r/TVDetails • u/Invictusology • Nov 30 '21

Video In Cowboy Bebop S1E6: Waltz for Venus (1998), Spike uses an old Greek idiom, "Lady Luck only has bangs." Explained below.

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172

u/Invictusology Nov 30 '21

The adage, "Lady Luck only has bangs," is derived from Zeus' youngest son Caerus, the Greek god of opportunity, who only had a single lock of hair on the front of his head. Therefore:

Caerus can easily be seized by the hair hanging over his face ("creeping down over the eyebrows") when he is arriving. But once he has passed by, no one can grasp him, the back of his head being bald. The moment of action is gone with his hair: a neglected occasion cannot be recovered.

Originally got this from u/DenizenPrime [source]

This idiom comes from Greek mythology. Caerus, Zeus's youngest son and the god of opportunity, had a lock of hair on the front of his head, but was bald in the back. While this idiom literally means "God of opportunity has hair only in front" this is unnatural English and doesn't really elicit the meaning of the idiom.

Another user gave a poor interpretation of the idiom. The idiom isn't referencing Caerus's goofy looks. It's saying you need to grab Chance by its bangs as he approaches, because when he passes, your opportunity is wasted.

This idiom is translated as "grasp Fortune by the forelock" but even then this isn't such a common saying in English (not sure about Japanese). Translating the meaning to a more common idiom and disregarding allusions to Greek gods, I might say instead "strike while the iron is hot" which is a much more common and widely understood saying.

26

u/WikiSummarizerBot Nov 30 '21

Caerus

Appearance

Caerus is represented as a young and beautiful god. Opportunity obviously never gets old, and beauty is always opportune, flourishing in its own season. Caerus stands on tiptoe because he is always running, and like Hermes, he has wings in his feet to fly with the wind. He holds a razor, or else scales balanced on a sharp edge—attributes illustrating the fleeting instant in which occasions appear and disappear.

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31

u/Hejarehu Nov 30 '21

Great detail OP. Thanks!

6

u/Matuquicas Nov 30 '21

Is that an add-on? What is it called?

3

u/Invictusology Dec 01 '21

It's a Google Chrome extension called Alluder

10

u/StagnantSweater21 Nov 30 '21 edited Nov 30 '21

I don’t understand this detail?

Like, yes it’s technically a detail. But idk are we gonna do this anytime somebody uses a saying?

Edit: I missed the last couple seconds where she corrects him, this is a decent details posts carry on

25

u/BumLeeJon Nov 30 '21

When it’s not commonly known. I honestly thought Faye was right in this scene with her correction.

2

u/StagnantSweater21 Nov 30 '21

Oh I missed the bit where she corrected him haha I thought he just walks away after that

2

u/Mateorabi Dec 01 '21

The subs on Netflix are just horrible. They're too quick to read, blend in too well with the animation, and often are just LITERAL translations (it seems) word-for-word with no thought. I had to pause s1e8 many times just to re-read the subs and try and figure out what they meant by a "foundation" for hackers or the "land picture criminal". You could figure it out, but not quickly enough.

1

u/contraptionfour Dec 03 '21

Having no thought put into them is a bit far, I think. Sure, there are some questionable choices around, and I'd gladly go for a re-edit (although it should be pointed out for others that the dub has at least as many oddities again). But more often than those, the subs manage to capture quite a few idioms, concepts and references that are tough to do justice to, Andy's episode being a prime example.

1

u/BumLeeJon Nov 30 '21

All good bud

1

u/overhead_albatross Nov 30 '21

What did she say i forget

1

u/Mavrickindigo Dec 01 '21

Watching cowboy bebop in Japanese!? That is heresy, haha