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| Mythology of Sailor Moon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Believe it or not, most of the characters in BSSM have Greek or Roman mythological counterparts (wow, that was a mouthful!). Even some minor characters and villains are related to a god or goddess. Although there is the infamous Pluto-Saturn mix-up, Takeuchi pretty much has her stuff right. Even Usagi's name has links to Asian mythology! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Artemis and Diana are two different names for the same goddess, the goddess of the moon. Luna is simply a name that means "moon." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Serenity is based on another moon goddess named Selene, who fell in love with a very good-looking human shepard named Endymion (In different versions of the story, he is also called a king or a hunter). In order to be with him forever, she put him into an eternal sleep. He stayed eternally young, and she visited him every night and kissed him with her moonbeams. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mercury was the Roman god of wisdom and communication, his Greek counterpart is Hermes. He was famous for being quick-witted and persuasive, and he served as the messenger to the gods. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mars was the Roman god of war, his Greek counterpart was Aries/Ares. He was the son of Zeus (Jupiter) and Hera. Aries was depicted as a crazy, bloodthirsty, and somewhat stupid maniac, but Mars was more of a magnificent war god. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jupiter was the king of the gods, counterpart to Zeus. All of the gods and humans more or less served him and came from him in one way or another. He overthrew his father Saturn/Cronus and took his place as king of the gods and Earth. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Venus, or Aphrodite as she was known to the Greeks, was the goddess of love and beauty. Cupid, or Eros, was her son in some stories, her companion in others. She was born from the sea foam that formed when Uranus's genitals were chopped off and thrown into the sea. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pluto, also known as Hades was the god of the underworld, death, and all things related to dying. But, interestingly, not time. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Uranus, also known as "Father Heaven," was, along with Gaea, was one of the first creature that was alive. The to had all kinds of terrible offspring and Uranus treated them terribly. Eventually, Gaea convinced the Titan, Cronus to uprise against him. Cronus was wounded and mutilated and all kinds of things sprung up from his blood and body parts. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Neptune, or Poseidon to the Greeks, was one ofJupiter/Zeus's brothers. He was the god of oceans, seas, and storms. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Saturn (or Cronus to the Greeks), was lord of the universe until Jupiter came along. Because of a prophesy that said one of his children would one day overthrow him, he swallowed all of his offspring shortly after they were born. Then one day, his wife Rhea had Jupiter and she truly wanted him to survive and get rid of his evil father, so she smuggled him to an island and gave Saturn a rock to swallow instead. When Jupiter was old enough, he came back to his homeland, defeated his father and freed his siblings from his intestines (they had grown up inside his stomach. gross!), overthrew Saturn, and took over his place as king of everything. After that, he somehow became a god of time. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vesta, also known as Hestia, was the goddess of the hearth and home. Each meal began and ended with an offering to her. She was Jupiter's sister. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Juno, or Hera, was Jupiter's sister and the queen of the gods. She was often jealous of his many lovers and was often scheming ways to get rid of them or make his life miserable. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ceres was the Roman counterpart to Demeter. She was the goddess of harvests, flowers, and motherly love. Saturn and Proserpina were her parents. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pallas Athena was also known as Minerva. She was a goddess of war and wisdom. She had no mother- one day Zeus had a headache and Hephaestus split his head with an axe. When he did this, Athena popped out, full grown and completely armored. She was Zeus's favorite offspring. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Helius was the Greek god of the sun, like Apollo. Selene was his sister. Pegasus was the offspring of Poseidon and Medusa, but he did not appear until Perseus killed Medusa and cut her open. At one point, Bollerophon got a special bridle from Athena and tamed him. Together they defeated Chimera. Then Bollerophon tried to fly Pegasus up to Olympus, but this angered Zues. Zeus sent an insect that stung Pegasus so that he would buck Bollerophon off his back. From then on, Pegasus was famous and carried thunderbolts fo Zeus. |
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| The Story of the Rabbit in the Moon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A rabbit, a fox, and a monkey lived together in the forest. They were good friends, playing together on the mountain by day by day and returning to the forest at night. This went on for many years, then the Lord of Heaven heard about it and wanted to see it for himself. He disguised himself as an old wanderer and visited the animals. He found them and rested by them, then asked if they had anything to eat. The monkey gave him some nuts he'd collected, the fox gave him some fish from his trap, and the rabbit ran through the fields but found nothing and returned empty handed. The monkey and fox joked him and called him good for nothing. This upset him very much, and he became discouraged. Then the rabbit asked them to gather some wood and set it on fire. When they had done so, the rabbit said to the Lord of Heaven, "Please, eat me," and he threw himself into the fire. The Lord of Heaven said " Each one deserves praise; there are neither winners nor losers. But the little rabbit has given an exceptional proof of love. " Having said this, he revived the rabbit. When it died, he buried its body on the moon. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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