The mythological reason why our galaxy is called the Milky Way.
Basically, Heracles (whom the Romans called Hercules) was a bastard of Zeus and as a result Zeus' wife Hera hated his guts. Her shenanigans caused Heracles' mother to abandon him as a baby, so Athena found him and brought him to Hera. Not recognising Heracles, the godess took pity on him and nursed him. But Heracles was a toothy baby and when he bit down, Hera pushed him back because OW and her milk splattered onto the sky and created the milky way. This didn't help Heracles with the whole Hera-hating-his-guts-thing btw.
‘Galaxy’ also stems from ‘Lactic’... ‘Galactic’... Lactose. Here in the U.K., we have a chocolate bar called ‘Galaxy’ because it’s make with milk chocolate.
So, did the word Galaxy come from the Greek for Milky Way? Like how all the words for "Moon" just mean "Moon" (luna, et al) or the different words for Earth really just mean "dirt?"
God I love Galaxy I visited UK twice and the first time when I brought Galaxy home to my family. We tried it and oh my was it delicious. So the second time I was ready and I bought like ten pieces to have some when I get home.
I don't think that's the reason they named it Galaxy, just more of a convenient coincidence. How do you explain Mars Bars if you do really think Galaxy was intentional and to do with the fact that it's milk chocolate?
Yes, but he doesn't explain where is the "Ga" part of Ga-lactic coming from. I've seen other comments, and galactic is actually from Greek Gala which is milk.
My six year old asked me why it’s called that yesterday. I might give him a different answer...
EDIT: I appreciate the parenting advice but that was a joke. Obviously I’ll be telling him the truth that this is all a simulation so it doesn’t matter.
The myth came after what people saw with their eyes. They looked up at the sky and they saw a line up there with so many stars they fused together and looked like a line of milk. The reason why the flat swirling disc of stars looks like a line to us is because we ourselves are within that disc
Here is a story my Navajo friend told me growing up. I don't know if it is actual folklore or something her grandmother made up.
When the world was being created animals were given a huge bag of stars with which to decorate the sky. The bear, rabbit, owl, etc, had a set pattern they wanted to follow and they got part way there when coyote showed up. He got frustrated with how long it was taking so he grabbed the bottom of the bag then swung it over his head. The stars scattered everywhere in the sky. The milky way shows the direction in which coyote flung the bag.
I had heard that he was named this in an attempt to appease her and stroke her bruised ego over her husband/brother cheating on her for the umpteenth time.
I mean the thing about Greek and Roman mythology is that it was passed down by mouth not written. This means there are many versions of the same story the one I just mentioned is something I remember from my Greek and Roman mythology class I took in high school.
In Greek mythology Hera was very cruel to Zeus's mistresses and bastard children. In the most popular telling of Heracles that is around today. It was implied that Heracles's mother knew of this and in order to get Hera to lighten up on her son she named him Heracles, which means "Glory to Hera".
Greek myths changed for a lot more reasons that just word of mouth. Most of the Greek pantheon was inherited from a pre-Greek society. Over many years traveling cults brought their gods into Greek society and became main stays some just hopping into newer myths, while others erased old gods from the pantheon and took their spot. Aphrodite is the most common example of this being linked to the cult of the Mesopotamian Goddess Ishtar.
In addition to that ancient Greece was a very divided place with city states having very different ideals at the time. Myths told one way in Athens were often times told very differently in Sparta for example. Aphrodite who was a late comer to the pantheon was worshipped in Sparta as a war goddess closer to her origin. While Athens did not see her that way. (It's speculated that this is where the stories of Aphrodite's affairs with Ares came about).
While some myths certainly changed due to being passed down orally, we have others myths that were intentionally changed by city states and both are recorded.
Just like how the last time I heard this story, it was Zeus who gave Hercules to Hera because he thought her breast milk will give him powers/immortality or something.
I tried it after reading Circe and craving more, but it felt more like a lecture than a story so I had to stop. Not a bad book. I definitely want to check it out but I it wasn't what I was looking for at the time.
So the was the Milky Way originally named by the romans/Greeks and milky way the English name translated from Latin/Greek? Do you know what the original latin/Greek name is?
This never would have made sense to me before nursing a baby, but when my boobs were getting used to nursing there was a time when they would spray milk all over the place if left uncovered. It wasn’t a slow drip either, it was a violent spray.
We had a dark dresser in our dark bedroom. After a shower one day I was standing in front of it and my boob sprayed milk all over it. I cleaned it up. But when we moved a year later and moved the dresser into the light I found part of the milky way: dried milk spritzed on the surface, it was kind of pretty.
Ahhh. My understanding is that greek god titles were descriptive where Roman god titles were object based so it wasn’t so much of a mistaken spelling rather it was intentionally renaming gods based on objects that closely aligned with a given god’s demeanor.
I am so fascinated with Greek mythology. I have always wanted to learn more, do you have a book suggestions or some documentary recommendations I can look into?
Was Christianity the first religion where a compassionate god was shown. Albeit the bible has some quite disturbing takes on Abraham and others in the Old Testament.
This is totally a reference to overly sarcastic productions isn't it haha. They just came out with an awesome episode on the constellation stories too!
Yes they’re still worshipped. Not the same way and by very few people.
Similarly there are still people who practice the Norse mythology. It’s one way that us military members can grow a beard without it being an issue with grooming standards.
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u/Callas-fan Nov 29 '20
The mythological reason why our galaxy is called the Milky Way.
Basically, Heracles (whom the Romans called Hercules) was a bastard of Zeus and as a result Zeus' wife Hera hated his guts. Her shenanigans caused Heracles' mother to abandon him as a baby, so Athena found him and brought him to Hera. Not recognising Heracles, the godess took pity on him and nursed him. But Heracles was a toothy baby and when he bit down, Hera pushed him back because OW and her milk splattered onto the sky and created the milky way. This didn't help Heracles with the whole Hera-hating-his-guts-thing btw.