I've never read HHGttG. Mayhap I should pick it up.
Oh, yeah. There was this time I was pinned down by this guy that played left tackle for varsity... Well, at least he used to before he was a vampire... Anyway, he had this really, really thick neck, and all I had was a little, little Exact-O knife ... You're not loving this story.
Buffy ,'Beneath You'
We're Literary 2: To Read Makes Our Speaking English Good
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Lilty Cash - Jan 25, 2005 4:29:10 pm PST #6939 of 10002
"You see? THAT's what they want. Love, and a bit with a dog."
Volans - Jan 26, 2005 4:18:26 am PST #6940 of 10002
move out and draw fire
Thanks for the loan of brainspace, Erin! I'm actually really happy that "travel" and "travail" are from the same source, since in practice they are so closely related.
And that does clarify the Mercury-merchant thing...I assumed the word "merchant" was later than ancient Rome, but with its roots being earlier, and in fact Hebrew, it's cool to see how the god of commerce got his name from an existing word.
Which actually makes me wonder whether the Romans were aware that their gods were constructs, or did they say "He really exists, but since we aren't given to know gods' names, we made them up" ?
Connie Neil - Jan 26, 2005 5:01:04 am PST #6941 of 10002
brillig
I'm re-readintg Ellen Kushner's Swordspoint for about the third time. I love this book. It's in the SF/fantasy section of the library, but there's nothing really supernatural about it. Love, lust, betrayal, politics, intrigue in Renaissance-type setting. I love it.
brenda m - Jan 26, 2005 5:07:36 am PST #6942 of 10002
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there
I just read that a few weeks ago Connie - really liked it.
Which actually makes me wonder whether the Romans were aware that their gods were constructs, or did they say "He really exists, but since we aren't given to know gods' names, we made them up" ?
I would think they would have to have been, given how closely most of them are modeled on the Greeks. But it's been a long time since I read or studied any of this stuff, so I could be talking out of my ass.
Matt the Bruins fan - Jan 26, 2005 5:34:53 am PST #6943 of 10002
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand
My impression has been that a lot of the Romans paid lip service to religion whereas Greek culture tended to be more devout. I've always heard it lectured that Vergil's Aeneid, for example, was a literary work rather than a sincere religious work like its Homeric forebears.
sumi - Jan 26, 2005 11:00:48 am PST #6944 of 10002
Art Crawl!!!
HPHBP is going to be 672 pages long. And the deluxe edition will be 704 pages long.
Deluxe edition?
From Harry Potter Automatic News Aggregator.
Dana - Jan 26, 2005 11:03:46 am PST #6945 of 10002
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.
I don't suppose the deluxe addition has the missing scenes where Sirius comes back and has a lovely little "reunion" scene with Remus?
Edit on reading the article: Guess not.
Strix - Jan 26, 2005 11:09:07 am PST #6946 of 10002
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger
Matt and Brenda are correct. The Romans were really practical about encountering a new culture's gods, and simply assigning them a place, at least in the early parts of the Roman empire. Look at the Celtic gods. It was all about tradition.
They did get a little upset about Isis, though, but mainly that's because her followers were just too luxurious, emotional and so darned un_Roman.
Early Romans were like the Borg when it comes to gods: We Will assimilate.
Now, after Constantine turned the Empire Xian, things were a little different.
Betsy HP - Jan 26, 2005 11:29:18 am PST #6947 of 10002
If I only had a brain...
Not all that different. St. Brighid looks a lot like the Celtic goddess who preceded her. Heck, Christianity has a certain amount in common with Mithraism, or so I've been told.
Syncretism is an excellent survival strategy for a religion.
Strix - Jan 26, 2005 11:41:03 am PST #6948 of 10002
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger
Now, after Constantine turned the Empire Xian, things were a little different.
Oh, I meant in that religion became a little more religous to the Romans with Xianity, than it had been with the pantheon. Course, Romans were pretty pragmatic and a lot of them converted easily, with no real qualms...but many were mightily worried about the Emperor taking religion so seriously.