambling den at Soho's White Club
Plate 7: The notorious Fleet debtor's prison
Plate 8: Bedlam
Debtors' prison:
Hogarth's father was detained in Fleet debtor's prison for most of his childhood. Although the artist never talked about this in any of his biographical writings it must have had a profound effect on him. Certainly the conditions which Tom Rakewell found himself in must have been very similar to that of Hogarth's father.
Bedlam:
Bedlam was an infamous mental hospital in the 18th century and was open for viewing by the public for a small fee. Run by the infamous Baron Henry Brougham, there were many accounts of inmates being badly treated and abused. Hogarth's use of this setting reflects the 18th century view that madness was a result of moral weakness.
Local scandals:
The social scandals of the day can only have been inspirations for this satirical attack on the upper classes. Wealthy young men were often seen frequenting the drinking holes and brothels of London. Gambling and drinking were so popular that it's very likely Hogarth had read about or knew men in similar positions.
It was certainly very common for a poor young man to marry an older woman for her money.
Hogarth's Moral Values:
In all of Hogarth's paintings his strong moral code is very evident and he uses his work almost as an excuse to preach to society. A Presbyterian upbringing and strong moral standing meant that Hogarth was keen to use art as a way to shock the general public into action, concerning the vices and addictions that he felt were ruining English society.
A Rake's Progress Analysis
William Hogarth
Composition:
In A Rake's Progress Hogarth uses his theories on the analysis of beauty by including numerous characters within the scene and using symbolism to create an overcrowded composition in which the narrative is very clear.
The artist also uses his serpentine curves and his lighting techniques highlight various characters and aspects, while lesser characters are in the shadowy parts of the painting.
Painting style:
These works were later made into engravings and became publically available, being displayed in public buildings as well as private houses. Hogarth's style of painting is reminiscent to that of the Rococo fashion where loose lines and free hand movement dominate the work.
Color palette:
A rich color palette is also used in bright and muted tones as Hogarth makes red his primary color to accentuate the characters in the smoky tavern and dingy buildings.
He uses many brown tones in these works and overall warm colors dominate, with numerous chiaroscuro techniques.
A Rake's Progress Critical Reception
Brian Sewell
Industry and Idleness , 1747:
Produced later than A Rake's Progress, this series is darker and although still satirical, has a shocking quality to it which is not present in Hogarth's earlier offerings.
These plates illustrate the story of two apprentices who start training at the same time; one works hard and lives a good life, the other works little and descends into a life of debt, prostitution and gambling.
A Rake's Progress Locations Through Time - Notable Sales
Sir John Soane's Museum
London
There were many copies of the prints of A Rake's Progress and although many of them have been lost or destroyed, numerous copies still exist in private collections and galleries.
In an advertisement published in 1734 Hogarth invited anyone wishing to buy prints of A Rake's Progress to visit his studio in Leicester Fields to see the original paintings. The original paintings for A Rake's Progress were sold to the Soane Museum in London in 1802 for 570 guineas.
They were originally hung at the Soane family's country villa, Pitzhanger Manor, Ealing, but were moved back to London in 1810.
A Rake's Progress Artist
Hudibras Sallies Forth
William Hogarth
Hogarth art mainly focused on the moral codes which he and most of society recognized. Codes that were being flouted by people from all walks of life on a regular basis and the artist felt should be brought back to the attention of ordinary people.
Hogarth produced A Rake's Progress in 1735 and the series was to be one of Hogarth first successes in the new genre of modern morality paintings. This set was created as male alternative to 'A Harlot's Progress' which Hogarth created a few years previously.
It shows the deterioration of mankind when moral codes are abandoned and people give in to consumerism, a major problem for the upper classes of the 18th century.
The artist was heavily influenced by 18th century life, culture and his middle-class upbringing. He believed that art should have moral as well as aesthetic qualities and tried to bring this into all of the work he produced.
Having lived in debtors' lodging for five years as a very young boy, Hogarth had seen the harder side of life and brought a sense of gritty realism to all his paintings. What he believed to be the deterioration of British morals particularly concerned him and his satirical engravings illustrate his concerns for his fellow countrymen.
As Hogarth became a prominent figure in the London art scene he was influenced by a number of things. These included politics, art, literature and the theatre.
William Hogarth will be remembered as the father of satirical caricatures and moral paintings, a genre which would later develop into cartoons. His determination and stout middle-class values made him one of the most innovative artists of his generation and he brought art to the common man for the first time in history.
A Rake's Progress Art Period
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
London
Hogarth lived and worked during the Rococo period in 18th century London. The Rococo style was popular in both England and France at this time and was embodied by flowing lines and intricate decoration.
The London social scene that features in so much of Hogarth's work ranged from super-rich aristocrats living flamboyant lifestyles to the incredibly poor working-classes with no money and little hope for a better life.
Rather than be influenced by many of the artists who had gone before him, Hogarth, a true innovator, tried to create a new school of English painting to rival the Old Masters of the Renaissance. In fact, rather than be influenced by their work it has been suggested that he often ridiculed them.
Far from being a positive influence, this style of painting pushed Hogarth to produce work of a completely different genre.
Technological advances were very influential in Hogarth's success and without the further development of the printing press his work would not have been anywhere near as lucrative, as it wouldn't have been accessible to people from the middle and lower classes.
Although Hogarth was a skilled portrait painter he became famous for his engravings which were sold in large numbers to people who would not have been able to previously afford art. His series of moral paintings, such as A Harlot's Progress and A Rake's Progress took a satirical look at the government and social scene of the day, and highlighted the best and worst parts of English culture.
As one of the first British artists to be recognized throughout Europe, Hogarth became a major source of inspiration to other artists. During his lifetime artists and satirists such as John Collier emulated his satire and reflections of everyday life.
In the 19th century the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood, whose members included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, was inspired by Hogarth's use of symbolism and text to convey a moral message. However it is possibly the biggest testament to the artist's skill and wit that the new medium of the comic strip arose from his work, a genre which is still popular today.
A Rake's Progress Bibliography
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According to the Bible, Jesus was at a wedding in Cana when he turned water into what? | William Hogarth | English artist | Britannica.com
William Hogarth
Hans Baldung
William Hogarth, (born Nov. 10, 1697, London, Eng.—died Oct. 26, 1764, London), the first great English-born artist to attract admiration abroad, best known for his moral and satirical engravings and paintings —e.g., A Rake’s Progress (eight scenes, begun 1732). His attempts to build a reputation as a history painter and portraitist, however, met with financial disappointment, and his aesthetic theories had more influence in Romantic literature than in painting.
The Painter and His Pug, self-portrait by William Hogarth, oil on …
Courtesy of the trustees of the Tate Gallery, London
Youth and early career
Hogarth—the only son of Richard Hogarth, a minor classical scholar and schoolmaster—grew up with two sisters, Mary and Ann, in the heart of the teeming city . Richard’s evident abilities as a classicist brought him scant reward but provided an educated and industrious, if not prosperous, home. Later, looking back on this period, Hogarth dwelt almost exclusively on his father’s shabby treatment at the hands of printers, booksellers, and wealthy patrons. Apart from confirming his distrust of learning, his resentment at his father’s disappointing experiences fostered the boy’s self-assertiveness and independence of character.
As a boy with little inclination to scholarship but gifted with a lively perception of the world around him, he enjoyed mimicking and drawing characters, interests that were encouraged by visits to a local painter’s workshop. While not discouraging his artistic inclinations, his father, Hogarth later complained, could do little more “than put me in a way of shifting for myself.” He consequently sought the security of a solid craftsman’s training and became apprenticed, at about the age of 15, to a silversmith. Hogarth presumably moved to his master’s house, where he learned to engrave gold and silver work with armorial designs —in his own phrase, the “monsters of heraldry.” Valuable years lost on what the engraver George Vertue aptly termed “low-shrubb instructions” had crucial bearing on Hogarth’s subsequent development. Apart from the insecurity they bred, Hogarth’s frustration with his training led him to exploit unorthodox methods of self-instruction in order to make up for lost time. His originality and flexibility as an artist owed much to this pragmatic and unconventional approach to his career.
Hogarth’s years of apprenticeship were by no means devoted exclusively to hard work, however. Sociable and fond of fun, a keen and humorous observer of human behaviour, with a special love of the theatre and shows of all kinds, he was evidently a convivial companion. Never prudish, he knew the exuberant life of the London streets, bawdy houses, fairs, and theatres firsthand and derived from them a fertile appreciation of the vitality of popular tradition. At the same time, he felt drawn to the coffeehouses and taverns frequented by writers, musicians, actors, and liberal professionals, forming lasting friendships in such lively intellectual circles. His sympathies rested with the middle classes and, specifically, with the critical, enlightened element—rational, tolerant, and humanitarian—that played such a prominent role in the cultural life of Hanoverian England .
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A lawsuit he brought in 1728 against Joshua Morris, a tapestry weaver, throws eloquent light on his susceptibilities. The details of the case reveal that, by the age of 30, Hogarth felt sufficiently confident of his abilities to embark on a painting career. Morris failed to share this confidence and rejected a painting he had ordered on grounds that it was not finished. Hogarth indignantly sought and obtained public vindication with the help of professional witnesses, including Thornhill. Their testimony was amply justified by his first dated painting, The Beggar’s Opera (1728), a scene from John Gay ’s popular farce, which emphasized Hogarth’s prevailing interests: his involvement with the theatre and with down-to-earth, comic subjects. Closely attentive to realistic detail, he recorded the scene exactly as it appeared to the audience and included portraits of the principal actors and spectators. He thus anticipated both his later narrative paintings and the small, informal group portraits, or “conversation pieces,” that occupied him in the years immediately after this auspicious debut.
The Wedding of Stephen Beckingham and Mary Cox, oil on canvas by William Hogarth, 1729; in …
Photograph by AlkaliSoaps. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, Marquand Fund, 1936 (36.111)
Reputation and success
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Hogarth eloped in March 1729 with Thornhill’s daughter Jane. The marriage proved stable and contented, though childless. A few months later Vertue remarked on his public success with “conversations,” and in the next few years these small paintings, which acknowledged a great debt to the early 18th-century painter Antoine Watteau and the elegance of French Rococo art , brought Hogarth an appreciative and wealthy clientele . Though he displayed remarkable energy at the time, Hogarth quickly tired of these little works, which involved numerous portraits for relatively poor remuneration. For his own enjoyment he began to record humorous scenes from everyday life. The crowded canvas of Southwark Fair (1733) captures the noisy and exuberant vigour of a popular festival and shows Hogarth feeling his way toward a completely new kind of narrative art based on vivid appreciation of contemporary life. Friends he made in the theatrical world, the actor-manager David Garrick and writer Henry Fielding , shared his enthusiasm for honest naturalism in art. Like his great predecessor, the 16th-century Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder , Hogarth wanted to extract entertaining and instructive incidents from life. In telling the story of a young country girl’s corruption in London and her consequent miseries, he not only ridiculed the viciousness and follies of society but painted an obvious moral. The engravings were aimed at a wide public, and their tremendous success immediately established Hogarth’s financial and artistic independence. He was henceforth free, unlike most of his colleagues, to follow his own creative inclinations. To safeguard his livelihood from unscrupulously pirated editions, he fought to obtain legislation protecting artist’s copyright and held back the eight-part Rake’s Progress until a law of that nature, known as the Hogarth Act, was passed in 1735. In the following year Hogarth moved into the house in Leicester Fields that he was to occupy until his death.
Historical and portrait painting
Eyjafjallajökull volcano
After Thornhill’s death, in 1734, Hogarth reestablished his drawing school on a cooperative basis, and it became an important arena for artistic discussion and experiment. In 1735, in line with the humanitarian concern that occupied enlightened opinion of the day, he was elected a governor of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, and he seized this opportunity to decorate the main staircase with two large religious works, Pool of Bethesda and The Good Samaritan. In abandoning comic narrative and genre for history painting, he was generally held to have overreached himself, however, and modern critics have tended to endorse this opinion.
Art & Architecture: Fact or Fiction?
About 1740 he turned once again to painting portraits, chiefly of middle-class sitters. He derived special enjoyment from painting the full-length, seated portrait of his friend, the philanthropist Captain Thomas Coram—a compelling and deeply sympathetic image that injected the dead aristocratic tradition with forthright realism and carried far-reaching implications for European portraiture. Hogarth, well aware of its importance, judiciously placed it on semipublic display at the Foundling Hospital, a benevolent institution for orphan children established by Coram in 1739. From the start Hogarth played an active role in the affairs of this charitable venture, and when the buildings were completed in 1745 he persuaded a group of fellow artists to join him in contributing paintings as edifying decoration. Their cooperative effort produced the first public exhibition of contemporary art in England and was a vital step toward the foundation of the Royal Academy in 1768.
The famous self-portrait of 1745, a year that marked, in many ways, the high point of Hogarth’s career, was also an artistic manifesto . He mischievously juxtaposed his own blunt and intelligent features with those of his sturdy pug dog, Trump, and placed volumes of the great English writers William Shakespeare , John Milton , and Jonathan Swift beside a palette inscribed with the sinuous “line of beauty,” his shorthand symbol for the variety, intricacy, and expressiveness of Nature. In the same year he published the long-announced prints of Marriage à la Mode , censuring the marriage customs of the upper classes, for which he had completed the paintings in May 1743.
The Painter and His Pug, self-portrait by William Hogarth, oil on …
Courtesy of the trustees of the Tate Gallery, London
Morning, oil painting, part of the Marriage à la Mode series by William …
National Gallery, London/SuperStock
Return to prints
Apart from a gratifying commission for a large history piece, which he won from the lawyers of Lincoln’s Inn (one of the four legal societies and schools in London), Hogarth concentrated for the next few years on simple, didactic prints executed from drawings, not paintings, and aimed at an unrefined public. Beer Street, Gin Lane, and Four Stages of Cruelty (1751) he cut deliberately crudely on wood blocks to make them cheaper and facilitate a wide distribution. Industry and Idleness (1747) contains, in addition to its obvious moral message, a good deal of self-dramatization, depicting the virtuous apprentice made good in a hostile world. In these years Hogarth’s uncertainty and frustration expressed themselves in a number of unfinished paintings. In several spontaneous sketches, succeeding where he had failed in his heroic pictures, he synthesized dynamic elements of the 17th-century Baroque style with an uncompromising realism and fully expressive handling of the paint. These sketches were ignored in his lifetime, and it was only in the wake of the 19th-century Impressionist movement that such sketches received serious attention.
In 1745 and again in 1751 Hogarth organized auctions of his work. Both fetched extremely low prices, and Hogarth, in anger and mortification, retreated into aggrieved isolation, pursuing his philanthropic interests but adopting, in public, a defiant and defensive pose that involved him in increasingly rancorous debate on artistic matters. He expounded his own theories in The Analysis of Beauty (1753), combining practical advice on painting with criticism of the art establishment. He expressed his belief in the “beauty of a composed intricacy of form,” which “leads the eye a kind of chace” and advocated variety, irregularity, movement, and exaggeration in the interests of greater expressiveness. Though his ideas were respectfully received, especially on the Continent, the book inspired much adverse comment from his opponents.
His large Election series (1754–58), painted with elaborate care, was a last attempt to prove the dignity of “comic history painting,” and thereafter he painted little of importance. His appointment as sergeant painter to George III , contrived in 1757, revived some interest in portraiture, but his last years, when he probably suffered considerable ill health, were dominated by the acrimony induced by a patron’s rejection of his painting Sigismunda (1759) and the outraged public opinion over his satiric political print The Times, I (1762).
Obsessive to the last, a few months before his death he executed an engraving sardonically titled Tail-Piece, or The Bathos, in which he sombrely depicted the demise of his own artistic world. In a sense it was prophetic, for, as the 19th-century English painter John Constable rightly remarked, “Hogarth has no school, nor has he ever been imitated with tolerable success.” His immediate influence had been more strongly felt in literature than in painting, and after his death it was significantly the Romantics , many of whose ideas Hogarth had anticipated, who first recognized his greatness. Though never neglected, Hogarth was chiefly remembered for his satiric engravings, and, as with that other lonely pioneer, the 19th-century painter J.M.W. Turner , the implications of his work were better understood on the Continent than in England.
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Political Aide Alastair Campbell was best known as Director of Communications and Strategy for which British Prime Minister? | Alastair John Campbell THE LEVESON INQUIRY - YouTube
Alastair John Campbell THE LEVESON INQUIRY
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Published on May 15, 2012
Alastair John Campbell (born 25 May 1957) is a British journalist, broadcaster, political aide and author, best known for his work as Director of Communications and Strategy for Prime Minister Tony Blair between 1997 and 2003. Campbell describes himself as a "Communicator, Writer and Strategist" on his website, while others have described him as Labour's "unelected, but ... hardly underscrutinised" spin doctor.
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The headquarters of UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) is in which country? | Alastair Campbell | The Independent
Alastair Campbell
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Alastair Campbell is a British journalist, broadcaster, political aide and author, best known for his work as Director of Communications and Strategy for Prime Minister Tony Blair between 1997 and 2003. He is the author of two books on mental health
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In Greek mythology Eurystheus imposed twelve labours on which of his cousins? | Homeric world ARGOS (Ancient city) ARGOLIS - GTP
Country
Greece in Homer
Homer mentions Phthia by the name "Hellas" (Od. 4.726 & 816), while he refers to Greece by the name "Hellas and mid-Argos" (Od. 1.344).
"Phemios," she cried,(Penelope), "you know many another feat of gods and heroes, such as poets love to celebrate. Sing the suitors some one of these, and let them drink their wine in silence, but cease this sad tale, for it breaks my sorrowful heart, and reminds me of my lost husband for whom I have grief [penthos] ever without ceasing, and whose name [kleos] was great over all Hellas and middle Argos." (Hom. Od. 1.337-344)
Commentary:
This passage has been recently discussed by Mr. Bury B. in the Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. xv. pp. 217-238, with especial reference to the words an' Hellada kai meson Argos. These words are generally understood as a poetical or traditional periphrasis for the whole of Greece, -Hellas (a part of Thessaly) representing the north and Argos the Peloponnesus. Mr. Bury points out that, if this is so, the offer here made by Menelaus is a strange one. Telemachus has just entreated to be allowed to return home at once. How could Menelaus, who has himself been dwelling on the duty of speeding the parting guest, suddenly propose to be his companion on so long a tour? In seeking for a solution of this difficulty, Mr. Bury is led to examine afresh the old question (Thuc.1. 3) of the different uses of the names Hellas and Hellenes. Among other results he arrives at the conclusion that, just as in the Iliad the names Hellas and Achaioi are closely associated in Thessaly, so the name Hellas at a somewhat later time was applied to the 'Achaia' of history, the north coastland of the Poloponnesus. If then this is the sense of the term in the passage before us, Menelaus does not invite Telemachus to go with him all over Greece, but only to make a detour through Argolis and Achaia--countries then under the dominion of the Atridae.
It is impossible here to discuss Mr. Bury's history of the name Hellas: but a word may be said regarding its application to the Odyssey. In the first place, the difficulty with which he begins is surely not insuperable. Granting that Telemachus was not likely to accept the invitation, it may be that ancient manners required some such speech from the host -the muthoi aganoi promised by Pisistratus (l. 53). And the main purpose of Telemachus, the quest of news of his father, though not again mentioned here, must be supposed present to the minds of both. Moreover, the difficulty is not one that is very much diminished by Mr. Bury's interpretation. For surely it lies (poetically at least) not so much in the length of the proposed journey as in the fact of such an expedition being proposed at that moment. Again, the phrase an' Hellada kai meson Argos is (or became) a piece of Epic commonplace. In Od.1. 344(=4. 726, 816) tou kleos euru kath' Hellada kai meson Argos it seems to mean Greece generally. Moreover, it is plainly a variation of the line Argos es hippoboton kai Achaiida kalligunaika, which is also of a traditional type. The meaning of these phrases no doubt changed with time and circumstances; but it must always have been wide and conventional. It is hard to believe that Menelaus would use them to describe a route which he particularly wished to represent as a definite and limited one.
The phrase meson Argos is not to be pressed: cp. Il.6. 224 Argei messoi. There is nothing to connect it with a distinction between Argos in the narrower sense of the Argive plain and in the wider sense in which it includes a large part (if not the whole) of Peloponnesus.
Homer, The Odyssey (ed. Samuel Butler)
http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/vor?lan...
Achaei (Achaioi), one of the four races into which the Hellenes are usually divided. In the heroic age they are found in that part of Thessaly in which Phthia and Hellas were situated, and also in the eastern part of Peloponnesus, more especially in Argos and Sparta. Argos was frequently called the Achaean Argos (Argos Achaiikon, Hom. Il. ix. 141) to distinguish it from the Pelasgian Argos in Thessaly; but Sparta is generally mentioned as the head-quarters of the Achaean race in Peloponnesus. Thessaly and Peloponnesus were thus the two chief abodes of this people; but there were various traditions respecting their origin, and a difference of opinion existed among the ancients, whether the Thessalian or the Peloponnesian Achaeans were the more ancient. They were usually represented as descendants of Achaeus, the son of Xuthus and Creusa, and consequently the brother of Ion and grandson of Hellen. Pausanias (vii. 1) related that Achaeus went back to Thessaly, and recovered the dominions of which his father, Xuthus, had been deprived; and then, in order to explain the existence of the Achaeans in Peloponnesus, he adds that Archander and Architeles, the sons of Achaeus, came back from Phthiotis to Argos, married the two daughters of Danaus, and acquired such influence at Argos and Sparta, that they called the people Achaeans after their father Achaeus. On the other hand, Strabo in one passage says, that Achaeus having fled from Attica, where his father Xuthus had settled, settled in Lacedaemon and gave to the inhabitants the name of Achaeans. In another passage, however, he relates, that Pelops brought with him into Peloponnesus the Phthiotan Achaeans, who settled in Laconia. It would be unprofitable to pursue further the variations in the legends; but we may safely believe that the Achaeans in Thessaly were more ancient than those in Peloponnesus, since all tradition points to Thessaly as the cradle of the Hellenic race. There is a totally different account, which represents the Achaeans as of Pelasgic origin. It is preserved by Dionysius of Halicarnassus (i. 17), who relates that Achaeus, Phthius, and Pelasgus were sons of Poseidon and Larissa; and that they migrated from Peloponnesus to Thessaly, where they divided the country into three parts, called after them Achaia, Phthiotis and Pelasgiotis. A modern writer is disposed to accept this tradition so far, as to assign a Pelasgic origin to the Achaeans, though he regards the Phthiotan Achaeans as more ancient than their brethren in the Peloponnesus.The only fact known in the earliest history of the people, which we can admit with certainty, is their existence as the predominant race in the south of Thessaly, and on the eastern side of Peloponnesus. They are represented by Homer as a brave and warlike people, and so distinguished were they that he usually calls the Greeks in general Achaeans or Panachaeans (Panachaioi Il. ii. 404, vii. 73, &c.). In the same manner Peloponnesus, and sometimes the whole of Greece, is called by the poet the Achaean land. (Achaiis gaia, Hom. Il. i. 254, Od. xiii. 249.) On the conquest of Peloponnesus by the Dorians, 80 years after the Trojan war, the Achaeans were driven out of Argos and Laconia, and those who remained behind were reduced to the condition of a conquered people. Most of the expelled Achaeans, led by Tisamenus, the son of Orestes, proceeded to the land on the northern coast of Peloponnesus, which was called simply Aegialus (Aigialos) or the Coast, and was inhabited by Ionians. The latter were defeated by the Achaeans and crossed over to Attica and Asia Minor, leaving their country to their conquerors, from whom it was henceforth called Achaia. (Strab. p. 383; Pans. vii. 1; Pol. ii. 41; comp. Herod. i. 145.) The further history of the Achaeans is given under Achaia . The Achaeans founded several colonies, of which the most celebrated were Croton and Sybaris.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD)
Gods & demigods
Hera of Argos
Hera of Argos, and Athena of Alalkomene (Il. 4.8) .. "My own three favorite cities," answered Hera, "are Argos, Sparta, and Mycenae. (Il. 4.51)
Information about Hera is found at Heraeum , where the Sanctuary of the Godess
Perseus: Homer, Iliad
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=...
Heracles (Herakles), and in Latin Hercules, the most celebrated of all the heroes of antiquity. The traditions about him are not only the richest in substance, but also the most widely spread; for we find them not only in all the countries round the Mediterranean, but his wondrous deeds were known in the most distant countries of the ancient world. The difficulty of presenting a complete view of these traditions was felt even by the ancients (Diod. iv. 8); and in order to give a general survey, we must divide the subject, mentioning first the Greek legends and their gradual development, next the Roman legends, and lastly those of the East ( Egypt , Phoenicia ).
The traditions about Heracles appear in their national purity down to the time of Herodotus; for although there may be some foreign ingredients, yet the whole character of the hero, his armour, his exploits, and the scenes of his action, are all essentially Greek. But the poets of the time of Herodotus and of the subsequent periods introduced considerable alterations, which were probably derived from the east or Egypt , for every nation of antiquity as well as of modern times had or has some traditions of heroes of superhuman strength and power. Now while in the earliest Greek legends Heracles is a purely human hero, as the conqueror of men and cities, he afterwards appears as the subduer of monstrous animals, and is connected in a variety of ways with astronomical phaenomena. According to Homer (Il. xviii. 118), Heracles was the son of Zeus by Alcmene of Thebes in Boeotia , and the favourite of his father (Il. xiv. 250, 323, xix. 98, Od. xi. 266, 620, xxi. 25, 36). His stepfather was Amphitryon (Il. v. 392, Od. xi. 269; Hes. Scut. Herc. 165). Amphitryon was the son of Alcaeus, the son of Perseus, and Alcmene was a grand-daughter of Perseus. Hence Heracles belonged to the family of Perseus. The story of his birth runs thus. Amphitryon, after having slain Electryon, was expelled from Argos , and went with his wife Alcmene to Thebes , where he was received and purified by his uncle Creon. Alcmene was yet a maiden, in accordance with a vow which Amphitryon had been obliged to make to Electryon, and Alcmene continued to refuse him the rights of a husband, until he should have avenged the death of her brothers on the Taphians. While Amphitryon was absent from Thebes, Zeus one night, to which he gave the duration of three other nights, visited Alcmene, and assuming the appearance of Amphitryon, and relating to her how her brothers had been avenged, he begot by her the hero Heracles, the great bulwark of gods and men (Respecting the various modifications of this story see Apollod. ii. 4.7; Hygin. Fab. 29; Hes. Scut. 3.5; Pind. Isth. vii. 5, Nem. x. 19; Schol. ad Hom. Od. xi. 266). The day on which Heracles was to be born, Zeus boasted of his becoming the father of a man who was to rule over the heroic race of Perseus. Hera prevailed upon him to confirm by an oath that the descendant of Perseus born that day should be the ruler. When this was done she hastened to Argos , and there caused the wife of Sthenelus to give birth to Eurystheus, whereas, by keeping away the Eileithyiae, she delayed the confinement of Alcmene, and thus robbed Heracles of the empire which Zeus had intended for him. Zeus was enraged at the imposition practised upon him, but could not violate his oath. Alcmene brought into the world two boys, Heracles, the son of Zeus, and Iphicles, the son of Amphitryon, who was one night younger than Heracles (Hom. Il. xix. 95; Hes. Scnt. 1--56, 80; Apollod. ii. 4). Zeus, in his desire not to leave Heracles the victim of Hera's jealousy, made her promise, that if Heracles executed twelve great works in the service of Eurystheus, he should become immortal (Diod. iv. 9). Respecting the place of his birth traditions did not agree; for although the majority of poets and mythographers relate that he was born at Thebes , Diodorus (iv. 10) says that Amphitryon was not expelled from Tiryns till after the birth of Heracles, and Euripides (Herc. Fur. 18) describes Argos as the native country of the hero.
Nearly all the stories about the childhood and youth of Heracles, down to the time when he entered the service of Eurystheus, seem to be inventions of a later age: at least in the Homeric poems and in Hesiod we only find the general remarks that he grew strong in body and mind, that in the confidence in his own power he defied even the immortal gods, and wounded Hera and Ares, and that under the protection of Zeus and Athena he escaped the dangers which Hera prepared for him. But according to Pindar (Nem. i. 49), and other subsequent writers, Heracles was only a few months old when Hera sent two serpents into the apartment where Heracles and his brother Iphicles were sleeping, but the former killed the serpents with his own hands (Comp. Theocrit. xxiv.1; Apollod. ii. 4.8). Heracles was brought up at Thebes , but the detail of his infant life is again related with various modifications in the different traditions. It is said that Alcmene, from fear of Hera, exposed her son in a field near Thebes , hence called the field of Heracles; here he was found by Hera and Athena, and the former was prevailed upon by the latter to put him to her breast, and she then carried him back to his mother (Diod. iv. 9; Paus. ix. 25.2). Others said that Hermes carried the newly-born child to Olympus , and put him to the breast of Hera while she was asleep, but as she awoke, she pushed him away, and the milk thus spilled produced the Milky Way (Eratosth. Catast. 44; Hygin. Poet. Astr. ii. in fin). As the hero grew up, he was instructed by Amphitryon in riding in a chariot, by Autolycus in wrestling, by Eurytus in archery, by Castor in fighting with heavy armour, and by Linus in singing and playing the lyre (See the different statements in Theocrit. xxiv. 114, 103, 108; Schol. ad Theocrit. xiii. 9, 56; Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 49). Linus was killed by his pupil with the lyre, because he had censured him (Apollod. ii. 4.9; Diod. iii. 66; Aelian, V. H. iii. 32). Being charged with murder, IIeracles exculpated himself by saying that the deed was done in self-defence; and Amphitryon, in order to prevent similar occurrences, sent him to attend to his cattle. In this manner he spent his life till his eighteenth year. His height was four cubits, fire beamed from his eyes, and he never wearied in practising shooting and hurling his javelin. To this period of his life belongs the beautiful fable about Heracles before two roads, invented by the sophist Prodicus, which may be read in Xenoph. Mem. ii. 1, and Cic de Off. i. 32. Pindar (Isth. iv. 53) calls him small of stature, but of indomitable courage. His first great adventure, which happened while he was still watching the oxen of his father, is his fight against and victory over the lion of Cythaeron . This animal made great havoc among the flocks of Amphitryon and Thespius (or Thestius), king of Thespiae , and Heracles promised to deliver the country of the monster. Thespius, who had fifty daughters, rewarded Heracles by making him his guest so long as the chase lasted, and gave up his daughters to him, each for one night (Apollod. ii. 4.10; comp. Hygin. Fab. 162; Diod. iv. 29; Athen. xiii. p. 556). Heracles slew the lion, and henceforth wore its skin as his ordinary garment, and its mouth and head as his helmet; others related that the lion's skin of Heracles was taken from the Nemean lion. On his return to Thebes , he met the envoys of king Erginus of Orchomenos , who were going to fetch the annual tribute of one hundred oxen, which they had compelled the Thebans to pay. Heracles, in his patriotic indignation, cut off the noses and ears of the envoys, and thus sent them back to Erginus. The latter thereupon marched against Thebes ; but Heracles, who received a suit of armour from Athena, defeated and killed the enemy, and compelled the Orchomenians to pay double the tribute which they had formerly received from the Thebans . In this battle against Erginus Heracles lost his father Amphitryon, though the tragedians make him survive the campaign (Apollod. ii. 4.11; Diod. iv. 10; Paus. ix. 37. 2; Theocrit. xvi. 105; Eurip. Herc. Fur. 41). According to some accounts, Erginus did not fall in the tattle, but coneluded peace with Heracles. But the gorious manner in which Heracles had delivered his country procured him immortal fame among the Thebans , and Creon rewarded him with the hand of his eldest daughter, Megara, by whom he became the father of several children, the number and names of whom are stated differently by the different writers (Apollod. ii. 4.11, 7.8; Hygin. Fab. 32; Eurip. Herc. Fur. 995; Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 38; Schol. ad Pind. Isthm. iii. 104). The gods, on the other hand, made him presents of arms: Hermes gave him a sword, Apollo a bow and arrows, Hephaestus a golden coat of mail, and Athena a peplus, and he cut for himself a club in the neighbourhood of Nemea , while, according to others, the club was of brass, and the gift of Hephaestus (Apollon. Rhod. i. 1196; Diod. iv. 14). After the battle with the Minyans , Hera visited Heracles with madness, in which he killed his own children by Megara and two of Iphicles. In his grief he sentenced himself to exile, and went to Thestius, who purified him (Apollod. ii. 4.12). Other traditions place this madness at a later time, and relate the circumstances differently (Eurip. Herc. Fur. 1000; Paus. ix. 11.1; Hygin. Fab. 32; Schol. ad Pind. Isthm. iii. 104). He then consulted the oracle of Delphi as to where he should settle. The Pythia first called him by the name of Heracles--for hitherto his name had been Alcides or Alcaeus,--and ordered him to live at Tiryns , to serve Eurystheus for the space of twelve years, after which he should become immortal. Heracles accordingly went to Tiryns , and did as he was bid by Eurystheus.
The accounts of the twelve labours of Heracles are found only in the later writers, for Homer and Hesiod do not mention them. Homer only knows that Heracles during his life on earth was exposed to infinite dangers and sufferings through the hatred of Hera, that he was subject to Eurystheus, who imposed upon him many and difficult tasks, but Homer mentions only one, viz. that he was ordered to bring Cerberus from the lower world (Il. viii. 363, xv. 639, Od. xi. 617). The Iliad further alludes to his fight with a seamonster, and his expedition to Troy , to fetch the horses which Laomedon had refused him (v. 638, xx. 145). On his return from Troy , he was cast, through the influence of Hera, on the coast of Cos , but Zeus punished Hera, and carried Heracles safely to Argos (xiv. 249, xv 18). Afterwards Heracles made war against the Pylians , and destroyed the whole family of their king Neleus, with the exception of Nestor. He destroyed many towns, and carried off Astyoche from Ephyra , by whom he became the father of Tlepolemus (v. 395, ii. 657; comp. Od xxi. 14; Soph. Trach. 239). Hesiod mentions several of the feats of Heracles distinctly, but knows nothing of their number twelve. The selection of these twelve from the great number of feats ascribed to Heracles is probably the work of the Alexandrines . They are enumerated in Euripides (Here. Fur.), Apollodorus, Diodorus Siculus, and the Greek Anthology (ii. 651), though none of them can be considered to have arranged them in any thing like a chronological order.
...the twelve labours of Heracles... (see below). According to Apollodorus, Eurystheus originally required only ten, and commanded him to perform two more, because he was dissatisfied with two of them; but Diodorus represents twelve as the original number required. Along with these labours (athloi), the ancients relate a considerable number of other feats (parerga) which he performed without being commanded by Eurystheus; some of them are interwoven with the twelve Athloi, and others belong to a later period. Those of the former kind have already been noticed above; and we now proceed to mention the principal parerga of the second class. After the accomplishment of the twelve labours, and being released from the servitude of Eurystheus, he returned to Thebes. He there gave Megara in marriage to Iolaus; for, as he had lost the children whom he had by her, he looked upon his connection with her as displeasing to the gods (Paus. x. 29), and went to Oechalia. According to some traditions, Heracles, after his return from Hades, was seized with madness, in which he killed both Megara and her children. This madness was a calamity sent to him by Hera, because he had slain Lycus, king of Thebes, who, in the belief that Heracles would not return from Hades, had attempted to murder Megara and her children (Hygin. Fab. 32; Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 38). Eurytus, king of Oechalia, an excellent archer, and the teacher of Heracles in his art, had promised his daughter Iole to the man who should excel him and his sons in using the bow. Heracles engaged in the contest with them, and succeeded, but Eurytus refused abiding by his promise, saying, that he would not give his daughter to a man who had murdered Ills own children. Iphitus, the son of Eurytus, endeavoured to persuade his father, but in vain. Soon after this the oxen of Eurytus were carried off, and it was suspected that Heracles was the offender. Iphitus again defended Heracles, went to him and requested his assistance in searching after the oxen. Heracles agreed; but when the two had arrived at Tiryns, Heracles, in a fit of madness, threw his friend down from the wall, and killed him. Deiphobus of Amyclae, indeed, purified Heracles from this murder, but he was, nevertheless, attacked by a severe illness. Heracles then repaired to Delphi to obtain a remedy, but the Pythia refused to answer his questions. A struggle between Heracles and Apollo ensued, and the combatants were not separated till Zeus sent a flash of lightning between them. Heracles now obtained the oracle that he should be restored to health, if he would sell himself, would serve three years for wages, and surrender his wages to Eurytus, as an atonement for the murder of Iphitus (Apollod. ii. 6.1, 2; Diod. iv. 31, &c.; Hom. Il. ii. 730, Od. xxi. 22, &c.; Soph. Trach. 273, &c.). Heracles was sold to Omphale, queen of Lydia, and widow of Tmolus. Late writers, especially the Roman poets, describe Heracles, during his stay with Omphale, as indulging at times in an effeminate life: he span wool, it is said, and sometimes lie put on the garments of a woman, while Omphale wore his lion's skin; but, according to Apollodorus and Diodorus, he nevertheless performed several great feats (Ov. Fast. ii. 305, Heroid. ix. 53; Senec. Hippol. 317, Herc. Fur. 464; Lucian, Dial. Deor. xiii. 2; Apollod. ii. 6. Β§ 3; Diod. iv. 31, &c.) Among these, we mention his chaining the Cercopes, his killing Syleus and his daughter in Aulis, his defeat of the plundering Idones, his killing a serpent on the river Sygaris, and his throwing the blood-thirsty Lytierses into the Maeander (Comp. Hygin. Poet. Astr. ii. 14; Schol. ad Theocrit. x. 41; Athen. x.). He further gave to the island of Doliche the name of Icaria, as he buried in it the body of Icarus, which had been washed on shore by the waves. He also undertook an expedition to Colchis, which brought him in connection with the Argonauts (Apollod. i. 9.16; Herod. vii. 193; Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. i. 1289; Anton. Lib. 26); he took part in the Calydonian hunt, and met Theseus on his landing from Troezene on the Corinthian isthmus. An expedition to India, which was mentioned in some traditions, may likewise be inserted in this place (Philostr. Vit. Apoll. iii. 4, 6; Arrian, Ind. 8, 9).
When the period of his servitude and his illness had passed away, he undertook an expedition against Troy, with 18 ships and a band of heroes. On his landing, he entrusted the fleet to Oicles, and with his other companions made an attack upon the city. Laomedon in the mean time made an attack upon the ships, and slew Oicles, but was compelled to retreat into the city, where he was besieged. Telamon was the first who forced his way into the city, which roused the jealousy of Heracles to such a degree that lie determined to kill him; but Telamon quickly collected a heap of stones, and pretended that he was building an altar to Heracles kallinikos or alexikakos. This soothed the anger of the hero; and after the sons of Laomedon had fallen, Heracles gave to Telamon Hesione, as a reward for his bravery (Hom. Il. v. 641, &c., xiv. 251, xx. 145, &c.; Apollod. ii. 6.4; Diod. iv. 32, 49; Eurip. Troad. 802, &c.).
On his return from Troy, Hera sent a storm to impede his voyage, which compelled him to land in the island of Cos. The Meropes, the inhabitants of the island, took him for a pirate, and received him with a shower of stones; but during the night he took possession of the island, and killed the king, Eurypylus. Heracles himself was wounded by Chalcodon, but was saved by Zeus. After he had ravaged Cos, he went, by the command of Athena, to Phlegra, and fought against the Gigantes (Apollod. ii. 7. Β§ 1; Hom. Il. xiv. 250, &c.; Pind. Nem. iv. 40). Respecting his fight against the giants, who were, according to an oracle, to be conquered by a mortal, see especially Eurip. Herc. Fur. 177, &c., 852, 1190, &c., 1272. Among the giants defeated by him we find mention of Alcyoneus, a name borne by two among them. (Pind. Nem. iv. 43, Isthm. vi. 47.)
Soon after his return to Argos, Heracles marched against Augeas to chastise him for his breach of promise (see above), and then proceeded to Pylos, which he took, and killed Periclymenus, a son of Neleus. He then advanced against Lacedaemon, to punish the sons of Hippocoon, for having assisted Neleus and slain Oeonus, the son of Licymnius (Paus. iii. 15.2, ii. 18.6; Apollod. ii. 7.3; Diod. iv. 33). Heracles took Lacedaemon, and assigned the government of it to Tyndarens. On his return to Tegea, he became, by Auge, the father of Telephus, and then proceeded to Calydon, where he demanded Deianeira, the daughter of Oeneus, for his wife. The adventures which now follow are of minor importance, such as the expedition against the Dryopians, and the assistance he gave to Aegimius, king of the Dorians, against the Lapithae; but as these events led to his catastrophe, it is necessary to subjoin a sketch of them.
Heracles had been married to Deianeira for nearly three years, when, at a repast in the house of Oeneus, he killed, by an accident, the boy Eunomus, the son of Architeles. The father of the boy pardoned the murder, as it had not been committed intentionally; but Heracles, in accordance with the law, went into exile with his wife Deianeira. On their road they came to the river Euenus, across which the centaur Nessus used to carry travellers for a small sum of money. Heracles himself forded the river, and gave Deianeira to Nessus to carry her across. Nessus attempted to outrage her: Heracles heard her screaming, and as the centaur brought her to the other side, Heracles shot an arrow into his heart. The dying centaur called out to Deianeira to take his blood with her, as it was a sure means for preserving the love of her husband (Apollod. ii. 7.6; Diod. iv. 36; Soph. Trach. 555, &c.; Ov. Met. ix. 201, &c.; Senec. Herc. Oct. 496, &c.; Paus. x. 38.1). From the river Euenus, Heracles now proceeded through the country of the Dryopes, where he showed himself worthy of the epithet "the voracious", which is so often given to him, especially bv late writers, for in his hunger he took one of the oxen of Theiodamas, and consumed it all. At last he arrived in Trachis, where he was kindly received by Ceyx, and conquered the Dryopes. He then assisted Aegimius, king of the Dorians, against the Lapithae, and without accepting a portion of the country which was offered to him as a reward. Laogoras, the king of the Dryopes, and his children, were slain. As Heracles proceeded to Iton, in Thessaly, he was challenged to single combat by Cycnus, a son of Ares and Pelopia (Hesiod. Scut. Her. 58, &c.); but Cycnus was slain. King Amyntor of Ormenion refused to allow Heracles to pass through his dominions, but had to pay for his presumption with his life (Apollod. ii. 7.7; Diod. iv. 36, &c.).
Heracles now returned to Trachis, and there collected an army to take vengeance on Eurytus of Oechalia. Apollodorus and Diodorus agree in making Heracles spend the last years of his life at Trachis, but Sophocles represents the matter in a very different light, for, according to him, Heracles was absent from Trachis upwards of fifteen months without Deianeira knowing where he was. During that period he was staying with Omphale in Lydia; and without returning home, he proceeded from Lydia at once to Oechalia, to gain possession of Iole, whom he loved (Soph. Track. 44, &c.; 248, &c., 351, &c.) With the assistance of his allies, Heracles took the town of Oechalia, and slew Eurytus and his sons, but carried his daughter Iole with him as a prisoner. On his return home he landed at Cenaeum, a promontory of Euboea, and erected an altar to Zeus Cenaeus, and sent his companion, Lichas, to Trachis to fetch him a white garment, which he intended to use during the sacrifice. Deiancira, who heard from Lichas respecting Iole, began to fear lost she should supplant her in the affection of her husband, to prevent which she steeped the white garment he had demanded in the preparation she had made from the blood of Nessus. Scarcely had the garment become warm on the body of Heracles, when the poison which was contained in the ointment, and had come into it from the poisoned arrow with which Heracles had killed Nessus, penetrated into all parts of his body, and caused him the most fearful pains. Heracles seized Lichas by his feet, and threw him into the sea. He wrenched off his garment, but it stuck to his flesh, and with it he tore whole pieces from his body. In this state he was conveyed to Trachis. Deianeira, on seeing what she had unwittingly done, hung herself; and Heracles commanded Hyllus, his eldest son, by Deianeira, to marry Iole as soon as he should arrive at the age of manhood. He then ascended Mount Oeta, raised a pile of wood, ascended, and ordered it to be set on fire. No one ventured to obey him, until at length Poeas the shepherd, who passed by, was prevailed upon to comply with the desire of the suffering hero. When the pile was burning, a cloud came down from heaven, and amid peals of thunder carried him into Olympus, where he was honoured with immortality, became reconciled with Hera, and married her daughter Hebe, by whom he became the father of Alexiares and Anicetus (Hom. Od. xi. 600, &c.; Hes. Theog. 949, &c.; Soph. Trach. l. c., Philoct. 802; Apollod. ii. 7.7; Diod. iv. 38; Ov. Met. ix. 155, &c.; Herod. vii. 198; Conon, Narrat. 17; Paus. iii. 18.7; Pind. Nem. i. in fin., x. 31, &c., Isthm. iv. 55, &c.; Vir. Aen. viii. 300, and many other writers).
The wives and children of Heracles are enumerated by Apollodorus (ii. 7.8), but we must refer the reader to the separate articles. We may, however, observe that among the very great number of his children, there are no daughters, and that Euripides is the only writer who mentions Macaria as a daughter of Heracles by Deianeira. We must also pass over the long series of his surnames, and proceed to give an account of his worship in Greece. Immediately after the apotheosis of Heracles, his friends who were present at the termination of his earthly career offered sacrifices to him as a hero; and Menoetius established at Opus the worship of Heracles as a hero. This example was followed by the Thebans, until at length Heracles was worshipped throughout Greece as a divinity (Diod. iv. 39; Eurip. Herc. Fur. 1331); but he, Dionysus and Pan, were regarded as the youngest gods, and his worship was practised in two ways, for he was worshipped both as a god and as a hero (Herod. ii. 44, 145). One of the most ancient temples of Heracles in Greece was that at Bura, in Achaia, where he had a peculiar oracle (Paus. vii. 25.6; Plut. de Malign. Herod. 31). In the neighbourhood of Thermopylae, where Athena, to please him, had called forth the hot spring, there was an altar of Heracles, surnamed melampugos (Schol. ad Aristoph. Nub. 1047; Herod. vii. 176); and it should be observed that hot springs in general were sacred to Heracles (Diod. v. 3; Schol. ad Pind. Ol. xii. 25; Liv. xxii. 1; Strab. pp. 60, 172, 425, 428). In Phocis he had a temple under the name of misolunes; and as at Rome, women were not allowed to take part in his worship, probably on account of his having been poisoned by Deianeira (Plut. Quaest. Rom. 57, de Pyth. Orac. 20; Macrob. Sat. i. 12). But temples and sanctuaries of Heracles existed in all parts of Greece, especially in those inhabited by the Dorians. The sacrifices offered to him consisted principally of bulls, boars, rams and lambs (Diod. iv. 39; Paus. ii. 10.1). Respecting the festivals celebrated in his honour, see Heracleia.
The worship of Hercules at Rome and in Italy requires a separate consideration. His worship there is connected by late, especially Roman writers, with the hero's expedition to fetch the oxen of Geryones; and the principal points are, that Hercules in the West abolished human sacrifices among the Sabines, established the worship of fire, and slew Cacus, a robber, who had stolen eight of his oxen (Dionys. i. 14) The aborigines, and especially Evander, honoured the hero with divine worship. (Serv. ad Aen. viii. 51, 269.) Hercules, in return, feasted the people, and presented the king with lands, requesting that sacrifices should be offered to him every year, according to Greek rites. Two distinguished families, the Potitii and Pinarii, were instructed in these Greek rites, and appointed hereditary managers of the festival. But Hercules made a distinction between these two families, which continued to exist for a long time after; for, as Pinarius arrived too late at the repast, the god punished him by declaring that lie and his descendants should be excluded for ever from the sacrificial feast. Thus the custom arose for the Pinarii to act the part of servants at the feast. (Diod. iv. 21; Dionys. i. 39, &c.; Liv. i. 40, v. 34; Nepos, Hann. 3; Plut. Quaest. Rom. 18; Ov. Fast. i. 581). The Fabia gens traced its origin to Hercules, and Fauna and Acca Laurentia are called mistresses of Hercules. In this manner the Romans connected their earliest legends with Hercules (Macrob. Sat. i. 10; August. de Civ. Dei, vi. 7). It should be observed that in the Italian traditions the hero bore the name of Recaranus, and this Recaranus was afterwards identified with the Greek Heracles. He had two temples at Rome, one was a small round temple of Hercules Victor, or Hercules Triumphalis, between the river and the Circus Maximus, in the forum boarium, and contained a statue, which was dressed in the triumphal robes whenever a general celebrated a triumph. In front of this statue was the ara maxima, on which, after a triumph, the tenth of the booty was deposited for distribution among the citizens (Liv. x. 23; Plin. H. N. xxxiv. 7, 16; Macrob. Sat. iii. 6; Tacit. Ann. xii. 24; Serv. ad Aen. xii. 24; Athen. v. 65; comp. Dionys. i. 40). The second temple stood near the porta trigemina, and contained a bronze statue and the altar on which Hercules himself was believed to have once offered a sacrifice (Dionys. i. 39, 40; Plut. Quaest. Rom. 60; Plin. H. N. xxxiii. 12, 45). Here the city praetor offered every year a young cow, which was consumed by the people within the sanctuary. The Roman Hercules was regarded as the giver of health (Lydus, de Mens. p. 92), and his priests were called by a Sabine name Cupenci (Serv. ad Aen. xii. 539). At Rome he was further connected with the Muses, whence he is called Musagetes, and was represented with a lyre, of which there is no trace in Greece. The identity of the Italian with the Greek Heracles is attested not only by the resenmblalce in the traditions and the mode of worship, but by the distinct belief of the Romans themselves. The Greek colonies had introduced his worship into Italy, and it was thence carried to Rome, into Gaul, Spain, arid even Germany (Tac. Germ. 2). But it is, nevertheless, in the highest degree probable that the Greek mythus was engrafted upon, or supplied the place of that about the Italian Recaranus or Garanus.
The works of art in which Heracles was represented were extremely numerous, and of the greatest variety, for he was represented at all the various stages of his life, from the cradle to his death; but whether he appears as a child, a youth, a struggling hero, or as the immortal inhabitant of Olympus, his character is always that of heroic strength and energy. Specimens of every kind are still extant. In the works of the archaic style he appeared as a man with heavy armour (Paus. iii. 15.7), but he is usually represented armed with a club, a Scythian bow, and a lion's skin. His head and eyes are small in proportion to the other parts of his body; his hair is short, bristly, and curly, his neck short, fat, and resembling that of a bull; the lower part of his forehead projects, and his expression is grave and serious; his shoulders, arms, breast, and legs display the highest physical strength, and the strong muscles suggest the unceasing and extraordinary exertions by which his life is characterised. The representations of Heracles by Myron and Parrhasius approached nearest to the ideal which was at length produced by Lysippus. The socalled Farnesian Heracles, of which the torso still exists, is the work of Glycon, in imitation of one by Lysippus. It is the finest representation of the hero that has come down to us: he is resting, leaning on his right arm, while the left one is reclining on his head, and the whole figure is a most exquisite combination of peculiar softness with the greatest strength.
The mythus of Heracles, as it has come down to us, has unquestionably been developed on Grecian soil; his name is Greek, and the substance of the fables also is of genuine Greek growth: the foreign additions which at a later age may have been incorporated with the Greek mythus can easily be recognised and separated from it. It is further clear that real historical elements are interwoven with the fables. The best treatises on the mythus of Heracles are those of Buttmann (Mythologus), and C. O. Muller (Dorians), both of whom regard the hero as a purely Greek character, though the former considers him as entirely a poetical creation, and the latter believes that the whole mythus arose from the proud consciousness of power which is innate in every man, by means of which he is able to raise himself to an equality with the immortal gods, notwithstanding all the obstacles that may be placed in his way.
Before we conclude, we must add a few remarks respecting the Heracles of the East, and of the Celtic and Germanic nations. The ancients themselves expressly mention several heroes of the name of Heracles, who occur among the principal nations of the ancient world. Diodorus, e.g. (iii. 73, comp. i. 24, v. 64, 76) speaks of three, the most ancient of whom was the Egyptian, a son f Zeus, the second a Cretan, and one of the Idacan Dactyls, and the third or youngest was Heracles the son of Zeus by Alcmena, who lived shortly before the Trojan war, and to whom the feats of the earlier ones were ascribed. Cicero (de Nat. Deor. iii. 16) counts six heroes of this name, and he likewise makes the last and youngest the son of Zeus and Alcmena. Varro (ap. Serv. ad Aen. viii. 564) is said to have reckoned up forty-four heroes of this name, while Servius assumes only four, viz. the Tirynthian, the Argive, the Theban, and the Libyan Heracles. Herodotus (ii. 42, &c.) tells us that he made inquiries respecting Heracles: the Egyptian he found to be decidedly older than the Greek one; but the Egyptians referred him to Phoenicia as the original source of the traditions. The Egyptian Heracles, who is mentioned by many other writers besides Herodotus and Diodorus, is said to have been called by his Egyptian name Som or Dsom, or, according to others, Chon (Etym. M. s. v. Chon), and, according to Pausanias (x. 17.2), Maceris. According to Diodorus (i. 24), Som was a son of Amon (Zeus); but Cicero calls him a son of Nilus, while, according to Ptolemaeus Hephaestion, Heracles himself was originally called Nilus. This Egyptian Heracles was placed by the Egyptians in the second of the series of the evolutions of their gods (Diod. l. c.; Herod. ii. 43, 145, iii. 73; Tac. Ann. ii. 6). The Thebans placed him 17,000 years before king Amasis, and, according to Diodorus, 10,000 years before the Trojan war; whereas Macrobius (Sat. i. 20) states that he had no beginning at all. The Greek Heracles, according to Diodorus, became the heir of all the feats and exploits of his elder Egyptian namesake. The 'Egyptian Heracles, however, is also mentioned in the second classof the kings; so that the original divinity, by a process of anthropomorphism, appears as a man, and in this capacity he bears great resemblance to the Greek hero (Diod. i. 17, 24, iii. 73). This may, indeed, be a mere reflex of the Greek traditions, but the statement that Osiris, previous to his great expedition, entrusted Heracles with the government of Egypt, seems to be a genuine Egyptian legend. The other stories related about the Egyptian Heracles are of a mysterious nature, and unintelligible, but the great veneration in which he was held is attested by several authorities (Herod. ii. 113; Diod. v. 76; Tac. Ann. ii. 60; Macrob. Sat. i. 20).
Further traces of the worship of Heracles appear in Thasus, where Herodotus (ii. 44) found a temple, said to have been built by the Phoenicians sent out in search of Europa, five generations previous to the time of the Greek Heracles. He was worshipped there principally in the character of a saviour (soter, Paus. v. 25.7, vi. 11.2).
The Cretan Heracles, one of the Idaean Dactyls, was believed to have founded the temple of Zeus at Olympia (Paus. v. 13.5), but to have originally come from Egypt (Diod. iv. 18). The traditions about him resemble those of the Greek Heracles (Diod. v. 76; Paus. ix. 27.5); but it is said that he lived at a much earlier period than the Greek hero, and that the latter only imitated him. Eusebius states that his name was Diodas, and Hieronymus makes it Desanaus. He was worshipped with funeral sacrifices, and was regarded as a magician, like other ancient daemones of Crete (Cic. de Nat. Deor. iii. 16; Diod. v. 64).
In India, also, we find a Heracles, who was called by the unintelligible name Dirsaner (Plin. H. N. vi. 16, 22; Hesych. s.v. Dorsaner). The later Greeks believed that he was their own hero, who had visited India, and related that in India he became the father of many sons and daughters by Pandaea, and the ancestral hero of the Indian kings (Arrian, Ind. 8, 9; Diod. ii. 39, xvii. 85, 96; Philostr. Vit. Apoll. iii. 46)
The Phoenician Heracles, whom the Egyptians considered to be more ancient than their own, was probably identical with the Egyptian or Libyan Heracles. See the learned disquisition in Movers (Die Phoenicier, p. 415, &c.) He was worshipped in all the Phoenician colonies, such as Carthage and Gades, down to the time of Constantine, and it is said that children were sacrificed to him (Plin. H. N. xxxvi. 5).
The Celtic and Germanic Heracles has already been noticed above, as the founder of Alesia, Nemausus, and the author of the Celtic race. We become acquainted with him in the accounts of the expedition of the Greek Heracles to Geryones (Herod. i. 7, ii. 45, 91, 113, iv. 82; Pind. Ol. iii. 11, &c.; Tacit. Germ. 3, 9). We must either suppose that the Greek Heracles was identified with native heroes of those northern countries, or that the notions about Heracles had been introduced there from the East.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Jan 2006 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Per... http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Per...
Heracles (Herakles: Latin, Hercules). Heracles is not only one of the oldest heroes in the Greek mythology, but the most famous of all. Indeed, the traditions of similar heroes in other Greek tribes, and in other nations, especially in the East, were transferred to Heracles; so that the scene of his achievements, which is, in the Homeric poems, confined on the whole to Greece, became almost coextensive with the known world; and the story of Heracles was the richest and most comprehensive of all the heroic myths.
Heracles was born in Thebes, and was the son of Zeus by Alcmene, the wife of Amphitryon, whose form the god assumed while he was absent in the war against the Teleboi. On the day which he should have been born, Zeus announced to the gods that a descendant of Perseus was about to see the light, who would hold sway over all the Perseidae. Here cunningly induced her consort to confirm his words with an oath. She hated the unborn son as the son of her rival, and hence in her capacity as the goddess of childbirth caused the queen of Sthenelus of Mycenae, a descendant of Perseus, to give birth prematurely to Eurystheus, while she postponed the birth of Heracles for seven days. Hence it was that Heracles, with his gigantic strength, came into the service of the weaker Eurystheus. Here pursued him with her hatred during the whole of his natural life. He and his twin brother Iphicles, the son of Amphitryon, were hardly born, when the goddess sent two serpents to their cradle to destroy them. Heracles seized them and strangled them. The child grew up to be a strong youth, and was taught by Amphitryon to drive a chariot, by Autolycus to wrestle, by Eurytus to shoot with the bow, and by Castor to use the weapons of war. Chiron instructed him in the sciences, Rhadamanthus in virtue and wisdom, Eumolpus (or according to another account, Linus) in music. When Linus attempted to chastise him, Heracles struck him dead with his lute. Amphitryon, accordingly, alarmed at his untamable temper, sent him to tend his flocks on Mount Cithaeron.
It was at this time, according to the Sophist Prodicus, that the event occurred which occasioned the fable of the "Choice of Heracles". Heracles was meditating in solitude as to the path of life which he should choose, when two tall women appeared before him--the one called Pleasure, the other called Virtue. Pleasure promised him a life of enjoyment, Virtue a life of toil crowned by glory. He decided for Virtue. After destroying the savage lion of Cithaeron, he returned, in his eighteenth year, to Thebes, and freed the city from the tribute which it had been forced to pay to Erginus of Orchomenus, whose heralds he deprived of their ears and noses. Creon, king of Thebes, gave him, in gratitude, his daughter Megara as wife. But it was not long before the Delphic oracle commanded him to enter the service of Eurystheus, king of Mycenae and Tiryns, and perform twelve tasks which he should impose upon him. This was the humiliation which Here had in store for him. The oracle promised him, at the same time, that he should win eternal glory, and in deed immortality, and change his present name Alcaeus (from his paternal grandfather) or Alcides (from alke, "strength") for Heracles ("renowned through Here"). Nevertheless, he fell into a fit of madness, in which he shot down the three children whom Megara had borne him. When healed of his insanity, he entered into the service of Eurystheus.
The older story says nothing of the exact number (twelve) of the labours (athloi) of Heracles. The number was apparently invented by the poet Pisander of Rhodes, who may have had in his eye the contests of the Phoenician god Melkart with the twelve hostile beasts of the Zodiac. It was also Pisander who first armed the hero with the club, and the skin taken from the lion of Cithaeron or Nemea. Heracles was previously represented as carrying bow and arrows, and the weapons of a Homeric hero.
The twelve labours of Heracles were as follows: (1) The contest with the invulnerable lion of Nemea, the offspring of Typhon and Echidna. Heracles drove it into its cavern and strangled it in his arms. With the impenetrable hide, on which nothing could make any impression but the beast's own claws, he clothed himself, the jaws covering his head. (2) The hydra or water-snake of Lerna, also a child of Typhon and Echidna. This monster lived in the marsh of Lerna, near Argos, and was so poisonous that its very breath was fatal. It had nine heads, one of which was immortal. Heracles scared it out of its lair with burning arrows, and cut off its head; but for every head cut off two new ones arose. At length Iolaus, the charioteer of Heracles and son of his brother Iphicles, seared the wounds with burning brands. Upon the immortal head he laid a heavy mass of rock. He anointed his arrows with the monster's gall, so that henceforth the wounds they inflicted were incurable. Eurystheus refused to accept this as a genuine victory, alleging the assistance offered by Iolaus. (3) The boar of Erymanthus, which infested Arcadia. Heracles had been commanded to bring it alive to Mycenae, so he chased it into an expanse of snow, tired it out, and caught it in a noose. The mere sight of the beast threw Eurystheus into such a panic that he slunk away into a tub underground and bid the hero, in future, to show the proof of his achievements outside the city gates. (4) The hind of Mount Cerynea, between Arcadia and Achaia. Another account localizes the event on Mount Maenalus, and speaks of the Maenalian hind. Its horns were of gold and its hoofs of brass, and it had been dedicated to Artemis by the Pleiad Taygete. Heracles was to take the hind alive. He followed her for a whole year up to the source of the Ister in the country of the Hyperboreans. At length she returned to Arcadia, where he wounded her with an arrow on the banks of the Ladon, and so caught her. (5) The birds that infested the lake of Stymphalus, in Arcadia. These were man-eating monsters, with claws, wings, and beaks of brass, and feathers that they shot out like arrows. Heracles scared them with a brazen rattle, and succeeded in killing part, and driving away the rest, which settled on the island of Aretias in the Black Sea, to be frightened away, after a hard fight, by the Argonauts. (6) Heracles was commanded to bring home for Admete, the daughter of Eurystheus, the girdle of Hippolyte, queen of the Amazons. After many adventures he landed at Themiscyra, and found the queen ready to give up the girdle of her own accord. But Here spread a rumour among the Amazons that their queen was in danger, and a fierce battle took place, in which Heracles slew Hippolyte and many of her followers. On his return he slew, in the neighbourhood of Troy, a sea-monster, to whose fury King Laomedon had offered up his daughter Hesione. Laomedon refused to give Heracles the reward he had promised, whereupon the latter, who was hastening to return to Mycenae, threatened him with future vengeance. (7) The farm-yard of Augeas, king of Elis, in which lay the dung of three thousand cattle, was to be cleared in a day. Heracles completed the task by turning the rivers Alpheus and Peneus into the yard. Augeas now contended that Heracles was only acting on the commission of Eurystheus, and on this pretext refused him his promised reward. Heracles slew him afterwards with all his sons, and thereupon founded the Olympian Games. (8) A mad bull had been sent up from the sea by Poseidon to ravage the island of Crete, in revenge for the disobedience of Minos. Heracles was to bring him to Mycenae alive. He caught the bull, crossed the sea on his back, threw him over his neck and carried him to Mycenae, where he let him go. The animal wandered all through the Peloponnesus and ended by infesting the neighbourhood of Marathon, where he was at length slain by Theseus. (9) Diomedes, a son of Ares, and king of the Bistones in Thrace, had some mares which he used to feed on the flesh of the strangers landing in the country. After a severe struggle, Heracles overcame the king, threw his body to the mares, and took them off to Mycenae, where Eurystheus let them go. (10) The oxen of Geryones, the son of Chrysaor and the ocean nymph Callirrhoe. Geryones was a giant with three bodies and mighty wings, who dwelt on the island of Erythea, in the farthest West, on the borders of the Ocean stream. He had a herd of red cattle, which were watched by the shepherd Eurytion and his two-headed dog Orthrus, the offspring of Typhon and Echidna. In quest of these cattle, Heracles, with many adventures, passed through Europe and Libya. On the boundary of both continents he set up, in memory of his arrival, the two pillars which bear his name, and at length reached the Ocean stream. Oppressed by the rays of the neighbouring sun, he aimed his bow at the Sungod, who marvelled at his courage, and gave him his golden bowl to cross the Ocean in. Arrived at Erythea, Heracles slew the shepherd and his dog, and drove off the cattle. Menoetius, who tended the herds of Hades in the neigbourhood, brought news to Geryones of what had happened. Geryones hurried in pursuit, but after a fierce contest fell before the arrows of Heracles. The hero returned with the cattle through Iberia, Gaul, Liguria, Italy, and Sicily, meeting everywhere with new adventures, and leaving behind him tokens of his presence. At the mouth of the Rhone he had a dreadful struggle with the Ligyes; his arrows were exhausted, and he had sunk in weariness upon his knee, when Zeus rained a shower of innumerable stones from heaven, with which he prevailed over his enemies. The place was ever after a stony desert plain, and was identified with the Campus Lapidosus near Massilia (Marseilles). Heracles had made the circuit of the Adriatic and was just nearing Greece, when Here sent a gadfly and scattered the herd. With much toil he wandered through the mountains of Thrace as far as the Hellespont, but then only succeeded in getting together a part of the cattle. After a dangerous adventure with the giant Alcyoneus, he succeeded at length in returning to Mycenae, where Eurystheus offered up the cattle to Here. (11) The golden apples of the Hesperides. Heracles was ignorant where the gardens of the Hesperides were to be found in which the apples grew. He accordingly repaired to the nymphs who dwelt by the Eridanus, on whose counsel he surprised Nereus, the omniscient god of the sea, and compelled him to give an answer. On this he journeyed through Libya, Egypt, and Ethiopia, where he slew Antaeus, Busiris, and Emathion. He then crossed to Asia, passed through the Caucasus, where he set Prometheus free, and on through the land of the Hyperboreans till he found Atlas. Following the counsel of Prometheus, he sent Atlas to bring the apples, and in his absence bore the heavens for him on his shoulders. Atlas returned with them, but declined to take his burden upon his shoulders again, promising to carry the apples to Eurystheus himself. Heracles consented, and asked Atlas to take the burden only a moment, while he adjusted a cushion for his head; he then hurried off with his prize. Another account represents Heracles as slaying the serpent Ladon, who guarded the tree, and plucking the apples himself. Eurystheus presented him with the apples; he dedicated them to Athene, who restored them to their place. (12) Last he brought the dog Cerberus up from the lower world. This was the heaviest task of all. Conducted by Hermes and Athene, he descended into Hades at the promontory of Taenarum. In Hades he set Theseus free, and induced the prince of the infernal regions to let him take the dog to the realms of day, if only he could do so without using his weapons. Heracles bound the beast by the mere strength of arm, and carried him to Eurystheus, and took him back again into Hades. While in the upper world the dog, in his disgust, spat upon the ground, causing the poisonous herb aconite to spring up.
His tasks were now ended, and he returned to Thebes. His first wife, Megara, he wedded to his faithful friend Iolaus, and then journeyed into Oechalia to King Eurytus, whose daughter Iole he meant to woo. The king's son Iphitus favoured his suit, but Eurytus rejected it with contempt. Soon after this Autolycus stole some of Eurytus's cattle, and he accused Heracles of the robbery. Meanwhile, Heracles had rescued Alcestis, the wife of Admetus, from death. Iphitus met Heracles, begged him to help him in looking for the stolen cattle, and accompanied him to Tiryns. Here, after hospitably entertaining him, Heracles threw him, in a fit of madness, from the battlements of his stronghold. A heavy sickness was sent on him for this murder, and Heracles prayed to the god of Delphi to heal him. Apollo rejected him, whereupon Heracles attempted to carry away the tripod. A conflict ensued, when Zeus parted the combatants with his lightning. The oracle bade Heracles to hire himself out for three years for three talents, and pay the money to Eurytus. Hermes put him into the service of Omphale, queen of Lydia, daughter of Iardanus, and widow of Tmolus. Heracles was degraded to female drudgery, was clothed in soft raiment and set to spin wool, while the queen assumed the lion skin and the club. The time of service over, he undertook an expedition of vengeance against Laomedon of Troy. He landed on the coast of the Troad with eighteen ships, manned by the boldest of heroes, such as Telamon, Peleus, and Oicles. Laomedon succeeded in surprising the guard by the ships and in slaying Oicles. But the city was stormed, Telamon being the first to climb the wall, and Laomedon, with all his sons except Podarces, was slain by the arrows of Heracles. On his return Here sent a tempest upon him. On the island of Cos he had a hard conflict to undergo with Eurytion, the son of Poseidon, and his sons. Heracles was at first wounded and forced to fly, but prevailed at length with the help of Zeus.
After this Athene summoned the hero to the battle of the gods with the giants, who were not to be vanquished without his aid. Then Heracles returned to the Peloponnesus, and took vengeance on Augeas and on Neleus of Pylos, who had refused to purify him for the murder of Iphitus. In the battle with the Pylians he went so far as to wound Hades, who had come up to their assistance. Hippocoon of Sparta and his numerous sons he slew in revenge for their murder of Oeonus, a son of his maternal uncle Licymnius. In this contest his ally was King Cepheus of Tegea, by whose sister Auge he was father of Telephus. Cepheus with his twenty sons were left dead on the field.
Heracles now won as his wife Deianira, the daughter of Oeneus of Calydon. He remained a long time with his father-in-law, and at length, with his wife and his son Hyllus, he passed on into Trachis to the hospitality of his friend Ceyx. At the ford of the river Evenus he encountered the Centaur Nessus, who had the right of carrying travellers across. Nessus remained behind and attempted to do violence to Deianira, upon which Heracles shot him through with his poisoned arrows. The dying Centaur gave some of his infected blood to Deianira, telling her that, should her husband be unfaithful, it would be a means of restoring him. Heracles had a stubborn contest with Theodamas, the king of the Dryopes, killed him, and took his son Hylas away. He then reached Trachis, and was received with the friendliest welcome by King Ceyx. Next he started to fight with Cycnus, who had challenged him to single combat; and afterwards, at the request of Aegimius, prince of the Dorians, undertook a war against the Lapithae, and an expedition of revenge against Eurytus of Oechalia. He stormed the fortress, slew Eurytus with his sons, and carried off Iole, who had formerly been denied him, as his prisoner. He was about to offer a sacrifice to his father Zeus on Mount Cenaeum, when Deianira, jealous of Iole, sent him a robe stained with the blood of Nessus. It had hardly grown warm upon his body when the dreadful poison began to devour his flesh. Wild with anguish, he hurled Lichas, who brought him the robe, into the sea, where he was changed into a tall cliff. In the attempt to tear off the robe, he only tore off pieces of his flesh. Apollo bade him be carried to the top of Oeta, where he had a great funeral pyre built up for him. This he ascended; then he gave Iole to his son Hyllus to be his wife, and bade Poeas, the father of Philoctetes, to kindle the pyre. According to another story, it was Philoctetes himself, whom Heracles presented with his bow and poisoned arrows, who performed this office. The flames had hardly started up, when a cloud descended from the sky with thunder and lightning, and carried the son of Zeus up to heaven, where he was welcomed as one of the immortals. Here was reconciled to him, and he was wedded to her daughter Hebe, the goddess of eternal youth. Their children were Alexiares ("Averter of the Curse") and Anicetus ("the Invincible"), the names merely personifying two of the main qualities for which the hero was worshipped.
About the end of Heracles nothing is said in the Iliad but that he, the best-loved of Zeus's sons, did not escape death, but was overcome by fate, and by the heavy wrath of Here. In the Odyssey his ghost, in form like black night, walks in the lower world with his bow bent and his arrows ready, while the hero himself dwells among the immortals, the husband of Hebe. For the lives of his children, and the end of Eurystheus, see Hyllus.
Heracles was worshipped partly as a hero, to whom men brought the ordinary libations and offerings, and partly as an Olympian deity, an immortal among the immortals. Immediately after his apotheosis his friends offered sacrifice to him at the place of burning, and his worship spread from thence through all the tribes of Hellas. Diomus the son of Colyttus, an Athenian, is said to have been the first who paid him the honours of an immortal. It was he who founded the gymnasium called Cynosarges, near the city. This gymnasium, the sanctuary at Marathon, and the temple at Athens were the three most venerable shrines of Heracles in Attica. Diomus gave his name to the Diomeia, a merry festival held in Athens in honour of Heracles. Feasts to Heracles (Herakleia), with athletic contests, were celebrated in many places. He was the hero of labour and struggle, and the patron deity of the gymnasium and the palaestra. From early times he was regarded as having instituted the Olympic Games; as the founder of the Olympic sanctuaries and the Olympic truce, the planter of the shady groves, and the first competitor and victor in the contests. During his earthly life he had been a helper of gods and men, and had set the earth free from monsters and rascals. Accordingly he was invoked in all the perils of life as the saviour (soter) and the averter of evil (alexikakos). Men prayed for his protection against locusts, flies, and noxious serpents. He was a wanderer, and had travelled over the whole world; therefore he was called on as the guide on marches and journeys (hegemonios). In another character he was the glorious conqueror (kallinikos) who, after his toils are over, enjoys his rest with wine, feasting, and music. Indeed, the fable represents him as having, in his hours of repose, given as striking proofs of inexhaustible bodily power as in his struggles and contests. Men liked to think of him as an enormous eater, capable of devouring a whole ox; as a lusty boon companion, fond of delighting himself and others by playing the lyre. In Rome, as Hercules, he was coupled with the Muses, and, like Apollo elsewhere, was worshipped as Mousagetes (Hercules Musarum), or master of the Muses. After his labours he was supposed to have been fond of hot baths (thermai) which were accordingly deemed sacred to him. Among trees, the wild olive and white poplar were consecrated to him; the poplar he was believed to have brought from distant countries to Olympia.
Owing to the influence of the Greek colonies in Italy, the worship of Heracles was widely diffused among the Italian tribes. It attached itself to local legends and religion; the conqueror of Cacus, for instance, was originally not Heracles, but a powerful shepherd called Garanos. Again, Heracles came to be identified with the ancient Italian deity Sancus or Dius Fidius, and was regarded as the god of happiness in home and field, industry and war, as well as of truth and honour. His altar was the Ara Maxima in the cattle-market (Forum Boarium), which he was believed to have erected himself. Here they dedicated to him a tithe of their gains in war and peace, ratified solemn treaties, and invoked his name to witness their oaths. He had many shrines and sacrifices in Rome, corresponding to his various titles, Victor (Conqueror), Invictus (Unconquered), Custos (Guardian), Defensor (Defender), and others. His rites were always performed in Greek fashion, with the head covered. It was in his temple that soldiers and gladiators were accustomed to hang up their arms when their service was over. In the stonequarries the labourers had their Hercules Saxarius (Hercules of the Stone). He was called the father of Latinus, the ancestor of the Latins, and to him the Roman gens of the Fabii traced their origin. The ancient family of the Potitii were said to have been commissioned by the god in person to provide, with the assistance of the Pinarii, for his sacrifices at the Ara Maxima. In B.C. 310 the Potitii gave the service into the hands of the servi publici. Before a year had passed [p. 794] the flourishing family had become completely extinct.
In works of art Heracles is represented as the ideal of manly strength, with full, well knit, and muscular limbs, serious expression, a curling beard, short neck, and a head small in proportion to the limbs. His equipment is generally the club and the lion's skin. The type appears to have been mainly fixed by Lysippus. The Farnese Hercules, by the Athenian Glycon, is probably a copy of one by Lysippus. Heracles is portrayed in repose, leaning on his club, which is covered with the lion's skin. The Heracles of the Athenian Apollonius, now only a torso, is equally celebrated.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Perseus: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898)
http://plato-dialogues.org/tools/char/heracles.htm...
The Labors of Hercules
The goddess Hera, determined to make trouble for Hercules, made him lose his mind. In a confused and angry state, he killed his own wife and children.
When he awakened from his "temporary insanity," Hercules was shocked and upset by what he'd done. He prayed to the god Apollo for guidance, and the god's oracle told him he would have to serve Eurystheus, the king of Tiryns and Mycenae, for twelve years, in punishment for the murders.
As part of his sentence, Hercules had to perform twelve Labors, feats so difficult that they seemed impossible. Fortunately, Hercules had the help of Hermes and Athena, sympathetic deities who showed up when he really needed help. By the end of these Labors, Hercules was, without a doubt, Greece's greatest hero.
His struggles made Hercules the perfect embodiment of an idea the Greeks called pathos, the experience of virtuous struggle and suffering which would lead to fame and, in Hercules' case, immortality.
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/t/twelve_labors.h...
Alcmene (Alkmene), a daughter of Electryon, king of Messene, by Anaxo, the daughter of Alcaeus (Apollod. ii. 4.5). According to other accounts her mother was called Lysidice (Schol. ad Pind. Ol. vii. 49; Plut. Thes. 7), or Eurydice (Diod. iv. 9). The poet Asius represented Alcmene as a daughter of Amphiaraus and Eriphyle (Paus. v. 17.4). Apollodorus mentions ten brothers of Alcmene, who, with the exception of one, Licymnius, fell in a contest with the sons of Pterelaus, who had carried off the cattle of Electryon. Electryon, on setting out to avenge the death of his sons, left his kingdom and his daughter Alcmene to Amphitryon, who, unintentionally, killed Electryon. Sthenelus thereupon expelled Amphitryon, who, together with Alcmene and Licymnius, went to Thebes . Alcmene declared that she would marry him who should avenge the death of her brothers. Amphitryon undertook the task, and invited Creon of Thebes to assist him.
During his absence, Zeus, in the disguise of Amphitryon, visited Alcmene, and, pretending to be her husband, related to her in what way he had avenged the death of her brothers (Apollod. ii. 4.6--8; Ov. Amor. i. 13. 45; Diod. iv. 9; Hygin. Fab. 29; Lucian, Dialog. Deor. 10). When Amphitryon himself returned on the next day and wanted to give an account of his achievements, she was surprised at the repetition, but Teiresias solved the mystery. Alcmene became the mother of Heracles by Zeus, and of Iphicles by Amphitryon. Hera, jealous of Alcmene, delayed the birth of Heracles for seven days, that Eurystheus might be born first, and thus be entitled to greater rights, according to a vow of Zeus himself (Hom. Il. xix. 95; Ov. Met. ix. 273; Diod. l. c). After the death of Amphitryon, Alcmene married Rhadamanthys, a son of Zeus, at Ocaleia in Boeotia (Apollod. ii. 4.11). After Heracles was raised to the rank of a god, Alcmene and his sons, in dread of Eurystheus fled to Trachis , and thence to Athens , and when Hyllus had cut off the head of Eurystheus, Alcmene satisfied her revenge by picking the eyes out of the head (Apollod. ii. 8.1).
The accounts of her death are very discrepant. According to Pausanias (i. 41.1), she died in Megaris , on her way from Argos to Thebes , and as the sons of Heracles disagreed as to whether she was to be carried to Argos or to Thebes , she was buried in the place where she had died at the command of an oracle. According to Plutarch (De Gen. Socr. p. 578), her tomb and that of Rhadamanthys were at Haliartus in Boeotia , and hers was opened by Agesilaus, for the purpose of carrying her remains to Sparta . According to Pherecydes (Cap. Anton. Lib. 33), she lived with her sons, after the death of Eurystheus, at Thebes , and died there at an advanced age. When the sons of Heracles wished to bury her, Zeus sent Hermes to take her body away, and to carry it to the islands of the blessed, and give her in marriage there to Rhadamanthys. Hermes accordingly took her out of her coffin, and put into it a stone so heavy that the Heraclids could not move it from the spot. When, on opening the coffin, they found the stone, they erected it in a grove near Thebes , which in later times contained the sanctuary of Alcmene (Paus. ix. 16.4). At Athens , too, she was worshipped as a heroine, and an altar was erected to her in the temple of Heracles (Cynosarges, Paus. i. 19.3). She was represented on the chest of Cypselus (Paus. v. 1 8.1), and epic as swell as tragic poets made frequent use of her story, though no poem of the kind is now extant (Hes. Scut. Herc. init.; Paus. v. 17.4, 18.1).
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited April 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology (ed. William Smith)
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Per...
Heracles & Megara
Megara was the daughter of the king of Thebes Creon and was the wife of Heracles (Od. 11.268).
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=...
Heracles & Deianeira
Hercules married a second wife, Deianira, the daughter of king Oeneus of Calydon and Althaea (see more at ancient Calydon )
Perseus Project digital library
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Herakles/deianira.htm...
Deianeira, A daughter of Althaea by Oeneus, Dionysus, or Dexamenus (Apollod. i. 8.1; Hygin. Fab. 31, 33), and a sister of Meleager. When Meleager died, his sisters lamented his death at his grave; Artemis in her anger touched them with her staff, and changed them into birds, with the exception of Deianeira and Gorge, who were allowed, by the solicitation of Dionysus, to retain their human forms. (Antonin. Lib. 2.) Subsequently Achelous and Heracles, who both loved Deianeira, fought for the possession of her. She became the wife of Heracles, and afterwards unwittingly caused his death, whereupon she hung herself. (Apollod. ii. 7.5, 6.7; Diod. iv. 34)
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Heracles & Hebe
After Heracles died and ascended to the Mount Olympus, he married to Hebe, who was the daughter of Zeus by Here and was worshipped as the goddess of eternal youth (Od. 11.603). Hebe, before the abduction of Ganymedes, was also the cup-bearer and handmaiden of the gods (Il. 4.2, 5.722, 905).
Perseus: Homer, Odyssey
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Hebe. Daughter of Zeus and Here, and goddess of eternal youth. She was represented as the handmaiden of the gods, for whom she pours out their nectar, and the consort of Heracles after his apotheosis. She was worshipped with Heracles in Sicyon and Phlius, especially under the name Ganymede or Dia. She was represented as freeing men from chains and bonds, and her rites were celebrated with unrestrained merriment. The Romans identified Hebe with Iuventas, the personification of youthful manhood. As representing the eternal youth of the Roman State, Iuventas had a chapel on the Capitol in the front court of the Temple of Minerva, and in later times a temple of her own in the city. It was to Iupiter and Iuventas that boys offered prayer on the Capitol when they put on the toga virilis, putting a piece of money into their treasury.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited April 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Perseus: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898)
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Hebe, the personification of youth, is described as a daughter of Zeus and Hera (Apollod. i. 3.1), and is, according to the Iliad (iv. 2), the minister of the gods, who fills their cups with nectar; she assists Hera in putting the horses to her chariot (v. 722); and she bathes and dresses her brother Ares (v. 905). According to the Odyssey (xi. 603; comp. Hes. Theog. 950), she was married to Heracles after his apotheosis. Later traditions, however, describe her as having become by Heracles the mother of two sons, Alexiares and Anticetus (Apollod. ii. 7.7), and as a divinity who had it in her power to make persons of an advanced age young again (Ov. Met. ix. 400, &c.). She was worshipped at Athens, where she had an altar in the Cynosarges, near one of Heracles (Paus. i. 19.3). Under the name of the female Ganymedes (Ganymeda) or Dia, she was worshipped in a sacred grove at Sicyon and Phlius. (Paus. ii. 13.3; Strab. viii.)
At Rome the goddess was worshipped under the corresponding name of Juventas, and that at a very early time, for her chapel on the Capitol existed before the temple of Jupiter was built there; and she, as well as Terminus, is said to have opposed the consecration of the temple of Jupiter (Liv. v. 54). Another temple of Juventas, in the Circus Maximus, was vowed by the consul M. Livius, after the defeat of Hasdrubal, in B. C. 207, and was consecrated 16 years afterwards (Liv. xxxvi. 36 ; comp. xxi. 62; Dionys. iv. 15, where a temple of Juventas is mentioned as early as the reign of Servius Tullius; August. de Civ. Dei, iv. 23; Plin. H. N. xxix. 4, 14, xxxv. 36, 22).
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Dec 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Heracles (Tragedy by Euripides)
Editor’s Information:
About Heracles, Euripides wrote the homonymous tragedy, of which the e-text(s) is (are) found in Greece (ancient country) under the category Ancient Greek Writings.
Trachiniae (Tragedy by Sophocles)
Editor’s Information:
The story of Deianira and Hercules became the subject of one of Sophocles' tragic plays, Trachiniae (The Women of Trachis), of which the e-text(s) is (are) found in Greece (ancient country) under the category Ancient Greek Writings.
Personifications
Linus, the personification of a dirge
Linus (Linos), the personification of a dirge or lamentation, and therefore described as a son of Apollo by a Muse (Calliope, or by Psamathe or Chalciope, Apollod. i. 3.2; Paus. i. 43.7, ii. 19.7; Eustath. ad Hom), or of Amphimarus by Urania (Paus. ix. 29.3). Respecting his mother Psamathe, the story runs thus:
When she had given birth to Linus she exposed the child. He was found by shepherds, who brought him up, but the child was afterwards torn to pieces by dogs. Psamathe's grief at the occurrence betrayed her misfortune to her father, who condemned her to death. Apollo, in his indignation at the father's cruelty, visited Argos with a plague, and when his oracle was consulted about the means of averting the plague, he answered that the Argives must propitiate Psamathe and Linus. This was attempted by means of sacrifices, and matrons and virgins sang dirges which were called linoi, and the month in which this solemnity was celebrated was called arneios, and the festival itself arnis, because Linus had grown up among lambs. The pestilence, however, did not cease until Crotopus quitted Argos and settled at Tripodisium , in Megaris (Conon. Narrat. 19; Paus. i. 43. Β§ 7; Athen. iii. p. 99).
According to a Boeotian tradition Linus was killed by Apollo, because he had ventured upon a musical contest with the god (Paus. ix. 29.3; Eustath. ad Hom.), and near Mount Helicon his image stood in a hollow rock, formed in the shape of a grotto; and every year before sacrifices were offered to the Muses, a funeral sacrifice was offered to him, and dirges (linoi) were sung in his honour. His tomb was claimed both by the city of Argos and by Thebes (Paus. l. c., comp. ii. 19.7); but after the battle of Chaeroneia , Philip of Macedonia was said to have carried away the remains of Linus from Thebes to Macedonia . Subsequently, however, the king was induced by a dream to send the remains back to Thebes . Chalcis in Euboea likewise boasted of possessing the tomb of Linus, the inscription of which is preserved by Diogenes Laertius (Prooem. 4; comp. Suid. s. v. Linos).
Being regarded as a son of Apollo and a Muse, he is said to have received from his father the three-stringed lute, and is himself called the inventor of new melodies, of dirges (Drenoi), and of songs in general. Hesiod (ap. Clem. Alex. Strom. i. p. 330) even calls him pantoies sophies dedaekos. It is probably owing to the difficulty of reconciling the different mythuses about Linus, that the Thebans (Paus. ix. 29) thought it necessary to distinguish between an earlier and later Linus; the latter is said to have instructed Heracles in music, but to have been killed by the hero (comp. Apollod. ii. 4.9; Theocrit. xxiv. 103; Diodor. iii. 67; Athen. iv). In the time of the Alexandrine grammarians people even went so far as to look upon Linus as an historical personage, and to consider him, like Musaeus, Orpheus, and others, as the author of apocryphal works (Diodor. iii. 66), in which he described the exploits of Dionysus; Diogenes Laertius (Prooem. 3), who calls him a son of Hermes and Urania, ascribes to him several poetical productions, such as a cosmogony on the course of the sun and moon, on the generation of animals and fruits, and the like.
The principal places in Greece which are the scenes of the legends about Linus are Argos and Thebes , and the legends themselves bear a strong resemblance to those about Hyacynthus, Narcissus, Glaucus, Adonis, Maneros, and others, all of whom are conceived as handsome and lovely youths, and either as princes or as shepherds. They are the favourites of the gods; and in the midst of the enjoyment of their happy youth, they are carried off by a sudden or violent death; but their remembrance is kept alive by men, who celebrate their memory in dirges and appropriate rites, and seek the vanished youths generally about the middle of summer, but in vain. The feeling which seems to have given rise to the stories about these personages, who form a distinct class by themselves in Greek mythology, is deeply felt grief at the catastrophes observable in nature, which dies away under the influence of the burning sun (Apollo) soon after it has developed all its fairest beauties. Those popular dirges, therefore, originally the expression of grief at the premature death of nature through the heat of the sun, were transformed into lamentations of the deaths of youths, and were sung on certain religious occasions. They were afterwards considered to have been the productions of the very same youths whose momory was celebrated in them. The whole class of songs of this kind was called Drenoi oiktoi, and the most celebrated and popular among them was the linos, which appears to have been popular even in the days of Homer (il. xviii. 569, with the Schol).
Pamphos, the Athenian, and Sappho, sang of Linus under the name of Oetolinus (oitos Linou, i. e. the death of Linus, Paus. ix. 29.3); and the tragic poets, in mournful choral odes, often use the form ailinos (Aeschyl. Agam. 121; Soph. Ajax, 627 ; Eurip. Phoen. 1535, Orest. 1380), which is a compound of at, the interjection, and Line. As regards the etymology of Linus, Welcker regards it as formed from the mournful interjection, li, while others, on the analogy of Hyacinthus and Narcissus, consider Linus to have originally been the name of a flower (a species of narcissus). (Phot. Lex. p. 224, ed. Pors.; Eustath. ad Hom.; compare in general Ambrosch, De Lino, Berlin, 1829, 4to; Welcker, Kleine Schriften, i. p. 8; E. v. Lasaulx, Ueber die Linosklage, Wiirzburg, 1842, 4to.)
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This is the hymn for a slain youth (said to typify the departure of early summer), Thammuz, Atys, Hylas, or Linus; the Semitic refrain ai lenu, "alas for us," becomes the Greek ailinos, from which comes the name Linus.
The Greek Linus corresponds to Adonis, the Syrian Tammuz (cf. Ezek. viii. 14 'the women weeping for Tammuz?), the Lydian Atys, the Mysian Hylas; cf. H.'s remark 'his name varies from tribe to tribe'. All these were conceived of as beautiful young men, beloved of the goddess, and perishing untimely. The story is said to be a sun-myth (Sayce, s.v. 'Tammuz' in Hastings's Dictionary). Frazer, however (G. B. ii. 115 seq.), with more probability, says it represents 'the death and resurrection of vegetation'. For the connexion of the reaper's song with the myth cf. ib. pp. 253-8. If Frazer is right in explaining the story of Osiris (ii. 137 seq.) in the same way, it is only natural that Linus-Maneros should have been introduced into the Osiris myth (cf. Plut. I. et O. c. 17). For Adonis worship, which was especially a female cult, cf. Theocr. Id. 15 and Milton, P. L. i. 446 seq., of Tammuz
Whose annual wound in Lebanon allured
The Syrian damsels to lament his fate
In amorous ditties all a summer's day.
Linus, who was worshipped in Argos, was said to be the son of Urania, killed by Apollo from jealousy of his voice (Paus. ix. 29. 6-7); but there are other versions of the story. The name is as old as Homer (Il. xviii. 570), who makes it a reaper's song. In Hesiod (fr. 132) it has a wider extension; he says of aoidoi:
pantes men threnousin en eilapinais te chorois te,
archomenoi de Linon kai legontes kaleousi.
It is said to be the Eastern cry, 'woe unto us,' raised at the festival; the Greeks first borrowed this as ailinon (cf. Soph. Aj. 627), and then, by a mistaken etymology, interpreted it as 'alas for Linus'.
Herodotus, The Histories (ed. A. D. Godley)
Territories - Kingdoms
Diomedes' dominion at the Trojan War
The men of Argos, again, and those who held the walls of Tiryns, with Hermione, and Asine upon the gulf; Trozen, Eionae, and the vineyard lands of Epidaurus; the Achaean youths, moreover, who came from Aegina and Mases; these were led by Diomedes of the loud battle-cry, and Sthenelos son of famed Kapaneus. With them in command was Euryalos, son of king Mekisteus, son of Talaos; but Diomedes was chief over them all. With these there came eighty ships.
Perseus: Homer, Iliad
Greek leaders in the Trojan War
Diomedes & Aegialea
The leader of Argives with 80 ships in the Trojan war, one of the Epigoni, son of Tydeus, husband of Aegialeia, the daughter of Adrastus (Il. 23.470, 5.412, 2.567).
Perseus: Homer, Iliad
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Diomedes. A son of Tydeus and Deipyle, the husband of Aegialeia, and the successor of Adrastus in the kingdom of Argos, though he was descended from an Aetolian family (Apollod. i. 8.5). The Homeric tradition about him is as follows: His father Tydeus fell in the expedition against Thebes , while Diomedes was yet a boy (II. vi. 222); but he himself afterwards was one of the Epigoni who took Thebes (II. iv. 405; comp. Paus. ii. 20.4). Diomedes went to Troy with Sthenelus and Euryalus, carrying with him in eighty ships warriors from Argos, Tiryns , Hermione , Asine , Troezene , Eionae, Epidaurus , Aegina , and Mases (ii. 559). In the army of the Greeks before Troy , Diomedes was, next to Achilles, the bravest among the heroes; and, like Achilles and Odysseus, he enjoyed the special protection of Athena, who assisted him in all dangerous moments (v. 826, vi. 98, x. 240, xi. 312; comp. Virg. Aen. i. 96). He fought with the most distinguished among the Trojans, such as Hector and Aeneias (viii. 110, v. 310), and even with the gods who espoused the cause of the Trojans. He thus wounded Aphrodite, and drove her from the field of battle (v. 335, 440), and Ares himself was likewise wounded by him (v. 837). Diomedes was wounded by Pandareus, whom, however, he afterwards slew with many other Trojans (v. 97). In the attack of the Trojans on the Greek camp. he and Odysseus offered a brave resistance, but Diomedes was wounded and returned to tile ships (xi. 320). He wore a cuirass made by Hephaestus, but sometimes also a lion's skin (viii. 195, x. 177). At the funeral games of Patroclus he conquered in the chariot-race, and received a woman and a tripod as his prize (xxiii. 373). He also conquered the Telamonian Ajax in single combat, and won the sword which Achilles had offered as the prize (xxiii. 811). He is described in the Iliad in general as brave in war and wise in council (ix. 53), in battle furious like a mountain torrent, and the terror of the Trojans, whom he chases before him, as a lion chases goats (v. 87, xi. 382). He is strong like a god (v. 884), and the Trojan women during their sacrifice to Athena pray to her to break his spear and to make him fall (vi. 306). He himself knows no fear, and refuses his consent when Agamemnon proposes to take to flight, and he declares that, if all flee, he and his friend Sthenelus will stay and fight till Troy shall fill (ix. 32, comp. vii. 398, viii. 151: Philostr. Her. 4).
The story of Diomedes, like those of other heroes of the Trojan time, has received various additions and embellishments from the hands of later writers, of which we shall notice the principal ones. After the expedition of the Epigoni he is mentioned among the suitors of Helen (Hygin. Fab. 81; Apollod. iii. 10.8), and his love of Helen induced him to join the Greeks in their expedition against Troy with 30 ships (Hygin. Fab. 97). Being a relative of Thersites, who was slain by Achilles, he did not permit the body of the Amazon Penthesileia to be honourably buried, but dragged her by the feet into the river Scamander (Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 993 ; Dict. Cret. iv. 3). Philoctetes was persuaded by Diomedes and Odysseus to join the Greeks against Troy (Soph. Philoct. 570; Hygin. Fab. 102). Diomedes conspired with Odysseus against Palamedes, and under the pretence of having discovered a hidden treasure, they let him down into a well and there stoned him to death (Dict. Cret. ii. 15; comp. Paus. x. 31.1). After the death of Paris, Diomedes and Odysseus were sent into the city of Troy to negotiate for peace (Dict. Cret. v. 4), but he was afterwards one of the Greeks concealed in the wooden horse (Hygin. Fab. 108). When he and Odysseus had arrived in the arx of Troy by a subterraneous passage, they slew the guards and carried away the palladium (Virg. Aen. ii. 163), as it was believed that Ilium could not be taken so long as the palladium was within its walls. When, during the night, the two heroes were returning to the camp with their precious booty, and Odysseus was walking behind him, Diomedes saw by the shadow of his companion that he was drawing his sword in order to kill him, and thus to secure to himself alone the honour of having taken the palladium. Diomedes, however, turned round, seized the sword of Odysseus, tied his hands, and thus drove him along before him to the camp (Eustath. ad Hom. p. 822). Diomedes, according to some, carried the palladium with him to Argos, where it remained until Ergiaeus, one of his descendants, took it away with the assistance of the Laconian Leagrus, who conveyed it to Sparta (Plut. Quaest. Graec. 48). According to others, Diomedes was robbed of the palladium by Demophon in Attica , where he landed one night on his return from Troy , without knowing where he was (Paus. ii. 28.9). A third tradition stated, that Diomedes restored the palladium and the remains of Anchises to Aeneias, because he was informed by an oracle, that he should be exposed to unceasing sufferings unless lie restored the sacred image to the Trojans (Serv. ad Aen. ii. 166, iii. 407, iv, 427, v. 81).
On his return from Troy , he had like other heroes to suffer much from the enmity of Aphrodite, but Athena still continued to protect him. He was first thrown by a storm on the coast of Lycia , where lie was to be sacrificed to Ares by king Lycus; but Callirrhoe, the king's daughter, took pity upon him, and assisted him in escaping (Plut. Parall. Gr. et Rom. 23). On his arrival in Argos lie met with an evil reception which had been prepared for him either by Aphrodite or Nauplius, for his wife Aegialeia was living in adultery with Hippolytus, or according to others, with Cometes or Cyllabarus (Dict. Cret. vi. 2; Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 609; Serv. ad Aen. viii. 9). He therefore quitted Argos either of his own accord, or he was expelled by the adulterers (Tzetz. ad Lyc. 602), and went to Aetolia . His going to Aetolia and the subsequent recovery of Argos are placed in some traditions immediately after the war of the Epigoni, and Diomedes is said to have gone with Alcmaeon to assist his grandfather Oeneus in Aetolia against his enemies. During the absence of Diomedes, Agamemnon took possession of Argos; but when the expedition against Troy was resolved upon, Agamemnon from fear invited Diomedes and Alcmaeon back to Argos, and asked them to take part in the projected expedition. Diomedes alone accepted the proposal, and thus recovered Argos (Strab. vii, x; comp. Hygin. Fab. 175; Apollod. i. 8.6; Paus. ii. 25.2). According to another set of traditions, Diomedes did not go to Aetolia till after his return from Troy , when he was expelled from Argos, and it is said that he went first to Corinth ; but being informed there of the distress of Oeneus, he hastened to Aetolia to assist him. Diomedes conquered and slew the enemies of his grandfather, and then took up his residence in Aetolia (Dict. Cret. vi. 2). Other writers make him attempt to return to Argos, but on his way home a storm threw him on the coast of Daunia in Italy. Daunus, the king of the country, received him kindly, and solicited his assistance in a war against the Messapians. He promised in return to give him a tract of land and the hand of his daughter Euippe. Diomedes defeated the Messapians, and distributed their territory among the Dorians who had accompanied him In Italy. Diomedes gave up his hostility against the Trojans, and even assisted them against Turnus (Paus. i. 11; Serv. ad Aen. viii. 9). He died in Daunia at an advanced age, and was buried in one of the islands off cape Garganus, which were called after him the Diomedean islands. Subsequently, when Daunus too had died, the Dorians were conquered by the Illyrians, but were metamorphosed by Zeus into birds (Anton. Lib. 37; comp. Tzetz. ad Lyc. 602, 618). According to Tzetzes, Diomedes was murdered by Daunus, whereas according to others he returned to Argos, or disappeared in one of the Diomedean islands, or in the country of the Heneti (Strab. vi. p. 284). A number of towns in the eastern part of Italy, such as Beneventum, Aequumtuticum, Argos Hippion (afterwards Argyripa or Arpi) , Venusia or Aphrodisia, Canusium , Venafrum, Salapia , Spina , Sipus, Garganum, and Brundusium , were believed to have been founded by Diomedes (Serv. ad Aen viii. 9, xi. 246; Strab. vi. pp. 283, 284; Plin-H. N. iii. 20; Justin, xii. 2). The worship and service of gods and heroes was spread by Diomedes far and wide: in and near Argos he caused temples of Athena to be built (Plut. de Flum. 18; Paus. ii. 24.2); his armour was preserved in a temple of Athena at Luceria in Apulia , and a gold chain of his was shown in a temple of Artemis in Peucetia. At Troezene he had founded a temple of Apollo Epibaterius, and instituted the Pythian games there. He himself was subsequently worshipped as a divine being, especially in Italy, where statues of him existed at Argyripa , Metapontum , Thurii , and other places (Schol. ad Pind. Nem. x. 12 ; Scylax, Peripl. p. 6; comp. Strab. v. p. 214).
There are traces in Greece also of the worship of Diomedes, for it is said that he was placed among the gods together with the Dioscuri, and that Athena conferred upon him the immortality which had been intended for his father Tydeus. It has been conjectured that Diomedes is an ancient Pelasgian name of some divinity, who was afterwards confounded with the hero Diomedes, so that the worship of the god was transferred to the hero (Bockh, Explicat. ad Pind. Nem. x.). Diomedes was represented in a painting on the acropolis of Athens in the act of carrying away the Palladium from Troy (Paus. i. 22.6), and Polygnotus had painted him in the Lesche at Delphi (x. 25.2, 10.2).
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited April 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
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Aegiale or Aegialeia (Aigiale or Aigialeia), a daughter of Adrastus and Amphithea, or of Aegialeus the son of Adrastus, whence she bears the surname of Adrastine (Hom.Il. v. 412; Apollod. i. 8.6, 9.13). She was married to Diomedes, who, on his return from Troy , found her living in adultery with Cometes (Eustath, ad Il. v). The hero attributed this misfortune to the anger of Aphrodite, whom he had wounded in the war against Troy , but when Aegiale went so far as to threaten his life he fled to Italy (Schol. ad Lycophr. 610; Ov. Met. xiv. 476). According to Dictys Cretensis (vi. 2), Aegiale, like Clytemnestra, had been seduced to her criminal conduct by a treacherous report, that Diomedes was returning with a Trojan woman who lived with him as his wife, and on his arrival at Argos Aegiale expelled him. In Ovid (Ibis, 349) she is described as the type of a bad wife.
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Sthenelus. A son of Capaneus and Evadue, belonged to the family of the Anaxagoridae in Argos. and was the father of Cylarabes (Hom Il. v. 109; Paus. ii. 18.4, 22. 8, 30); but, according to others, his son's name was Comeres (Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 603, 1093 ; Serv. ad Aen. xi. 269). He was one of the Epigoni, by whom Thebes was taken (Hom. Il. iv. 405; Apollod. iii. 7.2), and commanded the Argives under Diomedes, in the Trojan war, being the faithful friend and companion of Diomedes (Hom. Il. ii. 564, iv. 367, xxiii. 511; Philostr. Her. 4 ; Hygin. Fab. 175). He was one of the Greeks concealed in the wooden horse (Hygin. Fab. 108), and at the distribution of the booty, lie was said to have received an image of a three-eyed Zeus, which was in aftertimes shown at Argos (Paus. ii. 45.5, viii. 46.2). His own statue and tomb also were believed to exist at Argos (ii. 20.4, 22. in fin.; comp. Horat. Carm. i. 15. 23, iv. 9. 20; Stat. Achill. i. 469).
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited April 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology (ed. William Smith)
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Euryalus (Eurualos). A son of Mecisteus, is mentioned by Apollodorus (i. 9.16) among the Argonauts, and was one of the Epigoni who took and destroyed Thebes (Paus. ii. 20.4; Apollod. iii. 7.2). He was a brave warrior, and at the funeral games of Oedipus he conquered all his competitors (Hom. Il. xxiii. 608) with the exception of Epeius, who excelled him in wrestling. He accompanied Diomedes to Troy , where he was one of the bravest heroes, and slew several Trojans (Il. ii. 565, vi. 20; Pans. ii. 30.9). In the painting of Polygnotus at Delphi , he was represented as being wounded; and there was also a statue of him at Delphi , which stood between those of Diomedes and Aegialeus (Paus. x. 10.2, 25.2).
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A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology (ed. William Smith)
Greek heroes of the Trojan War
Deipylus
A comrade of Sthenelus (Il. 5.325).
Perseus: Homer, Iliad
Kings
Basileus (rex, king)
A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) (eds. William Smith, LLD, William Wayte, G. E. Marindin)
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Monarchia
Monarchia, a general name for any form of government in which the supreme functions of political administration are in the hands of a single person. The term monarchia is applied to such governments, whether they are hereditary or elective, legal or usurped. If all the officials and ministers of the ruler are merely his deputies, appointed and removable by him, then the term monarchia strictly applies. Aristotle (Pol. iii. 15, 2,= p. 1287) calls this pambasileia. This form of monarchy did not belong to Greek states except as a consequence of revolution, when some citizen usurped this power for himself, and sometimes transmitted it. Monarchy of the more constitutional kind, as described in Homer, probably existed throughout Greece at the time of the Dorian conquest, and gradually disappeared, appeared, as in each state the weak or violent rule stirred up successful opposition of the people. In Argos, however, it lasted to the time of the invasion of Xerxes (Herod. vii. 149), but disappeared before the Peloponnesian War. In Sparta it remained in a peculiar form. In its commonest application, it is equivalent busileia, whether absolute or limited. But the rule of an aesymnetes or a tyrant would equally be called a monarchia. (Arist. Pol. iii. 16, iv. 8 = pp. 1286, 1294;--Plato, Polit. p. 291, C, E; p. 302, D, E.) Hence Plutarch uses it to express the Latin dictatura. Aristotle defines four sorts of basileia: firstly, the kingship of the heroic period, when the obedience was voluntary, but the power of the kings strictly defined, the king being general, judge, and supreme religious functionary; secondly, the non-Greek, which was a hereditary despotic rule of a constitutional character; thirdly, the Asymneteia, as it is called, an elective tyranny; and, fourthly, the Laconian, which may be broadly defined as a hereditary generalship for life. (Arist. Pol. iii. 14, Welldon's translation.) It is by a somewhat rhetorical use of the word that it is applied now and then to the demos. (Eurip. Suppl. 352; Arist. Pol. iv. 4.)
A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) (eds. William Smith, LLD, William Wayte, G. E. Marindin)
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Danaus
Danaus (Danaos). A son of Belus and Anchinoe, and brother of Aegyptus. Belus assigned the country of Libya to Danaus, while to Aegyptus he gave Arabia. Aegyptus conquered the country of the Melampodes and named it from himself. By many wives he became the father of fifty sons. Danaus had by several wives an equal number of daughters. Dissension arising between him and the sons of Aegyptus, they aimed at depriving him of his kingdom; and, fearing their violence, he built, with the aid of Athene, a fifty-oared vessel, the first that ever was made, in which he embarked with his daughters and fled over the sea. He first landed on the isle of Rhodes, where he set up a statue of the Lindian Athene; but, not caring to remain in that island, he proceeded to Argos; where Gelanor, who at that time ruled over the country, cheerfully resigned the government to the stranger who had brought thither civilization and the arts. The people took the name of their new monarch, and were called Danai (Danaoi).
The country of Argos being at this time extremely deficient in pure and wholesome water (see Inachus), Danaus sent forth his daughters in quest of some. As Amymone, one of them, was engaged in the search, she was rescued by Poseidon from the intended violence of a satyr, and the god revealed to her a fountain called after her name and the most famous among the streams that contributed to form the Lernaean lake or marsh. The sons of Aegyptus came now to Argolis and entreated their uncle to bury past enmity in oblivion, and to give them their cousins in marriage. Danaus, retaining a perfect recollection of the injuries they had done him and distrustful of their promises, consented to bestow upon them his daughters, whom he divided among them by lot; but on the wedding-day he armed the hands of the brides with daggers, and enjoined upon them to slay in the night their unsuspecting bridegrooms. All but Hypermnestra obeyed the cruel orders of their father; and cutting off the heads of their husbands, they flung them into Lerna, and buried their bodies with all due rites outside of the town. At the command of Zeus, Hermes and Athene purified them from the guilt of their deed. Hypermnestra had spared Lynceus for the delicate regard which he had shown to her modesty. Her father, at first, in his anger at her disobedience, put her into close confinement. Relenting, however, after some time, he gave his consent to her union with Lynceus, and proclaimed gymnastic games, in which the victors were to receive his other daughters as the prizes. It was said, however, that the crime of the Danaides did not pass without due punshment in the lower world, where they were condemned to pour water forever into a perforated vessel.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Perseus: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898)
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Danaus (Danaos), a son of Belus and Anchinoe, and a grandson of Poseidon and Libya. He was brother of Aegyptus, and farther of fifty daughters, and the mythical ancestor of the Danai (Apollod. ii. 1,4). According to the common story he was a native of Chemnis, in the Thebais in Upper Egypt , and migrated from thence into Greece (Herod. ii. 91). Belus had given Danaus Libya , while Aegyptus had obtained Arabia. Danaiis had reason to think that the sons of his brother were plotting against him, and fear or the advice of an oracle (Eustath. ad Hom. p. 37), induced him to build a large ship and to embark with his daughters. On his flight he first landed at Rhodes , where he set up an image of Athena Lindia. According to the story in Herodotus, a temple of Athena was built at Lindus by the daughters of Danaus, and according to Strabo (xiv. p. 654) Tlepolemus built the towns of Lindus , Ialysus and Cameirus , and called them thus after the names of three Danaides. From Rhodes Danaus and his daughters sailed to Peloponnesus , and landed at a place near Lerna , which was afterwards called from this event Apobathmi (Paus. ii. 38.4). At Argos a dispute arose between Danaus and Gelanor about the government, and after many discussions the people deferred the decision of the question to the next day. At its dawn a wolf rushed among the cattle and killed one of the oxen. This occurrence was to the Argives an event which seemed to announce to them in what manner the dispute should terminate, and Danaiis was accordingly made king of Argos. Out of gratitude he now built a sanctuary of Apollo Lycius, who, as he believed, had sent the wolf (Paus. ii. 19.3. Comp. Serv. ad Aen. iv. 377, who relates a different story). Danaus also erected two wooden statues of Zeus and Artemis, and dedicated his shield in the sanctuary of Hera (Paus. ii. 19.6; Hygin. Fab. 170). He is further said to have built the acropolis of Argos and to have provided the place with water by digging wells (Strab. i. p. 23, viii. p. 371; Eustath. ad Hom) The sons of Aegyptus in the mean time had followed their uncle to Argos; they assured him of their peaceful sentiments and sued for the hands of his daughters. Danaus still mistrusted them and remembered the cause of his flight from his country; however he gave them his daughters and distributed them among his nephews by lot. But all the brides, with the exception of Hypermnestra murdered their husbands by the command of their father. In aftertimes the Argives were called Danai. Whether Danaus died a natural death, or whether he was killed by Lynceus, his son-in-law, is a point on which the various traditions are not agreed, but he is said to have been buried at Argos, and his tomb in the agora of Argos was shown there as late as the time of Pausanias (ii. 20.4; Strab. viii). Statues of Danaus, Hypermnestra and Lynceus were seen at Delphi by Pausanias (x. 10.2).
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited April 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology (ed. William Smith)
Wells were invented by Danaus,who came from Egypt into that part of Greece which had been previously known as Argos Dipsion.
Commentary:
Danaus is said to have migrated from Egypt into Greece about 1485 B.C. He may have introduced wells into Greece, but they had, long before his time, been employed in Egypt and in other countries. The term "Dipsion," "thirsting," which it appears had been applied to the district of Argos, may seem to render it probable, that, before the arrival of Danaus, the inhabitants had not adopted any artificial means of supplying themselves with water. But this country, we are told, is naturally well supplied with water.
Pliny the Elder, The Natural History
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Melampus
He was the son of Amythaon and Eidomene, brother of Bias father of Antiphates and Mantius and notorious soothsayer from Pylos. He travelled to Phylace in Thessaly in order to take the oxen of Iphicles, so that his brother could marry Pero, the daughter of Neleus. There, he was captured for a year and was released, when he had told Iphicles all the oracles. Afterwards, he returned to Pylos, where he avenged Neleus for the injustice against the Amythaonides (= descendants of Amythaon), gave Pero to his brother and left to Argos (Od. 11.287 etc. 15.225 etc.), where he became the 21st king and shared the kingdom with Anaxagoras and Bias.
Perseus: Homer, Odyssey
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Melampus (Melampous), a son of Amythaon by Eidomene, or according to others, by Aglaia or Plhodope (Apollod. i. 9.1; Diod. iv. 68; Schol. ad Theocrit. iii. 43), and a brother of Bias. He was looked upon by the ancients as the first mortal that had been endowed with prophetic powers, as the person that first practised the medical art, and established the worship of Dionysus in Greece (Apollod. ii. 2.2). He is said to have been married to Iphianassa (others call her Iphianeira or Cyrianassa - Diod. iv. 68; Serv. ad Virg. Ecloy. vi. 48), by whom he became the father of Mantius and Antiphates (Hom. Od. xv. 225). Apollodorus (i. 9.13) adds a son, Abas; and Diodorus calls his children Bias, Antiphates, Manto, and Pronoe (comp. Pans. vi. 17.4). Melampus at first dwelt with Neleus at Pylus , afterwards he resided for a time at Phylace , near Mount Othrys , with Phylacus and Iphiclus and at last ruled over a third of the territory of Argos (Hom. l. c.). At Aegosthena , in the north-western part of Megaris , he had a sanctuary and a statue, and an annual festival was there celebrated in his honour. (Paus. i. 44.8.)
With regard to his having introduced the worship of Dionysus into Greece, Herodotus (ii. 49) thinks that Melampus became acquainted with the worship of the Egyptian Dionysus, through Cadmus and the Phoenicians, and his connection with the Dionysiac religion is often alluded to in the ancient writers. Thus, we are told, for example, that he taught the Greeks how to mix wine with water (Athen. ii. p. 45; Eustath. ad Hom. p. 1816). Diodorus (i. 97) further adds that Melampus brought with him from Egypt the myths about Crones and the fight of the Titans.
As regards his prophetic power, his residence at Phylace , and his ultimate rule over a portion of Argos, the following traditions were current in antiquity. When Melampus lived with Neleus, he dwelt outside the town of Pylos , and before his house there stood an oak tree containing a serpent's nest. The old serpents were killed by his servants, and burnt by Melampus himself, who reared the young ones. One day, when they had grown up, and Melampus was asleep, they approached from both sides and cleaned his ears with their tongues. Being thus roused from his sleep, he started up, and to his surprise perceived that he now understood the language of birds, and that with their assistance he could foretell the future. In addition to this he acquired the power of prophesying, from the victims that were offered to the gods, and, after having had an interview with Apollo on the banks of the Alpheius , he became a most renowned soothsayer (Apollod. i. 9.11; Eustath. ad Hom.).
During his stay with Neleus it happened that his brother Bias was one of the suitors for the hand of Pero, the daughter of Neleus, and Neleus promised his daughter to the man who should bring to him as a gift for the maiden, the oxen of Iphiclus, which were guarded by a dog whom neither man nor animal could approach. Melampus undertook the task of procuring the oxen for his brother, although he knew that the thief would be caught and kept in imprisonment for one whole year, after which he was to come into possession of the oxen. Things turned out as he had said; Melampus was thrown into prison, and in his captivity he learned front the wood-worms that the building in which he was would soon break down. He accordingly demanded to be let out, and as Phylacus and Iphiclus became thus acquainted with his prophetic powers, they asked him in what manner Iphiclus, who had no children, was to become father. Melampus, on the suggestion of a vulture, advised Iphiclus to take the rust from the knife with which Phylacus had once cut his son, and drink it in water during ten days. This was done, and Iphiclus became the father of Podarces. Melampus now received the oxen as a reward for his good services, and drove them to Pylos ; he thus gained Pero for his brother, and henceforth remained in Messenia (Apollod. i. 9.12; Paus. iv. 36.2; Schol. ad Theocrit. iii. 43).
His dominion over Argos is said to have been acquired in the following manner. In the reign of Anaxagoras, king of Argos, the women of the kingdom were seized with madness, and roamed about the country in a frantic state. Melampus cured them of it, on condition that he and his brother Bias should receive an equal share with Anaxagoras in the kingdom of Argos (Paus. ii. 18.4; Diod. iv. 68). Others, however, give the following account. The daughters of Proetus, Iphinoe, Lysippe and Iphianassa, were seized with madness, either because they opposed the worship of Dionysus (Diod. l. c.; Apollod. i. 9.12), or because they boasted of equalling Hera in beauty, or because they had stolen the gold from the statue of the goddess (Serv. ad Viry. Ecl. vi. 48). Melampus promised to cure the women, if the king would give him one-third of his territory and one of his daughters in marriage. Proetus refused the proposal: but when the madness continued, and also seized the other Argive women, messengers came to Melampus to request his aid; but he now demanded two-thirds of the kingdom, one for himself, and the other for his brother. The demand was complied with, and with a band of youths, he pursued the women as far as Sicyon , with Bacchic shouts. Iphinoe died during the pursuit, but the surviving women were cured by purifications in a well, Anigrus, or in a temple of Artemis near Lusi , or in the town of Sicyon itself; and Melampus and Bias married the two daughters of Proetus (Apollod. ii. 2. § 2; Strab. viii; Ov. Met. xv. 322; Paus. ii. 7.8, viii. 18; Herod. ix. 34; Schol. ad Pind. Nem. ix. 30).
Another mythical personage of the same name occurs in Virgil (Aen. x. 320).
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited April 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
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Melampus, (Melampous). The son of Amythaon and of Idomene; brother of Bias, the oldest Greek seer, and ancester of the family of seers called Melampodidae. The brothers went with their uncle Neleus from Thessaly to Pylus in Messenia, where they dwelt in the country. Melampus owed his gift of soothsaying to some serpents, which he had saved from death and reared, and who in return cleansed his ears with their tongues when he slept; on awaking he understood the voices of birds, and thus learned what was secret. When Neleus would only give Bias his beautiful daughter Pero on condition that he first brought him the oxen of Iphiclus of Phylace in Thessaly, which were guarded by a watchful dog, Melampus offered to bring the oxen for his brother, though he knew beforehand that he would be imprisoned for a year. He was caught in the act of stealing them, and kept in strict confinement. From the talk of the worms in the woodwork of the roof he gathered that the house would soon fall to pieces. He thereupon demanded to be taken to another prison; and this was scarcely done when the house broke down. When, on account of this, Phylacus, father of Iphiclus, perceived his prophetic gifts, he promised him the oxen, if, by his art, he would find out some way of curing his son's childlessness. Melampus offered a bull to Zeus, cut it in pieces, and invited the birds to the meal. From these he heard that a certain vulture, that had not come, knew how it could be effected. This vulture was made to appear, and related that the defect in Iphiclus was the result of a sudden fright at seeing a bloody knife, with which his father had been castrating some goats; he had dug the knife into a tree, which had grown round about it; if he took some of the rust scraped off it, for ten days, he would be cured. Melampus found the knife, cured Iphiclus, obtained the oxen, and Bias received Pero for his wife.
Afterwards he went to Argos, because, according to Homer, Neleus had committed a serious offence against him in his ab sence, for which he had taken revenge; while, according to the usual account, he had been asked by king Proetus to heal his daughter, stricken with madness for acting impiously towards Dionysus or Here. He had stipulated that his reward should be a third of the kingdom for himself, another for Bias; besides which Iphianassa became his wife, and Lysippe that of Bias, both being daughters of Proetus. A descendant of his son Antiphates was Oicles, who was a companion of Heracles in the expedition against Troy, and was slain in battle by Laomedon; he again was ancestor of the seer and hero Amphiaraus. Descendants of his other son Mantius were Cleitus, whom Eos, the goddess of dawn, carried off on account of his beauty, and Polypheides, whom, after the death of Amphiaraus, Apollo made the best of seers. The son of Polypheides was the seer Theoclymenus, who, flying from Argos on account of committing a murder, met Telemachus at Pylus, was led by him to Ithaca, and announced to Penelope the presence in Ithaca of Odysseus and to the suitors their approaching death. The seer Polyidus was also said to be a great-grandson of Melampus. At Argos Melampus was held to be the first priest of Dionysus, and originator of mysterious customs at festivals and at ceremonies of expiation.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Perseus: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898)
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Talaus (Talaos), a son of Bias and Pero, and king of Argos. He was married to Lysimache (Eurynome, Hygin. Fab. 70, or Lysianassa, Paus. ii. 6.3), and was father of Adrastus, Parthenopaeus, Pronax, Mecisteus, Aristomachus, and Eriphyle (Apollod. i. 9.13; Pind. Nem. ix. 14). Hyginus mentions two other daughters of his. He also occurs among the Argonauts (Apollon. Rhod. ii. 118), and his tomb was shown at Argos (Paus. ii. 21.2). Being a great grandson of Cretheus, Antimachus in a fragment preserved in Pausanias (viii. 25.5) calls him Cretheiades. His own sons, Adrastus and Mecisteus, are sometimes called Talaionides, as in Hom. Il. ii. 566; Pind. Ol. vi. 24.
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A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology (ed. William Smith)
Homer also mentions his horse, Arion, which had saved him during the siege of Thebes (Il. 23.346).
Perseus: Homer, Iliad
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Adrastus (Adrastos), a son of Talaus, king of Argos, and of Lysimache (Apollod. i. 9.13). Pausanias (ii. 6.3) calls his mother Lysianassa, and Hyginus (Fab. 69) Eurynome (Comp. Schol. ad Eurip. Phoen. 423). During a feud between the most powerful houses in Argos, Talaus was slain by Amphiaraus, and Adrastus being expelled from his dominions fled to Polybus, then king of Sicyon . When Polybus died without heirs, Adrastus succeeded him on the throne of Sicyon , and during his reign he is said to have instituted the Nemean games (Hom. Il. ii. 572; Pind. Nem. ix. 30; Herod. v. 67; Paus. ii. 6.3). Afterwards, however, Adrastus became reconciled to Amphiaraus, gave him his sister Eriphyle in marriage, and returned to his kingdom of Argos. During the time he reigned there it happened that Tydeus of Calydon and Polynices of Thebes , both fugitives from their native countries, met at Argos near the palace of Adrastus, and came to words and from words to blows. On hearing the noise, Adrastus hastened to them and separated the combatants, in whom he immediately recognised the two men that had been promised to him by an oracle as the future husbands of two of his daughters; for one bore on his shield the figure of a boar, and the other that of a lion, and the oracle was, that one of his daughters was to marry a boar and the other a lion. Adrastus therefore gave his daughter Deipyle to Tydeus, and Argeia to Polynices, and at the same time promised to lead each of these princes back to his own country. Adrastus now prepared for war against Thebes , although Amphiaraus foretold that all who should engage in it should perish, with the exception of Adrastus (Apollod. iii. 6.1; Hygin. Fab. 69, 70).
Thus arose the celebrated war of the " Seven against Thebes," in which Adrastus was joined by six other heroes, viz. Polynices, Tydeus, Amphiaraus, Capaneus, Hippomedon, and Parthenopaeus. Instead of Tydeus and Polynices other legends mention Eteoclos and Mecisteus. This war ended as unfortunately as Amphiaraus had predicted, and Adrastus alone was saved by the swiftness of his horse Areion, the gift of Heracles (Hom. Il. xxiii. 346; Paus. viii. 25.5; Apollod. iii. 6). Creon of Thebes refusing to allow the bodies of the six heroes to be buried, Adrastus went to Athens and implored the assistance of the Athenians. Theseus was persuaded to undertake an expedition against Thebes ; he took the city and delivered up the bodies of the fallen heroes to their friends for burial (Apollod. iii. 7.1 Paus. ix. 9.1).
Ten years after this Adrastus persuaded the seven sons of the heroes, who had fallen in the war against Thebes , to make a new attack upon that city, and Amphiaraus now declared that the gods approved of the undertaking, and promised success (Paus. ix. 9.2; Apollod. iii. 7.2). This war is celebrated in ancient story as the war of the Epigoni (Epigonoi). Thebes was taken and razed to the ground, after the greater part of its inhabitants had left the city on the advice of Tiresias (Apollod. iii. 7.2--4; Herod. v. 61; Strab. vii.). The only Argive hero that fell in this war, was Aegialeus, the son of Adrastus. After having built a temple of Nemesis in the neighbourhood of Thebes , he set out on his return home. But weighed down by old age and grief at the death of his son he died at Megara and was buried there (Paus. i. 43.1). After his death he was worshipped in several parts of Greece, as at Megara (Paus. l. c.), at Sicyon where his memory was celebrated in tragic choruses (Herod. v. 67), and in Attica (Paus. i. 30.4). The legends about Adrastus and the two wars against Thebes have furnished most ample materials for the epic as well as tragic poets of Greece (Paus. ix. 9. 3), and some works of art relating to the stories about Adrastus are mentioned in Pausanias. (iii. 18.7, x. 10.2).
From Adrastus the female patronymic Adrastine was formed (Hom. Il. v. 412).
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A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology (ed. William Smith)
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Adrastus (Adrastos). Son of Talaus of Argos. Being expelled from Argos by Amphiaraus, he fled to Polybus, king of Sicyon, whom he succeeded on the throne of Sicyon, and instituted the Nemean games. Afterwards he became reconciled to Amphiaraus, and returned to his kingdom of Argos. He married his two daughters Deipyle and Argia, the former to Tydeus of Calydon, and the latter to Polynices of Thebes, both fugitives from their native countries. He then prepared to restore Polynices to Thebes, who had been expelled by his brother Eteocles, although Amphiaraus foretold that all who should engage in the war would perish, with the exception of Adrastus. Thus arose the celebrated war of the "Seven against Thebes," in which Adrastus was joined by six other heroes, viz., Polynices, Tydeus, Amphiaraus, Capaneus, Hippomedon, and Parthenopaeus. This war ended as unfortunately as Amphiaraus had predicted, and Adrastus alone was saved by the swiftness of his horse Arion, the gift of Heracles. Ten years afterwards, Adrastus persuaded the six sons of the heroes who had fallen in the war to make a new attack upon Thebes, and Amphiaraus now promised success. This war is known as the war of the Epigoni (epigonoi), or descendants. Thebes was taken and razed to the ground. The only Argive hero that fell in this war was Aegialeus, the son of Adrastus: the latter died of grief at Megara on his return to Argos, and was buried in the former city. The legends about Adrastus and the two wars against Thebes furnished ample materials for the epic as well as tragic poets of Greece.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Perseus: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898)
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Oicles & Hypermnestra
He was the son of Antiphates or of Mantius, father of Amphiaraus and 31st king of Argos. He shared the kingdom with Sthenelus and Adrastus (Od. 15.244).
Perseus: Homer, Odyssey
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Oicles (Oikles) or Oicleus (Oikleus). The son of Antiphates, grandson of Melampus and father of Amphiaraus, of Argos. He is also called a son of Amphiaraus, or a son of Mantius, the brother of Antiphates. Oicles accompanied Heracles on his expedition against Laomedon of Troy, and was there slain in battle. According to other traditions, he returned home from the expedition, and dwelt in Arcadia, where he was visited by his grandson Alcmaeon , and where his tomb was shown.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Perseus: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898)
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Hupermnestra, a daughter of Thestius and Eurythemis, and the witie of Oicles, by whom she became the mother of Amphhiaraus Her tomb was shown at Argos. (Apollod. i. 7.10; Paus. ii. 21. 2.) One of the daughters of Danaus was likewise called Hypermnestra.
A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology (ed. William Smith)
Mecisteus
He was a son of Talaus, brother of Adrastus and father of Euryalus (Il. 2.566)
Pausanias mentions that he took part in the funeral games of Oedipus at Thebes (Paus. 1,28,7).
Perseus: Homer, Iliad
Mecisteus, (Mekisteus). A son of Talaus and Lysimache, brother of Adrastus, and father of Euryalus of Thebes (Hom. Il. ii. 566; Apollod. iii. 6.3).
A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology (ed. William Smith)
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Amphiaraus (Amphiaraos), a son of Oicles and Hypermnestra, the daughter of Thestius (Hom. Od. xv. 244; Apollod. i. 8.2; Hygin. Fab. 73; Paus. ii. 21.2.). On his father's side he was descended from the famous seer Melampus (Paus. vi. 17.4). Some traditions represented him as ason of Apollo by Hypermnestra, which, however, is merely a poetical expression to describe him as a seer and prophet (Hygin. Fab. 70). Amphiaraus is renowned in ancient story as a brave hero: he is mentioned among the hunters of the Calydonian boar, which he is said to have deprived of one eye, and also as one of the Argonauts (Apollod. i. 8.2, 9.16). For a time he reigned at Argos in common with Adrastus; but, in a feud which broke out between them, Adrastus took to flight. Afterwards, however, he became reconciled with Amphiaraus, and gave him his sister Eriphyle in marriage, by whom Amphiaraus became the father of Alcmaeon, Amphilochus, Eurydice, and Demonassa. On marrying Eriphyle, Amphiaraus had sworn, that he would abide by the decision of Eriphyle on any point in which he should differ in opinion from Adrastus. When, therefore, the latter called upon him to join the expedition of the Seven against Thebes , Amphiaraus, although he foresaw its unfortunate issue and at first refused to take any part in it, was nevertheless persuaded by his wife to join his friends, for Eriphyle had been enticed to induce her husband by the necklace of Harmonia which Polyneices had given her. Amphiaraus on leaving Argos enjoined his sons to avenge his death on their heartless mother (Apollod. iii. 6.2; Hygin. Fab. 73; Diod. iv. 65; Hom Od. xv. 247). On their way to Thebes the heroes instituted the Nemean games, and Amphiaraus won the victory in the chariot-race and in throwing the discus (Apollod. iii. 6.4). During the war against Thebes , Amphiaraus fought bravely (Pind. Ol. vi. 26), but still he could not suppress his anger at the whole undertaking, and when Tydeus, whom he regarded as the originator of the expedition, was severely wounded by Melanippus, and Athena was hastening to render him immortal, Amphiaraus cut off the head of Melanippus, who had in the mean time been slain, and gave Tydeus his brains to drink, and Athena, struck with horror at the sight, withdrew (Apollod. iii. 6.8). When Adrastus and Amphiaraus were the only heroes who survived, the latter was pursued by Periclymenus, and fled towards the river Ismenius. Here the earth opened before he was overtaken by his enemy, and swallowed up Amphiaraus together with his chariot, but Zeus made him immortal (Pind. Nem. ix. 57, Ol. vi. 21; Plut. Parall. 6; Cic. de Divin. i. 40). Henceforth Amphiaraus was worshipped as a hero, first at Oropus and afterwards in all Greece (Paus. i. 34.2; Liv. xlv. 27). He had a sanctuary at Argos (Paus. ii. 23.2), a statue at Athens (i. 8.3), and a heroum at Sparta . The departure of Amphiaraus from his home when he went to Thebes , was represented on the chest of Cypselus (Paus. v. 17.4). Respecting some extant works of art, of which Amphiaraus is the subject, see GrΌneisen, Die alt griechische Bronze des Tux'schen Kabinets in TΌbingen, Stuttg. and TΌbing.1835. The prophetic power, which Amphiaraus was believed to possess, was accounted for by his descent from Melampus or Apollo, though there was also a local tradition at Phlius , according to which he had acquired them in a night which he spent in the prophetic house (oikos mantikos) of Phlius . (Paus. ii. 13.6; comp. i. 34.3). He was, like all seers, a favourite of Zeus and Apollo (Hom. Od. xv. 245). Respecting the oracle of Amphiaraus see Dict. of Ant. s. v. Oraculum. It should be remarked here, that Virgil (Aen. vii. 671) mentions three Greek heroes as contemporaries of Aeneas, viz. Tiburtus, Catillus, and Coras, the first of whom was believed to be the founder of Tibur, and is described by Pliny (H. N. xvi. 87) as a son of Amphiaraus.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited April 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology (ed. William Smith)
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Amphiaraus (Amphiaraos). An Argive, the son of Oicles and Hypermnestra, great-grandson of the seer Melampus. In Homer he is a favourite of Zeus and Apollo, alike distinguished as a seer and a hero, who takes part in the Calydonian boar-hunt, in the voyage of the Argonauts, and in the expedition of the Seven against Thebes. Reconciled to Adrastus after a quarrel, and wedded to his sister Eriphyle, he agreed that any future differences between them should be settled by her. She, bribed by Polynices with the fatal necklace of his ancestress Harmonia, insisted on her husband joining the war against Thebes, though he foresaw that it would end fatally for him, and in departing charged his youthful sons Alcmaeon and Amphilochus to avenge his coming death.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Perseus: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898)
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Eriphyle (Eriphule). In Greek mythology, sister of Adrastus and wife of Amphiaraus. Bribed with a necklace by Polynices, she prevailed on her husband to take part in the war of the Seven against Thebes, in which he met his death. In revenge for this she was slain by her son Alcmaeon.
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Alcmaeon
Alcmaeon was the son of Amphiaraus and Eriphyle and brother of Amphilochus (Il. 15.248). He was the leader of the Epigoni against Thebes and murdered his mother, when he heard that she urged his father to participate in the expedition against Thebes, while she knew that he would be killed.
Perseus: Homer, Odyssey
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Alacmaeon (Alkmaion), a son of Amphiaraus and Eriphyle, and brother of Amphilochus, Eurydice, and Demonassa (Apollod. iii. 7.2). His mother was induced by the necklace of Harmonia, which she received from Polyneices, to persuade her husband Amphiaraus to take part in the expedition against Thebes (Hom. Od. xv. 247). But before Amphiaraus set out, he enjoined his sons to kill their mother as soon as they should be grown up (Apollod. iii. 6.2; Hygin. Fab. 73). When the Epigoni prepared for a second expedition against Thebes , to avenge the death of their fathers, the oracle promised them success and victory, if they chose Alcmaeon their leader. He was at first disinclined to undertake the command, as he had not yet taken vengeance on his mother, according to the desire of his father. But she, who had now received from Thersander, the son of Polyneices, the peplus of Harmonia also, induced him to join the expedition. Alcmaeon distinguished himself greatly in it, and slew Laodamus, the son of Eteocles (Apollod. iii. 7.2; comp. Diod. iv. 66). When, after the fall of Thebes , he learnt the reason for which his mother had urged him on to take part in the expedition, he slew her on the advice of an oracle of Apollo, and, according to some traditions, in conjunction with his brother Amphilochus. For this deed he became mad, and was haunted by the Erinnyes. He first came to Oecleus in Arcadia , and thence went to Phegeus in Psophis , and being purified by the latter, he married his daughter Arsinoe or Alphesiboea (Paus. viii. 24.4), to whom he gave the necklace and peplus of Harmonia. But the country in which he now resided was visited by scarcity, in consequence of his being the murderer of his mother, and the oracle advised him to go to Achelous . According to Pausanias, he left Psophis because his madness did not yet cease. Pausanias and Thucydides (ii. 102; comp. Plut. De Exil. p. 602) further state, that the oracle commanded him to go to a country which had been formed subsequent to the murder of his mother, and was therefore under no curse. The country thus pointed out was a tract of land which had been recently formed at the mouth of the river Achelous . Apollodorus agrees with this account, but gives a detailed history of Alcmaeon's wanderings until he reached the mouth of Achelous , who gave him his daughter Calirrhoe in marriage. Calirrhoe had a desire to possess the necklace and peplus of Harmonia, and Alcmaeon, to gratify her wish, went to Psophis to get them from Phegeus, under the pretext that he intended to dedicate them at Delphi in order to be freed from his madness. Phegeus complied with his request, but when he heard that the treasures were fetched for Calirrhoe, he sent his sons Pronous and Agenor (Apollod. iii. 7.6) or, according to Pausanias (viii. 24.4), Temenus and Axion, after him, with the command to kill him. This was done, but the sons of Alcmaeon by Calirrhoe took bloody vengoance at the instigation of their mother (Apollod. Paus. ll. cc.; Ov. Met. ix. 407)
The story about Alcmaeon furnished rich materials for the epic and tragic poets of Greece, and their Roman imitators. But none of these poems is now extant, and we only know from Apollodorus (iii. 7.7), that Euripides, in his tragedy " Alcmaeon," stated that after the fall of Thebes he married Manto, the daughter of Teiresias, and that he had two children by her, Amphilochus and Tisiphone, whom he gave to Creon, king of Corinth , to educate. The wife of Creon, jealous of the extraordinary beauty of Tisiphone, afterwards sold her as a slave, and Alcmaeon himself bought her, without knowing that she was his daughter (Diod. iv. 66; Paus. vii. 3.1, ix. 33.1). Alcmaeon after his death was worshipped as a hero, and at Thebes he seems to have had an altar, near the house of Pindar (Pyth. viii. 80), who calls him his neighbour and the guardian of his property, and also seems to suggest that prophetic powers were ascribed to him, as to his father Amphiaraus. At Psopllis his tomb was shown, surrounded with lofty and sacred cypresses (Paus. viii. 24.4). At Oropus , in Attica , where Amphiaraus and Amphilochus were worshipped, Alcmaeon enjoyed no such honours, because he was a matricide (Paus. i. 34.2). He was represented in a statue at Delphi , and on the chest of Cypselus (x. 10.2, v. 17.4).
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Alcmaeon, (Alkmaion). A native of Argos and son of Amphiaraus and Eriphyle. As his father, in departing on the expedition of the Seven against Thebes, had bound him and his brother Amphilochus, then mere boys, to avenge him on their faithless mother, Alcmaeon refused to take part in the second expedition, that of the Epigoni, till he had first fulfilled that filial duty; nevertheless his mother, bribed by Thersander with the garment of Harmonia, persuaded him to go. The real leader at the siege of Thebes, he slew the Theban king, Laodamas, and was the first to enter the conquered city. On returning home, he, at the bidding of the Delphian Apollo, avenged his father by slaying his mother, with, or according to some accounts, without, his brother's help; but immediately, like Orestes, he was set upon by the Furies, and wandered distracted, seeking purification and a new home. Phegeus, of the Arcadian Psophis, half purified him of his guilt, and gave him his daughter Arsinoe or Alphesiboea to wife, to whom he presented the jewels of Harmonia, which he had brought from Argos. But soon the crops failed in the land, and he fell into his distemper again, till, after many wanderings, he arrived at the mouth of the Achelous, and there, in an island that had floated up, he found the country promised by the god, which had not existed at the time of his dying mother's curse, and so he was completely cured. He married Achelous's daughter, Callirrhoe, by whom he had two sons, Acarnan and Amphoterus. Unable to withstand his wife's entreaties that she might have Harmonia's necklace and robe, he went to Phegeus in Arcadia, and begged those treasures of him, pretending that he would dedicate them at Delphi for the perfect healing of his madness. He obtained them; but Phegeus, on learning the truth, set his son to waylay him on the road, and rob him of his treasure and his life. Alcmaeon 's sons then avenged their father's death on his murderers. Alcmaeon received divine honours after death, and had a sanctuary at Thebes and a consecrated tomb at Psophis.
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Wives of Alcmaeon:
Arsinoe (or Alphesiboea; daughter of Phegeus, receives the necklace and robe (of Harmonia) from her husband Alcmaeon, is carried by the sons of Phegeus to Tegea and given as a slave to Agapenor. Son by Alcmaeon: Clytias
Manto; daughter of Tiresias, mother of Amphilochus and Tisiphone by Alcmaeon, dedicated by the Argives to Apollo, mother of Mopsus by Apollo, sent by Apollo to Colophon, where she marries Rhacius. Children by Alcaeon: Amphilochus, Tisiphone
Callirrhoe; daughter of Achelous, married by Alcmaeon, covets the necklace and robe (of Harmonia), courted by Zeus, requests that her sons be suddenly fullgrown, her sons kill their father's murderers (the sons of Phegeus), slay Phegeus and his wife, and dedicate the necklace and robe at Delphi. Sons by Alcmaeon: Acarnan, Amphoterus.
Alcmaeon: Perseus Encyclopedia
Seers
Theoclymenus
He was a soothsayer, son of Polypheides and descendant of Melampus, who met withTelemachus in Pylos and followed him to Ithaca (Od. 15.256 etc.).
Perseus: Homer, Odyssey
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Theoclymenus (Theoklumenos). Son of the soothsayer Polyphides, grandson of Melampus. When a fugitive from Argos, for a murder which he had committed, he met with Telemachus in Pylus, who succoured him and brought him to Ithaca. By means of his inherited gift of prophecy, he here made known to Penelope the presence of Odysseus in the island, and warned the suitors of their fate.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
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Polyidus of Argos
Polyidus. A son of Coeranus, a grandson of Abas and a great-grandson of Melampus. He was, like his ancestor, a celebrated soothsayer at Corinth, and is described as the father of Euchenor, Astycrateia, and Manto. (Pind. Ol. xiii. 104; Hom. Il. xiii. 663, &c.; Paus. i. 43. § 5; Apollod. iii. 3. § 1.) When Alcathous had murdered his own son Callipolis at Megara, he was purified by Polyidus, who erected at Megara a sanctuary to Dicnysus, and a statue of the god, which was covered all over except the face. (Paus., Apollod. ll. cc. ; Hygin. Fab. 136.)
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The story of the Cretan Glaucus and Polyidus
Glaucus, one of the sons of the Cretan king Minos by Pasiphae or Crete. When yet a boy, while he was playing at ball (Hygin. Fab 136), or while pursuing a mouse (Apollod. iii. 3. § 1), he fell into a cask full of honey, and died in it. Minos for a long time searched after his son in vain, and was at length informed by Apollo or the Curetes that the person who should devise the most appropriate comparison between a cow, which could assume three different colours, and any other object, should find the boy and restore him to his father. Minos assembled his soothsayers, but as none of them was able to do what was required, a stranger, Polyidus of Argos, solved the problem by likening the cow to a mulberry, which is at first white, then red, and in the end black. Polyidus, who knew nothing of the oracle, was thus compelled by his own wisdom to restore Glaucus to his father. By his prophetic powers he discovered that Glaucus had not perished in the sea, and being guided by an owl (glaux) and bees, he found him in the cask of honey. (Aelian, H. A. v. 2.) Minos now further demanded the restoration of his son to life. As Polyidus could not accomplish this, Minos, who attributed his refusal to obstinacy, ordered him to be entombed alive with the body of Glaucus. When Polyidus was thus shut up in the vault, he saw a serpent approaching the dead body, and killed the animal. Presently another serpent came, carrying a herb, with which it covered the dead serpent. The dead serpent was thereby restored to life, and when Polyidus covered the body of Glaucus with the same herb, the boy at once rose into life again. Both shouted for assistance from without; and when Minos heard of it, he had the tomb opened. In his delight at having recovered his child, he munificently rewarded Polyidus, and sent him back to his country. (Comp. Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 811; Palaephat. 27; Apollod. iii. 10.3; Schol. ad Eurip. Alcest.; Hygin. P. A. ii. 14; Schol. ad Pind. Pyth. iii. 96.) The story of the Cretan Glaucus and Polyidus was a favourite subject with the ancient poets and artists; it was not only represented in mimic dances (Lucian, de Saltat. 49), but Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides made it the subject of separate dramatic compositions.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited June 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology (ed. William Smith)
Heroes
Capaneus & Evadne
Capaneus. He was the son of Hipponous & Laodice, father of Sthenelus (Il. 2.564), husband of Evande and one of the Seven against Thebes. He was killed by the thunderbolt of Zeus before the walls of Thebes because he boasted that he would set the city on fire even without the will of the gods.
Perseus: Homer, Iliad
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Capaneus (Kapaneus), a son of Hipponous and Astynome or Laodice, tile daughter of Iphis (Hygin. Fab. 70; Schol. ad Eurip. Phoen. 181; ad Pind. Nern. ix. 30). He was married to Euadne or laneira, who is also called a daughter of Iphis, and by whom he became the father of Sthenelus (Schol. ad Pind. Ol. vi. 46; Apollod. iii. 10.8). He was one of the seven heroes who marched from Argos against Thebes , where he had his station at the Ogygian or Electrian gate (Apollod. iii. 6.6; Aeschyl. Sept. c. Theb. 423; Paus. ix. 8.3). During the siege of Thebes , he was presumptuous enough to say, that even the fire of Zeus should not prevent his scaling the walls of the city; but when he was ascending the ladder, Zeus struck him with a flash of lightning (Comp. Eurip. Phoen. 1172; comp. Soph. Antig. 133; Apollod. iii. 6.7; Ov. Met. ix. 404). While his body was burning, his wife Euadne leaped into the flames and destroyed herself (Apollod. iii. 7.1; Eurip. Suppl. 983; Philostr. Icon. ii. 31; Ov. Ars Am. iii. 21; Hygin. Fab. 243). Capaneus is one of those heroes whom Asclepius was believed to have called back into life (Apollod. iii. 10.3). At Delphi there was a statue of Capaneus dedicated by the Argives (Paus. x.10.2).
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Evadne. A daughter of Iphis or Iphicles of Argos, who slighted the addresses of Apollo, and married Capaneus, one of the seven chiefs who went against Thebes. When her husband had been struck with thunder by Zeus for his blasphemies and impiety, and his ashes had been separated from those of the rest of the Argives, she threw herself on his burning pile and perished in the flames.
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Perseus: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898)
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Country
Greece in Homer
Homer mentions Phthia by the name "Hellas" (Od. 4.726 & 816), while he refers to Greece by the name "Hellas and mid-Argos" (Od. 1.344).
"Phemios," she cried,(Penelope), "you know many another feat of gods and heroes, such as poets love to celebrate. Sing the suitors some one of these, and let them drink their wine in silence, but cease this sad tale, for it breaks my sorrowful heart, and reminds me of my lost husband for whom I have grief [penthos] ever without ceasing, and whose name [kleos] was great over all Hellas and middle Argos." (Hom. Od. 1.337-344)
Commentary:
This passage has been recently discussed by Mr. Bury B. in the Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. xv. pp. 217-238, with especial reference to the words an' Hellada kai meson Argos. These words are generally understood as a poetical or traditional periphrasis for the whole of Greece, -Hellas (a part of Thessaly) representing the north and Argos the Peloponnesus. Mr. Bury points out that, if this is so, the offer here made by Menelaus is a strange one. Telemachus has just entreated to be allowed to return home at once. How could Menelaus, who has himself been dwelling on the duty of speeding the parting guest, suddenly propose to be his companion on so long a tour? In seeking for a solution of this difficulty, Mr. Bury is led to examine afresh the old question (Thuc.1. 3) of the different uses of the names Hellas and Hellenes. Among other results he arrives at the conclusion that, just as in the Iliad the names Hellas and Achaioi are closely associated in Thessaly, so the name Hellas at a somewhat later time was applied to the 'Achaia' of history, the north coastland of the Poloponnesus. If then this is the sense of the term in the passage before us, Menelaus does not invite Telemachus to go with him all over Greece, but only to make a detour through Argolis and Achaia--countries then under the dominion of the Atridae.
It is impossible here to discuss Mr. Bury's history of the name Hellas: but a word may be said regarding its application to the Odyssey. In the first place, the difficulty with which he begins is surely not insuperable. Granting that Telemachus was not likely to accept the invitation, it may be that ancient manners required some such speech from the host -the muthoi aganoi promised by Pisistratus (l. 53). And the main purpose of Telemachus, the quest of news of his father, though not again mentioned here, must be supposed present to the minds of both. Moreover, the difficulty is not one that is very much diminished by Mr. Bury's interpretation. For surely it lies (poetically at least) not so much in the length of the proposed journey as in the fact of such an expedition being proposed at that moment. Again, the phrase an' Hellada kai meson Argos is (or became) a piece of Epic commonplace. In Od.1. 344(=4. 726, 816) tou kleos euru kath' Hellada kai meson Argos it seems to mean Greece generally. Moreover, it is plainly a variation of the line Argos es hippoboton kai Achaiida kalligunaika, which is also of a traditional type. The meaning of these phrases no doubt changed with time and circumstances; but it must always have been wide and conventional. It is hard to believe that Menelaus would use them to describe a route which he particularly wished to represent as a definite and limited one.
The phrase meson Argos is not to be pressed: cp. Il.6. 224 Argei messoi. There is nothing to connect it with a distinction between Argos in the narrower sense of the Argive plain and in the wider sense in which it includes a large part (if not the whole) of Peloponnesus.
Homer, The Odyssey (ed. Samuel Butler)
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Achaei (Achaioi), one of the four races into which the Hellenes are usually divided. In the heroic age they are found in that part of Thessaly in which Phthia and Hellas were situated, and also in the eastern part of Peloponnesus, more especially in Argos and Sparta. Argos was frequently called the Achaean Argos (Argos Achaiikon, Hom. Il. ix. 141) to distinguish it from the Pelasgian Argos in Thessaly; but Sparta is generally mentioned as the head-quarters of the Achaean race in Peloponnesus. Thessaly and Peloponnesus were thus the two chief abodes of this people; but there were various traditions respecting their origin, and a difference of opinion existed among the ancients, whether the Thessalian or the Peloponnesian Achaeans were the more ancient. They were usually represented as descendants of Achaeus, the son of Xuthus and Creusa, and consequently the brother of Ion and grandson of Hellen. Pausanias (vii. 1) related that Achaeus went back to Thessaly, and recovered the dominions of which his father, Xuthus, had been deprived; and then, in order to explain the existence of the Achaeans in Peloponnesus, he adds that Archander and Architeles, the sons of Achaeus, came back from Phthiotis to Argos, married the two daughters of Danaus, and acquired such influence at Argos and Sparta, that they called the people Achaeans after their father Achaeus. On the other hand, Strabo in one passage says, that Achaeus having fled from Attica, where his father Xuthus had settled, settled in Lacedaemon and gave to the inhabitants the name of Achaeans. In another passage, however, he relates, that Pelops brought with him into Peloponnesus the Phthiotan Achaeans, who settled in Laconia. It would be unprofitable to pursue further the variations in the legends; but we may safely believe that the Achaeans in Thessaly were more ancient than those in Peloponnesus, since all tradition points to Thessaly as the cradle of the Hellenic race. There is a totally different account, which represents the Achaeans as of Pelasgic origin. It is preserved by Dionysius of Halicarnassus (i. 17), who relates that Achaeus, Phthius, and Pelasgus were sons of Poseidon and Larissa; and that they migrated from Peloponnesus to Thessaly, where they divided the country into three parts, called after them Achaia, Phthiotis and Pelasgiotis. A modern writer is disposed to accept this tradition so far, as to assign a Pelasgic origin to the Achaeans, though he regards the Phthiotan Achaeans as more ancient than their brethren in the Peloponnesus.The only fact known in the earliest history of the people, which we can admit with certainty, is their existence as the predominant race in the south of Thessaly, and on the eastern side of Peloponnesus. They are represented by Homer as a brave and warlike people, and so distinguished were they that he usually calls the Greeks in general Achaeans or Panachaeans (Panachaioi Il. ii. 404, vii. 73, &c.). In the same manner Peloponnesus, and sometimes the whole of Greece, is called by the poet the Achaean land. (Achaiis gaia, Hom. Il. i. 254, Od. xiii. 249.) On the conquest of Peloponnesus by the Dorians, 80 years after the Trojan war, the Achaeans were driven out of Argos and Laconia, and those who remained behind were reduced to the condition of a conquered people. Most of the expelled Achaeans, led by Tisamenus, the son of Orestes, proceeded to the land on the northern coast of Peloponnesus, which was called simply Aegialus (Aigialos) or the Coast, and was inhabited by Ionians. The latter were defeated by the Achaeans and crossed over to Attica and Asia Minor, leaving their country to their conquerors, from whom it was henceforth called Achaia. (Strab. p. 383; Pans. vii. 1; Pol. ii. 41; comp. Herod. i. 145.) The further history of the Achaeans is given under Achaia . The Achaeans founded several colonies, of which the most celebrated were Croton and Sybaris.
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Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD)
Gods & demigods
Hera of Argos
Hera of Argos, and Athena of Alalkomene (Il. 4.8) .. "My own three favorite cities," answered Hera, "are Argos, Sparta, and Mycenae. (Il. 4.51)
Information about Hera is found at Heraeum , where the Sanctuary of the Godess
Perseus: Homer, Iliad
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Heracles (Herakles), and in Latin Hercules, the most celebrated of all the heroes of antiquity. The traditions about him are not only the richest in substance, but also the most widely spread; for we find them not only in all the countries round the Mediterranean, but his wondrous deeds were known in the most distant countries of the ancient world. The difficulty of presenting a complete view of these traditions was felt even by the ancients (Diod. iv. 8); and in order to give a general survey, we must divide the subject, mentioning first the Greek legends and their gradual development, next the Roman legends, and lastly those of the East ( Egypt , Phoenicia ).
The traditions about Heracles appear in their national purity down to the time of Herodotus; for although there may be some foreign ingredients, yet the whole character of the hero, his armour, his exploits, and the scenes of his action, are all essentially Greek. But the poets of the time of Herodotus and of the subsequent periods introduced considerable alterations, which were probably derived from the east or Egypt , for every nation of antiquity as well as of modern times had or has some traditions of heroes of superhuman strength and power. Now while in the earliest Greek legends Heracles is a purely human hero, as the conqueror of men and cities, he afterwards appears as the subduer of monstrous animals, and is connected in a variety of ways with astronomical phaenomena. According to Homer (Il. xviii. 118), Heracles was the son of Zeus by Alcmene of Thebes in Boeotia , and the favourite of his father (Il. xiv. 250, 323, xix. 98, Od. xi. 266, 620, xxi. 25, 36). His stepfather was Amphitryon (Il. v. 392, Od. xi. 269; Hes. Scut. Herc. 165). Amphitryon was the son of Alcaeus, the son of Perseus, and Alcmene was a grand-daughter of Perseus. Hence Heracles belonged to the family of Perseus. The story of his birth runs thus. Amphitryon, after having slain Electryon, was expelled from Argos , and went with his wife Alcmene to Thebes , where he was received and purified by his uncle Creon. Alcmene was yet a maiden, in accordance with a vow which Amphitryon had been obliged to make to Electryon, and Alcmene continued to refuse him the rights of a husband, until he should have avenged the death of her brothers on the Taphians. While Amphitryon was absent from Thebes, Zeus one night, to which he gave the duration of three other nights, visited Alcmene, and assuming the appearance of Amphitryon, and relating to her how her brothers had been avenged, he begot by her the hero Heracles, the great bulwark of gods and men (Respecting the various modifications of this story see Apollod. ii. 4.7; Hygin. Fab. 29; Hes. Scut. 3.5; Pind. Isth. vii. 5, Nem. x. 19; Schol. ad Hom. Od. xi. 266). The day on which Heracles was to be born, Zeus boasted of his becoming the father of a man who was to rule over the heroic race of Perseus. Hera prevailed upon him to confirm by an oath that the descendant of Perseus born that day should be the ruler. When this was done she hastened to Argos , and there caused the wife of Sthenelus to give birth to Eurystheus, whereas, by keeping away the Eileithyiae, she delayed the confinement of Alcmene, and thus robbed Heracles of the empire which Zeus had intended for him. Zeus was enraged at the imposition practised upon him, but could not violate his oath. Alcmene brought into the world two boys, Heracles, the son of Zeus, and Iphicles, the son of Amphitryon, who was one night younger than Heracles (Hom. Il. xix. 95; Hes. Scnt. 1--56, 80; Apollod. ii. 4). Zeus, in his desire not to leave Heracles the victim of Hera's jealousy, made her promise, that if Heracles executed twelve great works in the service of Eurystheus, he should become immortal (Diod. iv. 9). Respecting the place of his birth traditions did not agree; for although the majority of poets and mythographers relate that he was born at Thebes , Diodorus (iv. 10) says that Amphitryon was not expelled from Tiryns till after the birth of Heracles, and Euripides (Herc. Fur. 18) describes Argos as the native country of the hero.
Nearly all the stories about the childhood and youth of Heracles, down to the time when he entered the service of Eurystheus, seem to be inventions of a later age: at least in the Homeric poems and in Hesiod we only find the general remarks that he grew strong in body and mind, that in the confidence in his own power he defied even the immortal gods, and wounded Hera and Ares, and that under the protection of Zeus and Athena he escaped the dangers which Hera prepared for him. But according to Pindar (Nem. i. 49), and other subsequent writers, Heracles was only a few months old when Hera sent two serpents into the apartment where Heracles and his brother Iphicles were sleeping, but the former killed the serpents with his own hands (Comp. Theocrit. xxiv.1; Apollod. ii. 4.8). Heracles was brought up at Thebes , but the detail of his infant life is again related with various modifications in the different traditions. It is said that Alcmene, from fear of Hera, exposed her son in a field near Thebes , hence called the field of Heracles; here he was found by Hera and Athena, and the former was prevailed upon by the latter to put him to her breast, and she then carried him back to his mother (Diod. iv. 9; Paus. ix. 25.2). Others said that Hermes carried the newly-born child to Olympus , and put him to the breast of Hera while she was asleep, but as she awoke, she pushed him away, and the milk thus spilled produced the Milky Way (Eratosth. Catast. 44; Hygin. Poet. Astr. ii. in fin). As the hero grew up, he was instructed by Amphitryon in riding in a chariot, by Autolycus in wrestling, by Eurytus in archery, by Castor in fighting with heavy armour, and by Linus in singing and playing the lyre (See the different statements in Theocrit. xxiv. 114, 103, 108; Schol. ad Theocrit. xiii. 9, 56; Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 49). Linus was killed by his pupil with the lyre, because he had censured him (Apollod. ii. 4.9; Diod. iii. 66; Aelian, V. H. iii. 32). Being charged with murder, IIeracles exculpated himself by saying that the deed was done in self-defence; and Amphitryon, in order to prevent similar occurrences, sent him to attend to his cattle. In this manner he spent his life till his eighteenth year. His height was four cubits, fire beamed from his eyes, and he never wearied in practising shooting and hurling his javelin. To this period of his life belongs the beautiful fable about Heracles before two roads, invented by the sophist Prodicus, which may be read in Xenoph. Mem. ii. 1, and Cic de Off. i. 32. Pindar (Isth. iv. 53) calls him small of stature, but of indomitable courage. His first great adventure, which happened while he was still watching the oxen of his father, is his fight against and victory over the lion of Cythaeron . This animal made great havoc among the flocks of Amphitryon and Thespius (or Thestius), king of Thespiae , and Heracles promised to deliver the country of the monster. Thespius, who had fifty daughters, rewarded Heracles by making him his guest so long as the chase lasted, and gave up his daughters to him, each for one night (Apollod. ii. 4.10; comp. Hygin. Fab. 162; Diod. iv. 29; Athen. xiii. p. 556). Heracles slew the lion, and henceforth wore its skin as his ordinary garment, and its mouth and head as his helmet; others related that the lion's skin of Heracles was taken from the Nemean lion. On his return to Thebes , he met the envoys of king Erginus of Orchomenos , who were going to fetch the annual tribute of one hundred oxen, which they had compelled the Thebans to pay. Heracles, in his patriotic indignation, cut off the noses and ears of the envoys, and thus sent them back to Erginus. The latter thereupon marched against Thebes ; but Heracles, who received a suit of armour from Athena, defeated and killed the enemy, and compelled the Orchomenians to pay double the tribute which they had formerly received from the Thebans . In this battle against Erginus Heracles lost his father Amphitryon, though the tragedians make him survive the campaign (Apollod. ii. 4.11; Diod. iv. 10; Paus. ix. 37. 2; Theocrit. xvi. 105; Eurip. Herc. Fur. 41). According to some accounts, Erginus did not fall in the tattle, but coneluded peace with Heracles. But the gorious manner in which Heracles had delivered his country procured him immortal fame among the Thebans , and Creon rewarded him with the hand of his eldest daughter, Megara, by whom he became the father of several children, the number and names of whom are stated differently by the different writers (Apollod. ii. 4.11, 7.8; Hygin. Fab. 32; Eurip. Herc. Fur. 995; Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 38; Schol. ad Pind. Isthm. iii. 104). The gods, on the other hand, made him presents of arms: Hermes gave him a sword, Apollo a bow and arrows, Hephaestus a golden coat of mail, and Athena a peplus, and he cut for himself a club in the neighbourhood of Nemea , while, according to others, the club was of brass, and the gift of Hephaestus (Apollon. Rhod. i. 1196; Diod. iv. 14). After the battle with the Minyans , Hera visited Heracles with madness, in which he killed his own children by Megara and two of Iphicles. In his grief he sentenced himself to exile, and went to Thestius, who purified him (Apollod. ii. 4.12). Other traditions place this madness at a later time, and relate the circumstances differently (Eurip. Herc. Fur. 1000; Paus. ix. 11.1; Hygin. Fab. 32; Schol. ad Pind. Isthm. iii. 104). He then consulted the oracle of Delphi as to where he should settle. The Pythia first called him by the name of Heracles--for hitherto his name had been Alcides or Alcaeus,--and ordered him to live at Tiryns , to serve Eurystheus for the space of twelve years, after which he should become immortal. Heracles accordingly went to Tiryns , and did as he was bid by Eurystheus.
The accounts of the twelve labours of Heracles are found only in the later writers, for Homer and Hesiod do not mention them. Homer only knows that Heracles during his life on earth was exposed to infinite dangers and sufferings through the hatred of Hera, that he was subject to Eurystheus, who imposed upon him many and difficult tasks, but Homer mentions only one, viz. that he was ordered to bring Cerberus from the lower world (Il. viii. 363, xv. 639, Od. xi. 617). The Iliad further alludes to his fight with a seamonster, and his expedition to Troy , to fetch the horses which Laomedon had refused him (v. 638, xx. 145). On his return from Troy , he was cast, through the influence of Hera, on the coast of Cos , but Zeus punished Hera, and carried Heracles safely to Argos (xiv. 249, xv 18). Afterwards Heracles made war against the Pylians , and destroyed the whole family of their king Neleus, with the exception of Nestor. He destroyed many towns, and carried off Astyoche from Ephyra , by whom he became the father of Tlepolemus (v. 395, ii. 657; comp. Od xxi. 14; Soph. Trach. 239). Hesiod mentions several of the feats of Heracles distinctly, but knows nothing of their number twelve. The selection of these twelve from the great number of feats ascribed to Heracles is probably the work of the Alexandrines . They are enumerated in Euripides (Here. Fur.), Apollodorus, Diodorus Siculus, and the Greek Anthology (ii. 651), though none of them can be considered to have arranged them in any thing like a chronological order.
...the twelve labours of Heracles... (see below). According to Apollodorus, Eurystheus originally required only ten, and commanded him to perform two more, because he was dissatisfied with two of them; but Diodorus represents twelve as the original number required. Along with these labours (athloi), the ancients relate a considerable number of other feats (parerga) which he performed without being commanded by Eurystheus; some of them are interwoven with the twelve Athloi, and others belong to a later period. Those of the former kind have already been noticed above; and we now proceed to mention the principal parerga of the second class. After the accomplishment of the twelve labours, and being released from the servitude of Eurystheus, he returned to Thebes. He there gave Megara in marriage to Iolaus; for, as he had lost the children whom he had by her, he looked upon his connection with her as displeasing to the gods (Paus. x. 29), and went to Oechalia. According to some traditions, Heracles, after his return from Hades, was seized with madness, in which he killed both Megara and her children. This madness was a calamity sent to him by Hera, because he had slain Lycus, king of Thebes, who, in the belief that Heracles would not return from Hades, had attempted to murder Megara and her children (Hygin. Fab. 32; Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 38). Eurytus, king of Oechalia, an excellent archer, and the teacher of Heracles in his art, had promised his daughter Iole to the man who should excel him and his sons in using the bow. Heracles engaged in the contest with them, and succeeded, but Eurytus refused abiding by his promise, saying, that he would not give his daughter to a man who had murdered Ills own children. Iphitus, the son of Eurytus, endeavoured to persuade his father, but in vain. Soon after this the oxen of Eurytus were carried off, and it was suspected that Heracles was the offender. Iphitus again defended Heracles, went to him and requested his assistance in searching after the oxen. Heracles agreed; but when the two had arrived at Tiryns, Heracles, in a fit of madness, threw his friend down from the wall, and killed him. Deiphobus of Amyclae, indeed, purified Heracles from this murder, but he was, nevertheless, attacked by a severe illness. Heracles then repaired to Delphi to obtain a remedy, but the Pythia refused to answer his questions. A struggle between Heracles and Apollo ensued, and the combatants were not separated till Zeus sent a flash of lightning between them. Heracles now obtained the oracle that he should be restored to health, if he would sell himself, would serve three years for wages, and surrender his wages to Eurytus, as an atonement for the murder of Iphitus (Apollod. ii. 6.1, 2; Diod. iv. 31, &c.; Hom. Il. ii. 730, Od. xxi. 22, &c.; Soph. Trach. 273, &c.). Heracles was sold to Omphale, queen of Lydia, and widow of Tmolus. Late writers, especially the Roman poets, describe Heracles, during his stay with Omphale, as indulging at times in an effeminate life: he span wool, it is said, and sometimes lie put on the garments of a woman, while Omphale wore his lion's skin; but, according to Apollodorus and Diodorus, he nevertheless performed several great feats (Ov. Fast. ii. 305, Heroid. ix. 53; Senec. Hippol. 317, Herc. Fur. 464; Lucian, Dial. Deor. xiii. 2; Apollod. ii. 6. Β§ 3; Diod. iv. 31, &c.) Among these, we mention his chaining the Cercopes, his killing Syleus and his daughter in Aulis, his defeat of the plundering Idones, his killing a serpent on the river Sygaris, and his throwing the blood-thirsty Lytierses into the Maeander (Comp. Hygin. Poet. Astr. ii. 14; Schol. ad Theocrit. x. 41; Athen. x.). He further gave to the island of Doliche the name of Icaria, as he buried in it the body of Icarus, which had been washed on shore by the waves. He also undertook an expedition to Colchis, which brought him in connection with the Argonauts (Apollod. i. 9.16; Herod. vii. 193; Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. i. 1289; Anton. Lib. 26); he took part in the Calydonian hunt, and met Theseus on his landing from Troezene on the Corinthian isthmus. An expedition to India, which was mentioned in some traditions, may likewise be inserted in this place (Philostr. Vit. Apoll. iii. 4, 6; Arrian, Ind. 8, 9).
When the period of his servitude and his illness had passed away, he undertook an expedition against Troy, with 18 ships and a band of heroes. On his landing, he entrusted the fleet to Oicles, and with his other companions made an attack upon the city. Laomedon in the mean time made an attack upon the ships, and slew Oicles, but was compelled to retreat into the city, where he was besieged. Telamon was the first who forced his way into the city, which roused the jealousy of Heracles to such a degree that lie determined to kill him; but Telamon quickly collected a heap of stones, and pretended that he was building an altar to Heracles kallinikos or alexikakos. This soothed the anger of the hero; and after the sons of Laomedon had fallen, Heracles gave to Telamon Hesione, as a reward for his bravery (Hom. Il. v. 641, &c., xiv. 251, xx. 145, &c.; Apollod. ii. 6.4; Diod. iv. 32, 49; Eurip. Troad. 802, &c.).
On his return from Troy, Hera sent a storm to impede his voyage, which compelled him to land in the island of Cos. The Meropes, the inhabitants of the island, took him for a pirate, and received him with a shower of stones; but during the night he took possession of the island, and killed the king, Eurypylus. Heracles himself was wounded by Chalcodon, but was saved by Zeus. After he had ravaged Cos, he went, by the command of Athena, to Phlegra, and fought against the Gigantes (Apollod. ii. 7. Β§ 1; Hom. Il. xiv. 250, &c.; Pind. Nem. iv. 40). Respecting his fight against the giants, who were, according to an oracle, to be conquered by a mortal, see especially Eurip. Herc. Fur. 177, &c., 852, 1190, &c., 1272. Among the giants defeated by him we find mention of Alcyoneus, a name borne by two among them. (Pind. Nem. iv. 43, Isthm. vi. 47.)
Soon after his return to Argos, Heracles marched against Augeas to chastise him for his breach of promise (see above), and then proceeded to Pylos, which he took, and killed Periclymenus, a son of Neleus. He then advanced against Lacedaemon, to punish the sons of Hippocoon, for having assisted Neleus and slain Oeonus, the son of Licymnius (Paus. iii. 15.2, ii. 18.6; Apollod. ii. 7.3; Diod. iv. 33). Heracles took Lacedaemon, and assigned the government of it to Tyndarens. On his return to Tegea, he became, by Auge, the father of Telephus, and then proceeded to Calydon, where he demanded Deianeira, the daughter of Oeneus, for his wife. The adventures which now follow are of minor importance, such as the expedition against the Dryopians, and the assistance he gave to Aegimius, king of the Dorians, against the Lapithae; but as these events led to his catastrophe, it is necessary to subjoin a sketch of them.
Heracles had been married to Deianeira for nearly three years, when, at a repast in the house of Oeneus, he killed, by an accident, the boy Eunomus, the son of Architeles. The father of the boy pardoned the murder, as it had not been committed intentionally; but Heracles, in accordance with the law, went into exile with his wife Deianeira. On their road they came to the river Euenus, across which the centaur Nessus used to carry travellers for a small sum of money. Heracles himself forded the river, and gave Deianeira to Nessus to carry her across. Nessus attempted to outrage her: Heracles heard her screaming, and as the centaur brought her to the other side, Heracles shot an arrow into his heart. The dying centaur called out to Deianeira to take his blood with her, as it was a sure means for preserving the love of her husband (Apollod. ii. 7.6; Diod. iv. 36; Soph. Trach. 555, &c.; Ov. Met. ix. 201, &c.; Senec. Herc. Oct. 496, &c.; Paus. x. 38.1). From the river Euenus, Heracles now proceeded through the country of the Dryopes, where he showed himself worthy of the epithet "the voracious", which is so often given to him, especially bv late writers, for in his hunger he took one of the oxen of Theiodamas, and consumed it all. At last he arrived in Trachis, where he was kindly received by Ceyx, and conquered the Dryopes. He then assisted Aegimius, king of the Dorians, against the Lapithae, and without accepting a portion of the country which was offered to him as a reward. Laogoras, the king of the Dryopes, and his children, were slain. As Heracles proceeded to Iton, in Thessaly, he was challenged to single combat by Cycnus, a son of Ares and Pelopia (Hesiod. Scut. Her. 58, &c.); but Cycnus was slain. King Amyntor of Ormenion refused to allow Heracles to pass through his dominions, but had to pay for his presumption with his life (Apollod. ii. 7.7; Diod. iv. 36, &c.).
Heracles now returned to Trachis, and there collected an army to take vengeance on Eurytus of Oechalia. Apollodorus and Diodorus agree in making Heracles spend the last years of his life at Trachis, but Sophocles represents the matter in a very different light, for, according to him, Heracles was absent from Trachis upwards of fifteen months without Deianeira knowing where he was. During that period he was staying with Omphale in Lydia; and without returning home, he proceeded from Lydia at once to Oechalia, to gain possession of Iole, whom he loved (Soph. Track. 44, &c.; 248, &c., 351, &c.) With the assistance of his allies, Heracles took the town of Oechalia, and slew Eurytus and his sons, but carried his daughter Iole with him as a prisoner. On his return home he landed at Cenaeum, a promontory of Euboea, and erected an altar to Zeus Cenaeus, and sent his companion, Lichas, to Trachis to fetch him a white garment, which he intended to use during the sacrifice. Deiancira, who heard from Lichas respecting Iole, began to fear lost she should supplant her in the affection of her husband, to prevent which she steeped the white garment he had demanded in the preparation she had made from the blood of Nessus. Scarcely had the garment become warm on the body of Heracles, when the poison which was contained in the ointment, and had come into it from the poisoned arrow with which Heracles had killed Nessus, penetrated into all parts of his body, and caused him the most fearful pains. Heracles seized Lichas by his feet, and threw him into the sea. He wrenched off his garment, but it stuck to his flesh, and with it he tore whole pieces from his body. In this state he was conveyed to Trachis. Deianeira, on seeing what she had unwittingly done, hung herself; and Heracles commanded Hyllus, his eldest son, by Deianeira, to marry Iole as soon as he should arrive at the age of manhood. He then ascended Mount Oeta, raised a pile of wood, ascended, and ordered it to be set on fire. No one ventured to obey him, until at length Poeas the shepherd, who passed by, was prevailed upon to comply with the desire of the suffering hero. When the pile was burning, a cloud came down from heaven, and amid peals of thunder carried him into Olympus, where he was honoured with immortality, became reconciled with Hera, and married her daughter Hebe, by whom he became the father of Alexiares and Anicetus (Hom. Od. xi. 600, &c.; Hes. Theog. 949, &c.; Soph. Trach. l. c., Philoct. 802; Apollod. ii. 7.7; Diod. iv. 38; Ov. Met. ix. 155, &c.; Herod. vii. 198; Conon, Narrat. 17; Paus. iii. 18.7; Pind. Nem. i. in fin., x. 31, &c., Isthm. iv. 55, &c.; Vir. Aen. viii. 300, and many other writers).
The wives and children of Heracles are enumerated by Apollodorus (ii. 7.8), but we must refer the reader to the separate articles. We may, however, observe that among the very great number of his children, there are no daughters, and that Euripides is the only writer who mentions Macaria as a daughter of Heracles by Deianeira. We must also pass over the long series of his surnames, and proceed to give an account of his worship in Greece. Immediately after the apotheosis of Heracles, his friends who were present at the termination of his earthly career offered sacrifices to him as a hero; and Menoetius established at Opus the worship of Heracles as a hero. This example was followed by the Thebans, until at length Heracles was worshipped throughout Greece as a divinity (Diod. iv. 39; Eurip. Herc. Fur. 1331); but he, Dionysus and Pan, were regarded as the youngest gods, and his worship was practised in two ways, for he was worshipped both as a god and as a hero (Herod. ii. 44, 145). One of the most ancient temples of Heracles in Greece was that at Bura, in Achaia, where he had a peculiar oracle (Paus. vii. 25.6; Plut. de Malign. Herod. 31). In the neighbourhood of Thermopylae, where Athena, to please him, had called forth the hot spring, there was an altar of Heracles, surnamed melampugos (Schol. ad Aristoph. Nub. 1047; Herod. vii. 176); and it should be observed that hot springs in general were sacred to Heracles (Diod. v. 3; Schol. ad Pind. Ol. xii. 25; Liv. xxii. 1; Strab. pp. 60, 172, 425, 428). In Phocis he had a temple under the name of misolunes; and as at Rome, women were not allowed to take part in his worship, probably on account of his having been poisoned by Deianeira (Plut. Quaest. Rom. 57, de Pyth. Orac. 20; Macrob. Sat. i. 12). But temples and sanctuaries of Heracles existed in all parts of Greece, especially in those inhabited by the Dorians. The sacrifices offered to him consisted principally of bulls, boars, rams and lambs (Diod. iv. 39; Paus. ii. 10.1). Respecting the festivals celebrated in his honour, see Heracleia.
The worship of Hercules at Rome and in Italy requires a separate consideration. His worship there is connected by late, especially Roman writers, with the hero's expedition to fetch the oxen of Geryones; and the principal points are, that Hercules in the West abolished human sacrifices among the Sabines, established the worship of fire, and slew Cacus, a robber, who had stolen eight of his oxen (Dionys. i. 14) The aborigines, and especially Evander, honoured the hero with divine worship. (Serv. ad Aen. viii. 51, 269.) Hercules, in return, feasted the people, and presented the king with lands, requesting that sacrifices should be offered to him every year, according to Greek rites. Two distinguished families, the Potitii and Pinarii, were instructed in these Greek rites, and appointed hereditary managers of the festival. But Hercules made a distinction between these two families, which continued to exist for a long time after; for, as Pinarius arrived too late at the repast, the god punished him by declaring that lie and his descendants should be excluded for ever from the sacrificial feast. Thus the custom arose for the Pinarii to act the part of servants at the feast. (Diod. iv. 21; Dionys. i. 39, &c.; Liv. i. 40, v. 34; Nepos, Hann. 3; Plut. Quaest. Rom. 18; Ov. Fast. i. 581). The Fabia gens traced its origin to Hercules, and Fauna and Acca Laurentia are called mistresses of Hercules. In this manner the Romans connected their earliest legends with Hercules (Macrob. Sat. i. 10; August. de Civ. Dei, vi. 7). It should be observed that in the Italian traditions the hero bore the name of Recaranus, and this Recaranus was afterwards identified with the Greek Heracles. He had two temples at Rome, one was a small round temple of Hercules Victor, or Hercules Triumphalis, between the river and the Circus Maximus, in the forum boarium, and contained a statue, which was dressed in the triumphal robes whenever a general celebrated a triumph. In front of this statue was the ara maxima, on which, after a triumph, the tenth of the booty was deposited for distribution among the citizens (Liv. x. 23; Plin. H. N. xxxiv. 7, 16; Macrob. Sat. iii. 6; Tacit. Ann. xii. 24; Serv. ad Aen. xii. 24; Athen. v. 65; comp. Dionys. i. 40). The second temple stood near the porta trigemina, and contained a bronze statue and the altar on which Hercules himself was believed to have once offered a sacrifice (Dionys. i. 39, 40; Plut. Quaest. Rom. 60; Plin. H. N. xxxiii. 12, 45). Here the city praetor offered every year a young cow, which was consumed by the people within the sanctuary. The Roman Hercules was regarded as the giver of health (Lydus, de Mens. p. 92), and his priests were called by a Sabine name Cupenci (Serv. ad Aen. xii. 539). At Rome he was further connected with the Muses, whence he is called Musagetes, and was represented with a lyre, of which there is no trace in Greece. The identity of the Italian with the Greek Heracles is attested not only by the resenmblalce in the traditions and the mode of worship, but by the distinct belief of the Romans themselves. The Greek colonies had introduced his worship into Italy, and it was thence carried to Rome, into Gaul, Spain, arid even Germany (Tac. Germ. 2). But it is, nevertheless, in the highest degree probable that the Greek mythus was engrafted upon, or supplied the place of that about the Italian Recaranus or Garanus.
The works of art in which Heracles was represented were extremely numerous, and of the greatest variety, for he was represented at all the various stages of his life, from the cradle to his death; but whether he appears as a child, a youth, a struggling hero, or as the immortal inhabitant of Olympus, his character is always that of heroic strength and energy. Specimens of every kind are still extant. In the works of the archaic style he appeared as a man with heavy armour (Paus. iii. 15.7), but he is usually represented armed with a club, a Scythian bow, and a lion's skin. His head and eyes are small in proportion to the other parts of his body; his hair is short, bristly, and curly, his neck short, fat, and resembling that of a bull; the lower part of his forehead projects, and his expression is grave and serious; his shoulders, arms, breast, and legs display the highest physical strength, and the strong muscles suggest the unceasing and extraordinary exertions by which his life is characterised. The representations of Heracles by Myron and Parrhasius approached nearest to the ideal which was at length produced by Lysippus. The socalled Farnesian Heracles, of which the torso still exists, is the work of Glycon, in imitation of one by Lysippus. It is the finest representation of the hero that has come down to us: he is resting, leaning on his right arm, while the left one is reclining on his head, and the whole figure is a most exquisite combination of peculiar softness with the greatest strength.
The mythus of Heracles, as it has come down to us, has unquestionably been developed on Grecian soil; his name is Greek, and the substance of the fables also is of genuine Greek growth: the foreign additions which at a later age may have been incorporated with the Greek mythus can easily be recognised and separated from it. It is further clear that real historical elements are interwoven with the fables. The best treatises on the mythus of Heracles are those of Buttmann (Mythologus), and C. O. Muller (Dorians), both of whom regard the hero as a purely Greek character, though the former considers him as entirely a poetical creation, and the latter believes that the whole mythus arose from the proud consciousness of power which is innate in every man, by means of which he is able to raise himself to an equality with the immortal gods, notwithstanding all the obstacles that may be placed in his way.
Before we conclude, we must add a few remarks respecting the Heracles of the East, and of the Celtic and Germanic nations. The ancients themselves expressly mention several heroes of the name of Heracles, who occur among the principal nations of the ancient world. Diodorus, e.g. (iii. 73, comp. i. 24, v. 64, 76) speaks of three, the most ancient of whom was the Egyptian, a son f Zeus, the second a Cretan, and one of the Idacan Dactyls, and the third or youngest was Heracles the son of Zeus by Alcmena, who lived shortly before the Trojan war, and to whom the feats of the earlier ones were ascribed. Cicero (de Nat. Deor. iii. 16) counts six heroes of this name, and he likewise makes the last and youngest the son of Zeus and Alcmena. Varro (ap. Serv. ad Aen. viii. 564) is said to have reckoned up forty-four heroes of this name, while Servius assumes only four, viz. the Tirynthian, the Argive, the Theban, and the Libyan Heracles. Herodotus (ii. 42, &c.) tells us that he made inquiries respecting Heracles: the Egyptian he found to be decidedly older than the Greek one; but the Egyptians referred him to Phoenicia as the original source of the traditions. The Egyptian Heracles, who is mentioned by many other writers besides Herodotus and Diodorus, is said to have been called by his Egyptian name Som or Dsom, or, according to others, Chon (Etym. M. s. v. Chon), and, according to Pausanias (x. 17.2), Maceris. According to Diodorus (i. 24), Som was a son of Amon (Zeus); but Cicero calls him a son of Nilus, while, according to Ptolemaeus Hephaestion, Heracles himself was originally called Nilus. This Egyptian Heracles was placed by the Egyptians in the second of the series of the evolutions of their gods (Diod. l. c.; Herod. ii. 43, 145, iii. 73; Tac. Ann. ii. 6). The Thebans placed him 17,000 years before king Amasis, and, according to Diodorus, 10,000 years before the Trojan war; whereas Macrobius (Sat. i. 20) states that he had no beginning at all. The Greek Heracles, according to Diodorus, became the heir of all the feats and exploits of his elder Egyptian namesake. The 'Egyptian Heracles, however, is also mentioned in the second classof the kings; so that the original divinity, by a process of anthropomorphism, appears as a man, and in this capacity he bears great resemblance to the Greek hero (Diod. i. 17, 24, iii. 73). This may, indeed, be a mere reflex of the Greek traditions, but the statement that Osiris, previous to his great expedition, entrusted Heracles with the government of Egypt, seems to be a genuine Egyptian legend. The other stories related about the Egyptian Heracles are of a mysterious nature, and unintelligible, but the great veneration in which he was held is attested by several authorities (Herod. ii. 113; Diod. v. 76; Tac. Ann. ii. 60; Macrob. Sat. i. 20).
Further traces of the worship of Heracles appear in Thasus, where Herodotus (ii. 44) found a temple, said to have been built by the Phoenicians sent out in search of Europa, five generations previous to the time of the Greek Heracles. He was worshipped there principally in the character of a saviour (soter, Paus. v. 25.7, vi. 11.2).
The Cretan Heracles, one of the Idaean Dactyls, was believed to have founded the temple of Zeus at Olympia (Paus. v. 13.5), but to have originally come from Egypt (Diod. iv. 18). The traditions about him resemble those of the Greek Heracles (Diod. v. 76; Paus. ix. 27.5); but it is said that he lived at a much earlier period than the Greek hero, and that the latter only imitated him. Eusebius states that his name was Diodas, and Hieronymus makes it Desanaus. He was worshipped with funeral sacrifices, and was regarded as a magician, like other ancient daemones of Crete (Cic. de Nat. Deor. iii. 16; Diod. v. 64).
In India, also, we find a Heracles, who was called by the unintelligible name Dirsaner (Plin. H. N. vi. 16, 22; Hesych. s.v. Dorsaner). The later Greeks believed that he was their own hero, who had visited India, and related that in India he became the father of many sons and daughters by Pandaea, and the ancestral hero of the Indian kings (Arrian, Ind. 8, 9; Diod. ii. 39, xvii. 85, 96; Philostr. Vit. Apoll. iii. 46)
The Phoenician Heracles, whom the Egyptians considered to be more ancient than their own, was probably identical with the Egyptian or Libyan Heracles. See the learned disquisition in Movers (Die Phoenicier, p. 415, &c.) He was worshipped in all the Phoenician colonies, such as Carthage and Gades, down to the time of Constantine, and it is said that children were sacrificed to him (Plin. H. N. xxxvi. 5).
The Celtic and Germanic Heracles has already been noticed above, as the founder of Alesia, Nemausus, and the author of the Celtic race. We become acquainted with him in the accounts of the expedition of the Greek Heracles to Geryones (Herod. i. 7, ii. 45, 91, 113, iv. 82; Pind. Ol. iii. 11, &c.; Tacit. Germ. 3, 9). We must either suppose that the Greek Heracles was identified with native heroes of those northern countries, or that the notions about Heracles had been introduced there from the East.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Jan 2006 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Per... http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Per...
Heracles (Herakles: Latin, Hercules). Heracles is not only one of the oldest heroes in the Greek mythology, but the most famous of all. Indeed, the traditions of similar heroes in other Greek tribes, and in other nations, especially in the East, were transferred to Heracles; so that the scene of his achievements, which is, in the Homeric poems, confined on the whole to Greece, became almost coextensive with the known world; and the story of Heracles was the richest and most comprehensive of all the heroic myths.
Heracles was born in Thebes, and was the son of Zeus by Alcmene, the wife of Amphitryon, whose form the god assumed while he was absent in the war against the Teleboi. On the day which he should have been born, Zeus announced to the gods that a descendant of Perseus was about to see the light, who would hold sway over all the Perseidae. Here cunningly induced her consort to confirm his words with an oath. She hated the unborn son as the son of her rival, and hence in her capacity as the goddess of childbirth caused the queen of Sthenelus of Mycenae, a descendant of Perseus, to give birth prematurely to Eurystheus, while she postponed the birth of Heracles for seven days. Hence it was that Heracles, with his gigantic strength, came into the service of the weaker Eurystheus. Here pursued him with her hatred during the whole of his natural life. He and his twin brother Iphicles, the son of Amphitryon, were hardly born, when the goddess sent two serpents to their cradle to destroy them. Heracles seized them and strangled them. The child grew up to be a strong youth, and was taught by Amphitryon to drive a chariot, by Autolycus to wrestle, by Eurytus to shoot with the bow, and by Castor to use the weapons of war. Chiron instructed him in the sciences, Rhadamanthus in virtue and wisdom, Eumolpus (or according to another account, Linus) in music. When Linus attempted to chastise him, Heracles struck him dead with his lute. Amphitryon, accordingly, alarmed at his untamable temper, sent him to tend his flocks on Mount Cithaeron.
It was at this time, according to the Sophist Prodicus, that the event occurred which occasioned the fable of the "Choice of Heracles". Heracles was meditating in solitude as to the path of life which he should choose, when two tall women appeared before him--the one called Pleasure, the other called Virtue. Pleasure promised him a life of enjoyment, Virtue a life of toil crowned by glory. He decided for Virtue. After destroying the savage lion of Cithaeron, he returned, in his eighteenth year, to Thebes, and freed the city from the tribute which it had been forced to pay to Erginus of Orchomenus, whose heralds he deprived of their ears and noses. Creon, king of Thebes, gave him, in gratitude, his daughter Megara as wife. But it was not long before the Delphic oracle commanded him to enter the service of Eurystheus, king of Mycenae and Tiryns, and perform twelve tasks which he should impose upon him. This was the humiliation which Here had in store for him. The oracle promised him, at the same time, that he should win eternal glory, and in deed immortality, and change his present name Alcaeus (from his paternal grandfather) or Alcides (from alke, "strength") for Heracles ("renowned through Here"). Nevertheless, he fell into a fit of madness, in which he shot down the three children whom Megara had borne him. When healed of his insanity, he entered into the service of Eurystheus.
The older story says nothing of the exact number (twelve) of the labours (athloi) of Heracles. The number was apparently invented by the poet Pisander of Rhodes, who may have had in his eye the contests of the Phoenician god Melkart with the twelve hostile beasts of the Zodiac. It was also Pisander who first armed the hero with the club, and the skin taken from the lion of Cithaeron or Nemea. Heracles was previously represented as carrying bow and arrows, and the weapons of a Homeric hero.
The twelve labours of Heracles were as follows: (1) The contest with the invulnerable lion of Nemea, the offspring of Typhon and Echidna. Heracles drove it into its cavern and strangled it in his arms. With the impenetrable hide, on which nothing could make any impression but the beast's own claws, he clothed himself, the jaws covering his head. (2) The hydra or water-snake of Lerna, also a child of Typhon and Echidna. This monster lived in the marsh of Lerna, near Argos, and was so poisonous that its very breath was fatal. It had nine heads, one of which was immortal. Heracles scared it out of its lair with burning arrows, and cut off its head; but for every head cut off two new ones arose. At length Iolaus, the charioteer of Heracles and son of his brother Iphicles, seared the wounds with burning brands. Upon the immortal head he laid a heavy mass of rock. He anointed his arrows with the monster's gall, so that henceforth the wounds they inflicted were incurable. Eurystheus refused to accept this as a genuine victory, alleging the assistance offered by Iolaus. (3) The boar of Erymanthus, which infested Arcadia. Heracles had been commanded to bring it alive to Mycenae, so he chased it into an expanse of snow, tired it out, and caught it in a noose. The mere sight of the beast threw Eurystheus into such a panic that he slunk away into a tub underground and bid the hero, in future, to show the proof of his achievements outside the city gates. (4) The hind of Mount Cerynea, between Arcadia and Achaia. Another account localizes the event on Mount Maenalus, and speaks of the Maenalian hind. Its horns were of gold and its hoofs of brass, and it had been dedicated to Artemis by the Pleiad Taygete. Heracles was to take the hind alive. He followed her for a whole year up to the source of the Ister in the country of the Hyperboreans. At length she returned to Arcadia, where he wounded her with an arrow on the banks of the Ladon, and so caught her. (5) The birds that infested the lake of Stymphalus, in Arcadia. These were man-eating monsters, with claws, wings, and beaks of brass, and feathers that they shot out like arrows. Heracles scared them with a brazen rattle, and succeeded in killing part, and driving away the rest, which settled on the island of Aretias in the Black Sea, to be frightened away, after a hard fight, by the Argonauts. (6) Heracles was commanded to bring home for Admete, the daughter of Eurystheus, the girdle of Hippolyte, queen of the Amazons. After many adventures he landed at Themiscyra, and found the queen ready to give up the girdle of her own accord. But Here spread a rumour among the Amazons that their queen was in danger, and a fierce battle took place, in which Heracles slew Hippolyte and many of her followers. On his return he slew, in the neighbourhood of Troy, a sea-monster, to whose fury King Laomedon had offered up his daughter Hesione. Laomedon refused to give Heracles the reward he had promised, whereupon the latter, who was hastening to return to Mycenae, threatened him with future vengeance. (7) The farm-yard of Augeas, king of Elis, in which lay the dung of three thousand cattle, was to be cleared in a day. Heracles completed the task by turning the rivers Alpheus and Peneus into the yard. Augeas now contended that Heracles was only acting on the commission of Eurystheus, and on this pretext refused him his promised reward. Heracles slew him afterwards with all his sons, and thereupon founded the Olympian Games. (8) A mad bull had been sent up from the sea by Poseidon to ravage the island of Crete, in revenge for the disobedience of Minos. Heracles was to bring him to Mycenae alive. He caught the bull, crossed the sea on his back, threw him over his neck and carried him to Mycenae, where he let him go. The animal wandered all through the Peloponnesus and ended by infesting the neighbourhood of Marathon, where he was at length slain by Theseus. (9) Diomedes, a son of Ares, and king of the Bistones in Thrace, had some mares which he used to feed on the flesh of the strangers landing in the country. After a severe struggle, Heracles overcame the king, threw his body to the mares, and took them off to Mycenae, where Eurystheus let them go. (10) The oxen of Geryones, the son of Chrysaor and the ocean nymph Callirrhoe. Geryones was a giant with three bodies and mighty wings, who dwelt on the island of Erythea, in the farthest West, on the borders of the Ocean stream. He had a herd of red cattle, which were watched by the shepherd Eurytion and his two-headed dog Orthrus, the offspring of Typhon and Echidna. In quest of these cattle, Heracles, with many adventures, passed through Europe and Libya. On the boundary of both continents he set up, in memory of his arrival, the two pillars which bear his name, and at length reached the Ocean stream. Oppressed by the rays of the neighbouring sun, he aimed his bow at the Sungod, who marvelled at his courage, and gave him his golden bowl to cross the Ocean in. Arrived at Erythea, Heracles slew the shepherd and his dog, and drove off the cattle. Menoetius, who tended the herds of Hades in the neigbourhood, brought news to Geryones of what had happened. Geryones hurried in pursuit, but after a fierce contest fell before the arrows of Heracles. The hero returned with the cattle through Iberia, Gaul, Liguria, Italy, and Sicily, meeting everywhere with new adventures, and leaving behind him tokens of his presence. At the mouth of the Rhone he had a dreadful struggle with the Ligyes; his arrows were exhausted, and he had sunk in weariness upon his knee, when Zeus rained a shower of innumerable stones from heaven, with which he prevailed over his enemies. The place was ever after a stony desert plain, and was identified with the Campus Lapidosus near Massilia (Marseilles). Heracles had made the circuit of the Adriatic and was just nearing Greece, when Here sent a gadfly and scattered the herd. With much toil he wandered through the mountains of Thrace as far as the Hellespont, but then only succeeded in getting together a part of the cattle. After a dangerous adventure with the giant Alcyoneus, he succeeded at length in returning to Mycenae, where Eurystheus offered up the cattle to Here. (11) The golden apples of the Hesperides. Heracles was ignorant where the gardens of the Hesperides were to be found in which the apples grew. He accordingly repaired to the nymphs who dwelt by the Eridanus, on whose counsel he surprised Nereus, the omniscient god of the sea, and compelled him to give an answer. On this he journeyed through Libya, Egypt, and Ethiopia, where he slew Antaeus, Busiris, and Emathion. He then crossed to Asia, passed through the Caucasus, where he set Prometheus free, and on through the land of the Hyperboreans till he found Atlas. Following the counsel of Prometheus, he sent Atlas to bring the apples, and in his absence bore the heavens for him on his shoulders. Atlas returned with them, but declined to take his burden upon his shoulders again, promising to carry the apples to Eurystheus himself. Heracles consented, and asked Atlas to take the burden only a moment, while he adjusted a cushion for his head; he then hurried off with his prize. Another account represents Heracles as slaying the serpent Ladon, who guarded the tree, and plucking the apples himself. Eurystheus presented him with the apples; he dedicated them to Athene, who restored them to their place. (12) Last he brought the dog Cerberus up from the lower world. This was the heaviest task of all. Conducted by Hermes and Athene, he descended into Hades at the promontory of Taenarum. In Hades he set Theseus free, and induced the prince of the infernal regions to let him take the dog to the realms of day, if only he could do so without using his weapons. Heracles bound the beast by the mere strength of arm, and carried him to Eurystheus, and took him back again into Hades. While in the upper world the dog, in his disgust, spat upon the ground, causing the poisonous herb aconite to spring up.
His tasks were now ended, and he returned to Thebes. His first wife, Megara, he wedded to his faithful friend Iolaus, and then journeyed into Oechalia to King Eurytus, whose daughter Iole he meant to woo. The king's son Iphitus favoured his suit, but Eurytus rejected it with contempt. Soon after this Autolycus stole some of Eurytus's cattle, and he accused Heracles of the robbery. Meanwhile, Heracles had rescued Alcestis, the wife of Admetus, from death. Iphitus met Heracles, begged him to help him in looking for the stolen cattle, and accompanied him to Tiryns. Here, after hospitably entertaining him, Heracles threw him, in a fit of madness, from the battlements of his stronghold. A heavy sickness was sent on him for this murder, and Heracles prayed to the god of Delphi to heal him. Apollo rejected him, whereupon Heracles attempted to carry away the tripod. A conflict ensued, when Zeus parted the combatants with his lightning. The oracle bade Heracles to hire himself out for three years for three talents, and pay the money to Eurytus. Hermes put him into the service of Omphale, queen of Lydia, daughter of Iardanus, and widow of Tmolus. Heracles was degraded to female drudgery, was clothed in soft raiment and set to spin wool, while the queen assumed the lion skin and the club. The time of service over, he undertook an expedition of vengeance against Laomedon of Troy. He landed on the coast of the Troad with eighteen ships, manned by the boldest of heroes, such as Telamon, Peleus, and Oicles. Laomedon succeeded in surprising the guard by the ships and in slaying Oicles. But the city was stormed, Telamon being the first to climb the wall, and Laomedon, with all his sons except Podarces, was slain by the arrows of Heracles. On his return Here sent a tempest upon him. On the island of Cos he had a hard conflict to undergo with Eurytion, the son of Poseidon, and his sons. Heracles was at first wounded and forced to fly, but prevailed at length with the help of Zeus.
After this Athene summoned the hero to the battle of the gods with the giants, who were not to be vanquished without his aid. Then Heracles returned to the Peloponnesus, and took vengeance on Augeas and on Neleus of Pylos, who had refused to purify him for the murder of Iphitus. In the battle with the Pylians he went so far as to wound Hades, who had come up to their assistance. Hippocoon of Sparta and his numerous sons he slew in revenge for their murder of Oeonus, a son of his maternal uncle Licymnius. In this contest his ally was King Cepheus of Tegea, by whose sister Auge he was father of Telephus. Cepheus with his twenty sons were left dead on the field.
Heracles now won as his wife Deianira, the daughter of Oeneus of Calydon. He remained a long time with his father-in-law, and at length, with his wife and his son Hyllus, he passed on into Trachis to the hospitality of his friend Ceyx. At the ford of the river Evenus he encountered the Centaur Nessus, who had the right of carrying travellers across. Nessus remained behind and attempted to do violence to Deianira, upon which Heracles shot him through with his poisoned arrows. The dying Centaur gave some of his infected blood to Deianira, telling her that, should her husband be unfaithful, it would be a means of restoring him. Heracles had a stubborn contest with Theodamas, the king of the Dryopes, killed him, and took his son Hylas away. He then reached Trachis, and was received with the friendliest welcome by King Ceyx. Next he started to fight with Cycnus, who had challenged him to single combat; and afterwards, at the request of Aegimius, prince of the Dorians, undertook a war against the Lapithae, and an expedition of revenge against Eurytus of Oechalia. He stormed the fortress, slew Eurytus with his sons, and carried off Iole, who had formerly been denied him, as his prisoner. He was about to offer a sacrifice to his father Zeus on Mount Cenaeum, when Deianira, jealous of Iole, sent him a robe stained with the blood of Nessus. It had hardly grown warm upon his body when the dreadful poison began to devour his flesh. Wild with anguish, he hurled Lichas, who brought him the robe, into the sea, where he was changed into a tall cliff. In the attempt to tear off the robe, he only tore off pieces of his flesh. Apollo bade him be carried to the top of Oeta, where he had a great funeral pyre built up for him. This he ascended; then he gave Iole to his son Hyllus to be his wife, and bade Poeas, the father of Philoctetes, to kindle the pyre. According to another story, it was Philoctetes himself, whom Heracles presented with his bow and poisoned arrows, who performed this office. The flames had hardly started up, when a cloud descended from the sky with thunder and lightning, and carried the son of Zeus up to heaven, where he was welcomed as one of the immortals. Here was reconciled to him, and he was wedded to her daughter Hebe, the goddess of eternal youth. Their children were Alexiares ("Averter of the Curse") and Anicetus ("the Invincible"), the names merely personifying two of the main qualities for which the hero was worshipped.
About the end of Heracles nothing is said in the Iliad but that he, the best-loved of Zeus's sons, did not escape death, but was overcome by fate, and by the heavy wrath of Here. In the Odyssey his ghost, in form like black night, walks in the lower world with his bow bent and his arrows ready, while the hero himself dwells among the immortals, the husband of Hebe. For the lives of his children, and the end of Eurystheus, see Hyllus.
Heracles was worshipped partly as a hero, to whom men brought the ordinary libations and offerings, and partly as an Olympian deity, an immortal among the immortals. Immediately after his apotheosis his friends offered sacrifice to him at the place of burning, and his worship spread from thence through all the tribes of Hellas. Diomus the son of Colyttus, an Athenian, is said to have been the first who paid him the honours of an immortal. It was he who founded the gymnasium called Cynosarges, near the city. This gymnasium, the sanctuary at Marathon, and the temple at Athens were the three most venerable shrines of Heracles in Attica. Diomus gave his name to the Diomeia, a merry festival held in Athens in honour of Heracles. Feasts to Heracles (Herakleia), with athletic contests, were celebrated in many places. He was the hero of labour and struggle, and the patron deity of the gymnasium and the palaestra. From early times he was regarded as having instituted the Olympic Games; as the founder of the Olympic sanctuaries and the Olympic truce, the planter of the shady groves, and the first competitor and victor in the contests. During his earthly life he had been a helper of gods and men, and had set the earth free from monsters and rascals. Accordingly he was invoked in all the perils of life as the saviour (soter) and the averter of evil (alexikakos). Men prayed for his protection against locusts, flies, and noxious serpents. He was a wanderer, and had travelled over the whole world; therefore he was called on as the guide on marches and journeys (hegemonios). In another character he was the glorious conqueror (kallinikos) who, after his toils are over, enjoys his rest with wine, feasting, and music. Indeed, the fable represents him as having, in his hours of repose, given as striking proofs of inexhaustible bodily power as in his struggles and contests. Men liked to think of him as an enormous eater, capable of devouring a whole ox; as a lusty boon companion, fond of delighting himself and others by playing the lyre. In Rome, as Hercules, he was coupled with the Muses, and, like Apollo elsewhere, was worshipped as Mousagetes (Hercules Musarum), or master of the Muses. After his labours he was supposed to have been fond of hot baths (thermai) which were accordingly deemed sacred to him. Among trees, the wild olive and white poplar were consecrated to him; the poplar he was believed to have brought from distant countries to Olympia.
Owing to the influence of the Greek colonies in Italy, the worship of Heracles was widely diffused among the Italian tribes. It attached itself to local legends and religion; the conqueror of Cacus, for instance, was originally not Heracles, but a powerful shepherd called Garanos. Again, Heracles came to be identified with the ancient Italian deity Sancus or Dius Fidius, and was regarded as the god of happiness in home and field, industry and war, as well as of truth and honour. His altar was the Ara Maxima in the cattle-market (Forum Boarium), which he was believed to have erected himself. Here they dedicated to him a tithe of their gains in war and peace, ratified solemn treaties, and invoked his name to witness their oaths. He had many shrines and sacrifices in Rome, corresponding to his various titles, Victor (Conqueror), Invictus (Unconquered), Custos (Guardian), Defensor (Defender), and others. His rites were always performed in Greek fashion, with the head covered. It was in his temple that soldiers and gladiators were accustomed to hang up their arms when their service was over. In the stonequarries the labourers had their Hercules Saxarius (Hercules of the Stone). He was called the father of Latinus, the ancestor of the Latins, and to him the Roman gens of the Fabii traced their origin. The ancient family of the Potitii were said to have been commissioned by the god in person to provide, with the assistance of the Pinarii, for his sacrifices at the Ara Maxima. In B.C. 310 the Potitii gave the service into the hands of the servi publici. Before a year had passed [p. 794] the flourishing family had become completely extinct.
In works of art Heracles is represented as the ideal of manly strength, with full, well knit, and muscular limbs, serious expression, a curling beard, short neck, and a head small in proportion to the limbs. His equipment is generally the club and the lion's skin. The type appears to have been mainly fixed by Lysippus. The Farnese Hercules, by the Athenian Glycon, is probably a copy of one by Lysippus. Heracles is portrayed in repose, leaning on his club, which is covered with the lion's skin. The Heracles of the Athenian Apollonius, now only a torso, is equally celebrated.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Perseus: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898)
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The Labors of Hercules
The goddess Hera, determined to make trouble for Hercules, made him lose his mind. In a confused and angry state, he killed his own wife and children.
When he awakened from his "temporary insanity," Hercules was shocked and upset by what he'd done. He prayed to the god Apollo for guidance, and the god's oracle told him he would have to serve Eurystheus, the king of Tiryns and Mycenae, for twelve years, in punishment for the murders.
As part of his sentence, Hercules had to perform twelve Labors, feats so difficult that they seemed impossible. Fortunately, Hercules had the help of Hermes and Athena, sympathetic deities who showed up when he really needed help. By the end of these Labors, Hercules was, without a doubt, Greece's greatest hero.
His struggles made Hercules the perfect embodiment of an idea the Greeks called pathos, the experience of virtuous struggle and suffering which would lead to fame and, in Hercules' case, immortality.
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/t/twelve_labors.h...
Alcmene (Alkmene), a daughter of Electryon, king of Messene, by Anaxo, the daughter of Alcaeus (Apollod. ii. 4.5). According to other accounts her mother was called Lysidice (Schol. ad Pind. Ol. vii. 49; Plut. Thes. 7), or Eurydice (Diod. iv. 9). The poet Asius represented Alcmene as a daughter of Amphiaraus and Eriphyle (Paus. v. 17.4). Apollodorus mentions ten brothers of Alcmene, who, with the exception of one, Licymnius, fell in a contest with the sons of Pterelaus, who had carried off the cattle of Electryon. Electryon, on setting out to avenge the death of his sons, left his kingdom and his daughter Alcmene to Amphitryon, who, unintentionally, killed Electryon. Sthenelus thereupon expelled Amphitryon, who, together with Alcmene and Licymnius, went to Thebes . Alcmene declared that she would marry him who should avenge the death of her brothers. Amphitryon undertook the task, and invited Creon of Thebes to assist him.
During his absence, Zeus, in the disguise of Amphitryon, visited Alcmene, and, pretending to be her husband, related to her in what way he had avenged the death of her brothers (Apollod. ii. 4.6--8; Ov. Amor. i. 13. 45; Diod. iv. 9; Hygin. Fab. 29; Lucian, Dialog. Deor. 10). When Amphitryon himself returned on the next day and wanted to give an account of his achievements, she was surprised at the repetition, but Teiresias solved the mystery. Alcmene became the mother of Heracles by Zeus, and of Iphicles by Amphitryon. Hera, jealous of Alcmene, delayed the birth of Heracles for seven days, that Eurystheus might be born first, and thus be entitled to greater rights, according to a vow of Zeus himself (Hom. Il. xix. 95; Ov. Met. ix. 273; Diod. l. c). After the death of Amphitryon, Alcmene married Rhadamanthys, a son of Zeus, at Ocaleia in Boeotia (Apollod. ii. 4.11). After Heracles was raised to the rank of a god, Alcmene and his sons, in dread of Eurystheus fled to Trachis , and thence to Athens , and when Hyllus had cut off the head of Eurystheus, Alcmene satisfied her revenge by picking the eyes out of the head (Apollod. ii. 8.1).
The accounts of her death are very discrepant. According to Pausanias (i. 41.1), she died in Megaris , on her way from Argos to Thebes , and as the sons of Heracles disagreed as to whether she was to be carried to Argos or to Thebes , she was buried in the place where she had died at the command of an oracle. According to Plutarch (De Gen. Socr. p. 578), her tomb and that of Rhadamanthys were at Haliartus in Boeotia , and hers was opened by Agesilaus, for the purpose of carrying her remains to Sparta . According to Pherecydes (Cap. Anton. Lib. 33), she lived with her sons, after the death of Eurystheus, at Thebes , and died there at an advanced age. When the sons of Heracles wished to bury her, Zeus sent Hermes to take her body away, and to carry it to the islands of the blessed, and give her in marriage there to Rhadamanthys. Hermes accordingly took her out of her coffin, and put into it a stone so heavy that the Heraclids could not move it from the spot. When, on opening the coffin, they found the stone, they erected it in a grove near Thebes , which in later times contained the sanctuary of Alcmene (Paus. ix. 16.4). At Athens , too, she was worshipped as a heroine, and an altar was erected to her in the temple of Heracles (Cynosarges, Paus. i. 19.3). She was represented on the chest of Cypselus (Paus. v. 1 8.1), and epic as swell as tragic poets made frequent use of her story, though no poem of the kind is now extant (Hes. Scut. Herc. init.; Paus. v. 17.4, 18.1).
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited April 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology (ed. William Smith)
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Heracles & Megara
Megara was the daughter of the king of Thebes Creon and was the wife of Heracles (Od. 11.268).
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Heracles & Deianeira
Hercules married a second wife, Deianira, the daughter of king Oeneus of Calydon and Althaea (see more at ancient Calydon )
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http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Herakles/deianira.htm...
Deianeira, A daughter of Althaea by Oeneus, Dionysus, or Dexamenus (Apollod. i. 8.1; Hygin. Fab. 31, 33), and a sister of Meleager. When Meleager died, his sisters lamented his death at his grave; Artemis in her anger touched them with her staff, and changed them into birds, with the exception of Deianeira and Gorge, who were allowed, by the solicitation of Dionysus, to retain their human forms. (Antonin. Lib. 2.) Subsequently Achelous and Heracles, who both loved Deianeira, fought for the possession of her. She became the wife of Heracles, and afterwards unwittingly caused his death, whereupon she hung herself. (Apollod. ii. 7.5, 6.7; Diod. iv. 34)
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Heracles & Hebe
After Heracles died and ascended to the Mount Olympus, he married to Hebe, who was the daughter of Zeus by Here and was worshipped as the goddess of eternal youth (Od. 11.603). Hebe, before the abduction of Ganymedes, was also the cup-bearer and handmaiden of the gods (Il. 4.2, 5.722, 905).
Perseus: Homer, Odyssey
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Hebe. Daughter of Zeus and Here, and goddess of eternal youth. She was represented as the handmaiden of the gods, for whom she pours out their nectar, and the consort of Heracles after his apotheosis. She was worshipped with Heracles in Sicyon and Phlius, especially under the name Ganymede or Dia. She was represented as freeing men from chains and bonds, and her rites were celebrated with unrestrained merriment. The Romans identified Hebe with Iuventas, the personification of youthful manhood. As representing the eternal youth of the Roman State, Iuventas had a chapel on the Capitol in the front court of the Temple of Minerva, and in later times a temple of her own in the city. It was to Iupiter and Iuventas that boys offered prayer on the Capitol when they put on the toga virilis, putting a piece of money into their treasury.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited April 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Perseus: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898)
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Hebe, the personification of youth, is described as a daughter of Zeus and Hera (Apollod. i. 3.1), and is, according to the Iliad (iv. 2), the minister of the gods, who fills their cups with nectar; she assists Hera in putting the horses to her chariot (v. 722); and she bathes and dresses her brother Ares (v. 905). According to the Odyssey (xi. 603; comp. Hes. Theog. 950), she was married to Heracles after his apotheosis. Later traditions, however, describe her as having become by Heracles the mother of two sons, Alexiares and Anticetus (Apollod. ii. 7.7), and as a divinity who had it in her power to make persons of an advanced age young again (Ov. Met. ix. 400, &c.). She was worshipped at Athens, where she had an altar in the Cynosarges, near one of Heracles (Paus. i. 19.3). Under the name of the female Ganymedes (Ganymeda) or Dia, she was worshipped in a sacred grove at Sicyon and Phlius. (Paus. ii. 13.3; Strab. viii.)
At Rome the goddess was worshipped under the corresponding name of Juventas, and that at a very early time, for her chapel on the Capitol existed before the temple of Jupiter was built there; and she, as well as Terminus, is said to have opposed the consecration of the temple of Jupiter (Liv. v. 54). Another temple of Juventas, in the Circus Maximus, was vowed by the consul M. Livius, after the defeat of Hasdrubal, in B. C. 207, and was consecrated 16 years afterwards (Liv. xxxvi. 36 ; comp. xxi. 62; Dionys. iv. 15, where a temple of Juventas is mentioned as early as the reign of Servius Tullius; August. de Civ. Dei, iv. 23; Plin. H. N. xxix. 4, 14, xxxv. 36, 22).
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Dec 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Heracles (Tragedy by Euripides)
Editor’s Information:
About Heracles, Euripides wrote the homonymous tragedy, of which the e-text(s) is (are) found in Greece (ancient country) under the category Ancient Greek Writings.
Trachiniae (Tragedy by Sophocles)
Editor’s Information:
The story of Deianira and Hercules became the subject of one of Sophocles' tragic plays, Trachiniae (The Women of Trachis), of which the e-text(s) is (are) found in Greece (ancient country) under the category Ancient Greek Writings.
Personifications
Linus, the personification of a dirge
Linus (Linos), the personification of a dirge or lamentation, and therefore described as a son of Apollo by a Muse (Calliope, or by Psamathe or Chalciope, Apollod. i. 3.2; Paus. i. 43.7, ii. 19.7; Eustath. ad Hom), or of Amphimarus by Urania (Paus. ix. 29.3). Respecting his mother Psamathe, the story runs thus:
When she had given birth to Linus she exposed the child. He was found by shepherds, who brought him up, but the child was afterwards torn to pieces by dogs. Psamathe's grief at the occurrence betrayed her misfortune to her father, who condemned her to death. Apollo, in his indignation at the father's cruelty, visited Argos with a plague, and when his oracle was consulted about the means of averting the plague, he answered that the Argives must propitiate Psamathe and Linus. This was attempted by means of sacrifices, and matrons and virgins sang dirges which were called linoi, and the month in which this solemnity was celebrated was called arneios, and the festival itself arnis, because Linus had grown up among lambs. The pestilence, however, did not cease until Crotopus quitted Argos and settled at Tripodisium , in Megaris (Conon. Narrat. 19; Paus. i. 43. Β§ 7; Athen. iii. p. 99).
According to a Boeotian tradition Linus was killed by Apollo, because he had ventured upon a musical contest with the god (Paus. ix. 29.3; Eustath. ad Hom.), and near Mount Helicon his image stood in a hollow rock, formed in the shape of a grotto; and every year before sacrifices were offered to the Muses, a funeral sacrifice was offered to him, and dirges (linoi) were sung in his honour. His tomb was claimed both by the city of Argos and by Thebes (Paus. l. c., comp. ii. 19.7); but after the battle of Chaeroneia , Philip of Macedonia was said to have carried away the remains of Linus from Thebes to Macedonia . Subsequently, however, the king was induced by a dream to send the remains back to Thebes . Chalcis in Euboea likewise boasted of possessing the tomb of Linus, the inscription of which is preserved by Diogenes Laertius (Prooem. 4; comp. Suid. s. v. Linos).
Being regarded as a son of Apollo and a Muse, he is said to have received from his father the three-stringed lute, and is himself called the inventor of new melodies, of dirges (Drenoi), and of songs in general. Hesiod (ap. Clem. Alex. Strom. i. p. 330) even calls him pantoies sophies dedaekos. It is probably owing to the difficulty of reconciling the different mythuses about Linus, that the Thebans (Paus. ix. 29) thought it necessary to distinguish between an earlier and later Linus; the latter is said to have instructed Heracles in music, but to have been killed by the hero (comp. Apollod. ii. 4.9; Theocrit. xxiv. 103; Diodor. iii. 67; Athen. iv). In the time of the Alexandrine grammarians people even went so far as to look upon Linus as an historical personage, and to consider him, like Musaeus, Orpheus, and others, as the author of apocryphal works (Diodor. iii. 66), in which he described the exploits of Dionysus; Diogenes Laertius (Prooem. 3), who calls him a son of Hermes and Urania, ascribes to him several poetical productions, such as a cosmogony on the course of the sun and moon, on the generation of animals and fruits, and the like.
The principal places in Greece which are the scenes of the legends about Linus are Argos and Thebes , and the legends themselves bear a strong resemblance to those about Hyacynthus, Narcissus, Glaucus, Adonis, Maneros, and others, all of whom are conceived as handsome and lovely youths, and either as princes or as shepherds. They are the favourites of the gods; and in the midst of the enjoyment of their happy youth, they are carried off by a sudden or violent death; but their remembrance is kept alive by men, who celebrate their memory in dirges and appropriate rites, and seek the vanished youths generally about the middle of summer, but in vain. The feeling which seems to have given rise to the stories about these personages, who form a distinct class by themselves in Greek mythology, is deeply felt grief at the catastrophes observable in nature, which dies away under the influence of the burning sun (Apollo) soon after it has developed all its fairest beauties. Those popular dirges, therefore, originally the expression of grief at the premature death of nature through the heat of the sun, were transformed into lamentations of the deaths of youths, and were sung on certain religious occasions. They were afterwards considered to have been the productions of the very same youths whose momory was celebrated in them. The whole class of songs of this kind was called Drenoi oiktoi, and the most celebrated and popular among them was the linos, which appears to have been popular even in the days of Homer (il. xviii. 569, with the Schol).
Pamphos, the Athenian, and Sappho, sang of Linus under the name of Oetolinus (oitos Linou, i. e. the death of Linus, Paus. ix. 29.3); and the tragic poets, in mournful choral odes, often use the form ailinos (Aeschyl. Agam. 121; Soph. Ajax, 627 ; Eurip. Phoen. 1535, Orest. 1380), which is a compound of at, the interjection, and Line. As regards the etymology of Linus, Welcker regards it as formed from the mournful interjection, li, while others, on the analogy of Hyacinthus and Narcissus, consider Linus to have originally been the name of a flower (a species of narcissus). (Phot. Lex. p. 224, ed. Pors.; Eustath. ad Hom.; compare in general Ambrosch, De Lino, Berlin, 1829, 4to; Welcker, Kleine Schriften, i. p. 8; E. v. Lasaulx, Ueber die Linosklage, Wiirzburg, 1842, 4to.)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited April 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology (ed. William Smith)
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This is the hymn for a slain youth (said to typify the departure of early summer), Thammuz, Atys, Hylas, or Linus; the Semitic refrain ai lenu, "alas for us," becomes the Greek ailinos, from which comes the name Linus.
The Greek Linus corresponds to Adonis, the Syrian Tammuz (cf. Ezek. viii. 14 'the women weeping for Tammuz?), the Lydian Atys, the Mysian Hylas; cf. H.'s remark 'his name varies from tribe to tribe'. All these were conceived of as beautiful young men, beloved of the goddess, and perishing untimely. The story is said to be a sun-myth (Sayce, s.v. 'Tammuz' in Hastings's Dictionary). Frazer, however (G. B. ii. 115 seq.), with more probability, says it represents 'the death and resurrection of vegetation'. For the connexion of the reaper's song with the myth cf. ib. pp. 253-8. If Frazer is right in explaining the story of Osiris (ii. 137 seq.) in the same way, it is only natural that Linus-Maneros should have been introduced into the Osiris myth (cf. Plut. I. et O. c. 17). For Adonis worship, which was especially a female cult, cf. Theocr. Id. 15 and Milton, P. L. i. 446 seq., of Tammuz
Whose annual wound in Lebanon allured
The Syrian damsels to lament his fate
In amorous ditties all a summer's day.
Linus, who was worshipped in Argos, was said to be the son of Urania, killed by Apollo from jealousy of his voice (Paus. ix. 29. 6-7); but there are other versions of the story. The name is as old as Homer (Il. xviii. 570), who makes it a reaper's song. In Hesiod (fr. 132) it has a wider extension; he says of aoidoi:
pantes men threnousin en eilapinais te chorois te,
archomenoi de Linon kai legontes kaleousi.
It is said to be the Eastern cry, 'woe unto us,' raised at the festival; the Greeks first borrowed this as ailinon (cf. Soph. Aj. 627), and then, by a mistaken etymology, interpreted it as 'alas for Linus'.
Herodotus, The Histories (ed. A. D. Godley)
Territories - Kingdoms
Diomedes' dominion at the Trojan War
The men of Argos, again, and those who held the walls of Tiryns, with Hermione, and Asine upon the gulf; Trozen, Eionae, and the vineyard lands of Epidaurus; the Achaean youths, moreover, who came from Aegina and Mases; these were led by Diomedes of the loud battle-cry, and Sthenelos son of famed Kapaneus. With them in command was Euryalos, son of king Mekisteus, son of Talaos; but Diomedes was chief over them all. With these there came eighty ships.
Perseus: Homer, Iliad
Greek leaders in the Trojan War
Diomedes & Aegialea
The leader of Argives with 80 ships in the Trojan war, one of the Epigoni, son of Tydeus, husband of Aegialeia, the daughter of Adrastus (Il. 23.470, 5.412, 2.567).
Perseus: Homer, Iliad
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Diomedes. A son of Tydeus and Deipyle, the husband of Aegialeia, and the successor of Adrastus in the kingdom of Argos, though he was descended from an Aetolian family (Apollod. i. 8.5). The Homeric tradition about him is as follows: His father Tydeus fell in the expedition against Thebes , while Diomedes was yet a boy (II. vi. 222); but he himself afterwards was one of the Epigoni who took Thebes (II. iv. 405; comp. Paus. ii. 20.4). Diomedes went to Troy with Sthenelus and Euryalus, carrying with him in eighty ships warriors from Argos, Tiryns , Hermione , Asine , Troezene , Eionae, Epidaurus , Aegina , and Mases (ii. 559). In the army of the Greeks before Troy , Diomedes was, next to Achilles, the bravest among the heroes; and, like Achilles and Odysseus, he enjoyed the special protection of Athena, who assisted him in all dangerous moments (v. 826, vi. 98, x. 240, xi. 312; comp. Virg. Aen. i. 96). He fought with the most distinguished among the Trojans, such as Hector and Aeneias (viii. 110, v. 310), and even with the gods who espoused the cause of the Trojans. He thus wounded Aphrodite, and drove her from the field of battle (v. 335, 440), and Ares himself was likewise wounded by him (v. 837). Diomedes was wounded by Pandareus, whom, however, he afterwards slew with many other Trojans (v. 97). In the attack of the Trojans on the Greek camp. he and Odysseus offered a brave resistance, but Diomedes was wounded and returned to tile ships (xi. 320). He wore a cuirass made by Hephaestus, but sometimes also a lion's skin (viii. 195, x. 177). At the funeral games of Patroclus he conquered in the chariot-race, and received a woman and a tripod as his prize (xxiii. 373). He also conquered the Telamonian Ajax in single combat, and won the sword which Achilles had offered as the prize (xxiii. 811). He is described in the Iliad in general as brave in war and wise in council (ix. 53), in battle furious like a mountain torrent, and the terror of the Trojans, whom he chases before him, as a lion chases goats (v. 87, xi. 382). He is strong like a god (v. 884), and the Trojan women during their sacrifice to Athena pray to her to break his spear and to make him fall (vi. 306). He himself knows no fear, and refuses his consent when Agamemnon proposes to take to flight, and he declares that, if all flee, he and his friend Sthenelus will stay and fight till Troy shall fill (ix. 32, comp. vii. 398, viii. 151: Philostr. Her. 4).
The story of Diomedes, like those of other heroes of the Trojan time, has received various additions and embellishments from the hands of later writers, of which we shall notice the principal ones. After the expedition of the Epigoni he is mentioned among the suitors of Helen (Hygin. Fab. 81; Apollod. iii. 10.8), and his love of Helen induced him to join the Greeks in their expedition against Troy with 30 ships (Hygin. Fab. 97). Being a relative of Thersites, who was slain by Achilles, he did not permit the body of the Amazon Penthesileia to be honourably buried, but dragged her by the feet into the river Scamander (Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 993 ; Dict. Cret. iv. 3). Philoctetes was persuaded by Diomedes and Odysseus to join the Greeks against Troy (Soph. Philoct. 570; Hygin. Fab. 102). Diomedes conspired with Odysseus against Palamedes, and under the pretence of having discovered a hidden treasure, they let him down into a well and there stoned him to death (Dict. Cret. ii. 15; comp. Paus. x. 31.1). After the death of Paris, Diomedes and Odysseus were sent into the city of Troy to negotiate for peace (Dict. Cret. v. 4), but he was afterwards one of the Greeks concealed in the wooden horse (Hygin. Fab. 108). When he and Odysseus had arrived in the arx of Troy by a subterraneous passage, they slew the guards and carried away the palladium (Virg. Aen. ii. 163), as it was believed that Ilium could not be taken so long as the palladium was within its walls. When, during the night, the two heroes were returning to the camp with their precious booty, and Odysseus was walking behind him, Diomedes saw by the shadow of his companion that he was drawing his sword in order to kill him, and thus to secure to himself alone the honour of having taken the palladium. Diomedes, however, turned round, seized the sword of Odysseus, tied his hands, and thus drove him along before him to the camp (Eustath. ad Hom. p. 822). Diomedes, according to some, carried the palladium with him to Argos, where it remained until Ergiaeus, one of his descendants, took it away with the assistance of the Laconian Leagrus, who conveyed it to Sparta (Plut. Quaest. Graec. 48). According to others, Diomedes was robbed of the palladium by Demophon in Attica , where he landed one night on his return from Troy , without knowing where he was (Paus. ii. 28.9). A third tradition stated, that Diomedes restored the palladium and the remains of Anchises to Aeneias, because he was informed by an oracle, that he should be exposed to unceasing sufferings unless lie restored the sacred image to the Trojans (Serv. ad Aen. ii. 166, iii. 407, iv, 427, v. 81).
On his return from Troy , he had like other heroes to suffer much from the enmity of Aphrodite, but Athena still continued to protect him. He was first thrown by a storm on the coast of Lycia , where lie was to be sacrificed to Ares by king Lycus; but Callirrhoe, the king's daughter, took pity upon him, and assisted him in escaping (Plut. Parall. Gr. et Rom. 23). On his arrival in Argos lie met with an evil reception which had been prepared for him either by Aphrodite or Nauplius, for his wife Aegialeia was living in adultery with Hippolytus, or according to others, with Cometes or Cyllabarus (Dict. Cret. vi. 2; Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 609; Serv. ad Aen. viii. 9). He therefore quitted Argos either of his own accord, or he was expelled by the adulterers (Tzetz. ad Lyc. 602), and went to Aetolia . His going to Aetolia and the subsequent recovery of Argos are placed in some traditions immediately after the war of the Epigoni, and Diomedes is said to have gone with Alcmaeon to assist his grandfather Oeneus in Aetolia against his enemies. During the absence of Diomedes, Agamemnon took possession of Argos; but when the expedition against Troy was resolved upon, Agamemnon from fear invited Diomedes and Alcmaeon back to Argos, and asked them to take part in the projected expedition. Diomedes alone accepted the proposal, and thus recovered Argos (Strab. vii, x; comp. Hygin. Fab. 175; Apollod. i. 8.6; Paus. ii. 25.2). According to another set of traditions, Diomedes did not go to Aetolia till after his return from Troy , when he was expelled from Argos, and it is said that he went first to Corinth ; but being informed there of the distress of Oeneus, he hastened to Aetolia to assist him. Diomedes conquered and slew the enemies of his grandfather, and then took up his residence in Aetolia (Dict. Cret. vi. 2). Other writers make him attempt to return to Argos, but on his way home a storm threw him on the coast of Daunia in Italy. Daunus, the king of the country, received him kindly, and solicited his assistance in a war against the Messapians. He promised in return to give him a tract of land and the hand of his daughter Euippe. Diomedes defeated the Messapians, and distributed their territory among the Dorians who had accompanied him In Italy. Diomedes gave up his hostility against the Trojans, and even assisted them against Turnus (Paus. i. 11; Serv. ad Aen. viii. 9). He died in Daunia at an advanced age, and was buried in one of the islands off cape Garganus, which were called after him the Diomedean islands. Subsequently, when Daunus too had died, the Dorians were conquered by the Illyrians, but were metamorphosed by Zeus into birds (Anton. Lib. 37; comp. Tzetz. ad Lyc. 602, 618). According to Tzetzes, Diomedes was murdered by Daunus, whereas according to others he returned to Argos, or disappeared in one of the Diomedean islands, or in the country of the Heneti (Strab. vi. p. 284). A number of towns in the eastern part of Italy, such as Beneventum, Aequumtuticum, Argos Hippion (afterwards Argyripa or Arpi) , Venusia or Aphrodisia, Canusium , Venafrum, Salapia , Spina , Sipus, Garganum, and Brundusium , were believed to have been founded by Diomedes (Serv. ad Aen viii. 9, xi. 246; Strab. vi. pp. 283, 284; Plin-H. N. iii. 20; Justin, xii. 2). The worship and service of gods and heroes was spread by Diomedes far and wide: in and near Argos he caused temples of Athena to be built (Plut. de Flum. 18; Paus. ii. 24.2); his armour was preserved in a temple of Athena at Luceria in Apulia , and a gold chain of his was shown in a temple of Artemis in Peucetia. At Troezene he had founded a temple of Apollo Epibaterius, and instituted the Pythian games there. He himself was subsequently worshipped as a divine being, especially in Italy, where statues of him existed at Argyripa , Metapontum , Thurii , and other places (Schol. ad Pind. Nem. x. 12 ; Scylax, Peripl. p. 6; comp. Strab. v. p. 214).
There are traces in Greece also of the worship of Diomedes, for it is said that he was placed among the gods together with the Dioscuri, and that Athena conferred upon him the immortality which had been intended for his father Tydeus. It has been conjectured that Diomedes is an ancient Pelasgian name of some divinity, who was afterwards confounded with the hero Diomedes, so that the worship of the god was transferred to the hero (Bockh, Explicat. ad Pind. Nem. x.). Diomedes was represented in a painting on the acropolis of Athens in the act of carrying away the Palladium from Troy (Paus. i. 22.6), and Polygnotus had painted him in the Lesche at Delphi (x. 25.2, 10.2).
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Aegiale or Aegialeia (Aigiale or Aigialeia), a daughter of Adrastus and Amphithea, or of Aegialeus the son of Adrastus, whence she bears the surname of Adrastine (Hom.Il. v. 412; Apollod. i. 8.6, 9.13). She was married to Diomedes, who, on his return from Troy , found her living in adultery with Cometes (Eustath, ad Il. v). The hero attributed this misfortune to the anger of Aphrodite, whom he had wounded in the war against Troy , but when Aegiale went so far as to threaten his life he fled to Italy (Schol. ad Lycophr. 610; Ov. Met. xiv. 476). According to Dictys Cretensis (vi. 2), Aegiale, like Clytemnestra, had been seduced to her criminal conduct by a treacherous report, that Diomedes was returning with a Trojan woman who lived with him as his wife, and on his arrival at Argos Aegiale expelled him. In Ovid (Ibis, 349) she is described as the type of a bad wife.
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Sthenelus. A son of Capaneus and Evadue, belonged to the family of the Anaxagoridae in Argos. and was the father of Cylarabes (Hom Il. v. 109; Paus. ii. 18.4, 22. 8, 30); but, according to others, his son's name was Comeres (Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 603, 1093 ; Serv. ad Aen. xi. 269). He was one of the Epigoni, by whom Thebes was taken (Hom. Il. iv. 405; Apollod. iii. 7.2), and commanded the Argives under Diomedes, in the Trojan war, being the faithful friend and companion of Diomedes (Hom. Il. ii. 564, iv. 367, xxiii. 511; Philostr. Her. 4 ; Hygin. Fab. 175). He was one of the Greeks concealed in the wooden horse (Hygin. Fab. 108), and at the distribution of the booty, lie was said to have received an image of a three-eyed Zeus, which was in aftertimes shown at Argos (Paus. ii. 45.5, viii. 46.2). His own statue and tomb also were believed to exist at Argos (ii. 20.4, 22. in fin.; comp. Horat. Carm. i. 15. 23, iv. 9. 20; Stat. Achill. i. 469).
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Euryalus (Eurualos). A son of Mecisteus, is mentioned by Apollodorus (i. 9.16) among the Argonauts, and was one of the Epigoni who took and destroyed Thebes (Paus. ii. 20.4; Apollod. iii. 7.2). He was a brave warrior, and at the funeral games of Oedipus he conquered all his competitors (Hom. Il. xxiii. 608) with the exception of Epeius, who excelled him in wrestling. He accompanied Diomedes to Troy , where he was one of the bravest heroes, and slew several Trojans (Il. ii. 565, vi. 20; Pans. ii. 30.9). In the painting of Polygnotus at Delphi , he was represented as being wounded; and there was also a statue of him at Delphi , which stood between those of Diomedes and Aegialeus (Paus. x. 10.2, 25.2).
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Greek heroes of the Trojan War
Deipylus
A comrade of Sthenelus (Il. 5.325).
Perseus: Homer, Iliad
Kings
Basileus (rex, king)
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Monarchia
Monarchia, a general name for any form of government in which the supreme functions of political administration are in the hands of a single person. The term monarchia is applied to such governments, whether they are hereditary or elective, legal or usurped. If all the officials and ministers of the ruler are merely his deputies, appointed and removable by him, then the term monarchia strictly applies. Aristotle (Pol. iii. 15, 2,= p. 1287) calls this pambasileia. This form of monarchy did not belong to Greek states except as a consequence of revolution, when some citizen usurped this power for himself, and sometimes transmitted it. Monarchy of the more constitutional kind, as described in Homer, probably existed throughout Greece at the time of the Dorian conquest, and gradually disappeared, appeared, as in each state the weak or violent rule stirred up successful opposition of the people. In Argos, however, it lasted to the time of the invasion of Xerxes (Herod. vii. 149), but disappeared before the Peloponnesian War. In Sparta it remained in a peculiar form. In its commonest application, it is equivalent busileia, whether absolute or limited. But the rule of an aesymnetes or a tyrant would equally be called a monarchia. (Arist. Pol. iii. 16, iv. 8 = pp. 1286, 1294;--Plato, Polit. p. 291, C, E; p. 302, D, E.) Hence Plutarch uses it to express the Latin dictatura. Aristotle defines four sorts of basileia: firstly, the kingship of the heroic period, when the obedience was voluntary, but the power of the kings strictly defined, the king being general, judge, and supreme religious functionary; secondly, the non-Greek, which was a hereditary despotic rule of a constitutional character; thirdly, the Asymneteia, as it is called, an elective tyranny; and, fourthly, the Laconian, which may be broadly defined as a hereditary generalship for life. (Arist. Pol. iii. 14, Welldon's translation.) It is by a somewhat rhetorical use of the word that it is applied now and then to the demos. (Eurip. Suppl. 352; Arist. Pol. iv. 4.)
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Danaus
Danaus (Danaos). A son of Belus and Anchinoe, and brother of Aegyptus. Belus assigned the country of Libya to Danaus, while to Aegyptus he gave Arabia. Aegyptus conquered the country of the Melampodes and named it from himself. By many wives he became the father of fifty sons. Danaus had by several wives an equal number of daughters. Dissension arising between him and the sons of Aegyptus, they aimed at depriving him of his kingdom; and, fearing their violence, he built, with the aid of Athene, a fifty-oared vessel, the first that ever was made, in which he embarked with his daughters and fled over the sea. He first landed on the isle of Rhodes, where he set up a statue of the Lindian Athene; but, not caring to remain in that island, he proceeded to Argos; where Gelanor, who at that time ruled over the country, cheerfully resigned the government to the stranger who had brought thither civilization and the arts. The people took the name of their new monarch, and were called Danai (Danaoi).
The country of Argos being at this time extremely deficient in pure and wholesome water (see Inachus), Danaus sent forth his daughters in quest of some. As Amymone, one of them, was engaged in the search, she was rescued by Poseidon from the intended violence of a satyr, and the god revealed to her a fountain called after her name and the most famous among the streams that contributed to form the Lernaean lake or marsh. The sons of Aegyptus came now to Argolis and entreated their uncle to bury past enmity in oblivion, and to give them their cousins in marriage. Danaus, retaining a perfect recollection of the injuries they had done him and distrustful of their promises, consented to bestow upon them his daughters, whom he divided among them by lot; but on the wedding-day he armed the hands of the brides with daggers, and enjoined upon them to slay in the night their unsuspecting bridegrooms. All but Hypermnestra obeyed the cruel orders of their father; and cutting off the heads of their husbands, they flung them into Lerna, and buried their bodies with all due rites outside of the town. At the command of Zeus, Hermes and Athene purified them from the guilt of their deed. Hypermnestra had spared Lynceus for the delicate regard which he had shown to her modesty. Her father, at first, in his anger at her disobedience, put her into close confinement. Relenting, however, after some time, he gave his consent to her union with Lynceus, and proclaimed gymnastic games, in which the victors were to receive his other daughters as the prizes. It was said, however, that the crime of the Danaides did not pass without due punshment in the lower world, where they were condemned to pour water forever into a perforated vessel.
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Danaus (Danaos), a son of Belus and Anchinoe, and a grandson of Poseidon and Libya. He was brother of Aegyptus, and farther of fifty daughters, and the mythical ancestor of the Danai (Apollod. ii. 1,4). According to the common story he was a native of Chemnis, in the Thebais in Upper Egypt , and migrated from thence into Greece (Herod. ii. 91). Belus had given Danaus Libya , while Aegyptus had obtained Arabia. Danaiis had reason to think that the sons of his brother were plotting against him, and fear or the advice of an oracle (Eustath. ad Hom. p. 37), induced him to build a large ship and to embark with his daughters. On his flight he first landed at Rhodes , where he set up an image of Athena Lindia. According to the story in Herodotus, a temple of Athena was built at Lindus by the daughters of Danaus, and according to Strabo (xiv. p. 654) Tlepolemus built the towns of Lindus , Ialysus and Cameirus , and called them thus after the names of three Danaides. From Rhodes Danaus and his daughters sailed to Peloponnesus , and landed at a place near Lerna , which was afterwards called from this event Apobathmi (Paus. ii. 38.4). At Argos a dispute arose between Danaus and Gelanor about the government, and after many discussions the people deferred the decision of the question to the next day. At its dawn a wolf rushed among the cattle and killed one of the oxen. This occurrence was to the Argives an event which seemed to announce to them in what manner the dispute should terminate, and Danaiis was accordingly made king of Argos. Out of gratitude he now built a sanctuary of Apollo Lycius, who, as he believed, had sent the wolf (Paus. ii. 19.3. Comp. Serv. ad Aen. iv. 377, who relates a different story). Danaus also erected two wooden statues of Zeus and Artemis, and dedicated his shield in the sanctuary of Hera (Paus. ii. 19.6; Hygin. Fab. 170). He is further said to have built the acropolis of Argos and to have provided the place with water by digging wells (Strab. i. p. 23, viii. p. 371; Eustath. ad Hom) The sons of Aegyptus in the mean time had followed their uncle to Argos; they assured him of their peaceful sentiments and sued for the hands of his daughters. Danaus still mistrusted them and remembered the cause of his flight from his country; however he gave them his daughters and distributed them among his nephews by lot. But all the brides, with the exception of Hypermnestra murdered their husbands by the command of their father. In aftertimes the Argives were called Danai. Whether Danaus died a natural death, or whether he was killed by Lynceus, his son-in-law, is a point on which the various traditions are not agreed, but he is said to have been buried at Argos, and his tomb in the agora of Argos was shown there as late as the time of Pausanias (ii. 20.4; Strab. viii). Statues of Danaus, Hypermnestra and Lynceus were seen at Delphi by Pausanias (x. 10.2).
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A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology (ed. William Smith)
Wells were invented by Danaus,who came from Egypt into that part of Greece which had been previously known as Argos Dipsion.
Commentary:
Danaus is said to have migrated from Egypt into Greece about 1485 B.C. He may have introduced wells into Greece, but they had, long before his time, been employed in Egypt and in other countries. The term "Dipsion," "thirsting," which it appears had been applied to the district of Argos, may seem to render it probable, that, before the arrival of Danaus, the inhabitants had not adopted any artificial means of supplying themselves with water. But this country, we are told, is naturally well supplied with water.
Pliny the Elder, The Natural History
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Melampus
He was the son of Amythaon and Eidomene, brother of Bias father of Antiphates and Mantius and notorious soothsayer from Pylos. He travelled to Phylace in Thessaly in order to take the oxen of Iphicles, so that his brother could marry Pero, the daughter of Neleus. There, he was captured for a year and was released, when he had told Iphicles all the oracles. Afterwards, he returned to Pylos, where he avenged Neleus for the injustice against the Amythaonides (= descendants of Amythaon), gave Pero to his brother and left to Argos (Od. 11.287 etc. 15.225 etc.), where he became the 21st king and shared the kingdom with Anaxagoras and Bias.
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Melampus (Melampous), a son of Amythaon by Eidomene, or according to others, by Aglaia or Plhodope (Apollod. i. 9.1; Diod. iv. 68; Schol. ad Theocrit. iii. 43), and a brother of Bias. He was looked upon by the ancients as the first mortal that had been endowed with prophetic powers, as the person that first practised the medical art, and established the worship of Dionysus in Greece (Apollod. ii. 2.2). He is said to have been married to Iphianassa (others call her Iphianeira or Cyrianassa - Diod. iv. 68; Serv. ad Virg. Ecloy. vi. 48), by whom he became the father of Mantius and Antiphates (Hom. Od. xv. 225). Apollodorus (i. 9.13) adds a son, Abas; and Diodorus calls his children Bias, Antiphates, Manto, and Pronoe (comp. Pans. vi. 17.4). Melampus at first dwelt with Neleus at Pylus , afterwards he resided for a time at Phylace , near Mount Othrys , with Phylacus and Iphiclus and at last ruled over a third of the territory of Argos (Hom. l. c.). At Aegosthena , in the north-western part of Megaris , he had a sanctuary and a statue, and an annual festival was there celebrated in his honour. (Paus. i. 44.8.)
With regard to his having introduced the worship of Dionysus into Greece, Herodotus (ii. 49) thinks that Melampus became acquainted with the worship of the Egyptian Dionysus, through Cadmus and the Phoenicians, and his connection with the Dionysiac religion is often alluded to in the ancient writers. Thus, we are told, for example, that he taught the Greeks how to mix wine with water (Athen. ii. p. 45; Eustath. ad Hom. p. 1816). Diodorus (i. 97) further adds that Melampus brought with him from Egypt the myths about Crones and the fight of the Titans.
As regards his prophetic power, his residence at Phylace , and his ultimate rule over a portion of Argos, the following traditions were current in antiquity. When Melampus lived with Neleus, he dwelt outside the town of Pylos , and before his house there stood an oak tree containing a serpent's nest. The old serpents were killed by his servants, and burnt by Melampus himself, who reared the young ones. One day, when they had grown up, and Melampus was asleep, they approached from both sides and cleaned his ears with their tongues. Being thus roused from his sleep, he started up, and to his surprise perceived that he now understood the language of birds, and that with their assistance he could foretell the future. In addition to this he acquired the power of prophesying, from the victims that were offered to the gods, and, after having had an interview with Apollo on the banks of the Alpheius , he became a most renowned soothsayer (Apollod. i. 9.11; Eustath. ad Hom.).
During his stay with Neleus it happened that his brother Bias was one of the suitors for the hand of Pero, the daughter of Neleus, and Neleus promised his daughter to the man who should bring to him as a gift for the maiden, the oxen of Iphiclus, which were guarded by a dog whom neither man nor animal could approach. Melampus undertook the task of procuring the oxen for his brother, although he knew that the thief would be caught and kept in imprisonment for one whole year, after which he was to come into possession of the oxen. Things turned out as he had said; Melampus was thrown into prison, and in his captivity he learned front the wood-worms that the building in which he was would soon break down. He accordingly demanded to be let out, and as Phylacus and Iphiclus became thus acquainted with his prophetic powers, they asked him in what manner Iphiclus, who had no children, was to become father. Melampus, on the suggestion of a vulture, advised Iphiclus to take the rust from the knife with which Phylacus had once cut his son, and drink it in water during ten days. This was done, and Iphiclus became the father of Podarces. Melampus now received the oxen as a reward for his good services, and drove them to Pylos ; he thus gained Pero for his brother, and henceforth remained in Messenia (Apollod. i. 9.12; Paus. iv. 36.2; Schol. ad Theocrit. iii. 43).
His dominion over Argos is said to have been acquired in the following manner. In the reign of Anaxagoras, king of Argos, the women of the kingdom were seized with madness, and roamed about the country in a frantic state. Melampus cured them of it, on condition that he and his brother Bias should receive an equal share with Anaxagoras in the kingdom of Argos (Paus. ii. 18.4; Diod. iv. 68). Others, however, give the following account. The daughters of Proetus, Iphinoe, Lysippe and Iphianassa, were seized with madness, either because they opposed the worship of Dionysus (Diod. l. c.; Apollod. i. 9.12), or because they boasted of equalling Hera in beauty, or because they had stolen the gold from the statue of the goddess (Serv. ad Viry. Ecl. vi. 48). Melampus promised to cure the women, if the king would give him one-third of his territory and one of his daughters in marriage. Proetus refused the proposal: but when the madness continued, and also seized the other Argive women, messengers came to Melampus to request his aid; but he now demanded two-thirds of the kingdom, one for himself, and the other for his brother. The demand was complied with, and with a band of youths, he pursued the women as far as Sicyon , with Bacchic shouts. Iphinoe died during the pursuit, but the surviving women were cured by purifications in a well, Anigrus, or in a temple of Artemis near Lusi , or in the town of Sicyon itself; and Melampus and Bias married the two daughters of Proetus (Apollod. ii. 2. § 2; Strab. viii; Ov. Met. xv. 322; Paus. ii. 7.8, viii. 18; Herod. ix. 34; Schol. ad Pind. Nem. ix. 30).
Another mythical personage of the same name occurs in Virgil (Aen. x. 320).
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Melampus, (Melampous). The son of Amythaon and of Idomene; brother of Bias, the oldest Greek seer, and ancester of the family of seers called Melampodidae. The brothers went with their uncle Neleus from Thessaly to Pylus in Messenia, where they dwelt in the country. Melampus owed his gift of soothsaying to some serpents, which he had saved from death and reared, and who in return cleansed his ears with their tongues when he slept; on awaking he understood the voices of birds, and thus learned what was secret. When Neleus would only give Bias his beautiful daughter Pero on condition that he first brought him the oxen of Iphiclus of Phylace in Thessaly, which were guarded by a watchful dog, Melampus offered to bring the oxen for his brother, though he knew beforehand that he would be imprisoned for a year. He was caught in the act of stealing them, and kept in strict confinement. From the talk of the worms in the woodwork of the roof he gathered that the house would soon fall to pieces. He thereupon demanded to be taken to another prison; and this was scarcely done when the house broke down. When, on account of this, Phylacus, father of Iphiclus, perceived his prophetic gifts, he promised him the oxen, if, by his art, he would find out some way of curing his son's childlessness. Melampus offered a bull to Zeus, cut it in pieces, and invited the birds to the meal. From these he heard that a certain vulture, that had not come, knew how it could be effected. This vulture was made to appear, and related that the defect in Iphiclus was the result of a sudden fright at seeing a bloody knife, with which his father had been castrating some goats; he had dug the knife into a tree, which had grown round about it; if he took some of the rust scraped off it, for ten days, he would be cured. Melampus found the knife, cured Iphiclus, obtained the oxen, and Bias received Pero for his wife.
Afterwards he went to Argos, because, according to Homer, Neleus had committed a serious offence against him in his ab sence, for which he had taken revenge; while, according to the usual account, he had been asked by king Proetus to heal his daughter, stricken with madness for acting impiously towards Dionysus or Here. He had stipulated that his reward should be a third of the kingdom for himself, another for Bias; besides which Iphianassa became his wife, and Lysippe that of Bias, both being daughters of Proetus. A descendant of his son Antiphates was Oicles, who was a companion of Heracles in the expedition against Troy, and was slain in battle by Laomedon; he again was ancestor of the seer and hero Amphiaraus. Descendants of his other son Mantius were Cleitus, whom Eos, the goddess of dawn, carried off on account of his beauty, and Polypheides, whom, after the death of Amphiaraus, Apollo made the best of seers. The son of Polypheides was the seer Theoclymenus, who, flying from Argos on account of committing a murder, met Telemachus at Pylus, was led by him to Ithaca, and announced to Penelope the presence in Ithaca of Odysseus and to the suitors their approaching death. The seer Polyidus was also said to be a great-grandson of Melampus. At Argos Melampus was held to be the first priest of Dionysus, and originator of mysterious customs at festivals and at ceremonies of expiation.
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Talaus (Talaos), a son of Bias and Pero, and king of Argos. He was married to Lysimache (Eurynome, Hygin. Fab. 70, or Lysianassa, Paus. ii. 6.3), and was father of Adrastus, Parthenopaeus, Pronax, Mecisteus, Aristomachus, and Eriphyle (Apollod. i. 9.13; Pind. Nem. ix. 14). Hyginus mentions two other daughters of his. He also occurs among the Argonauts (Apollon. Rhod. ii. 118), and his tomb was shown at Argos (Paus. ii. 21.2). Being a great grandson of Cretheus, Antimachus in a fragment preserved in Pausanias (viii. 25.5) calls him Cretheiades. His own sons, Adrastus and Mecisteus, are sometimes called Talaionides, as in Hom. Il. ii. 566; Pind. Ol. vi. 24.
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A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology (ed. William Smith)
Homer also mentions his horse, Arion, which had saved him during the siege of Thebes (Il. 23.346).
Perseus: Homer, Iliad
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Adrastus (Adrastos), a son of Talaus, king of Argos, and of Lysimache (Apollod. i. 9.13). Pausanias (ii. 6.3) calls his mother Lysianassa, and Hyginus (Fab. 69) Eurynome (Comp. Schol. ad Eurip. Phoen. 423). During a feud between the most powerful houses in Argos, Talaus was slain by Amphiaraus, and Adrastus being expelled from his dominions fled to Polybus, then king of Sicyon . When Polybus died without heirs, Adrastus succeeded him on the throne of Sicyon , and during his reign he is said to have instituted the Nemean games (Hom. Il. ii. 572; Pind. Nem. ix. 30; Herod. v. 67; Paus. ii. 6.3). Afterwards, however, Adrastus became reconciled to Amphiaraus, gave him his sister Eriphyle in marriage, and returned to his kingdom of Argos. During the time he reigned there it happened that Tydeus of Calydon and Polynices of Thebes , both fugitives from their native countries, met at Argos near the palace of Adrastus, and came to words and from words to blows. On hearing the noise, Adrastus hastened to them and separated the combatants, in whom he immediately recognised the two men that had been promised to him by an oracle as the future husbands of two of his daughters; for one bore on his shield the figure of a boar, and the other that of a lion, and the oracle was, that one of his daughters was to marry a boar and the other a lion. Adrastus therefore gave his daughter Deipyle to Tydeus, and Argeia to Polynices, and at the same time promised to lead each of these princes back to his own country. Adrastus now prepared for war against Thebes , although Amphiaraus foretold that all who should engage in it should perish, with the exception of Adrastus (Apollod. iii. 6.1; Hygin. Fab. 69, 70).
Thus arose the celebrated war of the " Seven against Thebes," in which Adrastus was joined by six other heroes, viz. Polynices, Tydeus, Amphiaraus, Capaneus, Hippomedon, and Parthenopaeus. Instead of Tydeus and Polynices other legends mention Eteoclos and Mecisteus. This war ended as unfortunately as Amphiaraus had predicted, and Adrastus alone was saved by the swiftness of his horse Areion, the gift of Heracles (Hom. Il. xxiii. 346; Paus. viii. 25.5; Apollod. iii. 6). Creon of Thebes refusing to allow the bodies of the six heroes to be buried, Adrastus went to Athens and implored the assistance of the Athenians. Theseus was persuaded to undertake an expedition against Thebes ; he took the city and delivered up the bodies of the fallen heroes to their friends for burial (Apollod. iii. 7.1 Paus. ix. 9.1).
Ten years after this Adrastus persuaded the seven sons of the heroes, who had fallen in the war against Thebes , to make a new attack upon that city, and Amphiaraus now declared that the gods approved of the undertaking, and promised success (Paus. ix. 9.2; Apollod. iii. 7.2). This war is celebrated in ancient story as the war of the Epigoni (Epigonoi). Thebes was taken and razed to the ground, after the greater part of its inhabitants had left the city on the advice of Tiresias (Apollod. iii. 7.2--4; Herod. v. 61; Strab. vii.). The only Argive hero that fell in this war, was Aegialeus, the son of Adrastus. After having built a temple of Nemesis in the neighbourhood of Thebes , he set out on his return home. But weighed down by old age and grief at the death of his son he died at Megara and was buried there (Paus. i. 43.1). After his death he was worshipped in several parts of Greece, as at Megara (Paus. l. c.), at Sicyon where his memory was celebrated in tragic choruses (Herod. v. 67), and in Attica (Paus. i. 30.4). The legends about Adrastus and the two wars against Thebes have furnished most ample materials for the epic as well as tragic poets of Greece (Paus. ix. 9. 3), and some works of art relating to the stories about Adrastus are mentioned in Pausanias. (iii. 18.7, x. 10.2).
From Adrastus the female patronymic Adrastine was formed (Hom. Il. v. 412).
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Adrastus (Adrastos). Son of Talaus of Argos. Being expelled from Argos by Amphiaraus, he fled to Polybus, king of Sicyon, whom he succeeded on the throne of Sicyon, and instituted the Nemean games. Afterwards he became reconciled to Amphiaraus, and returned to his kingdom of Argos. He married his two daughters Deipyle and Argia, the former to Tydeus of Calydon, and the latter to Polynices of Thebes, both fugitives from their native countries. He then prepared to restore Polynices to Thebes, who had been expelled by his brother Eteocles, although Amphiaraus foretold that all who should engage in the war would perish, with the exception of Adrastus. Thus arose the celebrated war of the "Seven against Thebes," in which Adrastus was joined by six other heroes, viz., Polynices, Tydeus, Amphiaraus, Capaneus, Hippomedon, and Parthenopaeus. This war ended as unfortunately as Amphiaraus had predicted, and Adrastus alone was saved by the swiftness of his horse Arion, the gift of Heracles. Ten years afterwards, Adrastus persuaded the six sons of the heroes who had fallen in the war to make a new attack upon Thebes, and Amphiaraus now promised success. This war is known as the war of the Epigoni (epigonoi), or descendants. Thebes was taken and razed to the ground. The only Argive hero that fell in this war was Aegialeus, the son of Adrastus: the latter died of grief at Megara on his return to Argos, and was buried in the former city. The legends about Adrastus and the two wars against Thebes furnished ample materials for the epic as well as tragic poets of Greece.
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Oicles & Hypermnestra
He was the son of Antiphates or of Mantius, father of Amphiaraus and 31st king of Argos. He shared the kingdom with Sthenelus and Adrastus (Od. 15.244).
Perseus: Homer, Odyssey
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Oicles (Oikles) or Oicleus (Oikleus). The son of Antiphates, grandson of Melampus and father of Amphiaraus, of Argos. He is also called a son of Amphiaraus, or a son of Mantius, the brother of Antiphates. Oicles accompanied Heracles on his expedition against Laomedon of Troy, and was there slain in battle. According to other traditions, he returned home from the expedition, and dwelt in Arcadia, where he was visited by his grandson Alcmaeon , and where his tomb was shown.
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Hupermnestra, a daughter of Thestius and Eurythemis, and the witie of Oicles, by whom she became the mother of Amphhiaraus Her tomb was shown at Argos. (Apollod. i. 7.10; Paus. ii. 21. 2.) One of the daughters of Danaus was likewise called Hypermnestra.
A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology (ed. William Smith)
Mecisteus
He was a son of Talaus, brother of Adrastus and father of Euryalus (Il. 2.566)
Pausanias mentions that he took part in the funeral games of Oedipus at Thebes (Paus. 1,28,7).
Perseus: Homer, Iliad
Mecisteus, (Mekisteus). A son of Talaus and Lysimache, brother of Adrastus, and father of Euryalus of Thebes (Hom. Il. ii. 566; Apollod. iii. 6.3).
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Amphiaraus (Amphiaraos), a son of Oicles and Hypermnestra, the daughter of Thestius (Hom. Od. xv. 244; Apollod. i. 8.2; Hygin. Fab. 73; Paus. ii. 21.2.). On his father's side he was descended from the famous seer Melampus (Paus. vi. 17.4). Some traditions represented him as ason of Apollo by Hypermnestra, which, however, is merely a poetical expression to describe him as a seer and prophet (Hygin. Fab. 70). Amphiaraus is renowned in ancient story as a brave hero: he is mentioned among the hunters of the Calydonian boar, which he is said to have deprived of one eye, and also as one of the Argonauts (Apollod. i. 8.2, 9.16). For a time he reigned at Argos in common with Adrastus; but, in a feud which broke out between them, Adrastus took to flight. Afterwards, however, he became reconciled with Amphiaraus, and gave him his sister Eriphyle in marriage, by whom Amphiaraus became the father of Alcmaeon, Amphilochus, Eurydice, and Demonassa. On marrying Eriphyle, Amphiaraus had sworn, that he would abide by the decision of Eriphyle on any point in which he should differ in opinion from Adrastus. When, therefore, the latter called upon him to join the expedition of the Seven against Thebes , Amphiaraus, although he foresaw its unfortunate issue and at first refused to take any part in it, was nevertheless persuaded by his wife to join his friends, for Eriphyle had been enticed to induce her husband by the necklace of Harmonia which Polyneices had given her. Amphiaraus on leaving Argos enjoined his sons to avenge his death on their heartless mother (Apollod. iii. 6.2; Hygin. Fab. 73; Diod. iv. 65; Hom Od. xv. 247). On their way to Thebes the heroes instituted the Nemean games, and Amphiaraus won the victory in the chariot-race and in throwing the discus (Apollod. iii. 6.4). During the war against Thebes , Amphiaraus fought bravely (Pind. Ol. vi. 26), but still he could not suppress his anger at the whole undertaking, and when Tydeus, whom he regarded as the originator of the expedition, was severely wounded by Melanippus, and Athena was hastening to render him immortal, Amphiaraus cut off the head of Melanippus, who had in the mean time been slain, and gave Tydeus his brains to drink, and Athena, struck with horror at the sight, withdrew (Apollod. iii. 6.8). When Adrastus and Amphiaraus were the only heroes who survived, the latter was pursued by Periclymenus, and fled towards the river Ismenius. Here the earth opened before he was overtaken by his enemy, and swallowed up Amphiaraus together with his chariot, but Zeus made him immortal (Pind. Nem. ix. 57, Ol. vi. 21; Plut. Parall. 6; Cic. de Divin. i. 40). Henceforth Amphiaraus was worshipped as a hero, first at Oropus and afterwards in all Greece (Paus. i. 34.2; Liv. xlv. 27). He had a sanctuary at Argos (Paus. ii. 23.2), a statue at Athens (i. 8.3), and a heroum at Sparta . The departure of Amphiaraus from his home when he went to Thebes , was represented on the chest of Cypselus (Paus. v. 17.4). Respecting some extant works of art, of which Amphiaraus is the subject, see GrΌneisen, Die alt griechische Bronze des Tux'schen Kabinets in TΌbingen, Stuttg. and TΌbing.1835. The prophetic power, which Amphiaraus was believed to possess, was accounted for by his descent from Melampus or Apollo, though there was also a local tradition at Phlius , according to which he had acquired them in a night which he spent in the prophetic house (oikos mantikos) of Phlius . (Paus. ii. 13.6; comp. i. 34.3). He was, like all seers, a favourite of Zeus and Apollo (Hom. Od. xv. 245). Respecting the oracle of Amphiaraus see Dict. of Ant. s. v. Oraculum. It should be remarked here, that Virgil (Aen. vii. 671) mentions three Greek heroes as contemporaries of Aeneas, viz. Tiburtus, Catillus, and Coras, the first of whom was believed to be the founder of Tibur, and is described by Pliny (H. N. xvi. 87) as a son of Amphiaraus.
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Amphiaraus (Amphiaraos). An Argive, the son of Oicles and Hypermnestra, great-grandson of the seer Melampus. In Homer he is a favourite of Zeus and Apollo, alike distinguished as a seer and a hero, who takes part in the Calydonian boar-hunt, in the voyage of the Argonauts, and in the expedition of the Seven against Thebes. Reconciled to Adrastus after a quarrel, and wedded to his sister Eriphyle, he agreed that any future differences between them should be settled by her. She, bribed by Polynices with the fatal necklace of his ancestress Harmonia, insisted on her husband joining the war against Thebes, though he foresaw that it would end fatally for him, and in departing charged his youthful sons Alcmaeon and Amphilochus to avenge his coming death.
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Eriphyle (Eriphule). In Greek mythology, sister of Adrastus and wife of Amphiaraus. Bribed with a necklace by Polynices, she prevailed on her husband to take part in the war of the Seven against Thebes, in which he met his death. In revenge for this she was slain by her son Alcmaeon.
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Alcmaeon
Alcmaeon was the son of Amphiaraus and Eriphyle and brother of Amphilochus (Il. 15.248). He was the leader of the Epigoni against Thebes and murdered his mother, when he heard that she urged his father to participate in the expedition against Thebes, while she knew that he would be killed.
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Alacmaeon (Alkmaion), a son of Amphiaraus and Eriphyle, and brother of Amphilochus, Eurydice, and Demonassa (Apollod. iii. 7.2). His mother was induced by the necklace of Harmonia, which she received from Polyneices, to persuade her husband Amphiaraus to take part in the expedition against Thebes (Hom. Od. xv. 247). But before Amphiaraus set out, he enjoined his sons to kill their mother as soon as they should be grown up (Apollod. iii. 6.2; Hygin. Fab. 73). When the Epigoni prepared for a second expedition against Thebes , to avenge the death of their fathers, the oracle promised them success and victory, if they chose Alcmaeon their leader. He was at first disinclined to undertake the command, as he had not yet taken vengeance on his mother, according to the desire of his father. But she, who had now received from Thersander, the son of Polyneices, the peplus of Harmonia also, induced him to join the expedition. Alcmaeon distinguished himself greatly in it, and slew Laodamus, the son of Eteocles (Apollod. iii. 7.2; comp. Diod. iv. 66). When, after the fall of Thebes , he learnt the reason for which his mother had urged him on to take part in the expedition, he slew her on the advice of an oracle of Apollo, and, according to some traditions, in conjunction with his brother Amphilochus. For this deed he became mad, and was haunted by the Erinnyes. He first came to Oecleus in Arcadia , and thence went to Phegeus in Psophis , and being purified by the latter, he married his daughter Arsinoe or Alphesiboea (Paus. viii. 24.4), to whom he gave the necklace and peplus of Harmonia. But the country in which he now resided was visited by scarcity, in consequence of his being the murderer of his mother, and the oracle advised him to go to Achelous . According to Pausanias, he left Psophis because his madness did not yet cease. Pausanias and Thucydides (ii. 102; comp. Plut. De Exil. p. 602) further state, that the oracle commanded him to go to a country which had been formed subsequent to the murder of his mother, and was therefore under no curse. The country thus pointed out was a tract of land which had been recently formed at the mouth of the river Achelous . Apollodorus agrees with this account, but gives a detailed history of Alcmaeon's wanderings until he reached the mouth of Achelous , who gave him his daughter Calirrhoe in marriage. Calirrhoe had a desire to possess the necklace and peplus of Harmonia, and Alcmaeon, to gratify her wish, went to Psophis to get them from Phegeus, under the pretext that he intended to dedicate them at Delphi in order to be freed from his madness. Phegeus complied with his request, but when he heard that the treasures were fetched for Calirrhoe, he sent his sons Pronous and Agenor (Apollod. iii. 7.6) or, according to Pausanias (viii. 24.4), Temenus and Axion, after him, with the command to kill him. This was done, but the sons of Alcmaeon by Calirrhoe took bloody vengoance at the instigation of their mother (Apollod. Paus. ll. cc.; Ov. Met. ix. 407)
The story about Alcmaeon furnished rich materials for the epic and tragic poets of Greece, and their Roman imitators. But none of these poems is now extant, and we only know from Apollodorus (iii. 7.7), that Euripides, in his tragedy " Alcmaeon," stated that after the fall of Thebes he married Manto, the daughter of Teiresias, and that he had two children by her, Amphilochus and Tisiphone, whom he gave to Creon, king of Corinth , to educate. The wife of Creon, jealous of the extraordinary beauty of Tisiphone, afterwards sold her as a slave, and Alcmaeon himself bought her, without knowing that she was his daughter (Diod. iv. 66; Paus. vii. 3.1, ix. 33.1). Alcmaeon after his death was worshipped as a hero, and at Thebes he seems to have had an altar, near the house of Pindar (Pyth. viii. 80), who calls him his neighbour and the guardian of his property, and also seems to suggest that prophetic powers were ascribed to him, as to his father Amphiaraus. At Psopllis his tomb was shown, surrounded with lofty and sacred cypresses (Paus. viii. 24.4). At Oropus , in Attica , where Amphiaraus and Amphilochus were worshipped, Alcmaeon enjoyed no such honours, because he was a matricide (Paus. i. 34.2). He was represented in a statue at Delphi , and on the chest of Cypselus (x. 10.2, v. 17.4).
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Alcmaeon, (Alkmaion). A native of Argos and son of Amphiaraus and Eriphyle. As his father, in departing on the expedition of the Seven against Thebes, had bound him and his brother Amphilochus, then mere boys, to avenge him on their faithless mother, Alcmaeon refused to take part in the second expedition, that of the Epigoni, till he had first fulfilled that filial duty; nevertheless his mother, bribed by Thersander with the garment of Harmonia, persuaded him to go. The real leader at the siege of Thebes, he slew the Theban king, Laodamas, and was the first to enter the conquered city. On returning home, he, at the bidding of the Delphian Apollo, avenged his father by slaying his mother, with, or according to some accounts, without, his brother's help; but immediately, like Orestes, he was set upon by the Furies, and wandered distracted, seeking purification and a new home. Phegeus, of the Arcadian Psophis, half purified him of his guilt, and gave him his daughter Arsinoe or Alphesiboea to wife, to whom he presented the jewels of Harmonia, which he had brought from Argos. But soon the crops failed in the land, and he fell into his distemper again, till, after many wanderings, he arrived at the mouth of the Achelous, and there, in an island that had floated up, he found the country promised by the god, which had not existed at the time of his dying mother's curse, and so he was completely cured. He married Achelous's daughter, Callirrhoe, by whom he had two sons, Acarnan and Amphoterus. Unable to withstand his wife's entreaties that she might have Harmonia's necklace and robe, he went to Phegeus in Arcadia, and begged those treasures of him, pretending that he would dedicate them at Delphi for the perfect healing of his madness. He obtained them; but Phegeus, on learning the truth, set his son to waylay him on the road, and rob him of his treasure and his life. Alcmaeon 's sons then avenged their father's death on his murderers. Alcmaeon received divine honours after death, and had a sanctuary at Thebes and a consecrated tomb at Psophis.
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Wives of Alcmaeon:
Arsinoe (or Alphesiboea; daughter of Phegeus, receives the necklace and robe (of Harmonia) from her husband Alcmaeon, is carried by the sons of Phegeus to Tegea and given as a slave to Agapenor. Son by Alcmaeon: Clytias
Manto; daughter of Tiresias, mother of Amphilochus and Tisiphone by Alcmaeon, dedicated by the Argives to Apollo, mother of Mopsus by Apollo, sent by Apollo to Colophon, where she marries Rhacius. Children by Alcaeon: Amphilochus, Tisiphone
Callirrhoe; daughter of Achelous, married by Alcmaeon, covets the necklace and robe (of Harmonia), courted by Zeus, requests that her sons be suddenly fullgrown, her sons kill their father's murderers (the sons of Phegeus), slay Phegeus and his wife, and dedicate the necklace and robe at Delphi. Sons by Alcmaeon: Acarnan, Amphoterus.
Alcmaeon: Perseus Encyclopedia
Seers
Theoclymenus
He was a soothsayer, son of Polypheides and descendant of Melampus, who met withTelemachus in Pylos and followed him to Ithaca (Od. 15.256 etc.).
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Theoclymenus (Theoklumenos). Son of the soothsayer Polyphides, grandson of Melampus. When a fugitive from Argos, for a murder which he had committed, he met with Telemachus in Pylus, who succoured him and brought him to Ithaca. By means of his inherited gift of prophecy, he here made known to Penelope the presence of Odysseus in the island, and warned the suitors of their fate.
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Polyidus of Argos
Polyidus. A son of Coeranus, a grandson of Abas and a great-grandson of Melampus. He was, like his ancestor, a celebrated soothsayer at Corinth, and is described as the father of Euchenor, Astycrateia, and Manto. (Pind. Ol. xiii. 104; Hom. Il. xiii. 663, &c.; Paus. i. 43. § 5; Apollod. iii. 3. § 1.) When Alcathous had murdered his own son Callipolis at Megara, he was purified by Polyidus, who erected at Megara a sanctuary to Dicnysus, and a statue of the god, which was covered all over except the face. (Paus., Apollod. ll. cc. ; Hygin. Fab. 136.)
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The story of the Cretan Glaucus and Polyidus
Glaucus, one of the sons of the Cretan king Minos by Pasiphae or Crete. When yet a boy, while he was playing at ball (Hygin. Fab 136), or while pursuing a mouse (Apollod. iii. 3. § 1), he fell into a cask full of honey, and died in it. Minos for a long time searched after his son in vain, and was at length informed by Apollo or the Curetes that the person who should devise the most appropriate comparison between a cow, which could assume three different colours, and any other object, should find the boy and restore him to his father. Minos assembled his soothsayers, but as none of them was able to do what was required, a stranger, Polyidus of Argos, solved the problem by likening the cow to a mulberry, which is at first white, then red, and in the end black. Polyidus, who knew nothing of the oracle, was thus compelled by his own wisdom to restore Glaucus to his father. By his prophetic powers he discovered that Glaucus had not perished in the sea, and being guided by an owl (glaux) and bees, he found him in the cask of honey. (Aelian, H. A. v. 2.) Minos now further demanded the restoration of his son to life. As Polyidus could not accomplish this, Minos, who attributed his refusal to obstinacy, ordered him to be entombed alive with the body of Glaucus. When Polyidus was thus shut up in the vault, he saw a serpent approaching the dead body, and killed the animal. Presently another serpent came, carrying a herb, with which it covered the dead serpent. The dead serpent was thereby restored to life, and when Polyidus covered the body of Glaucus with the same herb, the boy at once rose into life again. Both shouted for assistance from without; and when Minos heard of it, he had the tomb opened. In his delight at having recovered his child, he munificently rewarded Polyidus, and sent him back to his country. (Comp. Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 811; Palaephat. 27; Apollod. iii. 10.3; Schol. ad Eurip. Alcest.; Hygin. P. A. ii. 14; Schol. ad Pind. Pyth. iii. 96.) The story of the Cretan Glaucus and Polyidus was a favourite subject with the ancient poets and artists; it was not only represented in mimic dances (Lucian, de Saltat. 49), but Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides made it the subject of separate dramatic compositions.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited June 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology (ed. William Smith)
Heroes
Capaneus & Evadne
Capaneus. He was the son of Hipponous & Laodice, father of Sthenelus (Il. 2.564), husband of Evande and one of the Seven against Thebes. He was killed by the thunderbolt of Zeus before the walls of Thebes because he boasted that he would set the city on fire even without the will of the gods.
Perseus: Homer, Iliad
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Capaneus (Kapaneus), a son of Hipponous and Astynome or Laodice, tile daughter of Iphis (Hygin. Fab. 70; Schol. ad Eurip. Phoen. 181; ad Pind. Nern. ix. 30). He was married to Euadne or laneira, who is also called a daughter of Iphis, and by whom he became the father of Sthenelus (Schol. ad Pind. Ol. vi. 46; Apollod. iii. 10.8). He was one of the seven heroes who marched from Argos against Thebes , where he had his station at the Ogygian or Electrian gate (Apollod. iii. 6.6; Aeschyl. Sept. c. Theb. 423; Paus. ix. 8.3). During the siege of Thebes , he was presumptuous enough to say, that even the fire of Zeus should not prevent his scaling the walls of the city; but when he was ascending the ladder, Zeus struck him with a flash of lightning (Comp. Eurip. Phoen. 1172; comp. Soph. Antig. 133; Apollod. iii. 6.7; Ov. Met. ix. 404). While his body was burning, his wife Euadne leaped into the flames and destroyed herself (Apollod. iii. 7.1; Eurip. Suppl. 983; Philostr. Icon. ii. 31; Ov. Ars Am. iii. 21; Hygin. Fab. 243). Capaneus is one of those heroes whom Asclepius was believed to have called back into life (Apollod. iii. 10.3). At Delphi there was a statue of Capaneus dedicated by the Argives (Paus. x.10.2).
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited April 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology (ed. William Smith)
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Per...
Evadne. A daughter of Iphis or Iphicles of Argos, who slighted the addresses of Apollo, and married Capaneus, one of the seven chiefs who went against Thebes. When her husband had been struck with thunder by Zeus for his blasphemies and impiety, and his ashes had been separated from those of the rest of the Argives, she threw herself on his burning pile and perished in the flames.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Perseus: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898)
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‘Canard’ is French for which creature? | Canard Synonyms, Canard Antonyms | Thesaurus.com
Unfortunately that is only a canard invented by my dearest enemies.
"So you are introducing the canard to the political world," remarked Lousteau.
I found here several letters from England; but, as I had presumed, that report about the sale of all my pictures was a canard.
His line of business at present seems to be the canard line.
Canard, it may be noted, in French, signifies both a duck and a highly improbable story.
This canard was circulated by the creatures of the Oligarchy.
Canard, ka-nr′, or ka-nrd′, n. an extravagant or lying story.
This type is sometimes used in Europe, and it led to the Farman "canard" with the box tail in front.
This family increased in numbers in Minas, and two villages bore the name, one in Minas and the other in Canard.
It was Balzac who said that the canard was a discovery of Franklin—the inventor of the lightning rod, the hoax, and the republic.
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Which former US President is often referred to as LBJ? | The French Pterodactyl: a Fortean Folly. Mick Goss | MAGONIA
by johnr
From Magonia 21, December 1985
When Professor Challenger wanted to prove to zoological sceptics that pterodactyls weren’t extinct after all, he merely arranged an expedition to an unknown plateau in the Matto Grosso and caught one. The sight of the gargoyle-faced nightmare filling London’s Queens Hall with the “dry, leathery flapping of its ten-foot wings” and with a “putrid and insidious odour” as it circled overhead left Challenger’s enemies in no doubt: the pterodactyl tribe most certainly was not extinct!
But of course this was only a fictional scene in a novel: the climax to the evocatively-titled The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. And as Challenger’s pterodactyl quitted the Queens Hall via an inadvertently open window and was last seen over the Atlantic apparently homing towards South America, we’ve two good reasons for not seeing it in any museum. But what possible explanation can there be for the amazing absence of the French pterodactyl?
The French Pterodactyl – let us use that term rather than the more general ‘pterosaur’ that is applied today – was, in the words of the Illustrated London News for 9 February 1856, a “discovery of the greatest scientific importance”. This value judgement did not prevent the report from being relegated to an obscure corner of the weekly where it could have been easily missed. Those who did not miss it learned the following.
Workmen engaged in cutting a railway tunnel through the Liassic rocks at Culmont, Haute Marne were breaking up an enormous block of stone when “from a cavity in it they suddenly saw emerge a living being of monstrous form.
“This creature, which belongs to the class of animals hitherto considered to be extinct, has a very long neck, and a mouth filled with sharp teeth. It stands on four long legs, which are united together by two membranes, doubtless intended to support the animal in the air, and are armed with four claws terminated by long and crooked talons. Its general form resembles that of a bat, differing only in its size, which is that of a large goose. Its membranous wings, when spread out, measure from tip to tip three metres, twenty two centimetres. Its colour is livid black; its skin is naked, thick and oily…”
Few modern readers would have trouble tying this French ‘discovery’ in with the prehistoric creature that Conan Doyle (just over half a century later) depicted turning a zoological meeting into a near riot. In case some Illustrated London News readers werenot so well up in recent zoological researches – and especially those concerning the fossilized oddities of remote antiquity – the reporter made things a good deal easier for them:
“On reaching the light this monster gave some signs of life, by shaking its wings, but soon after expired, uttering a hoarse cry. This strange creature, to which may be given the name of a living fossil, has been brought to Gray, where a naturalist well versed in the study of palaeontology, immediately recognised it as belonging to the genus pterodactylus anas.”
With a pertinent reminder that the sedimentary strata holding this unique relic dated it at “more than one million years”, the article ends. The epoch making specimen had become the property of Science, leaving its discoverers with only the mute testimony of that cavity in the stone block it had but lately filled with airtight precisions. Today we have even less evidence of the famous French Pterodactyl; for all the use Science appears to have made of it, the thing may as well not have existed. Which is only to be expected, because the French Pterodactyl did not exist.
“The skies of this Lost World would be strangely empty without these snaggle-toothed, bat-caped creatures”
More miraculous than the preservation of the Culmout anomaly is the way in which the story surrounding it has survived the eroding powers of time. From a secluded end-of-page slot in a Victorian weekly it has become a Fortean classic, a favourite of the ‘Amazing Unexplained Mysteries’ school. Writers hard pressed for material are prone to resurrect the Pterodactyl as mercilessly as the tunnel-builders in the original Illustrated London News.
In some ways the reluctance shown by both writers and readers to discard the story is wholly comprehensible. We want to believe in the kind of Lost World called forth in Conan Doyle’s novel and in the films based on that powerful motif. We want to retain the merest sliver of hope that somewhere the prehistoric monsters of our childhood reading may be holding out in spite of the scientists’ disbelief. Any evidence is avidly seized upon, be it a reported sighting of a saurian in West Africa or the lesson of the coelacanth. If a fish that was already old when the first dinosaurs were born could survive and remain unknown as a living form until as late as 1938 – can’t we entertain hopes for the still more exciting creatures we’ve grown up with since our infant reading days?
The skies of this Lost World of printed page and cinema screen would be strangely empty without the snaggle-toothed, bat-caped animals we know as pterodactyls. They are among the best- or most widely-know members of the prehistoric menagerie and among the first to be discovered, scientifically named and studied. Even as early as 1843 a by no means credulous naturalist like Edward Newman, editor of The Zoologist, could ponder on the mysteries of these animals which he rather defensively liked to think of as “marsupial bats”.
Modern researchers would hardly blink at propositions which Newman admitted were not only controversial for his time, but unlikely to sway zoologists from the opinions of palaeontological heavy-weights like Cuvier and Buckland. He correctly guessed that ‘pterodactyles’ were a large and diversified group encompassing insect-eaters, fish-eaters and meat-eaters. His theory that they may have been clothed in hair has apparently been borne out in one case and appears likely to apply to many more, if not to all; he also seems to have been moving towards the position held by many today that the pterosaurs were warm-blooded animals. But how many would go along with his gently-dropped bombshell:
“I merely hint as a matter of surmise… that the race may yet probably exist; that representatives of the fossil pterodactyls may yet be found amongst the bats that abound within the tropics. Species or even genera become extinct, but it rarely happens that a vast group like the pterodactyls is wholly lost, and left without a representative”.
If this article had not fixed its sights on one celebrated report of a pterosaurian survivor a good deal closer to home than the tropics, some fascinating material that goes part-way to justifying Newman’s outrageous idea could be analysed. The native traditions from various parts of Africa might be examined; the ‘Pteranodon’ sightings half buried inside a spate of ‘Big Bird’ reports from Texas in early 1976 would be spot-lighted. Not least interesting amongst these was the circumstantial account of three San Antonio elementary-school teachers interviewed by Fate’s Jerome Clark and Loren Coleman. It see doubly strange that such sightings of what had formerly been called the largest Pterosaur known to science should come so close in time and space to the announcement of the fragmentary remains of a new and even larger specimen discovered at Big Bend National Park in the same state. (With an overall estimated wingspan of up to 39 feet, Quetzalcoatlus represented a genuine upstaging of Pterandon’s 26 feet. Both make the French Pterodactyl of 1856 seem insignificant at a miserly ten-foot-plus from tip to tip.)
But it my be more profitable to concentrates on pterosaurs and the Victorians. In the intellectual climate of their period – in the very language of that period – is the key to the fact that the French Pterodactyl could only have been a playful hoax.
The Victorians had a profound respect for Science with a capital S: not purely for its practical applications, but in the abstract too. It this meant the creation of an atmosphere of ‘seriousness’ in which the foundations of many 20th Century sciences were laid, it also bred a suspicion that academicism was taking too much of the wonder out of life. The often pedantic and dogmatic tone of many scientists – an intolerance towards anecdotal evidence from unqualified observers, for example – was also offensive to outsiders. One way of evening the score was to perpetrate hoaxes which took in (or burlesqued the manner of) these self-appointed experts.
No area of science at this juncture was more fluid than zoology. By 1856 there were still discoveries to be made, exciting new animals amongst them. Palaeontology was still a developing and controversial field; Owen had only coined the term ‘dinosaur’ as recently as 1841 and the major percentage of large, sensationally-bizarre prehistoric animals with which we populate our own visions of primeval landscapes would remain unknown for another 30 years. Above all, these sciences had not yet reached a point where the observations of intelligent but untrained amateurs were totally excluded.
So on the one hand there was the optimistic hope that new forms were to be discovered and on the other a growing rigidity of scientific attitude which stated that the opinions of the professional scientist could not be contested. In this climate any incident which restored the sense of wonder by contradicting the dogmatism of the experts assumed huge importance. It is no coincidence that some of the most ambitious hoaxes which found their way into the early-Victorian publications featured some aspect of zoology.
As the opinions of Edward Newman indicate, the pterosaurs were a legitimate object of speculation. For all practical pur-poses they were scarcely known in 1856 and the ones which attract most attention today – Pteranodon, for instance – were still buried in the rocks. The first, discovered in c.1784 and properly described by Cuvier in 1801, came from the fine lithographic limestone of Solnhofen in Bavaria which was to become famous as the cemetery of these ‘flying reptiles’. Dimorphodon, a cumbersome looking pterosaur whose appearance seems to have influenced Conan Doyle’s impressions of what pterodactyls looked like, was found at Lyme Regis by England’s famous fossil-hunter Mary Anning in 1828. However the public did not see reconstructions of it until almost 50 years later. Popular awareness of what a prehistoric animal was supposed to have looked like is of crucial significance, as we’ll consider in a moment.
To the annoyance of most professional zoologists and palaeontologists, the fossilized evidence of the prehistoric world led encouragement to certain ‘irrational’ beliefs that they could well have done without. Most patent of these was the hypothesis that perhaps the great saurians were not a memento of bygone days but the living, breathing answer to certain conundrums that men of science had signally failed to explain. The Great Sea Serpent was less an object of derision if you presented it as a plesiosaur that had survived for millions of years in the deep and unexplored ocean. And if reptilian monstrosities were being unearthed in the world’s quarries, was it not just possible that the tales of living toads found immured in blocks of stone or coal – a phenomenon reliably reported by numerous observers, it seemed – were far less unlikely than zoologists would admit-?
The infuriated scientists shouted “No!” to both propositions, yet the propositions would not go away. As late as 1915. E. Ray Lankester – the man whose popular lectures and book on Extinct Animals (1906) had done so much to inform laymen on what the prehistoric menagerie looked like in the flesh – was still combatting the idea that toads-in-stone were marvellously preserved survivors entombed when their ‘prisons’ were laid down millenia ago. Lankester was the “gifted friend” whose “excellent monograph… the standard work” was acknowledged by Professor Challenger (and hence by Conan Doyle) in The Lost World, but he was no friend of the ‘prehistoric survivor’ theory. Having forcefully pointed out that these imprisoned amphibia had not even evolved when the sediments and coal measures said to contain them were laid down, he styled the concept as worthless as:
“… the similar but perhaps bolder statement indulged in from time to time by an inventive transatlantic Press… that some workmen blasting a rock in quarries at Barnumsville were astonished by the escape from a cavity within the solid rock of a large flying lizard or pterodactyl which immediately spread its wings and flew out of sight.”
Several Fortean writers have shared Lankester’s belief that a connection exists between toads-in-stone stories and the French (and possibly other?) pterodactyl(s); but not his conclusion on the invalidity of those accounts. If we choose to disagree with him, however, we have to concede it sheerly amazing that the unique specimen identified so positively by the “naturalist well-versed in the study of palaeontology” is not the star exhibit in some world-famous collection. As far as the Illustrated London News report goes, it did not spread its wings and fly out of sight, as per Lankester, but it should have been available for study and acclaim. Only it most clearly wasn’t. Inconceivable thought – could someone have … mislaid it?
“People don’t stumble upon enormous discoveries and then lose their evidence”, Tarp Henry cautions Malone, when he mentions that Prof. Challenger lost a freshly-deceased pterosaur carcase in a boat accident, “Leave that to the novelists.” But supposing we could accept that evidence – including French pterodactyls - can on occasions go missing, The story contains enough errors to destroy its own credibility even so.
Taking the Illustrated London News account as a starting point, a modern-day palaeontologist would frown with bewilderment at the description of the French Pterodactyl. As a journalistic attempt it might pass muster, but as a scientific guide to the animal it is hopeless – and the few details emerging from it are very ambiguous. The size (“which is that of a large goose”) and wingspan (“ten feet plus”) make it sound suspiciously larger and hence more dramatic than any specimen completely known at the time, but they are not beyond the realms of belief. “Naked, thick and oily skin”, however is a lot less likely; it would have provided no insulation against heat-loss in flight. Back in 1856, though, ‘pterodactyles’ were always depicted in reptilian nudity because no-one had yet found evidence to support the widely held modern view that some kind of hair or down covered their bodies.
These complaints aren’t simply academic trivialities. The French Pterodactyl does not sound right for our times because the animal it describes doesn’t match the picture we have of pterosaurs. But it is perfect for the picture of pterosaurian morphology that prevailed at the time the account was written. The typical pterosaur of the 1850′s was a repulsive combination of bird, bat, lizard and medieval dragon – a gargoyle come to life. The loathsomeness of this unappetizing blend was stressed at every opportunity till it attained an almost metaphysical dimension, with added disgust arising from the indecent nakedness of the monster.
This is the pterosaur described by the Illustrated London News’s man in France: not a real impression of an actual living creature, but a mechanical attempt to reproduce a standard (and to us anachronistic) portrait conforming with readers’ expectations. But the errors caused by the attempt to translate into words the popular imagery of the day do not stand in isolation when we examine certain literary/artistic standards of the society that produced the report. As fitted one of the ‘golden ages’ of popular literature, early Victorians had keen ears for language and (perhaps even more so) an eye for double meanings to words. Puns – many of them too dreadful, forced or elaborate for our taste – proliferated; in certain circumstances they were held to be the height of witticism. With the same grand catholicism that could be found in most areas of 1850′s life and culture, readers loved not just the puns that only a classically-educated person could be expected to construe, but likewise ones based on slang and street-talk.
For a researcher in the 1980′s this kind of playing upon words can be an etymological maze. The sense of a joke may depend on some piece of slang which has been defunct for over a century and therefore almost as unintelligable as Martian. Classicals puns may be less formidable to a student of Latin or Greek, but even there no defence exists against the ‘macaronic’ pun where the double meaning is at one or more stages removed, perhaps from one language to another, via a third.
The French Pterodactyl account contains clues illustrative of all kinds of Victorian punology. There is aa straightforward slang pun and a Latin pun leading into the convoluted two-language ‘macaronic’ variety. In fact, the main clue depends heavily on a subtle movement from Latin to French and thence to contemporary slang – not an easy process to anticipate as you read a purportedly-authentic newspaper report!
In his Strange Creatures from Time and Space (1975) John Keel has outlined the ingenious suggestion that the motive behind the Culmont story may have contained a flavour of nationalistic pride: a hoax to put France’s old rivals across the Rhine into the shade. Quite likely recent finds at Solnhofen and the burgeoning fame of that South German site may have given some Frenchmen grounds for jealousy. Nor is it impossible that some Gallic hoaxer decided to go a giant step beyond Germany’s stony remains of pterosaurs by offering the savants something far better – the tantalizing hint of a living one. Even so, he or she had a perfect understanding of the kind of linguistic wizardry required to ‘sell’ the story to the British newspapers. Despite the French news agency credited at the end of the ILN report, this could have been a quite ‘British’ affair, with clues inbuilt to entertain the cognoscenti who were so vulnerable to the challenge of these punning games.
Few of the books which have lifted the story verbatim from the ILN bother with the original title to the piece: ‘Very Like a Whale’. In chosing this pithy piece the magazine wasn’t quoting Hamlet gratuitously, but letting everybody know how they felt about the veracity of the story. Then as now, British readers knew that a ‘whale’ of a story was a ‘whopper’, something too big to be swallowed (i.e. believed). And the complete phrase was, by the 1850′s, applied liberally to anything considered to be far less than probable. That was how the ILN regarded the French pterodactyl; no doubt readers were expected to take it in the same spirit.
But even without that title, the text contained a sophisticated philological multi-pun that must have given its inventor more than one chuckle of satisfaction.
The palaeontologically-aware naturalist of Gray, we are told, lost no time in identifying the unwholesome-looking, newly-expired corpse as that of Pterodactylus anas. Every specific name attached to an animal – here ‘anas’ – has a meaning which can be translated from the original Greek or Latin. This meaning can be descriptive, or may commemorate the name of a place or person, perhaps the animal’s discoverer.
Pterodactylus anas is not one of the species listed in Henry Govier Seeley’s authoritative Dragons of the Air (1901) which concentrates on the more important specimens found during the previous century; nor could the Natural History Museum locate it as a superseded term. Yet ‘anas’ must have some meaning.
Indeed it has, though when we take down any comprehensive Latin dictionary the results don’t seem to promising. ‘Anas’ simply stands for ‘duck’ – the bird not the verb; on the face of things a description presumably based on the size of the pterodactyl, as there’s little to choose between a duck-sized bird and the ILN’s assertion that the specimen was the size of a large goose.
But there is more to it than that. Besides being Latin for duck, ‘anas’ was the root for several other words for that bird in European languages, notably French – le canard. Here is where the punster comes into his own, for in English popular speech, ‘canard’ has a highly amusing meaning: it means ‘false news’ or ‘hoax’.
The French have been talking about “halfselling a goose” – a venture so self-evidently impossible as to stand for fooling somebody – since the early seventeeth century. The derived use of the more compact ‘canard’ had certainly crossed the Channel to Britain before 1850. At the time of the ILN story it was becoming an increasingly common expression in print. The ILN’s ‘whale’ of a tale could just as easily have been called a duck of a yarn or an exercise in old-fashioned duck salesmanship, French-style.
Quite conceivably the punster whose choice of ‘species-name’ was a direct comment on the bogus quality of their own story never expected the thing to achieve very much. It might indeed delude a few gullible ones and perhaps generate enough curiosity for those stuffy, patronising experts to find themselves on the end of many time-wasting questions about living pterodactyls. The modestly-cultivated reader with his classical education would hover for a few minutes, but soon would be wearing a broad grin as he saw the pterodactyl for the ‘canard’ it really was. The inventor wouldn’t have dared imagine this little fabrication would last for over a century and continue to retain a place in the Amazing Mysteries literature of the 1980′s. For if the joke is on anyone, it has to be on us. What the Victorians were offered as a jest, we have taken as solid, mirth-free fact. We have swallowed the whale, and half-bought the duck…
One reason for this state of affairs is that we don’t share our so-literate-forefathers’ love of puns. Nor is Latin seen any longer as an inevitable acquisition of schooldays, which makes us even less likely to to see the point when a writer tells us in one breath that a living pterodactyl is on offer, and in the next that it belongs to a certain species named the Pterodactyl Hoax! We are locked still more firmly to straightforward assessments – a thing being either Fact or Fiction – by reading the account in Fortean or Riplyesque books which encourage us to believe it’s Unbelievable but True.
Having considered all that, there is something endearing about the French Pterodactyl that makes us want to believe in it. The most incredible aspect of the story is that it not only survives but shows no sign of vanishing into dinosauric extinction.
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Ursula, Sebastian and Flounder are all characters in which Disney film? | Flounder | Disney Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia
“Flounder, you really are a guppy.”
―Ariel
Flounder is a supporting character from The Little Mermaid . He is Ariel 's best friend. Despite his name, he is not a flounder, but a tropical fish.
Contents
[ show ]
Personality
Flounder scares easily and is prone to panicking under stressful situations. However, when Ariel is in trouble, he comes through for her without hesitation. As seen in Ariel's Beginning, Flounder was not always jittery and nervous, in fact, Flounder was just as adventurous as Ariel. However, it can be concluded that after the first few adventures with Ariel, Flounder began to suffer from anxiety.
As mentioned above, despite his fear, Flounder will eventually come through for Ariel when needed, to the point where he's not only her closest friend, but her most loyal one, at that. Because of this, the two are nearly inseparable, and the bond is incredibly strong throughout the franchise, especially during episodes within the television series. Like Sebastian, though, even Flounder, at times, tires of Ariel's reckless behavior and expresses so when a dangerous adventure is at hand, but he willingly puts up with it not only to watch out for her but because he truly loves her, much to Ariel's relief and joy. Because of this, Ariel is rather protective of Flounder, and when in peril, she always puts his safety before her own, making her he's always the first to make it out safe, once again showing the connection between the two to be powerful, to say the least.
Appearances
The Little Mermaid
Flounder in the original film.
In the film, he is the only character to give unconditional support for Ariel 's fascination with human things, and at one point gives Ariel a statue of Eric as a gift. He is first seen after the performance, " Daughters of Triton " with Ariel after sneaking away. When Ariel confesses she is in love with Eric, she strikes a deal with an evil sea witch . Flounder joins Ariel in Eric's Kingdom as she tries to win his heart.
Because he can't survive above water, he is forced to only be able to get news from Scuttle or Sebastien nearby water. He was persistent in asking if they were kissing, showing how dearly he wanted Ariel to get her happy ending and how supportive he was.
Flounder joins Sebastian , Scuttle and other fish in the song " Kiss the Girl ". Later, Flounder helps Ariel defeat Ursula who is planning to capture Ariel by battling Flotsam and Jetsam . When Ursula is killed, Flounder attends the wedding and gets a big good-bye kiss from Ariel as she and Eric enjoy their marriage.
The Little Mermaid: The Series
Flounder in the animated series.
Flounder appears in all the episodes of the prequel television series, sharing constant adventures with Ariel. He generally tries to serve as a voice of reason in comparison to Ariel's more adventurous nature, but usually goes along with her anyway. He is often seen giving rides to Sebastian, who cannot swim as fast as Flounder or Ariel. According to the television series, when Flounder's name called Guppy Number 35. In the episode "Land of the Dinosaurs", when he has been found frozen in an ice cube, Ariel thaws him with King Triton's trident and he gets a cold resulting in his sneezing.
The episode "The Evil Manta" shows that Flounder and Ariel met as young children, though Flounder initially mistook Ariel for a large fish that intended to eat him. The same episode shows Flounder outsmarting Evil Manta , who had been trying to spread prejudice throughout Atlantica. Flounder simply fakes believing Manta's words then works with Ariel to fix the problems Manta caused. The episode "The Beast Within" has Flounder being bitten by a dangerous Howling Hairfish; he then begins to transform into one himself. However, Ariel is able to cure him with the assistance of silverfish.
The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea
An adult Flounder with an older Ariel in The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea.
Flounder has a small role in The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea. He is first seen at the celebration of Melody 's birth and isn't happy about Ariel's decision to keep Melody away from the sea and insists she should explain everything to Melody, which she doesn't. He is later seen 12 years later where he is reunited with Ariel and takes part in the search for Melody. He is shown as an adult and became a father himself, having five children of his own. He is also shown as braver than he was in the first movie.
As the search continues, Flounder and Ariel spot the two stingray pets of Morgana (the antagonist of the film) in the grounds of the palace. The duo follows them to the sea witch's lair, where they believe Melody is being held captive. Whilst Scuttle heads off to warn Eric, Flounder and Ariel enter the icy fortress, only to find themselves captured, along with Melody. Whilst Ariel falls under a hostage situation at the hands of Morgana, Flounder is imprisoned alongside Melody, only to be freed by the princess' companions, Tip and Dash . After a battle ensues and Morgana meets her defeat, however, peace is restored and both the land and sea are free to coincide in harmony as they did years before.
Flounder makes a brief cameo in the Hercules: The Animated Series episode " Hercules and the Apollo Mission ", seen after Hercules accidentally knocks Icarus into a fountain, who emerges from the water with Flounder.
Flounder made occasional cameos in the television series House of Mouse . In the episode "Suddenly Hades", Pete flooded the club to prevent Hades from attending the show. However, Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian stayed as guests instead. A running gag in the show includes Flounder being served alive as Ariel's dinner. This was notably seen in " The Stolen Cartoons " and " Goofy for a Day ". In " Big Bad Wolf Daddy ", Flounder was seen amongst the crowd of Disney characters cheering on the titular character during his musical number.
Flounder makes a small cameo as a freshwater fish when Bagheera and Colonel Hathi tumbled into the river in The Jungle Book 2 .
In Moana , Flounder is seen amongst the tapa cloth fishes during " You're Welcome ".
Video games
Kingdom Hearts series
In the series of video games, Flounder appears as a relatively minor character in The Little Mermaid's based world, Atlantica. In the original game, as well as Kingdom Hearts II , Flounder takes the job of teaching Sora, Donald, and Goofy how to swim flexibly in the ocean waters after their arrival to the world.
In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories , however, Flounder's role is expanded fairly largely, as he's used as a toy in Ursula's quest for power, holding him hostage and forcing Ariel to choose between giving up the trident or Flounder losing his life. Ariel gives in, and hands over the weapon, but Sora and the gang are able to defeat her before it was too late, saving both the sea and Flounder.
Other games
Musical
Flounder appears in the stage adaptation of The Little Mermaid. His supporting role is similar as in the film, but he does not give Ariel the statue of Eric and does not help Ariel reach Eric 's wedding barge, as the Vanessa subplot has been removed. However, Flounder performs a new song titled "She's in Love", which he sings with Ariel's sisters when they notice that Ariel has been acting "fishy lately". The stage role was originated by Cody Hanford and J.J. Singleton, but the two actors had to leave the show when their height overshot that of Sierra Boggess, who originated Ariel. The role was taken over by Trevor Braun and Brian D'Addario. On the Original Broadway Cast Recording, Brian D'Addario performs as Flounder.
Disney Parks
Flounder making a rare, live appearance at the Disney theme parks.
Flounder is a character at the Disney theme parks. He makes most appearances in shows and parades but has occasionally made live appearances, specifically during Mickey's Pirate and Princess Party.
Flounder makes an appearance during Ariel's sequence in World of Color in Disney California Adventure . He makes an appearance as an audio-animatronic in The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure in the same park.
In Mickey's Soundsational Parade , Flounder appears as part of Ariel's float.
Flounder appears as a puppet in Voyage of the Little Mermaid in Disney's Hollywood Studios . He also makes an appearance in Fantasmic! 's bubble montage.
He also makes a cameo in CGI form in the show Mickey's PhilharMagic . His only line in that show is, "Cool!"
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The Little Mermaid Wiki
Princess Ariel is a fictional character, a mermaid, and the protagonist of Disney's The Little Mermaid . She later appears in the film's prequel television series , the direct-to-video sequel The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea and the direct-to-video prequel, The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning . Ariel is voiced by Jodi Benson in all the above animated material.
Her character is based on the protagonist of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" story, but was developed into a different personality for the 1989 animated film adaptation. Her distinct appearance consists of long, flowing red hair, blue eyes, a green tail and a lavender seashell bikini top. She is the first Disney Princess to have red hair (the second being Merida from the movie Brave). Ariel is one of the face characters at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Ariel is the first Disney Princess to be Scandinavian (the second and third being Anna and Elsa).
Contents
Ariel as a mermaid in "Part Of Your World".
Ariel staring dreamily at Eric.
Ariel pulling flowers to see if her loves her or not.
Ariel crying after her father destroyed her secret grotto of human objects.
Ariel brushing her hair with a fork.
Ariel in anime form.
Human Ariel drawn by Phinabella123
Mermaid Ariel drawn by Phinabella123
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Ariel's original design was developed by animator Glen Keane, who reportedly said in an animation lecture that was based on his own wife. Ariel's appearance was also based on actress Alyssa Milano, who was 16 at the time; and female model Sherri Stoner , who provided live-action references for the animators during the development of the film. A challenge in animating Ariel for the 1989 film was the color required to show Ariel in the changing environments, both under the sea and on land, for which the animators required thirty-two color models, not including costume changes, and her changing forms from mermaid to human. They not only had to draw a mermaid with purple seashells, but a naked sixteen year old human girl as well. The blue-green color of Ariel's fin was arguably a hue specially mixed by the Disney paint lab; the color was named "Ariel" after the character. She has been named Disney's most beautiful female character of all time.
Jodi Benson , who was predominantly a stage actress when she was cast, was the choice to voice Ariel because the directors felt "it was really important to have the same person doing the singing and speaking voice". Co-director Ron Clements stated that Benson's voice had "sweetness" and "youthfulness" that was unique. When recording the vocals for Ariel's theme song "Part of Your World", Benson reportedly asked that the lights in the studio be dimmed, so to create the feeling of being deep under the sea.
Appearances
Main article: The Little Mermaid (film)
As depicted in the 1989 film, Ariel is the youngest of King Triton 's seven daughters, and is 16-years-old. Ariel has a vast fascination with the world of humans, despite contact being forbidden by her father, Triton, who hates humans. The beginning of the film shows Ariel salvaging human items, and taking them to Scuttle for identification. Ariel keeps them in a secret grotto as part of her collection, from books to other regular objects (such as globes, mugs and the like). During a storm, Ariel rescues Prince Eric , whose ship sinks. She sings to him on the shore, but is forced to leave when others approach. Ariel falls in love, and dreams of becoming human.
Ariel giving up her voice.
After an argument with her father regarding her love for the human world, Ariel goes to Ursula , the sea witch. In exchange for Ariel's voice, Ursula makes Ariel human. However, if she cannot get Eric to kiss her within three days, Ariel would become Ursula's prisoner. Unknown to Ariel, this is simply a part of Ursula's plot to take Triton's throne. Though she is unable to speak, and thus unable to identify herself, Eric takes Ariel in. Ariel and Eric begin to fall in love, but Ursula intervenes, by turning herself human and hypnotizing Eric with Ariel's voice. The hypnotized Eric plans to marry "Vanessa", actually Ursula in disguise. Ariel is able to stop the wedding, and regain her voice. But before Eric and Ariel can kiss, the third day ends and Ariel becomes Ursula's prisoner. Triton offers himself in Ariel's replacement, allowing Ursula to gain control over the sea. Ariel and Eric have a final showdown, during which Ariel is trapped and left helpless at the bottom of a whirlpool. Ursula aims her newly aquired trident at the princess and fires bolts of pure destruction at her. Ariel fearfully manages to avoid her painful demise each time and is saved by Eric. At the end of the film, Ariel is made human by Triton, who has realized how much Ariel loves Eric. Ariel stays on land with Eric, and marries him. Ariel and Eric live happily ever after.
King Triton giving Ariel legs.
Ariel's theme song, which is referred to by Disney crew as the "I Want" song, is "Part of Your World", which she sings in her secret grotto proclaiming her fascination for human things. The song was originally going to be cut from the final film, due to the claim that it slowing the story down, but Howard Ashman reportedly fought to keep it in. A reprise of the song is featured a little later in the film when Ariel declares that she wants to become part of Prince Eric's world.
Prequel Television Series
Main article: The Little Mermaid (TV series)
The prequel series, which first debuted in 1991, takes place an indeterminate time chronologically before the 1989 film, and revolves around Ariel's adventures as a mermaid living under the sea. Most of Ariel's adventures involve her meeting various creatures, getting in trouble, and usually getting out of it successfully. Her friends Flounder and Sebastian are also featured prominently in the series. Ariel continues to be fascinated with human things in the series and is shown collecting items for her grotto. She can be deemed a magical character when using her father's trident and Ursula's potion bottles.
Prince Eric is sometimes shown in the show, but Ariel always just misses seeing him, preserving the continuity that she sees him first in the 1989 film.
Main article: The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea
Ariel being kidnapped by Morgana.
An older, more mature version of Ariel, as seen in The Little Mermaid II . Ariel and her daughter Melody have certain similarities in terms of personality and appearance.
Ariel being forced to bow to Morgana
The 2000 direct-to-video sequel shows Ariel as having given birth to a beautiful baby girl named Melody. When Melody's safety is threatened by a sea witch named Morgana (sister of Ursula, who was killed in the 1989 film), Ariel and her husband Eric decide they must keep Melody from the sea, and to this effect, build a large wall separating the castle from it. Melody's love of the sea proves too strong, however, and when Melody falls into Morgana's clutches, Ariel is forced to temporarily resume in her mermaid form in order to rescue her. When Ariel finds Melody, Morgana kidnaps her and takes her to the surface. When there, she wraps her tentacles around her. When Melody, Tip, and Dash arrive at the surface, Morgana makes everyone bow down except Melody and Eric. After Morgana is defeated, Ariel is changed back into a human. This sequel features Ariel becoming an over-protective parent for her daughter, effectively taking over the role of her father in the previous film. As of 2009, Ariel is the only Disney Princess to have been depicted as becoming a mother. Ariel's hair is darker in this film.
Main article: The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning
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In the 2008 prequel set one year before the events of the film, an opening prologue shows Ariel as a very young mermaid, living a happy life with her father, King Triton, mother, Queen Athena and her six older sisters. After Athena is killed, a devastated King Triton bands all music from Atlantica . Ariel and her sisters grow up not knowing music and living under their father's strict rules. Ariel eventually discovers a secret underground club where music is played, and there she sings the song "I Remember", which helps her remember her distant past surrounded by love and music. Later (with assistance from Sebastian) Ariel finds her mother's music box and, after they have a showdown with Marina Del Rey , Triton changes his ways and allows music back into Atlantica.
Stage musical
Edit
Main article: The Little Mermaid (musical) A stage musical version of the 1989 film had its world premiere in Denver, Colorado in 2007 for its pre-Broadway tryout, and on January 10, 2008 debuted on Broadway. The character of Ariel for the stage adaptation was originated by Sierra Boggess. Jodi Benson, the original voice actor for Ariel, attended the musical's opening night.
A few new songs were added to the score, accompanying the songs in the film that were moved to the stage. "The World Above" is Ariel's introductory song, replacing the entire shark-chase sequence in the film. In Act 2, although Ariel has become mute, she sings two songs expressing her thoughts and feelings, these songs being "Beyond My Wildest Dreams", where Ariel explores the human world for the first time, and "If Only", in which Ariel bemoans that she cannot express her feelings to Eric. Additionally, Ariel's voice can be heard in the extended opening of "Fathoms Below", although she is not seen on-stage.
Sierra Boggess as Ariel on Broadway.
The stage musical features new plot elements not present in the film. It is explained through dialogue that Ariel inherited her mother's singing voice, adding another layer to Triton's protectiveness of her. Ariel and Eric's romance is expanded from the film, as explored in a musical sequence "One Step Closer" where the pair dance together. In the climatic battle, it is Ariel, not Eric, who destroys Ursula by smashing the magic shell. The reason for this change was that the musical's creative team did not want Ariel to come off as passive and because it was easier to stage (and more dramatic).
Other appearances
Edit
Ariel makes regular appearances in the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, having a special location called Ariel's Grotto at most of them. Ariel also makes cameo appearances in Peter Pan's Flight at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom and in It's a Small World at Hong Kong Disneyland. She also has a major role in Mickey's PhilharMagic and stars in her own live stage shows at Disney's Hollywood Studios (Voyage of the Little Mermaid) and Tokyo DisneySea (Mermaid Lagoon Theater). A dark ride based on the movie was designed for Disneyland Paris, but was never built, it has since been announced that a re-designed version of the attraction is to be built as part of the major expansion for Disney's California Adventure. She is also featured in Fantasmic! at both Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios.
The Little Mermaid (NES game)
Edit
Main article: The Little Mermaid (video game) Taking place after Eric skewered Ursula in the original film, Ariel and Eric are planning to wed, but the sea-witch Ursula (somehow resurrected) has taken control of the ocean. So Ariel becomes a mermaid once more and sets off to rescue the sea.
The game takes place from a side view and Ariel (swimming most of the time, but hopping around on the land occasionally) can shoot bubbles to trap her foes and can then throw them at each other. She can also dig through sand to find treasure and pick up sea shells to break chests open with. The treasure she finds in the sand is usually just bonus points, but the treasure you find in chests will increase your bubble's power and range.
Although this game is not canon, this exact situation where Ariel had to be turned back into a mermaid would be duplicated in The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea where she dives off a much larger boat (Eric's lead fleet ship) rather than his rowboat in the NES game.
Kingdom Hearts series
Edit
The Kingdom Hearts video-game series uses elements from various films in the Disney animated canon, integrating and reinterpreting the stories to fit into the game's plot as the playable characters travel into different kingdoms or "worlds". The 1989 The Little Mermaid film and the kingdom of Atlantica are included as part of the game play.
Kingdom Hearts
Edit
In the first game, Ariel's story is similar to the 1989 film, but in addition she's to deal with Ursula's attempt to use the Heartless to defeat King Triton. Ariel can be one of Sora's party members for this world. She encounters Sora as a merman (with a dolphin tail instead), Donald Duck as a male cecaelia, and Goofy as a sea turtle, who claim that they are from a distant ocean to protect the fact that they are from another world. She is the only Disney Princess featured in the game who is not one of the Princesses of Heart and also the only female fighter to join the party up until Mulan.
Within the game, Ariel is duped by Ursula, who also reveals that Sora, Donald, and Goofy are in fact from another world, into giving up her father's trident. After Triton is injured by Ursula, Ariel helps Sora, Donald, and Goofy defeat her to atone for her mistakes. After Atlantica's keyhole is sealed, Sora apologizes to Ariel for lying about their origins, but she lets it slide, confident that, if they could find a way to travel to other worlds, then so can she.
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Edit
In this second game, Ariel is a character in Atlantica; but one in Sora's mind. Here, Ursula kidnaps Flounder and baits Ariel into stealing her father's trident. Ariel brings Ursula the trident, believing that Flounder has been taken to the human world, and learns the truth when she does. After helping Sora defeat Ursula, she resolves to tell her father what happened. She can be acquired as a Friend card after visiting the Key of Guidance room. Using the card causes her to swim across the area, injuring any enemies she strikes.
Kingdom Hearts II
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As in the first Kingdom Hearts, Ariel's story is almost a mirror of the 1989 film's plot. Songs in this world are "Swim This Way", "Part of Your World", "Under the Sea", "Ursula's Revenge", and "A New Day is Dawning". There are some slight changes from the film, among them being:
1. The musical numbers "Poor Unfortunate Souls" and "Kiss The Girl" are removed. 2. The deal between Ursula and Ariel is made in the Courtyard instead of in Ursula's cave. 3. Instead of Sebastian and Flounder pushing the human Ariel to the surface, Sora drags her to the top by himself. 4. Ariel already has clothes on immediately after her human transformation. She is wearing the sail from the film. In the film, she is completely naked after the transformation. 5. Eric throws the trident — as originally storyboarded for the film — to defeat Ursula. 6. Eric is conscious after Ursula is defeated, speaks with Ariel as a mermaid for a longer time, and eventually asks her if she'd teach him how to swim.
Ariel's transformation is not shown in the game. It starts with a little whirlpool going around Ariel. It then shows Sebastian and Flounder looking in shock. When it goes back to Ariel, she is shown drowning with her new legs and she is wearing the sail. Ariel is shown with her mouth open, trying to breath, and choking. She is trying to swim, but she only stays in one spot and she is only able to get her body to go forward and back. To keep from showing her waist, Ariel is mostly shown with her face and breast. As she is taken to the surface, Ariel is already unconscious. She wakes up in the night, on the beach, with Eric finding her. The song lyrics in "Under the Sea" and "A New Day is Dawning" are somewhat altered; Sora sings a significant portion of Sebastian's original lyrics of "Under the Sea", Ariel pays tribute to Sora, Donald, and Goofy while singing "A New Day is Dawning", and the KH version of "Under the Sea" features a short ballroom-like dance between Sora and Ariel.
Books
Kids Books
Disney has a number of little mermaid cartoon books for kids. Both the full version of the story and very short versions. There are a few differences in the books then they are in the movie. First, when Ariel becomes a human, her seashells come off and she is unconscious. In the books, she is shown wearing her seashells. She is shown full body but he knee blocks her waist from being shown. Ariel's butt is not fully shown, but half of it is. She is still awake, but holding her breath. Second, when Ariel wakes up on the beach, Skuttle comes in and helps her put on a sail. In the book, Skuttle does not come out. Instead, Ariel is shown standing with only a small rock covering her vagina. Third, when Eric finds her, she is wearing a sail and is sitting on a rock. In the book, Ariel is hiding behind a rock but some how, she is not wearing her shells. There two pictures for this; One which shows Eric's perpestive, which shows Ariel's head above ther rock, and from Ariel's perceptive which shows her sitting behind the rock. Her front side is not shown only her face and backside. It then says she gets up from the rock and tries to walk to Eric.
Disney has also made digital story books of the little mermaid. These too have a difference from the movie. First is when Ariel gets her voice taken. In the movie, Ursula summons two hands that take Ariel's voice. In the book, Ariel leans back. When she then goes forward, her voice comes out. Second it the transformation. In the movie, Ariel is put into a bubble, her tail splits inside of it and her seashells come off. In the book, Ariel is not placed into a bubble. Instead, the transformation happens out in the open. A light goes around Ariel's tail and splits it into her legs. As the transformation is happening, Ariel is shown panicking and screaming. As the transformation finishes, Ariel becomes unconscious. She is then carried to the surface by her friends. As she is being carried, the transformation finishes.
Disney Princess franchise
Edit
Ariel is one of the ten characters in the Disney Princess line, a prominent franchise directed to young girls. The franchise covers a wide variety of merchandise, including but not limited to magazines, music albums, toys, clothes and stationery. Ariel is usually depicted in her mermaid form on the merchandise, but also appears in human form wearing her blue dress, white wedding dress or pink dress. The Disney Princess magazine features comics and posters of Ariel, usually in mermaid form. Of all the Disney Princesses, Ariel is the only one who is originally not completely human to begin with, and the only one to have been depicted as having a child.
Other Disney media
Edit
In the 1995 film A Goofy Movie, the main characters stay in a motel that is decorated according to an oceanic theme, and the room lamps are in the shape of Ariel in her mermaid form, with red hair, purple shells and green tail. Ariel also makes a cameo appearance in the Roger Rabbit short Roller Coaster Rabbit on a sideshow poster at the carnival. One of the Lilo & Stitch movie trailers is including a scene from The Little Mermaid.
Music albums
Edit
Due to the success of the 1989 film, a series of music albums were released as part of Disney's The Little Mermaid franchise and featuring Jodi Benson singing in-character as Ariel. Among these albums are: "Sebastian from The Little Mermaid" - Ariel sings two full tracks, "Dancing Mood" and "Dance the Day Away", and provides supporting vocals in "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song). "Splash Hits" - This album features a few songs used in the prequel series and other original The Little Mermaid songs. Ariel sings about half the tracks on the album. "Songs from the Sea" - Features entirely original songs, and Ariel sings the majority of the tracks. Ariel is also included in the various albums that have been released as part of the Disney Princess franchise. The most prominent song for the franchise is "If You Can Dream", which features solos by most members of the Disney Princess group including Princess Jasmine, Cinderella, Princess Belle, Pocahontas, Princess Aurora and Fa Mulan. Snow White has been excluded due to unknown reasons. Jodi Benson sings as Ariel in this line as well.
References in Non-Disney media
Edit
The character of Ariel has been referenced and parodied many times in various unrelated media, occasionally making unofficial "cameos". Some of these appearances are listed below.
The animated television series Futurama contains a few references to Ariel. In the episode "The Series Has Landed", a female robot called The Crushinator says "No, Daddy, I love him" to her father referring to Bender, a line which was uttered by Ariel towards her father in the film.
The line is also used in the Seinfeld episode "The Bottle Deposit part 2" where Kramer discovers Newman being chased out of a farmhouse in Michigan by a farmer with a shotgun after it is revealed that Newman slept with his daughter, an act which the farmer forbade earlier in the episode. The daughter later responds with the phrase "No daddy, don't hurt him, I love him".
Ariel killed by "American Dad"
In the episode "The Deep South", the main characters' ship is dragged to the bottom of the ocean where the lead character, Fry, encounters a mermaid similar to the fashion in which Ariel first meets Prince Eric except certain situations reversed. The mermaid's name is Umbriel and she hails from the lost city of Atlanta. Of note, Ariel and Umbriel are both moons orbiting Uranus, named for two of the sylphs in Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock.
In the episode of Saturday Night Live that aired on October 29, 2001, Reese Witherspoon dressed as a mermaid for a sketch. Her costume consisted of a colored tail fin, seashell bra, and red hair.
The webcomic Penny Arcade also makes a joke on this subject when Gabe remembers his younger "Undersea adventures" or, rather, his attempts at having them.
In the animated series Drawn Together, Princess Clara's appearance and personality is based on Princess Ariel all the way down to her relationship with her father the King who is nearly identical in appearance and personality to King Triton. Princess Clara is voiced by Tara Strong, who also voiced Ariel's daughter Melody . Besides Clara, Ariel herself made two cameos in the show. The first was in the episode "Foxxy vs. the Board of Education", where she was at a vet with a plastic ring set caught in her throat. The second was in the episode "Spelling Applebee's" where she was one of Clara's friends, and ended up killed alongside Snow White and Aurora in the ending of the episode by Captain Hero. She was voiced by Tara Strong in the latter episode.
In the NES video game, Skate or Die 2, the girlfriend of the playable character, CJ, is based on Ariel in design.
In the episode Francine's Flashback of American Dad!, Stan goes on a fishing trip with his friends, who accidentally kill Ariel.
Impact
Edit
Ariel is one of Disney's most iconic animated characters, and her specific color combination of red hair, lavender sea shells and green tail make her distinctly identifiable. She has become an iconic character for children and young women to impersonate; some frequently donning home-made costumes of Ariel's green tail and seashell top, and seen swimming about in pools in amateur home videos on sites such as YouTube. Many amateur artists on art sites such as DeviantART also model their own mermaids after Ariel, some claimed to be different characters though certainly inspired by her. Fansites devoted to the iconic Disney princess are not uncommon; and there is even an bi-annual convention dedicated to her (and other TLM characters) called ArielCon. Ariel is often considered the first Disney feminist as she plays a much bigger role in her story than the previous Disney heroines. Ariel is an official "ambassador" for the "Keep Our Oceans Clean" campaign by Environmental Defense, The National Maritime Sanctuary, and The National Oceanic and Atmospheric.
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Who directed the 1988 film ‘Beetle Juice’? | Beetlejuice (1988) - IMDb
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A couple of recently deceased ghosts contract the services of a "bio-exorcist" in order to remove the obnoxious new owners of their house.
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Won 1 Oscar. Another 7 wins & 10 nominations. See more awards »
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Storyline
Adam and Barbara are a normal couple...who happen to be dead. They have given their precious time to decorate their house and make it their own, but unfortunately a family is moving in, and not quietly. Adam and Barbara try to scare them out, but end up becoming the main attraction to the money making family. They call upon Beetlejuice to help, but Beetlejuice has more in mind than just helping. Written by simon
He's guaranteed to put some life, in your afterlife See more »
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30 March 1988 (USA) See more »
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Did You Know?
Trivia
Although the film is set in Connecticut, it was actually filmed in the small town of East Corinth, Vermont. A small creek which runs though the town was dammed up to provide deeper water for the covered bridge scene. The covered bridge itself was specially built for this scene on Chicken Farm Rd near the village. The Maitland's house was a facade built in a farm field 100 yards uphill from the bridge for exterior shots only. From this hill can be seen the "Nice building" with the "Bad roof" which was actually the town post office. See more »
Goofs
Right after the Maitland's car falls into the river, a rope tied to the bumper can be seen. See more »
Quotes
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Barbara : I hate this. Just- can you give me the basics?
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Adam : I don't see anything about heaven OR hell. This book reads like stereo instructions. Listen to this: "Geographical and temporal perimeters. Functional ...
[...]
Burton's true masterpiece, and one of the ten best 80s movies.
7 December 2001 | by Infofreak
(Perth, Australia) – See all my reviews
Watching this one more time on TV yesterday reminded me of the first time I saw it all those years ago at the movies when Tim Burton was just the guy who had directed that funny Pee-wee Herman movie. Walking into 'Beetlejuice' then, without knowing anything about it, was an amazing experience. Along with 'Blade Runner', 'Blue Velvet', 'Videodrome', 'Brazil', 'Paris, Texas', 'The Terminator' and 'Repo Man' it was one of the most astonishing and memorable movies of the 1980s, an era dominated by Hollywood dreck like 'Flashdance', 'Top Gun', and 'Footloose'. The whole Bruckheimer/Simpson/Spielberg/Hughes zeitgeist that dumbed down popular movies as never before. Movies like 'Beetlejuice' were a glimmer of hope in a truly awful period.
The big question is - how does it stand up today? The answer is better than ever! In fact I would argue that 'Beetlejuice' is Tim Burton's most successful and least compromised film. Everything about it is perfect. A great cast lead by the very appealing and likable Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis as the newly dead Maitlands, a star turn by Michael Keaton as the gonzo "bio-exorcist" title character, and strong support from Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O'Hara, and especially Winona Ryder (a performance that really put her on the map), as the new occupants of the Maitlands house. 'Beetlejuice' juggles gruesome, trippy and genuinely witty sequences, and ends up becoming one of the freshest and surreal movies to find a mainstream audience since the heyday of 60s/70s "head" movies. Forget Burton's more recent hit and miss big budget efforts, and try this for the real deal, Luis Bunuel meets Tex Avery meets George Romero, and then some! 'Beetlejuice' is a blast!
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| Tim Burton |
The Jet d’Eau Fountain is in which European city? | Untitled Beetlejuice 2 Film - ComingSoon.net
Untitled Beetlejuice 2 Film
Screenwriters: David Katzenberg, Seth Grahame-Smith
Starring: Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder
Genre: Comedy , Horror
Plot Summary:
A follow-up to the 1988 film. The new film is planned as a continuation of the original and not as a reboot.
Directed by Tim Burton, the original starred Michael Keaton as the titular Beetlejuice, a "bio-exorcist" (a ghost who removes humans), who is unwittingly employed by a newly-deceased couple (played by Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) to frighten away the family that has just moved into their would-be home. Winona Ryder starred as the daughter of the family in her breakout role.
While the original film spawned a lesser-known animated series, a sequel was planned in the early '90s with the title "Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian." Burton had planned to return as director, but the project failed to develop beyond an initial screenplay.
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In London, the Lord Mayor’s Show takes place on the second Saturday of which month? | Click on the image to download the 2016 Lord Mayor's Show leaftet (4MB)
Beginning with the river procession and ending with the spectacular fireworks, the Show takes place every second Saturday in November.
Saturday 12 November 2016
Over the centuries Lord Mayor's Show has become a City institution in its own right, representing all that the City of London is and aspires to be. Let's celebrate the new person in the role of Lord Mayor .
Each year the Show reinvents itself to attract a fresh audience while at the same time not losing sight of its heritage and tradition. The military, Livery and civic elements represent the spine of the procession; while charities, youth associations, overseas organisations and businesses bring the energy and dynamism that capture the essence of a truly global city.
Both these elements make the Show one of a kind: bringing together more than 7,000 people, 200 horses and more than 150 floats to make the three mile procession from Mansion House, past St Paul's Cathedral to the Royal Courts of Justice and back to Mansion House via Victoria Embankment.
Travel plans
The City has plenty of train, Tube and bus links so there's no need to use your car. But don't let your day be spoiled – for any changes to services before starting off, download the Lord Mayor's Show travel advice (46KB). You can also check with Transport for London .
Arrive early for a clear view
If you want a clear view of the Show as it passes by, especially if you have young children, get here early and pick your spot. Busiest parts are around St Paul's and Mansion House but Fleet Street, Victoria Embankment and Queen Victoria Street are often more manageable. Dedicated disabled persons' viewing areas are also available. No seating is provided, but folding chairs can be brought.
Best seats
Grandstands are located next to and opposite St Paul’s Cathedral and give you a great view of the procession as it approaches St Paul’s from New Change. So why not treat yourself and your family to the clearest views on this special occasion? Fully wheelchair accessible spaces are available.
The Lord Mayor's Show programme
The programme is always the best way to find out all you need to know about the Show. It illustrates the history behind the Show, the new person in the role of Lord Mayor and all those people and organisations taking part. Copies are available on the day throughout the entire route.
| November |
Which month of the Gregorian calendar was originally the first month of the Roman calendar? | Lord Mayor's Show | Article about Lord Mayor's Show by The Free Dictionary
Lord Mayor's Show | Article about Lord Mayor's Show by The Free Dictionary
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Lord+Mayor%27s+Show
Lord Mayor's Show
Second Saturday in November
The second Friday in November is Lord Mayor's Day in London, the day on which the city's Lord Mayor is admitted to office. The following day is the Lord Mayor's Show, a series of civic ceremonies that culminate in a parade to the Law Courts held since 1215. At one time the Lord Mayor rode on horseback or traveled by state barge along the Thames, but today he rides from Guildhall to the Law Courts in a scarlet and gold coach drawn by six matched horses. This is the only time the mayoral coach is used; the rest of the time it is kept in the Museum of London.
Accompanying the coach is an honor guard of musketeers and pikemen in period dress, as well as many bands and numerous floats decorated to reflect the interests or profession of the new Lord Mayor. This colorful pageant dates back to the 13th century, when King John gave the citizens of London a charter stating that the Mayor was to be elected on September 29 and that he was to present himself either to the King or to the Royal Justices to be officially installed.
See also Election of the Lord Mayor of London
CONTACTS:
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What was the first name of the wife of late singer/musician Marc Bolan? | Marc Bolan | Rock Music Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia
[1] [2] Plaque marking Marc Bolan's childhood home, 25 Stoke Newington Common , Hackney . (November 2005)
Bolan grew up in post-war Stoke Newington, in the borough of Hackney , East London, the son of Phyllis Winifred (née Atkins) and Simeon Feld, a lorry driver. His father was of Jewish (Russian/Polish) and Irish origin and his mother was from a Christian background. [1 ] [2 ] [3 ] Later moving to Wimbledon , southwest London, he fell in love with the rock and roll of Gene Vincent , Eddie Cochran , Arthur Crudup and Chuck Berry and hung around coffee bars such as the 2 I's in Soho . He appeared as an extra in an episode of the television show Orlando , dressed as a mod. At the age of nine, Bolan was given his first guitar and began a skiffle band. While at school, he played guitar in "Susie and the Hoops," a trio whose vocalist was a 12-year old Helen Shapiro . At 15, he was expelled from school for bad behaviour. [4 ]
He briefly joined a modelling agency and became a "John Temple Boy", appearing in a clothing catalogue for the menswear store. He was a model for the suits in their catalogues as well as for cardboard cut-outs to be displayed in shop windows. "TOWN" magazine featured him as an early example of the mod movement in a photo spread with two other models. In 1964, Mark met his first manager Geoffrey de-la-Roy Hall and recorded a track called 'All At Once' (a non-Feld penned song) of which was later released postumously by Danielz & Caron Willans in 2008 as a very limited edition 7" vinyl, after the original 1/4" tape recording was passed onto them by Mr Hall – this is now regarded as possibly the very first known track that the young Mark had put to professional studio tape. Mark Feld then changed his stage-name to Toby Tyler when he met and moved in with child actor Allan Warren , who was to become his second manager. This fortuitous encounter afforded Bolan a lifeline to the heart of show-business, as Warren saw Toby Tyler's potential whilst the latter spent hours sitting cross-legged on Warren's floor playing his acoustic guitar. A series of photographs was to be commissioned with photographer Michael McGrath, who later recalls that Bolan "left no impression" on him. [5 ] Warren also hired a recording studio and had Bolan's first acetates cut. One track was the Bob Dylan song " Blowin' in the Wind ". A version of Betty Everett 's "You're No Good" was later submitted to EMI for a test screening but was turned down.
Warren later sold Bolan's contract and recordings for £200 to his landlord, property mogul David Kirch , in lieu of three months' back rent. Kirch was too busy with his property empire to do anything for him. A year or so later, Bolan's mother pushed into Kirch's office and shouted at him that he had done nothing for her son. She demanded he tear up the contract and willingly he complied. [6 ] [7 ] [8 ] The tapes produced during the Toby Tyler recording session vanished for over 25 years before resurfacing in 1991 and selling for nearly $8,000. Their eventual release on CD in 1993 made available some of the earliest of Marc's known recordings.
After changing his name again to Marc Bolan (via Mark Bowland) while with Decca Records he released his first single "The Wizard". After signing to Decca Records in August 1965, Marc Bolan recorded his debut single. The Ladybirds sang backing vocals, while apart from Bolan's vocals, all other music was created by studio session musicians. "The Wizard" was released on 19 November 1965. According to Danny Baker speaking on QI Series G, episode 15 on BBC television , Bolan is a contraction of Bob Dylan . [9 ] [10 ] In 1965 Bolan turned up at Simon Napier-Bell's front door with his guitar and proclaimed that he was going to be a big star and he needed someone to make all of the arrangements. Napier-Bell invited Bolan in and listened to his songs. A recording session was immediately booked and the songs were recorded but not released. One song, "You Scare Me to Death" was used in a toothpaste advertisement. The songs resurfaced in 1982 on the album You Scare Me to Death with other songs, "Mustang Ford," "Sally was an Angel," and "Hippy Gumbo" among others. Napier Bell managed The Yardbirds and John's Children and was going to slot Bolan into The Yardbirds but settled for John's Children instead because of Bolan's writing ability, in early 1967. The band achieved some success as a live act but sold few records. A John's Children single written by Marc Bolan called " Desdemona " was banned by the BBC for its line "lift up your skirt and fly." His tenure with the band was brief. Bolan claimed to have spent time with a wizard in Paris who gave him secret knowledge and could levitate. The time spent with him was often alluded to but remained "mythical"; in reality the wizard was probably US actor Riggs O'Hara with whom Bolan made a trip to Paris in 1965. His song-writing took off and he began writing many of the neo-romantic songs that would appear on his first albums with Tyrannosaurus Rex .
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When John's Children collapsed (among other problems, the band were stunned to discover their equipment had been stolen from a studio, according to a Bolan biographer), Bolan created Tyrannosaurus Rex , his own rock band together with guitarist Ben Cartland, drummer Steve Peregrin Took and an unknown bass player. Napier-Bell recalled of Bolan: "He got a gig at the Electric Garden then put an ad in Melody Maker to get the musicians. The paper came out on Wednesday, the day of the gig. At 3 o'clock he was interviewing musicians, at five he was getting ready to go on stage.... It was a disaster. He just got booed off the stage." [11 ]
Following this concert, Bolan pared the band down to just himself and Took, and they continued as a psychedelic -folk rock acoustic duo, playing Bolan's songs, with Took playing assorted hand and kit percussion and occasional bass to Bolan's acoustic guitars and voice. Napier-Bell said of Bolan that after the first disastrous electric gig, "He didn't have the courage to try it again; it really had been a blow to his ego... Later he told everyone he'd been forced into going acoustic because Track had repossessed all his gear. In fact he'd been forced to go acoustic because he was scared to do anything else." [11 ]
The original version of Tyrannosaurus Rex released three albums and four singles, flirting with the charts, reaching as high as number fifteen and supported with airplay by Radio 1 DJ John Peel . One of the highlights of this era was when the duo played at the first free Hyde Park concert in 1968. Although the free-spirited, drug-taking Took was fired from the group after their first American tour, they were a force to be reckoned with in the hippy underground scene while they lasted. Their music was filled with Marc's otherworldly poetry.
In 1969, Bolan published his first and only book of poetry entitled ' The Warlock of Love '. Some dismissed it as self-indulgence, though it did sell 40,000 copies and in 1969/1970 it became one of Britain's best-selling books of poetry. [12 ] It was reprinted in 1992 by the Tyrannosaurus Rex Appreciation Society. [13 ]
In keeping with his early rock and roll interests, Bolan began bringing amplified guitar lines into the duo's music, buying a white Fender Stratocaster decorated with a Paisley teardrop motif. After replacing Took with Mickey Finn , he let the electric influences come forward even further on A Beard of Stars , the final album to be credited to Tyrannosaurus Rex. It closed with the song "Elemental Child," featuring a long electric guitar break influenced by Jimi Hendrix .
Bolan, by now married to his girlfriend June Child (a former secretary to the manager of another of his heroes, Syd Barrett ), bought a vintage Gibson Les Paul guitar (featured on the cover of the album T. Rex ), wrote and recorded " Ride a White Swan " which was dominated by a rolling hand-clapping back-beat, Bolan's electric guitar and Finn's percussion, and shortened the group's name to T. Rex.
T. Rex and glam rock[ edit ]
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Bolan and his producer Tony Visconti oversaw the session for "Ride a White Swan", the single that changed Bolan's career which was inspired in part by Mungo Jerry's success with " In the Summertime ", moving Bolan away from predominantly acoustic numbers to a more electric sound. Recorded on 1 July 1970 and released later that year, it made slow progress in the UK Top 40 , until it finally peaked in early 1971 at number two.
Bolan took to wearing top hats and feather boas on stage as well as putting drops of glitter on each of his cheekbones . Stories are conflicting about his inspiration for this—some say it was introduced by his personal assistant , Chelita Secunda, although Bolan told John Pidgeon in a 1974 interview on Radio 1 that he noticed the glitter on his wife's dressing table prior to a photo session and casually daubed some on his face there and then. Other performers—and their fans—soon took up variations on the idea.
The glam era also saw the rise of Bolan's friend David Bowie , whom Bolan had come to know in the underground days (Bolan had played guitar on Bowie's 1970 single "Prettiest Star"; Bolan and Bowie also shared the same manager, Tony Howard, and producer, Tony Visconti)
Bolan followed "Ride a White Swan" and T. Rex by expanding the group to a quartet with bassist Steve Currie and drummer Bill Legend , and cutting a five-minute single, " Hot Love ", with a rollicking rhythm, string accents and an extended sing-along chorus inspired somewhat by " Hey Jude ". It was number one for six weeks and was quickly followed by " Get It On ", a grittier, more adult tune that spent four weeks in the top spot. The song was renamed "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" when released in the United States, to avoid confusion with another song of the same name by the American band Chase . The song reached No. 10 in the United States in early 1972, the only Top 40 single the band had in America.
In November 1971, the band's record label, Fly , released the Electric Warrior track " Jeepster " without Bolan's permission. Outraged, Bolan took advantage of the timely lapsing of his Fly Records contract and left for EMI , who gave him his own record label, the T. Rex Wax Co. Its bag and label featured an iconic head-and-shoulders image of Bolan. Despite the lack of Bolan's endorsement, "Jeepster" peaked at number two.
In 1972, Bolan achieved two more British number ones with " Telegram Sam " and " Metal Guru " (the latter of which stopped Elton John getting to the top with " Rocket Man ") and two more number twos in " Children of the Revolution " and " Solid Gold Easy Action ". Bolan told Gloria Jones the track " Metal Guru " would be "the smoothest song in history".
In the same year he appeared in Ringo Starr 's film Born to Boogie , a documentary showing a concert at Wembley Empire Pool on 18 March 1972. Mixed in were surreal scenes shot at John Lennon 's mansion in Ascot and a session with T. Rex joined by Ringo Starr on second drum kit and Elton John on piano. At this time T. Rex record sales accounted for about 6 percent of total British domestic record sales. The band was reportedly selling 100,000 records a day; however, no T. Rex single ever became a million-seller in the UK, despite many gold discs and an average of four weeks at the top per Number One hit.
In 1973, Bolan played twin lead guitar alongside his friend Jeff Lynne on the Electric Light Orchestra songs " Ma-Ma-Ma Belle " and "Dreaming of 4000" (originally uncredited) from On the Third Day , as well as on "Everyone's Born To Die", which was not released at the time but appears as a bonus track on the 2006 remaster.
Bolan played guitar on the track "Have You Seen My Baby (Hold On)" on Ringo Starr's album Ringo.
By late 1973, his pop star fame gradually began to wane, even though he achieved a number three hit, " 20th Century Boy ", in February and mid-year "The Groover" followed it to number four. "Truck On (Tyke)" missed the UK Top 10 reaching only No. 12 in December. However, " Teenage Dream " from the 1974 album Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow showed that Bolan was attempting to create richer, more involved music than he had previously attempted with T. Rex. He expanded the line up of the band to include a second guitarist, Jack Green, and other studio musicians, and began to take more control over the sound and production of his records, including by then girlfriend Gloria Jones on keyboards as well as backing vocals.
In 1974, Bolan played guitar for Ike & Tina Turner . He appeared on "Sexy Ida (Part II)", and "Baby Get It On". Tina Turner confirmed this in a BBC Radio 1 interview.[ citation needed ]
Eventually, the vintage T. Rex line-up disintegrated. Legend left in 1973 and Finn in 1975 and Bolan's marriage came to an end because of his affair with backing singer Gloria Jones who bore his son Rolan on 26 September 1975. He spent a good deal of his time in the US during this period, continuing to release singles and albums which, while less popular to the masses, were full of unusual lyrics and sometimes eccentric musical experiments. Although Bolan's health began to fail as he put on weight, the former glam rock icon cleaned up and continued working, producing at least one album every year.
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Gloria Jones gave birth to Bolan's son in September 1975, whom they named Rolan Bolan (although his birth certificate lists him as 'Rolan Seymour Feld'). That same year, Bolan returned to the UK from tax exile in the US and Monaco and to the public eye with a low-key tour. Bolan made regular appearances on the LWT pop show Supersonic, directed by his old friend Mike Mansfield and released a succession of singles, but he never regained the success of his glory days of the early 1970s. The last remaining member of Bolan's halcyon era T. Rex, Currie, left the group in late 1976.
In early 1977, Bolan got a new band together, released a new album, Dandy in the Underworld, and set out on a fresh UK tour, taking along punk band The Damned as support to entice a young audience who did not remember his heyday. Granada Television commissioned Bolan to front a six-part series called Marc , where he introduced new and established bands and performed his own songs. By this time Bolan had lost weight, appearing as trim as he had during T. Rex's earlier heyday. The show was broadcast during the post-school half-hour on ITV earmarked for children and teenagers; it was a big success.[ citation needed ] One episode reunited Bolan with his former John's Children -bandmate Andy Ellison , then fronting the band Radio Stars . The last episode featured a unique Bolan "duet" with David Bowie during which Bolan fell off the stage just as the singing was commencing. [14 ] With no time for a retake, this occurrence was aired and Bowie's amusement was clearly visible.
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Bolan died on 16 September 1977, two weeks before his 30th birthday. [15 ] [16 ] He was a passenger in a purple Mini 1275GT (registration FOX 661L) driven by Gloria Jones as they headed home from Mortons drinking club and restaurant in Berkeley Square . Jones lost control of the car and it struck a steel reinforced chain link fence post [17 ] and came to rest against a sycamore tree [18 ] after failing to negotiate a small humpback bridge near Gipsy Lane on Queens Ride, Barnes , southwest London. Richard Madeley of daytime TV fame informed fans that it was low tyre pressure that contributed to the fatal crash. [15 ] Neither occupant was wearing a seat belt. [19 ] Bolan was killed instantly, while Jones suffered a broken arm and broken jaw and spent time in hospital; she did not learn of Bolan's death until the day of his funeral. Bolan's home, which was less than a mile away at 142 Upper Richmond Road West in East Sheen , was looted shortly thereafter.
At Bolan's funeral, attended by James Stroud , Les Paul , David Bowie , Tony Visconti , Eric Clapton , Paul Davis and Rod Stewart , a swan-shaped floral tribute was displayed outside the service in recognition of his breakthrough hit single Ride A White Swan . His funeral service was at the Golders Green Crematorium which is a secular provision in North London. His ashes were buried at Golders Green Crematorium . His crash site has subsequently become a shrine to his memory, with fans travelling from all over the world to leave tributes beside the tree. In 2013, the shrine was featured on the BBC Four series Pagans and Pilgrims: Britain's Holiest Places . [20 ] The site, referred to as Bolan's Rock Shrine , is owned and maintained by the T. Rex Action Group.
Bolan never learned to drive, fearing a premature death. Despite this fear, cars or automotive components are at least mentioned in, if not the subject of, many of his songs. He also owned a number of vehicles, including a famed white, 1960s Rolls-Royce that was loaned by his management to the band Hawkwind on the night of his death. [21 ] [22 ] [23 ]
Fellow T. Rex member Steve Currie also died in a car crash less than four years later. Percussionist Mickey Finn died of alcohol-related liver problems in Croydon, Surrey, on 11 January 2003, aged 55. Drummer Bill Legend is the only surviving original member of T.Rex.
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Guitars Electric: Marc Bolan was mostly seen playing Gibson Les Pauls . His main guitar, a Les Paul Standard (fitted with a Les Paul Custom replacement neck after the original neck was broken) was refinished in a translucent orange to resemble Gretsch guitars played by one of his heroes Eddie Cochran . He was also seen playing a black Gibson Flying V with tremolo and a late 1960s model Olympic White Fender Stratocaster . One with both an eye and ear for the unusual, Bolan also played various models of visually striking guitars from smaller independent companies, among them a Veleno aluminium guitar, and the Burns Flyte .
[3] [4] Marc Bolan with a Veleno guitar, circa 1972
Acoustic: Bolan favoured the Epiphone and Gibson brands. Most notably the Gibson Hummingbird and Gibson J-160E models.
In 2011, Gibson Guitar Corporation issued a specification-correct model of his main Gibson Les Paul guitar as part of their Signature series.
Amplification While Bolan was known to use makes as diverse as Vox , Orange , HH Electronics and Marshall , he is perhaps most associated with the short-lived Vampower line of British amplifiers, used through 1970–1973. The model MK1A Vampower 100 watt stack was present and utilised on the T. Rex tours and recordings of that period. When Bolan disassociated himself with Vamp, he was mainly seen using HH Electronics – mostly the HHIC100s 100w power-head.
Signal processors Dallas Rangemaster Treble Booster, Screaming Tree Treble Booster , Hornby Skewes Shatterbox, Colorsound Wah, Watkins Copicat Tape Delay, Colorsound Overdriver.
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Bolan was the early guitar idol of Johnny Marr , who later found fame as the guitarist of the influential indie rock band The Smiths . [24 ]
In 1979, Siouxsie and the Banshees released a cover of " 20th Century Boy " as the b-side to the single " The Staircase (Mystery) ".
In December 1980, "Telegram Sam" was the fourth single released by British gothic rock band Bauhaus .
Also in 1980, The Bongos were the first American group, with "Mambo Sun," to enter the Billboard charts with a T.Rex cover. Since then, Bongos frontman Richard Barone has recorded several other Bolan compositions ("The Visit," "Ballrooms of Mars"), worked with T.Rex producer Tony Visconti for his current solo album, Glow (2010, Bar/None Records ) that includes a remake of Bolan's "Girl" from Electric Warrior, and has himself produced tracks for Bolan's son Rolan.
In 1993, Adam Ant covered the track live on the Limited Edition live disc of his Antmusic: The Very Best of Adam Ant collection.
In 1994, Madman Records released the first T.Rextasy single 'Baby Factory' which included the Bolan compositions 'Planet Queen', and 'Girl'
In 1985, Duran Duran splinter band Power Station , with Robert Palmer as vocalist, took a version of "Get It On" into the UK Top 40 and to US No. 6, the first cover of a Bolan song to enter the charts since his death. They also performed the tune (with Michael Des Barres replacing Palmer) at the US Live Aid concert.
In 1986, the Violent Femmes performed "Children of the Revolution" on their third album The Blind Leading the Naked , for which they also recorded a music video.
In 1989, X released a live cover of "20th Century Boy" as the B-side to their single " Kurenai ".
In 1990, Baby Ford did a cover of "Children of the Revolution" that appeared on the album Oooh, The World of Baby Ford.
In 1991, T-Bolan a Japanese rock band debuted. The name of this band was inspired by T. Rex and its vocalist Marc Bolan.
In 1993, Guns N' Roses covered "Buick MacKane" on The Spaghetti Incident? but it was mislabelled on the album as "Buick Makane".
In 1994, Billy Idol wore a t-shirt reproducing The Slider album cover in his popular video supporting the song "Speed". That was a clear homage to Marc Bolan, who helped Generation X to rise at the very beginning of their career.
In 1994, T.Rextasy released an album of Bolan compositions on their album 'Trip & Glide Through The Ballrooms of T.Rextasy' (Madman Records – Europe) (Quattro Records – Japan)
Also in 1994, A House covered "Children of the Revolution" as a B-side on their " Here Come the Good Times " single alongside tracks originally by Bolan's erstwhile support band, The Damned, and by Donna Summer .
In 1995 Darryl Read released "Teenage Dream" as a single and Bill Legend of T. Rex drums on this version – for the second time round. This single was reissued in 2009 along with a promotional video filmed at the Roundhouse London – featuring Read and Legend with T. Rex fans.
In 1997 T.Rextasy released the album 'Savage Beethoven' on the Columbia Records label (Japan) and on Madman Records (Europe) with a series of Bolan cover versions
On 30 September 1997 a concert was organised at The Cambridge Corn Exchange to celebrate Marc Bolan's 50th birthday. T.Rextasy headlined the event with guests that included ex-T.Rex members Mickey Finn, Jack Green, and Paul Fenton.
In 2003 Depeche Mode 's Martin Gore recorded a cover of "Life Is Strange", and included it as a b-side of the single "Stardust". [26 ]
In 2005 T.Rextasy released a 19 track compilation of Bolan tracks on the Madman Record label.
In 2006 Def Leppard released their album Yeah! , which contains covers of their favourite bands while growing up, the first song on this album is "20th Century Boy". Joe Elliott wanted to sing "Metal Guru" while Vivian Campbell wanted "Telegram Sam" but end up agreeing to "20th Century Boy". It's not the first time that Def Leppard has sung a T.Rex song; there is a live version of Get It On.
In 2008 Madman Records released a Xmas T.Rextasy CDEP including 'I Love To Boogie', and 'Hot Love', with an additional DVD enhaced video with Rolan Bolan & Danielz performing 'Dreamy Lady'.
In 2009 Danielz & John Skelton from T.Rextasy released an acoustic album of Bolan compositions entitled 'A Dream That Lasts Forever – T.Rextasy Unplugged', on the Madman Records Label
"Children of the Revolution" was similarly performed by Elton John and Pete Doherty of The Libertines at Live 8 , 20 years later. U2 's Bono and Gavin Friday also covered "Children of the Revolution" on the Moulin Rouge! soundtrack.
In 2000, Naoki Urasawa created a Japanese manga entitled 20th Century Boys that was inspired by Marc Bolan's song, " 20th Century Boy ". The series is a multiple award-winner, and has also been released in North America. The story was adopted into three successful live-action movies from 2008 to 2009, which were also released in the US, Canada and the UK.
"20th Century Boy" introduced a new generation of devotees to Bolan's work in 1991 when it was featured on a Levi 's jeans TV commercial featuring Brad Pitt , and was re-released, reaching the UK Top 20. The song was performed by the fictional band The Flaming Creatures (performed by Placebo , reprised by Placebo and David Bowie at the 1999 BRIT Awards ) in the 1998 film Velvet Goldmine . In every decade since his death, a Bolan greatest hits compilation has placed in the top 20 UK albums and periodic boosts in sales have come via cover versions from artists inspired by Bolan, including Morrissey and Siouxsie and the Banshees . Similarly, "I Love to Boogie" was briefly used on an advert for Robinson's soft drink in 2001, bringing Bolan's music to a new generation. Mitsubishi also featured "20th Century Boy" in a 2002 car commercial, prompting Hip-O Records to release a best-of collection CD titled 20th Century Boy: The Ultimate Collection.
His music is still widely used in films, recent notable cases being Breakfast on Pluto , Death Proof , Lords of Dogtown , Billy Elliot , Jarhead , Moulin Rouge! , Herbie: Fully Loaded , Breaking-Up, Hot Fuzz , Click , School of Rock & Scott Pilgrim vs. the World . Bolan is still cited by many guitar-centric bands as a huge influence ( Joy Division / New Order 's Bernard Sumner has said that the first single he owned was "Ride a White Swan".) However, he always maintained he was a poet who put lyrics to music. The tunes were never as important as the words.
An altogether less welcome legacy for his friends and family is the ongoing row about his fortune. Bolan had arranged a discretionary trust to safeguard his money. His death left the fortune beyond the reach of those closest to him and both his family and journalists have taken an active interest in investigating the situation, so far with little result other than bringing the story to wider attention. A small, separate Jersey -based trust fund has allowed his son to receive some income. However, the bulk of Bolan's fortune, variously estimated at between £20 and £30 million (approx $38 – $57 million), remains in trust. As of 2007, Bolan's family is supposed to have a house paid for by the trust, and Rolan is supposed to receive an allowance. [27 ]
Bolan returned to the top of the UK charts in 2005 when the remastered, expanded Born to Boogie DVD hit No. 1 in the Music DVD charts.
In 2006, it was revealed that English Heritage had refused to commission a blue plaque to commemorate Bolan, as they believed him to be of "insufficient stature or historical significance". [28 ] There is, however, an existing plaque dedicated to Bolan at his childhood home, put there by Hackney Council .
There are also two plaques dedicated to his memory at Golders Green Crematorium in North London . The first was placed there in the mid-1990s in white marble and was installed by the Tyrannosaurus Rex Appreciation Society with the help of fans worldwide. The second was installed the official Marc Bolan fan club and fellow fans in September 2002, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his passing. The inscription on the stone, which also bears his image, reads '25 years on – his light of love still shines brightly'. Placed beneath the plaque there is an appropriate ceramic figure of a white swan.
In 2006, TV series Life on Mars , William Matheson portrays Marc Bolan, circa 1973, in a bar in Manchester . Time-travelling Sam Tyler recognises him, has a fan boy moment, and warns him to be careful of riding in Minis. In the American version of the series , the character is replaced by that of Jim Croce , who died later that year in a plane crash, and Sam warns him. However, the T. Rex version of "Get It On" is played in the New York dance club in that scene.
In 2007, the English Tourist Board included Marc Bolan's Rock Shrine in their guide to Important Sites of Rock 'n Roll interest 'England Rocks. [29 ]
In September 2007, a special concert was held by Danielz & T.Rextasy for Marc Bolan's 30th Commemorative Anniversary at The Shepherd's Bush Empire in London – guests who sang alongside the band included Gloria Jones , Tony Visconti , Marc Almond , Linda Lewis , Clem Burke , Ray Dorset , Andy Ellison , Howie Casey , etc. A special DVD of the concert was released by the Demon Music Group .
One of Bolan's guitars, a Gibson Flying V , recently[ when? ] turned up on Antiques Roadshow in the hands of a private collector. The appraiser estimated the value of the guitar to be approximately £50,000–60,000.
As reported in 2011, a school is planned in his honour, to be built in Sierra Leone: The Marc Bolan School of Music and Film . [30 ]
The Cameron Crowe-created movie "Almost Famous" features a scene where a Black Sabbath groupie is telling aspiring journalist William Miller (said to be created in Crowe's own image) about how, "Marc Bolan broke her heart, man. It's famous," regarding the character of Penny Lane, played by Kate Hudson.
A musical, 20th Century Boy, based on Bolan's life, and featuring his music, premiered at the New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich . [31 ] in 2011.
Released 16 April 2011, in honour of Record Store Day, San Francisco garage rock artist Ty Segall performs six T. Rex songs on his EP "Ty Rex".
| June |
All Hallows’ Eve is celebrated on the last day of which month? | Biography — The Marc Bolan London Music Project
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Biog
Mark Feld was born on 30th September 1947 and grew up in post-war Stoke Newington, in the borough of Hackney, north-east London. The son of Phyllis Winifred (nee Atkins) and Simeon 'Sid' Feld, a market stall holder and a lorry driver respectively.
Harry and Mark
Along with his elder brother Harry, the family lived in the top floor flat at 25 Stoke Newington Common. Mark and Harry attended nearby Northwold Primary School, and then William Wordsworth Secondary School in Stoke Newington (now Grasmere School) before later moving to Wimbledon, south-west London, when Mark was aged 15.
Mark first discovered rock n roll by accident when his father Sid mistakenly bought Mark a copy of Bill Haley's 'Rock Around The Clock'. Mark had asked for a Bill Hayes record as he'd enjoyed listening to one of Hayes' previous records 'The Ballad Of Davy Crockett'. His disappointment soon turned to delight when he heard the sound coming out of the speaker. Marc later recalled "just one play of that and I chucked Bill Hayes out of the window". Nothing was the same ever again.
Mark with his first guitar
At the age of nine, he was given his first guitar and began a skiffle band. While at school, he played guitar in Susie and the Hula Hoops, a trio whose vocalist was a 12-year-old Helen Shapiro (who was to go on to have several chart topping hits a few years later) along with friend Steve Jameson.
During lunch breaks at school, he would play his guitar in the playground to a small audience of friends.
Aside from Bill Haley, Mark was inspired by the likes of Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, Arthur Crudup, Elvis and Chuck Berry and would go along to The Hackney Empire, with his friend Steve Jameson, each week to watch recordings of the TV music show Oh Boy, where he would sometimes meet the stars such as his hero Eddie Cochran.
Mark the Mod
Later he would hang around coffee bars such as the 2i's in Soho which was part of the early mod scene in London. He appeared as an extra in an episode of the television show Orlando, dressed as a mod. He briefly joined a modelling agency and became a John Temple Boy, appearing in a clothing catalogue for the menswear store. He was a model for the suits in their catalogues as well as for cardboard cut-outs to be displayed in shop windows.
Town magazine featured him as an early example of the mod movement in a photo spread with two other local Stamford Hill faces. At 15, he left William Wordsworth School on mutual agreement.
From the Town magazine feature
In 1964, Mark met his first manager, Geoffrey de-la-Roy Hall, and recorded a slick commercial track backed by session musicians called ‘All at Once’ (a song very much in the style of his youthful hero, Cliff Richard, the "English Elvis"), This recording is now regarded as possibly the very first known track that the young Mark Feld had put to professional studio tape. There are, however, claims that Mark’s very first recording was with Joe Meek. This is based on a scratchy anonymous acetate disc discovered by the Joe Meek fan club, which has a slight resemblance to Mark’s vocal delivery. This recording, a song called ‘Mrs Jones’, is thought to date from 1963.
Mark Feld then changed his stage-name to Toby Tyler when he met and moved in with child actor Allan Warren, who became his second manager. This encounter afforded him a lifeline to the heart of show business, as Warren saw Toby Tyler's potential while Tyler spent hours sitting cross-legged on Warren's floor playing his acoustic guitar.
Mark at this time liked to appear in boho-chic, wearing a corduroy peaked cap similar to his current source of inspiration, Bob Dylan. A series of photographs was commissioned with photographer Michael McGrath, although he recalls that Mark “left no impression” on him at the time.
During the Toby Tyler period
Warren also hired a recording studio and had his first acetates cut. Two tracks were later released, the Bob Dylan song ‘Blowin' in the Wind’ and Dion Di Mucci's ‘The Road I'm On (Gloria)’. A version of Betty Everett's ‘You're No Good’ was later submitted to EMI but was turned down.
Mark's mum Phyllis and Mark
Warren later sold Mark’s contract and recordings for £200 to his landlord, property mogul David Kirch, in lieu of three months' back rent, but Kirch was too busy with his property empire to do anything for him.
A year or so later, Mark's mother Phyllis pushed into Kirch's office and shouted at him that he had done nothing for her son. She demanded he tear up the contract and willingly he complied. The tapes of the first two tracks produced during the Toby Tyler recording session vanished for over 25 years before resurfacing in 1991 and selling for nearly $8,000.
Around the time of first single 'The Wizard'
After changing his name again, to Marc Bolan (via Mark Bowland), he signed to Decca Records in August 1965 and recorded his debut single ‘The Wizard’. Apart from Bolan's vocals, all other music was created by studio session musicians. ‘The Wizard’ was released on 19 November 1965. Bolan's first single was produced by Jim Economedes, with music director Mike Leander.
Two solo acoustic demos recorded shortly afterwards by the same team ('Reality' and 'Song For A Soldier') have still only been given a limited official release in 2015 on seven-inch vinyl. Both songs are in a folk style reminiscent of Dylan and Donovan. A third song, ‘That's the Bag I'm In’, written by New York folk singer and Dylan contemporary Fred Neil, was also committed to tape, but has not yet been released.
In June 1966, a second official single was also released, with session-musician accompaniment, ‘The Third Degree’, backed by ‘San Francisco Poet’, Bolan's paean to the beat poets. Neither song made the charts.
In 1966, Bolan turned up at music manager Simon Napier-Bell's front door with his guitar and proclaimed that he was going to be a big star and he needed someone to make all of the arrangements. Napier-Bell invited Bolan in and listened to his songs. A recording session was immediately booked and the songs were very simply recorded (most of them were not actually released until 1974, on the album The Beginning of Doves).
John's Children - Bolan, Chris Townson, Andy Ellison, John Hewlett
Only ‘Hippy Gumbo’, a sinister-sounding, baroque folk-song, was released at the time as Marc's third unsuccessful single. One song, ‘You Scare Me to Death’, was used in a toothpaste advertisement. Some of the songs also resurfaced in 1982, with additional instrumentation added, on the album You Scare Me to Death.
Napier-Bell managed the Yardbirds and John's Children and was at first going to slot Bolan into the Yardbirds. In early 1967 he eventually settled instead for John's Children because they needed a songwriter and he admired Bolan's writing ability. The band achieved some success as a live act but sold few records. A John's Children single written by Marc Bolan called ‘Desdemona’ was banned by the BBC for its line "lift up your skirt and fly".
His tenure with the band was brief. When the band split following an ill-fated German tour with The Who, Bolan took some time to reassess his situation. Bolan's imagination was filled with new ideas and he began to write fantasy novels (The Krakenmist and Pictures Of Purple People) as well as poems and songs, sometimes finding it hard to separate facts from his own elaborate myth - he famously claimed to have spent time with a wizard in Paris who gave him secret knowledge and could levitate. The time spent with him was often alluded to but remained "mythical"; in reality the wizard was probably US actor Riggs O'Hara with whom Marc made a trip to Paris in 1965. Given time to reinvent himself after John's Children, his song-writing developed and he began writing many of the poetic and neo-romantic songs that would appear on his first albums with Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Tyrannosaurus Rex - Marc and Steve Peregrin Took
When John's Children collapsed, Bolan, unperturbed, rallied to create Tyrannosaurus Rex, his own rock band together with guitarist Ben Cartland, drummer Steve Peregrin Took and an unknown bass player. Napier-Bell recalled of Marc: "He got a gig at the Electric Garden then put an ad in Melody Maker to get the musicians. The paper came out on Wednesday, the day of the gig. At three o'clock he was interviewing musicians, at five he was getting ready to go on stage.... It was a disaster. He just got booed off the stage". Following this concert, Bolan pared the band down to just himself and Took, and they continued as a psychedelic-folk rock acoustic duo, playing Bolan's songs, with Took playing assorted hand and kit percussion and occasional bass to Bolan's acoustic guitars and voice.
After teaming up with up-and-coming American record producer Tony Visconti (who would go on to produce some of Bolan’s most recognisable recordings), the original version of Tyrannosaurus Rex released three albums and four singles, flirting with the charts, reaching as high as number fifteen and supported with airplay by Radio 1 DJ John Peel. One of the highlights of this era was when the duo played at the first free Hyde Park concert in 1968. Although the free-spirited Steve Peregrin Took was eventually fired from the group after their first American tour, they were a force within the hippie underground scene while they lasted. Their music was filled with Marc's otherworldly poetry.
In 1969, Bolan published his first and only book of poetry entitled The Warlock of Love. Although some critics dismissed it as self-indulgence, it was full of Bolan's florid prose and wordplay, selling 40,000 copies and in 1969-70 became one of Britain's best-selling books of poetry. It was reprinted in 1992 by the Tyrannosaurus Rex Appreciation Society.
Tyrannosaurus Rex mk2 with Mickey Finn
In keeping with his early rock and roll interests, Bolan began bringing amplified guitar lines into the duo's music, buying a white Fender Stratocaster, which he decorated with a distinctive enamel teardrop motif, given to him by Tony Visconti's girlfriend. Around this time Marc also took a few guitar lessons with Eric Clapton, which he described as "being sat at the feet of the Master".
After replacing Took with Mickey Finn on congas and occasional bass, he let the electric influences come forward even further on A Beard of Stars, the final album to be credited to Tyrannosaurus Rex. It closed with the song ‘Elemental Child’, featuring a long electric guitar break influenced by Jimi Hendrix.
Marc and June
In January 1970 Marc married his girlfriend, June Child (a former secretary to the manager of another of his heroes, Syd Barrett), who was influential in raising her new husband's profile in the music business.
Becoming more adventurous musically, Marc bought a vintage late 50's Gibson Les Paul guitar (featured on the cover of the album T. Rex) which he had refinished in a translucent orange reminiscent of his childhood hero Eddie Cochran's Gretsch guitar. This is the guitar most associated with Bolan and the T. Rex sound.
An out-take from the T. Rex album cover with the newly acquired Les Paul, a key component of the T. Rex sound
He then wrote and recorded his first hit ‘Ride a White Swan’, which was dominated by a hand-clapping back-beat, Bolan's rockabilly inspired electric guitar parts, and strings. At this time he also shortened the group's name to T. Rex.
Marc and his producer Tony Visconti oversaw the session for ‘Ride a White Swan’, the single that changed Bolan's career, which was inspired in part by Mungo Jerry's success with ‘In the Summertime’ – which in turn was influenced by some of the earlier Tyrannosaurus Rex recordings.
Moving Bolan away from predominantly acoustic numbers to a more electric sound, ‘Ride a White Swan’, recorded on 1 July 1970 and released later that year, made slow progress in the UK Top 40, until it finally peaked in early 1971 at number two.
Bolan followed ‘Ride a White Swan’ and T. Rex by expanding the group to a quartet with bassist Steve Currie and drummer Bill Legend, and cutting a five-minute single, ‘Hot Love’. With a rolling rhythm, string accents, backing vocals courtesy of former Turtles and Mothers Of Invention Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, and an extended sing-along chorus inspired somewhat by ‘Hey Jude’, it went to number one and stayed there for six weeks.
The birth of glam rock
Bolan took to wearing drops of glitter on each of his cheekbones for TV appearances and photo shoots, as well as expanding his wardrobe to include much more glamourous clothing, courtesy of his stylist Chelita Secunda. Bolan told John Pidgeon in a 1974 interview on Radio 1 that he noticed the glitter on his wife's dressing table prior to a photo session and casually daubed some on his face there and then. Other sources claim that it was in fact Chelita Secunda who first came up with the idea, when she daubed two glitter teardrops under Bolan's eyes prior to a Top Of The Pops appearance performing 'Hot Love'. Either way the era of glam and glitter rock was born.
'Hot Love' was quickly followed by ‘Get It On’, a grittier, more adult tune taken from the forthcoming album Electric Warrior. 'Get It On' spent four weeks in the top spot.
The classic T. Rex line-up - Mickey Finn, Marc Bolan, Bill Legend and Steve Currie
The song was renamed ‘Bang a Gong (Get It On)’ when released in the United States, to avoid confusion with another song of the same name by the American band Chase. The song reached No. 10 in the United States, the only top 40 single the band had in America.
Recorded on-the-fly during short breaks in touring the USA in April 1971, and with additional recording done back in the UK after the American tour, T. Rex’s next album Electric Warrior went on to become the band’s most successful album to date. Coinciding with the era of "T. Rextasy", Electric Warrior is now generally regarded as one of the all-time classic albums. It's cover, featuring a gold-on-black outline of Bolan on stage stood in front of his amplifier stack, is one of the most iconic images not only of Bolan but of the entire glam rock era.
The T. Rex Wax Co label and bag
In November 1971, the band's record label, Fly, released the Electric Warrior track ‘Jeepster’ without Bolan's permission. Outraged, Bolan took advantage of the timely lapsing of his Fly Records contract and left for EMI, who gave him his own record label, the T. Rex Wax Co. Its bag and label featured yet another iconic image of Bolan, this time a blue and red head-and-shoulders image. Despite the lack of his endorsement, ‘Jeepster’ peaked at number two in the UK, being held off the top spot by Benny Hill's novelty single 'Ernie'.
The glam era also saw the rise of Marc's friend David Bowie, whom Marc had first come to know in the days when they were both mods about town, and then again when they were both budding underground figures. Marc had also played guitar on Bowie's 1970 single ‘The Prettiest Star’. Bolan and Bowie also shared the same producer, Tony Visconti, but their friendship was a friendly rivalry, which would continue throughout their careers.
With Ringo and Elton John in the film Born To Boogie
In 1972, Bolan achieved two more British number ones with ‘Telegram Sam’ and ‘Metal Guru’ (the latter of which stopped Elton John getting to the top with ‘Rocket Man’) and two more number twos in ‘Children of the Revolution’ and ‘Solid Gold Easy Action’.
In the same year he appeared in Born to Boogie, a documentary showing a T. Rex concert at Wembley Empire Pool on 18 March 1972. Mixed in were surreal scenes shot at John Lennon's mansion in Ascot and a session with T. Rex joined by Ringo Starr on a second drum kit and Elton John on piano.
At this time T. Rex record sales accounted for about six percent of total British domestic record sales. The band was reportedly selling 100,000 records a day.
Bolan in late 1972
T. Rex were at this point the biggest band not only in the UK but Europe, Australia and Japan, and continued their success into the following year.
But by late 1973, Bolan's pop star fame gradually began to wane, even though he achieved a hit, ‘20th Century Boy’, in February and mid-year ‘The Groover' followed. ‘Truck On (Tyke)’ missed the UK top 10 reaching only No. 12 in December.
However, ‘Teenage Dream’ from the 1974 album Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow showed that Bolan was attempting to create richer, more involved music than he had previously attempted with T. Rex.
The 'Zinc Alloy' look
He expanded the line up of the band to include a second guitarist, Jack Green, and other studio musicians, and began to take more control over the sound and production of his records. He parted company with long-time producer Tony Visconti and also had a change of image.
Eventually, after a short UK tour to promote the Zinc Alloy album in January 1974 the vintage T. Rex line-up started to disintegrate. Bill Legend had already left in December 1973, and Mickey Finn was soon to follow. Bolan's marriage came to an end because of his affair with backing singer Gloria Jones.
He spent a good deal of his time in the US during this period, continuing to release singles and albums which, while less popular to the masses, were full of unusual lyrics and sometimes eccentric musical experiments.
Although Bolan's health began to fail as he put on weight, mainly due to bad diet and an increasing drink problem, he continued working, producing at least one album every year. T. Rex spent most of 1974 recording and touring in the USA and Marc then spent the best part of early 1975 living in France as a tax exile.
Marc with Gloria and Rolan
These times saw Marc with many changes in his appearance. Some not always flattering.
Bolan returned from exile in May 1975 and took to appearing on TV in such guises as an interviewer on London's Today programme, also starting his long run of appearing on ITV's Supersonic pop show as well as playing a short low key tour of UK ballrooms.
Gloria Jones gave birth to Marc’s son in September 1975, whom they named Rolan Bolan (although his birth certificate lists him as 'Rolan Seymour Feld').
A familiar sight on the Futuristic Dragon tour
The beginning of 1976 saw T. Rex embark on their biggest UK tour since 1971, a tour which also saw Bolan drinking heavily. The tour was to celebrate Bolan's return to the UK and to promote the new Futuristic Dragon album. It was more a greatest hits tour as Marc played the hit singles including some live debuts but ommitted to play anything from the new album. The tour including a performance at London's Lyceum Ballroom, T. Rex's first London gig since December 1972. During the tour Bolan appeared on various radio stations including London's Capital Radio where an infamous argument between Marc and host Kenny Everett was played out live on air. A few months after the tour, the last remaining member from the halcyon era T. Rex, bassist Steve Currie, left the band after the sacking of drummer Davey Lutton, leaving only keyboard player Dino Dines to remain after the tour.
Spurred on by his new responsibilities as a father Bolan released his most successful single for 18 months. ‘I Love To Boogie’ reached 13 in the UK charts and was quickly followed up by ‘Laser Love’ which would also see another image change.
Around the time of 'Laser Love'
At this point Bolan took stock of his life and career and decided to clean up his lifestyle and reinvent himself. He stopped drinking, went back on to a vegetarian diet and embarked on a fitness regime.
In early 1977, Bolan got a new band together with seasoned session musicians (some of whom he poached from David Bowie) released a new album, Dandy in the Underworld, and set out on a fresh UK tour, taking along punk band The Damned as support.
The Dandy In The Underworld line-up
Granada Television commissioned Bolan to front a six-part series called Marc, where he introduced new and established bands and performed his own songs.
Such TV debuts were given to The Jam, Generation X, Alphalpha, Boomtown Rats, Eddie & The Hot Rods as well as established artists such as Thin Lizzy, Hawkwind, Steve Gibbons Band and Roger Taylor of Queen.
By this time Bolan had lost weight, appearing as trim as he had during T. Rex's earlier heyday.
The show was broadcast during the post-school half-hour on ITV earmarked for children and teenagers and proved to be a huge success which saw Bolan being thrust into the limelight once again.
One episode reunited Bolan with his former John's Children bandmate Andy Ellison, then fronting the band Radio Stars.
Marc's last TV appearance with David Bowie
The last episode featured a unique Bolan "duet" with David Bowie during which Bolan, by accident, fell off the stage just as the singing was commencing. With no time for a retake, this shot was aired and is now the last TV appearance from Marc, shown 2 days before his death.
Tragically Marc died on 16 September 1977, two weeks before his 30th birthday. He was a passenger in a purple Mini 1275GT (registration FOX 661L) driven by Gloria Jones as they headed home from a night out at Mortons club and restaurant in Berkeley Square.
Jones lost control of the car as it negotiated a humped-backed bridge: it struck a steel reinforced chain link fence post and hit a sycamore tree near Gipsy Lane on Queens Ride, Barnes, south-west London.
Marc was killed instantly, while Jones suffered a broken arm and broken jaw and spent time in hospital; she did not learn of Marc's death until the day of his funeral.
The mini at the crash scene
Bolan's home, which was less than a mile away at 142 Upper Richmond Road West in East Sheen was looted shortly thereafter, and many of his possessions including guitars, clothes, records and books were taken. Some have since resurfaced but many have simply "disappeared".
At Marc's funeral, attended by David Bowie, Tony Visconti, Eric Clapton, Les Paul, Rod Stewart and many other faces in the music and film industry, a swan-shaped floral tribute was displayed outside the service in recognition of his breakthrough hit single 'Ride a White Swan'.
The floral tribute at Marc's funeral
His funeral service was at the Golders Green Crematorium which is a secular provision in North London. His ashes were buried at Golders Green Crematorium.
His crash site has subsequently become a shrine to his memory, with fans travelling from all over the world to leave tributes beside the tree. In 2013, the shrine was featured on the BBC Four series Pagans and Pilgrims: Britain's Holiest Places.
The Bolan Shrine at the crash site
Marc never learned to drive, fearing a premature death. Despite this fear, cars or automotive components are at least mentioned in, if not the subject of, many of his songs.
He also owned a number of cars, including a white 1960s Rolls-Royce that was loaned by his management to the band Hawkwind on the night of his death.
Today, Bolan’s music is covered by many artists and has been vastly influential, particularly on the glam rock, punk rock and Britpop genres. Artists as diverse as Oasis, Guns N' Roses, New York Dolls, The Smiths, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Adam Ant, The Damned, U2, Primal Scream, The Libertines, Robbie Williams, Duran Duran and Billy Idol, amongst others have cited Bolan as an influence.
The last known picture of Marc, taken by a fan just two days before his death.
His music is featured regularly on TV, Radio and Film, which is testament to his continuing influence some 39 years after his death.
In 1972 Paul McCartney cited T. Rex as The Beatles successor. John Lennon is quoted as saying only Marc Bolan and T. Rex held his interest during that period, and Ringo and George Harrison became close friends of Marc's.
He was a true innovator, a unique performer and individualist. His legacy assures that he won't be forgotten. He was and still is, the one-and-only MARC BOLAN.
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Valentine’s Day falls during which month of the year? | Valentine's Day in the United States
Home Calendar Holidays the United States Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day in the United States
Valentine's Day is celebrated on February 14. It is a festival of romantic love and many people give cards, letters, flowers or presents to their spouse or partner. They may also arrange a romantic meal in a restaurant or night in a hotel. Common symbols of Valentine's Day are hearts, red roses and Cupid.
Valentine's Day: one of the most romantic days of the year.
Valentine's Day: one of the most romantic days of the year.
©iStockphoto.com/Kais Tolmats
What Do People Do?
Many people celebrate their love for their partner by sending cards or letters, giving gifts or flowers and arranging meals in restaurants or romantic nights in hotels. People who would like to have a romantic relationship with somebody may use the occasion to make this known, often anonymously. Valentine's cards are often decorated with images of hearts, red roses or Cupid. Common Valentine's Day gifts are flowers chocolates, candy, lingerie and champagne or sparkling wine. However, some people use the occasion to present lavish gifts, such as jewelry. Many restaurants and hotels have special offers at this time. These can include romantic meals or weekend breaks.
Public Life
Valentine's Day is not a public holiday. Government offices, stores, schools and other organizations are open as usual. Public transit systems run on their regular schedule. Restaurants may be busier than usual as many people go out for an evening with their spouse or partner. Valentine's Day is also a very popular date for weddings.
Background
There are a number of Saints called Valentine who are honored on February 14. The day became associated with romantic love in the Middle Ages in England. This may have followed on from the Pagan fertility festivals that were held all over Europe as the winter came to an end. Traditionally, lovers exchanged hand written notes. Commercial cards became available in the mid nineteenth century.
Symbols
The most common Valentine's Day symbols are the heart, particularly in reds and pinks, and pictures or models of Cupid. Cupid is usually portrayed as a small winged figure with a bow and arrow. In mythology, he uses his arrow to strike the hearts of people. People who have fallen in love are sometimes said to be 'struck by Cupid's arrow. Other symbols of Valentine's Day are couples in loving embraces and the gifts of flowers, chocolate, red roses and lingerie that couples often give each other.
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Which month is mentioned in the Four Seasons song ‘Oh What A Night’? | History of St. Valentine
History of St. Valentine
FR. WILLIAM SAUNDERS
Who was Saint Valentine and how did he come to inspire Valentine's Day?
In the early martyrologies, three different St. Valentines are mentioned, all sharing Feb. 14 for a feast day. Unfortunately, the historical record is sparse. The first St. Valentine was a priest and physician in Rome. He along with St. Marius and his family comforted the martyrs during the persecution of Emperor Claudius II, the Goth. Eventually, St. Valentine was also arrested, condemned to death for his faith, beaten with clubs, and finally beheaded on Feb. 14, AD 270. He was buried on the Flaminian Way. Later, Pope Julius I (333-356) built a basilica at the site which preserved St. Valentine's tomb. Archeological digs in the 1500s and 1800s have found evidence of the tomb of St. Valentine. However, in the thirteenth century, his relics were transferred to the Church of Saint Praxedes near the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where they remain today. Also, a small church was built near the Flaminian Gate of Rome which is now known as the Porta del Popolo but was called in the 12th century "the Gate of St. Valentine," as noted by the early British historian William Somerset (also known as William of Malmesbury, d. 1143), who ranks after St. Bede in authority.
The second St. Valentine was the Bishop of Interamna (now Terni, located about 60 miles from Rome). Under the orders of Prefect Placidus, he too was arrested, scourged, and decapitated, again suffering persecution during the time of Emperor Claudius II.
The third St. Valentine suffered martyrdom in Africa with several companions. However, nothing further is known about this saint. In all, these men, each named St. Valentine, showed heroic love for the Lord and His Church.
The popular customs of showing love and affection on St. Valentine's Day is almost a coincidence with the feast day of the saint: During the Medieval Age, a common belief in England and France was that birds began to pair on Feb.14, "half-way through the second month of the year." Chaucer wrote in his "Parliament of Foules" (in Old English): "For this was on Seynt Valentyne's day, When every foul cometh ther to choose his mate." For this reason, the day was dedicated to "lovers" and prompted the sending of letters, gifts, or other signs of affection.
Another literary example of St. Valentine's Day remembrances is found in Dame Elizabeth Brews "Paston Letters" (1477), where she writes to the suitor, John Paston, of her daughter, Margery: "And, cousin mine, upon Monday is St. Valentine's day and every bird chooseth himself a mate, and if it like you to come on Thursday night, and make provision that you may abide till then, I trust to God that ye shall speak to my husband and I shall pray that we may bring the matter to a conclusion." In turn, Margery wrote to John: "Unto my right well beloved Valentine John Paston, Squyer, be this bill delivered. Right reverend and worshipful and my right well beloved Valentine, I recommend me unto you, full heartily desiring to hear of your welfare, which I beseech Almighty God long for to preserve until His pleasure and your heart's desire." While speaking of the amorous flavor of Valentine's Day, no mention is made of the saint.
While it seems that the exchange of "valentines" is more the result of secular custom rather than the memory of St. Valentine, and that the celebration has been further paganized with cupids and the like, there is a Christian message that should be remembered. The love of our Lord, depicted beautifully in the image of His most Sacred Heart, is a sacrificial, self-less, and unconditional love. Such is the love that each Christian is called to express in his own life, for God and neighbor. Clearly, St. Valentineno matter which oneshowed such a love, bearing witness to the faith in his dedication as a priest and in the offering of his own life in martyrdom. On this Valentine's day, looking to the example of this great saint, each person should offer again his love to the Lord, for only by doing so can he properly love those who are entrusted to his care and any other neighbor. Each person should again pledge his love to those loved ones, praying for their intentions, promising fidelity to them, and thanking them for their love in return. Never forget Jesus said, "This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you. There is no greater love than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends" (Jn 15:12-13). St. Valentine fulfilled this command, and may we do the same.
Acknowledgement
Saunders, Rev. William. "History of Saint Valentine." Arlington Catholic Herald.
This article is reprinted with permission from Arlington Catholic Herald.
The Author
Father William Saunders is pastor of Our Lady of Hope parish in Potomac Falls, Virginia. He is dean of the Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College. The above article is a "Straight Answers" column he wrote for the Arlington Catholic Herald. Father Saunders is the author of Straight Answers , a book based on 100 of his columns, and Straight Answers II .
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In Scotland, Burns Night is celebrated during which month of the year? | Burns Night in United Kingdom
Home Calendar Holidays United Kingdom Burns Night
Burns Night in United Kingdom
Burns Night is annually celebrated in Scotland on or around January 25. It commemorates the life of the bard (poet) Robert Burns, who was born on January 25, 1759. The day also celebrates Burns' contribution to Scottish culture. His best known work is Auld Lang Syne.
Haggis, neeps and tatties traditionally eaten in Scotland on Burns Night.
Haggis, neeps and tatties traditionally eaten in Scotland on Burns Night.
©iStockphoto.com/StockCube
What Do People Do?
Many people and organizations hold a Burns supper on or around Burns Night. These may be informal or formal, only for men, only for women, or for both genders. Formal events include toasts and readings of pieces written by Robert Burns. Ceremonies during a Burns Night supper vary according to the group organizing the event and the location.
The evening centers on the entrance of the haggis (a type of sausage prepared in a sheep's stomach) on a large platter to the sound of a piper playing bagpipes. When the haggis is on the table, the host reads the "Address to a Haggis". This is an ode that Robert Burns wrote to the Scottish dish. At the end of the reading, the haggis is ceremonially sliced into two pieces and the meal begins.
Public Life
Burns Night is an observance but it is not a bank holiday in the United Kingdom.
Background
Robert Burns was born in Alloway, Scotland, on January 25, 1759. He died in Dumfries, Scotland, on July 21, 1796. He was a bard (poet) and wrote many poems, lyrics and other pieces that addressed political and civil issues. Perhaps his best known work is "Auld Lang Syne", which is sung at New Year's Eve celebrations in Scotland, parts of the United Kingdom, and other places around the world. Burns is one of Scotland's important cultural icons and is well known among Scottish expats or descendants around the world. He is also known as: "Rabbie Burns"; the "Bard of Ayrshire"; "Scotland's favorite son"; and in Scotland "The Bard".
Robert Burns acquaintances held the first Burns supper on July 21, the anniversary of his death, in Ayrshire, Scotland, in the late 1700s. The date was later changed to January 25, which marks his birthday. Burns suppers are now held by people and organizations with Scottish origins worldwide, particularly in Australia, Canada, England, and the United States.
Symbols
The Scottish flag is often displayed at Burns Night celebrations. It is known as the Saltire and consists of a rectangular blue background with thick white bars on the diagonals. The diagonals form a cross that represents Saint Andrew , the patron saint of Scotland.
At Burns Night events, many men wear kilts and women may wear shawls, skirts or dresses made from their family tartan. A tartan was originally a woolen cloth with a distinctive pattern made by using colors of weft and warp when weaving. Particular patterns and combinations of colors were associated with different areas, clans and families. Tartan patterns are now printed on various materials.
Many types of food are associated with Burns Night. These include: cock-a-leekie soup (chicken and leek soup); haggis; neeps (mashed turnips or swedes) and tatties (mashed potatoes); cranachan (whipped cream mixed with raspberries and served with sweet oat wafers); and bannocks (a kind of bread cooked on a griddle). Whisky is the traditional drink.
Burns Night Observances
| January |
The gemstone pearl represents which month of the year? | Why Do We Celebrate Burns Night?
Why Do We Celebrate Burns Night?
Updated:
26 January 2016
Every year on the 25th of January, Scots and non-Scots the world over will don their tartan, put their haggis in the oven and get ready to celebrate Burns Night. It’s a bizarre tradition, made all the more so by all the quintessentially Scottish things people do for it — the cutting of the haggis, the bagpiper and, of course, the drinking of the whisky. But why do we celebrate Burns Night? It’s not a religious holiday like Christmas, and it’s only really become popular in the rest of the UK in the last decade or so.
Alexander Nasmyth, Robbie Burns, 1787 | © Scottish National Portrait Gallery/WikiCommon
It all starts with the titular Robbie Burns. Born Robert Burns in the south of Ayr in 1759, Burns was a celebrated Scottish Romantic poet — often compared to poets like Keats and Shelley — whose most famous poems include the old classic, ‘Auld Lang Syne’, and ‘To A Mouse’. Burns’ life was extremely colourful; quite apart from his almost constant state of poverty, he is also famous for the numerous love affairs he conducted during his lifetime. He is considered today as Scotland’s national poet, whose use of the Scots dialect is preserved in his numerous poems. Burns died in 1796, aged 37, and on the fifth anniversary of his death, his friends held a celebratory dinner at Burns Cottage, which was quickly followed by the establishment of the first Burns Club. The date it is held on — January 25th — is Burns’ birthday, and ever since 1801, suppers have been traditionally held on that date, firstly in Scotland and later in the rest of the UK. Recently, the suppers have even spread to places such as New Zealand and Australia . For those who have really made it in Scottish society, formal dinners are held by organisations such as the Freemasons, Burns Clubs or St Andrews Societies, which are treated like balls with dancing at the end.
Haggis | © Janet Ramsden/Flickr
Over the years, Burns suppers have developed their own peculiar traditions and orders which must be followed. Quite apart from the guests wearing tartan, the dinner is also preceded by the famous Selkirk Grace, after which there comes the ‘piping’ of the haggis. This is followed by the address of the haggis , with its famous line ‘Great Chieftain o’ the Pudding Race’. Burns suppers could also be seen as early practitioners of gender equality, given that the Address to the Lassies and Reply to the Laddies at the end of the meal often include the men and women’s views on the opposite sex! As a rule, Burns Night is a way to celebrate all things Scottish — and coming so soon after Hogmanay, it’s the perfect time to do so.
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In Britain, which month sees the start of The Grouse Season? | 2016 game shooting seasons
Here is our list of open seasons when you can go out into the field. (All dates are inclusive.)
Red Grouse
England and Wales: Aug 12- Dec 10
Scotland: Aug 12- Dec 10
Northern Ireland: Aug 12- Nov 30
Common Snipe
England and Wales: Aug 12- Jan 31
Scotland: Aug 12- Jan 31
Northern Ireland: Sep 1 – Jan 31
Grey partridge
England and Wales: Sep 1 – Feb 1
Scotland: Sep 1 – Feb 1
Northern Ireland: Sep 1 – Jan 31
Red legged partridge
England and Wales: Sep 1 – Feb 1
Scotland: Sep 1 – Feb 1
Northern Ireland: Sep 1 – Jan 31
Duck & Goose
England and Wales inland: Sep 1 – Jan 31
England and Wales below high water mark: Sep 1 – Feb 20
Scotland inland: Sep 1 – Jan 31
Scotland below high water mark: Sep 1 – Feb 20
Northern Ireland inland: Sep 1 – Jan 31
Northern Ireland below high water mark: Sep 1 – Jan 31
Golden plover
England and Wales: Sep 1 – Jan 31
Scotland: Sep 1 – Jan 31
Northern Ireland: Sep 1 – Jan 31
Coot
England and Wales: Sep 1 – Jan 31
Scotland: Sep 1 – Jan 31
Northern Ireland: Protected
England and Wales: Oct 1 – Feb 1
Scotland: Oct 1 – Feb 1
Northern Ireland: Oct 1 – Jan 31
Isle of Man: Oct 1 – Jan 31
Woodcock*
England and Wales: Oct 1 – Jan 31
Scotland: Sep 1 – Jan 31
Northern Ireland: Oct 1 – Jan 31
Isle of Man: Oct 1 – Jan 31
*In 2015 advice from the GWCT was to avoid shooting until the first full moon in November to allow wintering woodcock to arrive. Some shoots will ask you not to shoot woodcock at all.
No shooting on Sundays
Curlew are protected in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Jack Snipe are protected in England, Scotland, Wales but have an open season in Northern Ireland Sept 1 – Jan 31
No game may be killed or taken in any county in England and Wales on Sunday or Christmas Day. This applies to pheasant, partridge, red grouse and black grouse.
Orders prohibiting the shooting of wildfowl on Sundays still exist in almost 20 counties in England and Wales
The information above is correct at the time of writing but we would also advise a look at the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) website to check for further notes.
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An A-Z of shooting terminology
| August |
During which month in 1912 did RMS Titanic strike an iceberg and sink? | Bumper grouse-shooting season down to cold winter | UK | News | Daily Express
UK
Bumper grouse-shooting season down to cold winter
BRITAIN is set for a bumper grouse-shooting season – and it’s all down to the cold winter, say experts.
PUBLISHED: 00:00, Thu, Aug 12, 2010
Red Grouse might not welcome the Glorious Twelfth but it's now a multi-million pound business []
Today, the Glorious Twelfth, the northern moors are in line for the start of their best grouse season in a decade after years of steady decline, according to the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust.
The worst winter in 30 years has killed off deadly parasites such as worms and ticks that in the past have hit the red grouse hard.
A spokesman said: “Red grouse counts suggest that this year’s season is going to be a record-beater.
The Trust claims that in Scotland alone the sport will generate £23million for the rural economy.
But welfare group Animal Aid branded today the “Inglorious Twelfth”.
Director Andrew Tyler said: “As well as the hundreds of thousands of grouse victims, many native birds and mammals that interfere with this alleged sport are trapped, poisoned or snared.
“In short, August 12th is nothing to celebrate. It is the Inglorious Twelfth as far as grouse are concerned.”
The Trust says maintaining stocks requires the conservation of moorland which benefits other birds like golden plovers, curlews and lapwings.
Red grouse are found only in Britain and can fly at more than 60mph.
Most read in UK
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Author H E Bates wrote the novel ‘The Darling Buds of….when’? | H.E. Bates (Author of The Darling Buds Of May)
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Herbert Ernest Bates, CBE is widely recognised as one of the finest short story writers of his generation, with more than 20 story collections published in his lifetime. It should not be overlooked, however, that he also wrote some outstanding novels, starting with The Two Sisters through to A Moment in Time, with such works as Love For Lydia, Fair Stood the Wind for France and The Scarlet Sword earning high praise from the critics. His study of the Modern Short Story is considered one of the best ever written on the subject.
He was born in Rushden, Northamptonshire and was educated at Kettering Grammar School. After leaving school, he was briefly a newspaper reporter and a warehouse clerk, but his heart was always in writing and his dream t Herbert Ernest Bates, CBE is widely recognised as one of the finest short story writers of his generation, with more than 20 story collections published in his lifetime. It should not be overlooked, however, that he also wrote some outstanding novels, starting with The Two Sisters through to A Moment in Time, with such works as Love For Lydia, Fair Stood the Wind for France and The Scarlet Sword earning high praise from the critics. His study of the Modern Short Story is considered one of the best ever written on the subject.
He was born in Rushden, Northamptonshire and was educated at Kettering Grammar School. After leaving school, he was briefly a newspaper reporter and a warehouse clerk, but his heart was always in writing and his dream to be able to make a living by his pen.
Many of his stories depict life in the rural Midlands of England, particularly his native Northamptonshire. Bates was partial to taking long midnight walks around the Northamptonshire countryside - and this often provided the inspiration for his stories. Bates was a great lover of the countryside and its people and this is exemplified in two volumes of essays entitled Through the Woods and Down the River.
In 1931, he married Madge Cox, his sweetheart from the next road in his native Rushden. They moved to the village of Little Chart in Kent and bought an old granary and this together with an acre of garden they converted into a home. It was in this phase of his life that he found the inspiration for the Larkins series of novels -The Darling Buds of May, A Breath of French Air, When the Green Woods Laugh, etc. - and the Uncle Silas tales. Not surprisingly, these highly successful novels inspired television series that were immensely popular.
His collection of stories written while serving in the RAF during World War II, best known by the title The Stories of Flying Officer X, but previously published as Something in the Air (a compilation of his two wartime collections under the pseudonym 'Flying Officer X' and titled The Greatest People in the World and How Sleep the Brave), deserve particular attention. By the end of the war he had achieved the rank of Squadron Leader.
Bates was influenced by Chekhov in particular, and his knowledge of the history of the short story is obvious from the famous study he produced on the subject. He also wrote his autobiography in three volumes (each delightfully illustrated) which were subsequently published in a one-volume Autobiography.
Bates was a keen and knowledgeable gardener and wrote numerous books on flowers. The Granary remained their home for the whole of their married life. After the death of H. E Bates, Madge moved to a bungalow, which had originally been a cow byre, next to the Granary. She died in 2004 at age 95. They raised two sons and two daughters.
primarily from Wikipedia, with additions by Keith Farnsworth
| May |
During which month of 1533 was Queen Elizabeth I of England born? | The Darling Buds of May: Amazon.co.uk: H. E. Bates: 9780140016024: Books
The Darling Buds of May
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Product details
Mass Market Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New impression edition (25 Sept. 1980)
Language: English
Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 1 x 18.1 cm
Average Customer Review:
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By A Customer on 7 May 2003
Format: Mass Market Paperback
The Larkin family are the most likeable people that you're likely to find within a book! Pop and Ma Larkin live in a glorious idyllic village somewhere in southern England during the 1950s, with their six children, the extravagantly named Montgomery, Zinnia, Petunia, Victoria, Primrose and Mariette, and have blissfully little contact with the outside world where one has to pay taxes. A quiet, unassuming tax inspector called Cedric Charlton makes his way to their house to ask Pop to fill in his tax returns, something which he has probably never done before in his life. Charley is instantly given enormous amounts of food and drink and wakes up the next morning wearing Mariette's pyjamas(!). The Larkins will not let him go back to his dull office job but instead take him strawberry picking in their truck. He becomes part of the Larkin family and falls in love with Mariette whilst skipping barefooted through a field of buttercups:)
This book is really lovely. You can see that Pop and Ma genuinely love each other deeply, so much so that Ma lets him 'play around' with various other women with her full knowledge and approval! They all eat enormous amounts of food frequently and drink lots of alcohol but, oddly, never seem to get drunk. The supporting cast of characters are just as colourful and the lush pastoral landscapes are TO DIE FOR...The Darling Buds Of May is pure, unadulterated escapism and a great read for anyone who likes happy stories!
The series continues with A Breath Of French Air, When The Green Woods Laugh, Oh! To Be In England and A Little Of What You Fancy. These are all as good as the first, but the highlight has to be the court case scene, which comes in either the third or fourth book, I can't remember which. Suffice to say that it involves a rowing boat, a bunch of primroses and a lady called Pinkie Jerobohm....
These books have not dated a bit and they are a really lovely read for anyone. 'Just perfick!' as Pop Larkin would say!
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St David’s Day (the Patron Saint of Wales) is celebrated during which month of the year? | St David's Day 2016: everything you need to know about Wales' patron saint - Telegraph
Wales
St David's Day 2016: everything you need to know about Wales' patron saint
March 1st is when people around the world celebrate the patron saint of Wales, but what do we know about the man and why do we remember him?
8:30AM GMT 02 Mar 2016
When is St Davids Day?
St David's Day is celebrated annually on March 1st. It is the day when the people of Wales celebrate their patron saint, St David.
St David's Day is held on March 1st every year Photo: Getty Images
Maj. Tim Peake sends a St David's Day message from the International Space Station!
More St David's Day messages
Happy #StDavidsDay to you all - a great day to celebrate all things Welsh. We have much to be very proud of https://t.co/vCO9jFC6iw
— Carwyn Jones (@fmwales) March 1, 2016
Happy #StDavidsDay to all my compatriots around the world. A big day for me 51 years ago. #ItsNotUnusual pic.twitter.com/MowfJfU0kd
— Tom Jones (@RealSirTomJones) March 1, 2016
This #StDavidsDay there are unconfirmed reports of a #Welsh dragon over Heathrow. Have you seen it? pic.twitter.com/thuIb8dEuL
— Heathrow Airport (@HeathrowAirport) March 1, 2016
Happy St David's Day :))
— Peter Andre (@MrPeterAndre) March 1, 2016
Dydd Gwyl Dewi hapus iawn i chi gyd. Happy St Davids day to you all my fellow Welshies. Wherever u are in the World never forget your Welsh
— Nigel Owens (@Nigelrefowens) March 1, 2016
Happy St Davids day! Us @WelshRugbyUnion lads are listening to a mixture of @Manics @stereophonics and @kenctsowens signing this morning
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) March 1, 2016
Who was St David? Was he Welsh?
St David is the patron saint of Wales and also of doves. Also known as Dewi Sant in Welsh, he was born in Caerfai in Pembrokshire, Wales to Sant, a prince of Cardigan, and St Non, the daughter of a chieftain in around 500 AD. He was recognised as a national patron saint at the height of Welsh resistance to the Normans.
St David studied under St Paulinus in Cardigan, before he went on pilgrimages, travelling to Wales, Cornwall, Britanny, Ireland and Jerusalem, where he was made an archbishop.
He helped to spread the word of Christianity, and he founded around 12 monastaries in his lifetime. He also helped to suppress Pelegrian heresy, where people believed that original sin did not taint human nature and people are capable of choosing good or evil without divine aid.
Monastaries founded by him were known for their extreme asceticism, where monks abstained from worldly pleasures, living on a diet of bread, vegetables, water and milk.
They also did all hard labour themselves, including farming without the aid of ox to plow the fields.
While little is known about St David's life, he is known for performing miracles. His most famous miracle was when he was preaching to a large crowd at the Synod of Brefi and raised the ground beneath him into a hill so his sermon could be heard by all.
St David also lived after eating bread poisoned by monks at his monastary who tired of their life of austerity, and restored the sight of his tutor, St Paulinus.
In medieval times, St David was thought to be the nephew of King Arthur. In some stories, it is his mother who was the niece of King Arthur. Legend also says that St Patrick foresaw David's birth.
St David is thought to have died on March 1, 589 AD, and his remains were buried in St David's Cathedral in Pembrokeshire, which was a popular place of pilgrimage after he was canonised in 1120 AD.
St David's Cathedral in Pembrokeshire
His shrine was removed by Vikings in the 10th and 11th centuries, and a new shrine constructed in its place in the 13th Century.
Two pilgrimages to his shrine at St David's Cathedral is thought to be equivalent to a pilgrimage to the Vatican and three are equivalent to a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
St David has been patron saint of Wales since the 12th century - he was canonised by Pope Callixtus in 1120.
Of the patron saints of the British Isles, only St David and St Patrick had visited the country they are the patron saint for.
St Patrick was a Romano-British missionary, St George was a Roman soldier of Greek extraction and St Andrew was from Palestine.
Symbols and images associated with St David
The flag of St David is a yellow cross on a black background.
On St David's Day, the flag of St David and Y Ddraig Goch (the Red Dragon, Wales's national flag), will be flown more than usual.
Images of St David often depict him on a hill with a white dove on his shoulder. The dove represents the Holy Spirit which gifted St David with eloquent speech when he preached. Some stories say the dove is depicted because a love landed on his shoulder on the day he miraculously raised a hill to preach.
People often wear leeks in remembrance of St David's guidance during the battle against the Saxons when, supposedly, St David advised Welsh warriors to wear a leek during a battle with the Saxons, so enemies and allies could be distinguished.
They won the battle and leeks became a Welsh symbol.
Famous last words
During St David's last sermon he said words to his followers were: "Be joyful, and keep your faith and your creed. Do the little things that you have seen me do and heard about. I will walk the path that our fathers have trod before us."
"Do the little things" has become a well-known inspirational saying in Wales.
11 incredible things to do in Wales
Is St David's Day a public holiday?
No. While St Andrew's Day in Scotland and St Patrick's Day in Northern Ireland are public holidays, St George's Day in England and St David's Day in Wales are not.
In 2007 Tony Blair rejected calls for St David’s Day to become a bank holiday, despite a poll revealing that 87 per cent of Welsh people wanted a March 1 holiday.
School children used to be given a half-day holiday, and in some parts of Wales, this tradition continues.
How is St David's day celebrated?
The 17th century diarist Samuel Pepys noted how Welsh celebrations in London for St David's day would spark wider counter-celebrations amongst their English neighbours, with life-sized effigies of Welshmen being symbolically lynched.
A woman wearing traditional Welsh clothing
By the 18th century the custom had arisen of confectioners producing "Taffies" – gingerbread figures baked in the shape of a Welshman riding a goat - on St David's Day.
These days, St David's Day is celebrated mainly in Wales or large populations Welsh expats living outside the UK.
People celebrate St David's day by wearing a daffodil, the national symbol of Wales, or a leek, St David's personal symbol. In Wales people, particularly children, wear traditional Welsh costume.
Girls wear a petticoat and overcoat, made of Welsh flannel, and a tall hat, worn over a frilled bonnet.
Boys wear a white shirt, a Welsh flannel waistcoat, black trousers, long wool socks and black shoes.
The outfits originated during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Children in Wales enjoy traditional Welsh dances, sing Welsh folk songs and recite Welsh poems, and take part in school concerts or eisteddfodau.
The men of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards receive miniature paper leeks, a St David's Day tradition started in 1915 Photo: Drew Gardner
Welsh regiments in the British army traditionally eat raw leeks on March 1st to celebrate their patron saint.
What's happening today?
St David's Day parades occur throughout the country. In Cardiff a parade makes its way through the centre, with fiery performances from dragons, and ends with the national anthem, Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, outside St David's Hall.
The procession will travel under Boulevard de Nantes, then around Queen Street, turn into Working Street, then past the market into The Hayes, before coming to an end at St David's Hall.
— Business Wales (@_businesswales) February 26, 2016
Many castles and heritage sites open their doors for the celebrations, and St David's Bishops Palace, near his final resting place, holds a mini festival in honour of St David.
Cardiff's St David's Day run
Since 2003, an annual St David's Day run has been held in and around Bute Park, in Cardiff.
The event is held on the closest Sunday to St David's Day, and this year takes place on 28th February.
The run originally was just a 5K and 1K run but in 2009, a 10K class was added.
Many participants choose to dress up in traditional costume and choose to raise money for a local charity.
They speak Welsh in Argentina?
Welsh expats can be found around the world, but many have emigrated to the United States, in particular Ohio, Idaho and Pennsylvania.
Nearly 150 years ago, on July 28 1865, more than 150 Welsh-speaking men, women and children landed at what is now Puerto Madryn on the Atlantic coast of Argentine Patagonia.
Red dragons can be seen in the windows of tea houses and guest accommodation in Welsh Patagonia
They had sailed in May from Liverpool on the Mimosa, a converted tea clipper, with the intention of establishing a community where they could practise their language and faith free from the dictates of “English” government.
Patagonia, their leaders had assured them, was much like the green and fertile lowlands of Wales.
In truth, it was a hard, inhospitable place where water was hard to come by and there were no trees to fell for fuel or building.
At Disneyland Paris, the annual St David Welsh Fest celebrates the patron saint's day.
Mickey and Minnie wear traditional Welsh costumes. There will also be food, drink, dancing and fireworks on March 1.
Dydd Gwyl Dewi Sant! We may be the only place in the whole of the #middleeast to get yourself? https://t.co/3mZZQxz17Q
— The Scene Dubai (@thescenedubai) February 18, 2016
In the Middle East, The Scene Dubai may be the only place to find traditional Welsh food on St David's Day.
A special menu will be served at the restaurant on March 1st, with everything from laver bread to bara brith.
What are the lyrics to Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, the Welsh national anthem?
Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, translated in English as ‘Land of my Fathers’, was written in 1856 by Evan James and his son, James James, from Pontypridd.
Welsh rugby and football crowds are regularly heard singing their national anthem before international matches.
The first recorded occasion of the anthem being sung at an international sporting event was in 1905, at a rugby match between Wales and New Zealand at Cardiff Arms Park.
Here are the lyrics, in Welsh, followed by an English translation.
The Welsh national anthem
How to make the perfect Welsh cakes
These little icons of the Welsh table are delicious as they are, spread with butter, or served with a couple of leeks and a little cheese for a savoury teatime treat.
Welsh cakes can be eaten any day of the year, but also form part of the St David's Day celebrations.
The world record for the largest Welsh cake ever made was set on St David's Day in 2014.
Four chefs in Bala, Gwynedd, North Wales, baked a 1.5metre wide (5ft) cake, which weighed 21.7kg (48lbs).
The cake was cut into more than 200 pieces and sold for charity.
The best recipes for St David's Day
Here are some more great recipes to try on 1st March.
Welsh recipes
...and how about a Welsh smoothie (with cockles)?
A Welsh superfood smoothie made from purple sprouting broccoli, savoy cabbage, leeks, welsh honey and erm...cockles has gone on sale in Prestatyn for St David’s Day.
The smoothie, created by Nova Prestatyn – a leisure centre in North Wales – to celebrate its launch, is "the perfect supplement for health conscious visitors".
All vegetable ingredients are locally grown in the Welsh Superfood Smoothie are supplied by Bellis Brothers Farm Shop and Garden Centre in Wrexham.
Today's Google Doodle celebrates St David's Day
Each component in the illustration represents a unique aspect of Wales’ culture and national symbology.
The ancient lettering and Celtic knot are a nod to Celtic art’s importance in Welsh culture. The daffodil, Wales’ national flower, features prominently in St. David’s Day celebrations across the world and no St. David’s Day Doodle would be complete without the Welsh dragon, which adorns the national flag.
The dragon is quite possibly Wales’ most enduring national symbol.
And finally...Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus!
HAPPY ST DAVID'S DAY! to everyone celebrating today, throughout Wales and beyond.
| March |
St Nicholas Day (the Patron Saint of Children) is traditionally celebrated on the 6th of which month? | St. David's Day in the United States
Home Calendar Holidays the United States St. David's Day
St. David's Day in the United States
Many Americans of Welsh origin annually celebrate the life of Wales’ patron saint, St David on March 1. It is also a time to people to remember the Welsh culture and to appreciate their Welsh origins. The Welsh flag is often seen during celebrations on the day, as well as daffodils or leeks pinned to clothing.
The Welsh flag is often seen on St David's Day.
The Welsh flag is often seen on St David's Day.
©iStockphoto.com/AlasdairJames
What Do People Do?
Many people with Welsh ancestry or ties celebrate St David’s life and the Welsh culture in the United States. Some people may attend a special St David’s Day church service while others may cook a nice meal to share with friends or family. Meals may include herbed lamb chops, Welsh pot bread, or Caerphilly Crumble.
Many groups may organize special events or parties that may include carrying the flag of Wales, dressing in traditional costumes, and wearing daffodils or leeks on clothing. The Welsh flag, a red dragon on a white and green background, is displayed prominently and a festive mood prevails.
Public Life
St David's Day is not a public holiday in the United States. However, it is a day of celebration so some community groups, schools, and businesses may have a special program for the day.
Background
St David is the patron saint of Wales. He plays a very important role in Welsh culture but little is known about his life. St David's Day was recognized officially as the national day for people of Welsh origin in the United States in 2003. The Empire State Building was floodlit in the Welsh national colors, which are red, green and white, on March 1 that year. An article on St David’s Day in the United Kingdom covers more information about St David’s Day’s origins and symbols.
St. David's Day Observances
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During which month is the Men’s Tennis Championship final held at Wimbledon? | Wimbledon - Tennis Topics - ESPN
Past Winners
The Championships, Wimbledon, is an annual tennis tournament held each year in London. Wimbledon is the oldest tennis championship in the world and is considered by many the most prestigious, as well. It is one of the four Grand Slam tournaments -- the third in the calendar year -- and the only Grand Slam event held on grass.
Wimbledon takes place each summer in June and July at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London. The tournament has garnered fame both for its exceptional tennis and its well-known traditions, such as the serving of strawberries and cream and Pimm's and lemonade.
Wimbledon hosts championships for men's and women's singles and doubles, as well as mixed doubles. The tournament also has junior and invitational events during its two-week span.
The Wimbledon Championships began in 1877, when the All England Club, founded solely as a croquet club, embraced the fast-growing sport of lawn tennis. The club decided to host a championship and, before it could do so, put together a set of rules and regulations for the sport (which are very similar to those used today).
In 1877, the first year of the Lawn Tennis Championship, the club hosted only a gentlemen's singles competition. The first winner was Spencer Gore, who beat out a 22-man field. About 200 spectators attended the tournament. The tournament was considered a success, and it became an annual event. From the formation of the event until 1922, the previous year's champion received a bye into the final round, resulting in multiple repeat winners in the tournament's first few decades.
Seven years after the first tournament, women were invited to play for the first time. Maud Watson was the first champion of that 1884 ladies' singles competition, winning out of a field of 13. Gentlemen's doubles were introduced in the same year, after the Oxford University club ended its doubles championship in 1883.
Tennis was beginning to grow in popularity as a spectator sport. The growth of the sport and of the Wimbledon Championships was owed partly to the success of William and Ernest Renshaw, British twins who combined for 13 singles and doubles titles in eight years between 1881 and 1889. That period of surging interest among London spectators became known as the "Renshaw Rush."
By 1900, Wimbledon was of international interest. In 1905, the Championships had its first overseas titleholder: American May Sutton, who won the ladies' singles. Two years later (as Sutton won her second title), Australian Norman Brookes won the men's singles competition, becoming the first men's international winner. Since that year, only two British men have won the men's singles event.
After play was interrupted during World War I, the tournament moved into a new home when the club built much larger grounds on Church Road across town in Wimbledon. The centerpiece of that stadium, the current Centre Court, held 14,000 spectators and did wonders in expanding the tournament's prestige and popularity.
Wimbledon continued to thrive after its move and hosted some of the world's best tennis players until it was put on hold once again during World War II. Soldiers nearby used the grounds for training and military functions, and Centre Court was hit by a bomb and suffered huge losses of seats. Some tennis was hosted in 1945, on No. 1 Court, but the Championships did not return until 1946.
As Wimbledon became more and more international, the tournament was overrun by talented players from overseas: Rod Laver for the men, Maureen Connolly and Althea Gibson -- the first African-American winner -- for the women. But by the late 1950s, the amateurism of Wimbledon was failing the system. Amateur players were receiving far more money than was allowed by the ITF, and the Wimbledon board set out to reform the rules.
Chairman Herman David attempted in 1959 to "open" the Championships, allowing all players to compete. The ITF denied the move a year later, and the Wimbledon board members continued to push for open play for years. In 1967, Wimbledon hosted a professional tournament one month after the Championships that allowed players no longer eligible to play in July a chance to take a title at Wimbledon.
Later that year, the Lawn Tennis Association voted to admit all players to the Championships (and other tournaments in Britain). The ITF had little choice but to react, allowing all tournaments to decide whether to become "open." In the 1968 Championships, Rod Laver and Billie Jean King became the first Open champions.
Since the beginning of the Open era, Wimbledon has seen some truly great champions come through its grounds. In 1980, Bjorn Borg became the first man to win five titles at Wimbledon, a mark Pete Sampras (seven) and Roger Federer (six) later would beat. In 1987, Martina Navratilova became the first player to win six women's singles titles -- all in a row -- and she set the all-time mark with nine titles in 1990.
In 2010, a Wimbledon first-round match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut set a mark for the longest tennis match in history, spanning 11 hours and five minutes over three days. In the same year, Queen Elizabeth II made her first visit to Wimbledon in 33 years, watching Brit Andy Murray in the second round. Three years later, Murray ended a 77-year drought for a native Wimbledon champion, defeating Novak Djokovic in the final.
Wimbledon is held each year at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London. The club contains 19 tournament courts, 16 other grass courts and numerous shale or clay courts. It also hosts a museum on the grounds. The club's colors, purple and green, have become as well-known as its famous tournament and remain an important tradition, as is the club's all-white dress code. Centre Court houses a Royal Box for attendance by the royal family, a representative of which attends the Championships most years.
The All England Club was founded in 1868, solely as a croquet club. Seven years later, the club added lawn tennis -- having been developed only a year prior -- to its résumé, setting aside one lawn for tennis. The game was a success and, in 1877, the club changed its name to the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club.
The change in name brought about another first for the club, as it hosted the first Lawn Tennis Championship in 1877. That event was held by the club to raise money for a horse-drawn roller for its croquet lawns. By 1882, lawn tennis was by far the more popular sport at the club, and "Croquet" was dropped from its name (it was added back in 1899, mostly for sentimental reasons, forming the name it goes by today).
Wimbledon was a popular ground for tennis as the sport became more popular, and the court hosted the tennis events at the 1908 Olympic Summer Games. In 1922, the game had become so popular that Wimbledon was forced to move to bigger grounds, and the club chose its current site at Church Road, Wimbledon. The current Centre Court was built during the move. The club has been expanded several times, most notably in 1967, when it purchased 11 acres to add more courts.
Centre Court remains the largest court at the club and is used for the finals of each event at Wimbledon. It currently sits 15,000, expanded most recently in 2008, and is the fourth-largest court in the world. In 2009, a retractable roof was installed over Centre Court to help appease Wimbledon's famous rain delays. The other show court at All England is No. 1 Court, which holds 11,500, and a third large-scale court, No. 2 Court, was built for the 2009 competition. It holds 4,000.
The All England Club uses grass courts for its tournament, which are in use from May to September. The courts use 100 percent rye grass since 2001 and are cut to 8 mm. Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam event still played on grass.
The Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum is housed on the club's grounds, having been built in 1977. It was renovated and expanded (it is the largest tennis museum in the world) in 2006 and now is open to the public year round, except during Wimbledon. One croquet lawn remains at the club (though it is too small for high-level competition).
Year-by-Year Wimbledon Singles Champions
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Which chemical element has the symbol Ba? | What caused Andy Murray's foul-mouthed rant during the Wimbledon final?
What caused Andy Murray's foul-mouthed rant during the Wimbledon final?
Andy Murray shows his anger during the Wimbledon final
Tom Morgan
10 July 2016 • 5:08pm
Andy Murray was filmed berating his support staff with an expletive midway through the Wimbledon men's final after his coach Ivan Lendl apparently went for a toilet break during a nail-biting tie-break.
The world No 2 was caught on the BBC's live broadcast shouting "b***s***" and gesticulating wildly after going two sets ahead and inching towards his second All England Club crown.
Ivan Lendl - in shorts, on the far right of the screen - leaves the box
Murray, 29, is believed to have spotted his tempestuous coach Lendl, 56, getting up and leaving after the player had won a crucial point.
Footage of Murray's furious response was caught on the live afternoon broadcast as a record 18 million were estimated to be tuning in for the encounter against CanadiaMilos Raonic, 25, the sixth seed.
Watch | Wimbledon 2016: watch Andy Murray lift men's singles trophy
25:02
The flare up took place as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge looked on from the royal box, joined by Prime Minister David Cameron, Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Hollywood stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Bradley Cooper.
Ivan Lendl pictured during the final Credit: Getty Images
Viewer totals were predicted to be both Wimbledon's biggest-ever and Britain's biggest TV audience for two years.
A peak audience of 17.29 million watched Murray's 2013 Wimbledon final win. Wimbledon's all-time record stands at 17.3 million for 1980's Bjorn Borg v John McEnroe final.
Watch | Wimbledon 2016: men's singles final highlights
02:18
Full-scale "Murraymania" had gripped the All England Club earlier as fans queued in drizzly rain from the early hours in the hope of securing tickets.
Murray had warned earlier his Canadian opponent he would be "ruthless" in his quest for a third Grand Slam. But commentating on the BBC, former semi-finalist Tim Henman said Murray had come into the tournament with a quiet confidence.
Murray was furious, shouting at his own support
Henman sent Murray a good luck text before the tournament and received a reply which said, "I have got a good feeling about this one", with a little "fist bump" emoji.
Amongst the star-studded Centre Court crowd were the Duke of Kent - who presents the men's singles trophy, the Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, Lord and Lady Frederick Windsor, Princess Alexandra and Lady Annabel Goldsmith, then the Duchess of Gloucester and Lady Mary Keen.
The Royal Box was packed with celebrities
The Duchess was previously a guest at the All England Club on Thursday when she revealed that Prince George already has a tennis racket and has taken a shine to the sport.
Murray's mother Judy was in his box along with his wife Kim, but there was no sign of the couple's five-month-old daughter Sophia. Some in the Centre Court seats left no one wondering about their allegiance, with Murray supporters wearing Union flag outfits and tartan hats. Sir Cliff Richard, a perennial Wimbledon-goer, was sporting a tartan suit, a daffodil in his breast pocket.
Watch | Andy Murray's Wimbledon triumph: "a remarkable lack of fuss"
01:03
Murray's victory was the icing on the cake for a bumper weekend of British tennis, with Championship titles already for Jordanne Whiley in the ladies' wheelchair doubles and another Scot Gordon Reid, who won the wheelchair singles today to add to his doubles title with Norwich teenager Alfie Hewett yesterday.
And Heather Watson made it a fifth British title by winning in the mixed doubles on Centre Court after Murray's match.
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