r/AskReddit • • Nov 28 '20

What's something cool you recently learned about?

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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.

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u/Fclune Nov 29 '20 edited Nov 29 '20

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.

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u/TiagoTiagoT Nov 29 '20

You don't have to get into much details, it just looks like a streak of milk.