: I am sitting an exam on the Iliad by Homer in a week's
: time and was just reviewing my notes and the english
: translation when I came across a few interesting
: names.
: It seems that Bungie took a few references from the Greek
: poet when devising their storyline and character
: names. For example the Myrmidons were the group of
: warriors under the leadership of Achilles, one of the
: main generals in the Trojan war.
: Also a reference to the Epilogue of Myth 2 - "A
: thousand years later he was drawn and quartered on the
: plains before Ileum, the tireless horses dragging the
: pieces of his lifeless body to the four corners of the
: world." - Ilios or Ilium was another name for
: Troy used by the Greeks and after killing him,
: Achilles dragged the Trojan leader, Hektor behind his
: horse-drawn chariot around the plains before Ilium or
: Troy.
: There are other slightly less-likely connections in
: various place names such as Skamandros, Hyrmine,
: Myrsinos, Rhytion and Tereia (Skamander, Ermine,
: Myrguard, Rhi'anon and Tireces). These wear a little
: thin however but the first two points are of some
: interest.
: I don't really expect much reply to this since the
: evidence isn't substantial but I hope to hear your
: views since this is my first post.
Well then. I wish my first post had contributed as much. :-)
The Myrmidon connection seems very strong. The Homeric Myrmidons are barbaric, almost psychotically addicted to war, and their leader is famous for his beauty and vanity (though the vanity was directed more toward his status and battle prowess.) Also, like the Myth Myrmidons, Achilles was offered a choice determining how his life would play out, and chose pretty badly (as Achilles seems to admit after a while.)
The Ileum-Ilium connection is also strong, and suggests that (as GURPS says) that Ileum was the fortress of that ill-fated Leveller.
Skamandros-->Skamander is VERY likely. "Skamander" or "Scamander" is actually a common Anglicization or Latinization of "Skamandros," just like "Telemachus" for "Telemakhos" and "Ulysses" for "Odysseus." If you read old translations of the Iliad, you'll often see the river as "Skamander." It fits well with the archaic feel of Myth's English to use this version.
The closest famous classical name to "Tireces" is actually "Teiresias," the blind prophet most well known from the Oedipus stories and the rest of the Theban cycle. AFAIK we've never been able to figure out if there actually is a connection, though. Someone might have found a closer name in some other mythological system.
Ermine is a word taken directly from the Greek "Hyrminos," IIRC. Don't trust me on that, though.
Rhi'anon is a Celtic name, and Myrgard is (I think) simply made up to sound vaguely Nordic. The "Gard" ending means "fortress," IIRC; the world was viewed as a series of huge fortresses more or less stacked on each other--Asgard, Midgard and so forth.
Nice work. Good luck on your test.
--SiliconDream
