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Alpha Centauri
Administrator
Runboard user emeritus
Registered: 02-2004
Location: Athens, Hellas
Posts: 1988
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Re: How much do you know?
Nope. It's (B) and it's such a tragic story behind it...
When Theseus (Aegeus's son) set out to defeat the Minotaur on Crete, Aegeus made him promise to set white sails on the way back, so that he would understand if the mission had been successful. Theseus, however, forgot to do so, and when Aegeas saw the ship return with black sails, he committed suicide by throwing himself off a cliff into the sea. From that day, the sea was named after him: the Aegean Sea.
The reason why Theseus forgot about his promise, is another tragic story in itself...
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7/Dec/04, 10:59
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Firlefanz
Senior Member
Registered: 05-2003
Location: Germany
Posts: 560
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Re: How much do you know?
C) and there even is a quasi-scientific explanation for it.
Georgia (not the US one, the one at the shores of the Black Sea) is a country with some gold washing in its streams. It's said that one method to get it was to literally "fleece" it out of the streams, with the help of sheep skins.
Yes, Jason went there to get a sacred golden fleece.
--- - Firlefanz
Reading: Nothing
Rewriting: "The Cloth-Merchant's Daughter", 2nd Lar Elien book
My board - Schreiberlinge unter sich
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9/Dec/04, 14:21
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C Berenice
Moderator
Registered: 04-2004
Posts: 1100
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Re: How much do you know?
And here is the story!...
In very ancient times there lived in Thessaly a king and queen named Athamas and Nephele (Nebula). They had two children, a boy and a girl. After a time Athamas grew indifferent to his wife, put her away, and took another. Nephele suspected danger to her children from the influence of the step-mother, and took measures to send them out of her reach. The god Hermes assisted her, and gave her a ram with a golden fleece, on which she set the two children, trusting that the ram would convey them to a place of safety.
The ram vaulted into the air with the children on his back, taking his course to the East, till when crossing the strait that divides Europe and Asia, the girl, whose name was Helle, fell from his back into the sea, which was then named after her and was since called the Hellespont - (now the Dardanelles) .
The ram continued his flight till he reached the kingdom of Colchis, on the eastern shore of the Black Sea, where he safely landed the boy Phryxus, who was hospitably received by AEetes, king of the country. Phryxus sacrificed the ram to Zeus, and gave the Golden Fleece to AEetes, who placed it in a consecrated grove, under the care of a sleepless dragon.
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9/Dec/04, 15:15
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Firlefanz
Senior Member
Registered: 05-2003
Location: Germany
Posts: 560
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Re: How much do you know?
Prometheus, yes. He did pay a high price, though.
--- - Firlefanz
Reading: Nothing
Rewriting: "The Cloth-Merchant's Daughter", 2nd Lar Elien book
My board - Schreiberlinge unter sich
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11/Dec/04, 0:33
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Firlefanz
Senior Member
Registered: 05-2003
Location: Germany
Posts: 560
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Re: How much do you know?
Yes, that's right, he had his liver eaten every day, until Herakles freed him.
Congrats on passing that exam! Yay!
--- - Firlefanz
Reading: Nothing
Rewriting: "The Cloth-Merchant's Daughter", 2nd Lar Elien book
My board - Schreiberlinge unter sich
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12/Dec/04, 11:50
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Alpha Centauri
Administrator
Runboard user emeritus
Registered: 02-2004
Location: Athens, Hellas
Posts: 1988
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Re: How much do you know?
Right you are, ottawan!... Here's some info on this:
To you, O Sun, the people of Dorian Rhodes set up this bronze statue reaching to Olympus when they had pacified the waves of war and crowned their city with the spoils taken from the enemy. Not only over the seas but also on land did they kindle the lovely torch of freedom.
Dedicatory inscription of the Colossus
From its building to its destruction lies a time span of merely 56 years. Yet the colossus earned a place in the famous list of Wonders. "But even lying on the ground, it is a marvel", said Pliny the Elder. The Colossus of Rhodes was not only a gigantic statue. It was rather a symbol of unity of the people who inhabited that beautiful Greek Mediterranean island -- Rhodes.
It was located at the entrance of the harbor of the Mediterranean island of Rhodes in Greece.
Throughout most of its history, ancient Greece was comprised of city-states which had limited power beyond their boundary. On the small island of Rhodes were three of these: Ialysos, Kamiros, and Lindos. In 408 BC, the cities united to form one territory, with a unified capital, Rhodes. The city thrived commercially and had strong economic ties with their main ally, Ptolemy I Soter of Egypt. In 305 BC, the Antigonids of Macedonia who were also rivals of the Ptolemies, besieged Rhodes in an attempt to break the Rhodo-Egyptian alliance. They could never penetrate the city. When a peace agreement was reached in 304 BC, the Antagonids lifted the siege, leaving a wealth of military equipment behind. To celebrate their unity, the Rhodians sold the equipment and used the money to erect an enormous statue of their sun god, Helios.
The construction of the Colossus took 12 years and was finished in 282 BC. For years, the statue stood at the harbor entrance, until a strong earthquake hit Rhodes about 226 BC. The city was badly damaged, and the Colossus was broken at its weakest point -- the knee. The Rhodians received an immediate offer from Ptolemy III Eurgetes of Egypt to cover all restoration costs for the toppled monument. However, an oracle was consulted and forbade the re-erection. Ptolemy's offer was declined.
For almost a millennium, the statue lay broken in ruins. In AD 654, the Arabs invaded Rhodes. They disassembled the remains of the broken Colossus and sold them to a Jew from Syria. It is said that the fragments had to be transported to Syria on the backs of 900 camels(!!!)...
Talk about greek wonders!...
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14/Dec/04, 21:21
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Firlefanz
Senior Member
Registered: 05-2003
Location: Germany
Posts: 560
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Re: How much do you know?
Hmmm. Let me think.... I might be able to add some.
- Getting rid of the Stymphalian Birds
- Capturing the Man-eating horses of somebody...
- Killing the Nemean Lion
- Something about a hind (a deer), either capturing or killing it.
Hmm. This is all for now, and this is truly from my brain and not via the net.
Just remembered!
Hah! David, I think it was taming Cerberus, the three-headed dog guarding the underworld.
Last edited by: Firlefanz, 10/Jan/05, 14:49
--- - Firlefanz
Reading: "Sword-Dancer" by Jennifer Roberson
Rewriting: "The Cloth-Merchant's Daughter", 2nd Lar Elien book
My board - Schreiberlinge unter sich
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10/Jan/05, 14:47
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C Berenice
Moderator
Registered: 04-2004
Posts: 1100
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Re: How much do you know?
David Meadows wrote:Killing the hydra (but I think was discounted because he got his sidekick Iolaus to help him)
No, it wasn't discounted.
Travelling to the underworld to... do something, I forget what, probably stealing something because he did a lot of that
Tsk, tsk, tsk... David! You are always so quick to accuse poor Herc for stealling! He, only, went down there to bring back the Underworld's, three headed watchdog, Cerberus!!!... The poor dear!
Keep going; ...maybe tomorrow your mind will be clear and you can have a shot at the rest of the Labors.
Last edited by: C Berenice, 10/Jan/05, 17:55
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10/Jan/05, 15:10
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