Mission Name Definitions And Origins V2 Part 2

[Samoosa]

Saturn
 Saturns moons, the roman god of agriculture and the father of Zeus/Jupiter. The king of the first pantheon and titans. Greek Cronus. Saturday derives from his name.

Cassini – Spacecraft  studying Saturn and its moons in an ongoing mission since 1997. Cassini-Huygens spacecraft.

Phoebe – Discovered by William Henry Pickering, Cassinis first encounter. “Radiant, bright, prophetic”. Phoebe, an original titan, daughter of Uranus and Gaia, and grandmother to Artemis, Apollo and Asteria.

Numa – Numa Pompilius. Second king of Rome who spread worship of the God Saturn.


Keeler – A main belt asteroid discovered by A.R. Klemola. Named after James Edward Keeler, an astronomer who also discovered 2 asteroids.


Aegaeon –The “Sea goat”.  Discovered by Curolyn Porco. Named after one of the three Hekatonkheires, or “hundred handed ones”.  Children of Gaia and Uranus. When Uranus saw how ugly they were at birth he pushed them back up Gaia, causing her great pain and setting in motion the overthrow of Uranus by Cronus, who later imprisoned them in Tartarus. Guarded by the dragon Campe until Zeus rescued them to help in the fight against Cronus and the Titans. After the war they became the guards of Tartarus.


Rhea – Daughter of Gaia and Uranus, mother of Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, Hestia, Hera and Zeus. The Titaness deity known as “the mother of gods”. The second moon largest moon of Saturn, discovered by Giovanni Domenico Cassini.


Tethys- Moon of Saturn discovered by Cassini. Named after a Titaness, daughter of Gaia and Uranus and was considered a sea goddess, mother of the Nile, Alpheus, Meander and about 3000 daughters called the Oceanids.


Dione – Discovered by Cassini. Dione is a titaness and daughter of Gaia and either Uranus or Aether. Otherwise Oceanus and Tethys, thus, an oceanid.


Enceladus – Discovered by D. William Herschel. In Greek mythos, Enceladus was one of the gigantes, the enormous children of Gaia, fertilized by the blood of castrated Uranus. Disabled by a spear from Athena, he was buried under  Sicily, underneath mount Edina.

Epimetheus – Discovered by Larson, Fountain and Richard Walker(initial first.) A moon of Saturn. Epimetheus, or “hindsight”, and his brother Prometheus, “foresight”. They were a pair of Titans who “acted as representatives of mankind”. Epimetheus was entrusted to giving all the animals a positive trait, but when it came to humans, lacking foresight, he found there was nothing left. He was also the one to accept Pandora from the gods.

Iapetus -  Discovered by Cassini. Third largest satellite of Saturn,  11th in the solar system and largest not to be in hydrostatic equilibrium. Iapetus, or Jupetus, was a Titan, son of Gaia and Uranus and (by an Oceanid named Asia or Clymene)father of Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus and Menoetius.  Brother of Cronus. Known as “The piercer” and mentioned by scholars as the god of mortality.


Hyperion - Discovered by William Bond, George Bard, William Lassle. It was the first non-round moon to be discovered. Named after Hyperion, the Titan God of watchfulness and observation, brother to Cronus. Hyperion fathered Helios(Sun), Selene(Moon) and Eos(dawn).


Janus – Discovered by Audioin Dollfus. Named after the two-faced Roman god of beginnigs and transitions, doors, passages, past and future, war and peace etc. In times of peace the doors of his temple was closed and in times of war flung open. Janus temple doors were rarely closed.


Mimas – Disocvered by William Herschel. The smallest know astronomical body that is rounded due to self-gravitation. Mimas was one of the gigantes, sons of Gaia who had serpents for legs and was born fully armored. Slain by Hephaestus or by Ares and Zeus.

Methone – A small, egg shaped astrological body orbiting Saturn discovered by Cassini. Methone was one of the 7 daughters of Alcyoneus, known as Alkyonides. After their father was slain by Heracles they threw themselves into the sea, where they were transformed into kingfishers(Halcyons) by Amphirite, sea goddess and wife of Poseidon.

Anthe – Discovered by Cassini imaging team. A small natural satellite of Saturn between Mimas and Enceladus. Also one of the Alkyonides.

Pallene- Discovered by Cassini Imaging Team. A very small natural satellite of Saturn between Mimas and Enceladus. Again, one of the Alkyonides.

Calypso – Discovered by Dan Pascu, P Kenneth Seidelmann, William A. Baum, Douglas G Carrie. Calypso, a nymph and daughter of Atlas. Living on the island of Ogygia where she kept Odysseus prisoner for several(5/7) years in order to make him her immortal husband. Wanting to return to his wife, Penelope, Athena asks Zeus to order Calypso to free him. Zeus sends Hermes to deliver the message, and although angered, Calypso sents Odysseus on his way with provisions. Her name means “to cover” or “to conceal”,”to deceive”etc.

Titan – Discovered by Christiaan Huygens. Saturns largest moon, second largest in the solar system and bigger than mercury, also the only moon with a substantial atmosphere. Named after the Greek Titans, the first pantheon that was overthrown by the Olympian pantheon. (Zeus etc.)

Helene – Discovered by Laques and Lecacheax. Named after Helen of Troy, granddaughter of Cronus(Saturn), daughter of Zeus and Leda and considered the most beautiful woman in the world. Notable history is Troy, or expand.

Telesto – Discovered by Cassini Imaging Team. Telesto, or “success”, is a sea goddess and one of the daughters of Oceanus and Tethys. Hesiod describes her as “wearing a yellow peplos”.

 

Piscinas – Piscinas is a commune in the Province of Carbonia-Iglesias in the Italian region Sardinia, about 14km². Famous for having the tallest dunes in Europe with the most beautiful beaches of this zone called “The Green Coast” located to the south west of the island.

 

Caracol – Caracol is the name given to a large Mayan archaeological site. Long thought to be a tertiary centre, it is now known to have been one of the most important regional political centres of the Maya Lowlands during the classic period. Caracol is derived from the Spanish “Snail, shell”, but more generally meaning spiral- or volute-shaped. Occupied around 1200bc, it lasted no later than 950 AD. Caracol has 53 carved stone monuments and more than 250 burials and caches. Discovered in 1937 by a logger and preliminary excavations done in 1938 by the British Honduras and then properly investigated in from 1950 onwards.

 

 

 

Uranus
 Shakespeare characters and Alexander Pope. The only planet to be named after a Greek god in contrast to the other Romanized planets. Ouranus being the Greek god of the sky.

Trinculo – Discovered by a group led by Matthew J. Holman. Named after the drunken jester in Shakespeares The Tempest.

Mab – Discovered by Mark R. Showalter and Jack J. Lissauer. Named after the fairy Queen Mab from Romea and Juliet. A miniature creature who drives her chariot into the noses and into the brains of sleeping people to compel them to experience dreams of wish-fulfilment. She would also “plague” “ladies’ lips” “with blisters” which is thought to be a reference to the plague or herpes simplex.

Bianca – Discovered by Bradford A. Smith/Voyager 2. Named after the sister of Katherine in the taming of the shrew.

Ariel – Discovered by William Lassel, 4th largest of Uranus moons. Ariel is named after both a sky spirit in Alexander Pope’s Rape of the Lock and a character in The Tempest.

Cressida – Discovered by Stephen P. Synnott/Voyager 2. Named after Cressida, the tragic heroine in Troilis and Cressida.

Umbriel – Discovered by William Lassel. Named after the “dusky melancholy sprite” in Pope’s Rape of the Lock, and the name suggests latin “Umbra”, for “shadow”.

Mirand – Discovered by Gerard P. Kuiper. One of the characters in Shakespeares The Tempest, and the only female to appear on stage. Banished to the island along with her father Prospero and slave Caliban.

Portia – Discovered by Stephen P. Synnott/Voyager 2. Named after Portia, the heroine, in Merchant of Venice, the one to act as Antonio’s lawyer and outwit Shylock.

Cordelia – Richard J. Terrile. Named after Queen Cordelia, the legendary Queen of the Britons. The youngest daughter of Leir and second ruling queen of pre-Roman Britian, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. There is no independent historical evidence of her existence.

Oberon – Discovered by William Herschel. Second largest of Uranus’ moons. Named after the magical king of the fairies in Midsummer Night’s Dream, consort of Titania, Queen of the Fairies.

Prospero – Discovered by Matthew Holman and his team.Named after the sorcerer Prospero and is the protagonist in The Tempest. The rightful duke of Milan, who is put to sea on a rotting boat to die by his usurping brother Antonia, 12 years before the play begins. Learning magic from books secretly given to him he uses it to control Caliban, a monster on the island and the elemental spirit Ariel, who is beholden to him after he is freed from his prison inside a tree.

Caliban – Discovered by BJ Gladman, PD Nicholson, JA Burns and JJ Kavelaar. A half-human son of Sycorax, a malevolent witch and(possibly) a devil. After initially befriending him, Caliban attempted to rape Miranda  after which Prospero enslaves him by torturing him with harmful magic if he does not obey. Caliban is an anagram of the Spanish word Canibal, from which the English Cannibal derives.

Stephano – Discovered by Brett J. Gladman, et al. Named after the drunken butler in The Tempest who plots, along with Trunculo and Caliban, to overthrow Prospero.

Puck – Discovered by Stephen P. Synnott/Voyager 2. Named after a sprite from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, he travels around the globe at night with the faries and serves Oberon.

Desdemona – Discovered by Stephen P. Synnott/Voyager 2. Named after the wife of Othello in the play Othello who murders her after being misled by his ensign Lago.

Juliet – Discovered by Stephen P Synnott. Named after the famous Juliet from Romeo and Juliet. Juliet may collide with Desdemona in the next 100 million years.

Rosalind – Discovered by Stephen P. Synnott. Named after the daughter of the banished Duke Senior in As You Like It. Meets Orlando and falls in love with him which angers her uncle, the usurping Duke Frederick,  where she flees the court to the forest of Arden, disguised as a shepard named Ganymede she lives with her cousin Celia, sister of Ganymede and Duke Fredericks Fool Touchstone. Eventually reunited with her father and married to Orlando.

Cupid – Discovered by Mark R Showalter and Jack J. Lissauer. Character from Timon of Athens.  BUT WHO IS HE?!?!?!

Sycorax – Discovered by BJ Brett et al. Mother of Caliban and an unseen character in The Tempest, Sycorax is a Vicious and powerful witch. Sycorax also teaches Caliban to worship the demon Setebos.

Setebos – Discovered by John J. Kavelaar. A demon god worshipped by Caliban and Sycorax.

Perdita – Discovered by Erich Kurkoschka/Voyager 2. Named after Perdita(Latin for “lost”)after the daughter of Leontes and Hermione in the Winter’s Tale, the lost princess.

Ophelia – Discovered by Richard J Terrile(Voyager 2). The daughter of Polarius in Hamlet. End up falling into a brook and drowns, with a famous painting based off the story(also modelled after a real cadaver).

 

Assur – Also known as Ashur, Qal’at Sherqat and Kalah Shergat, Assur is a remnant city of the last Ashurite Kingdom. Occupied from 2600-2500BC to 14^th century AD, when Tamarlane(a Turko-Mongol conquerer) conducted a massacre of the population. Exploration of the site bagan in 1908. Named, and based on the worship of, an East Semitic god called Ashur, or Aṧṧur. He may have had solar iconography. A defied form of the city of Assur and capital of the Assyrian Kingdom. Since he did not originally have a family, and as the cult came under southern Mesopotamian influence, he could be considered the equivalent of Enlil, the chief god of Nippur. Marduk(Chief god of the Babylonians) eventually replaced Enlil, Assur absorbed Enlil’s wife Ninlil(Now known as Mullisu) and his sons Ninurta and Zababa. Interestingly, the Assyrians did not require conquered peoples to worship Ashur, instead, they spread the propaganda that their gods abandoned them. When the Assyrians conquered Babylon in the Sargonid period(8^th-7^th centuries BC) and in the Sargonid version of Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation myth, Ashur(Now rewritten as Anshar, “Whole Heaven” in Akkadian, language of Assyria nad Babylon) who slays the chaos monster Tiamat, and not Marduk as was original

 

Ur – Founded in around 3800 BC and abandoned around 500 BC. The city’s patron deity was  Nanna, Akkadian for “Sin”, the Sumerian and Babylonian moon god. The city’s name derived from the god’s name, Urim(Classical Sumerian spelling) meaning “the abode of Nanna”. Early occupation of Ur dates as far back as 6500 BC and these earliest levels were sealed off with a sterile deposit of soil which excavators  interpreted as evidence of the great flood. It is now known that the Euphrates and Tigris rivers heavily flooded the area regularly. Ur was also thought to be the birthplace of Abram somewhere in the 20^th century BC. In Islamic texts the prophet Ibrahim(Abraham) was thrown into the fire of Nimrod here. He was saved when God reduced the fire. First excavated in 1853 it’s most famous for the massive Ziggurat of Ur, or translated(from Sumerian) “House whose foundations creates terror”. Ironically, the foundations are the only part of the structure left today.

Titiana – Uranus’ largest moon. Discovered by William Herschel.  Titania is the Queen of the Fairies in a Midsummer Night’s Dream and wife to Oberon, the king. The two have an argument over one of Titania’s deceased mortal follower’s child.
 

 

Neptune

Named after the Roman god of the sea, and mirror of the Greek god Poseidon.

Thalassa. Discovered by Richard J. Terrile and the voyager team.  Thalassa, a Greek sea goddess, daughter of Aether and Hemera. With the sea god Pontus she was the mother of the 9 Telchines and Halia.

Proteus – Discovered by Stephen P. Synnott/Voyager 2. And early sea god or god of rivers. Homer calls him “The old man of the sea”. Can foretell the future, but will change shape to avoid having to.

Naiad – Discovered by Voyager imaging team. Naiads, according to Greek mythos, were water nymphs or water spirits who presided over fountains, streams, wells etc. Similar to mermaids, selkies, sirens, lady of the lake etc.

Larissa – Discovered by Harold J. Reitsama et al. A local nymph from Thessaly and lover of Poseidon who had 3 sons, Achaios, Phthios and Pelasgus.

Neso – Discovered by M. Holman, BJ Gladman et al. At 48km it is the furthest orbital moon of any planet and moon with the largest period(26.6 years). Named after 1 of the Naiads.

Psamanthe – Discovered by Scott S. Sheppard et al. It and Neso share possible origins. “Sand off the sea shore” Psamanthe is a Nereid, ie one of the 50 daughters of Nereus and Doris. The goddess of sand beaches, Psamanthe was the wife of Proteus.

Galatea – Discovered by Synnott/Voyager team. One of the 50 Nereids, Acis and Galatea were in love, but a jealous rival, a sicillian Cyclops Polyphemus killed Acis with a boulder. Galatea turned his blood into the Sicillian river Acis.

Despina – Discovered by Synnott/Voyager team. The daughter of Demeter and Poseidon. The Goddess of mysteries of Arcadian cults. When Poseidon desired Demeter she turned into her archaic mare form to avoid him. Poseidon then turned into a stallion and mated with her, producing Despina and a fabulous horse, Arion.

Halimede – Discovered by Matthew Holman et al. Halimede was one of the 50 Nereids. Also a species of crab.

Sao – Discovered by Matthew Holman et al. One of the nereids. Sao was associated with sailing and is referred to as “The Rescuer” or “Safety”.

Laomedeia – Discovered by Matthew Holman et al. Named after a Nereid.

Nereid – In Greek mythos, they are sea nymphs, 50 daughters of Nereus and Doris. Associated with the Aegean sea for the most part when they dwelt with their father within a silvery cave. Thetis was a Nereid and mother of Achilles. They often accompany Poseidon and can be friendly and helpful to sailors battling storms.

 

Kelashin – “Blue holy stone” in Kurdish. Kelashin is a mountain village in northern Iraq. The Kelashin Stele found there bears an important Urartian-Assyrian bilingual text dating back to 800 BC. The inscription describes the acquisition of the city of Musasir by the Urartian king Ishpuini.

 

Yursa – Yursa was a town, location unknown, from1350-1335 BC Amarna letters correspondence, possibly in central or eastern Canaan. There was 3 letters written to the pharaoh written by the mayor/ruler Pu-Ba’lu.”A shipment of glass”, “Like a command of the sun” and “Postscript to the royal scribe”. The first one reads: “To the king (i.e. Pharaoh), my lord, my god, my Sun, the Sun from the sky: Message of Pu-Ba'lu, your servant, the ruler of Yursa. I indeed prostrate myself at the feet of the king, my lord, my god, my Sun: the Sun from the sky. 7 times and 7 times, on the back and on the stomach. I am indeed guarding the place of the king, (my) lord, my Sun, the Sun from the sky. Who is the dog that would not o]be[y the orders of the king, the Sun from the sk]y? [since the king, my lord, has ord[ere[d] some glass, I end it to the king, my lord, my god, the Sun from the sk[y].”

Triton – Discovered by William Lassel. The largest moon of Neptune. Named after Triton, son of Poseidon and Amphirite, father of Ariel(the mermaid heh).  Known as the messenger of the sea.Like his father he carried a trident, but his signature was a conch shell, which he blew to calm or raise the waves. The father of Pallas and foster parent to Athena. Sometiems cited as the father of Scylla.A family of large sea snails, the shells of which has been used as trumpets since antiquity, are known as “Tritons”.

[Samoosa]

Sedna

Water spirits of various cultures. Sedna is the goddess of the sea and marine life in inuit mythology.  Known as the Mother of the Sea or Mistress of the Sea.  So many versions of Sedna’s stories exist. The varying legends each give different rationales for Sednas death,. Yet, in each version her father takes her to the sea, chopping off her fingers(where it turns into seals, whales, creatures of the sea etc). In each version she sinks to the bottom of the sea, worshipped by hunters who depend on her goodwill to supply food. She is generally considered a vengeful goddess, and hunters must placate and pray for her to release the sea animals for their hunt.

Kappa – A Japanese river spirit, or water deity, or rather yokai, that inhabits ponds and rivers with a reptilian skin and webbed hands and feet, a beak for a mouth and a turtle like shell and a hairless plate on their head, which they must always keep full of water, said to be the source of their power. They are said to steal a persons Shirikodama, a mythical ball said to contain the soul of a person located inside the anus.

Hyosube – A hair covered variation of the Kappa.

Ponaturi – In Maori mythology the Ponaturi are goblins who lived in a land beneath the sea by day and sleep on the shore at night, daylight being lethal to them.

Jengu – Water spirit and deity of the Sawa ethnic groups of Cameroon. Typically said to be a beautiful mermaid-like  figures with long, woolly hair and gap toothed smiles. They live I nrivers and the sea and bring good fortune to those who worship them. They can also cure disease and act as intermediaries between worshippers and the world of spirits.

Undine – Undines are essentially Naiads, or water spirits/nymphs who preside over fountains, springs, ponds etc. but not rivers.

Selkie – Scottish/Irish and Faroese folklore. Said to live as seals in the sea but shed their skin to become human on land. If a human steals a selkies shed sealskin they fall under their power, usually forcing them to marry. Selkies in folklore have a tendency to escape back to the sea when they find their skin again and destroying the skin. Male selkies are said to be extremely handsome and having great seductive powers over women, generally seeking out those who are dissatisfied with their life, such as fishermens wives.

Phithale – A Thai spirit of the sea. It manifests itself in different ways, one of them being St, Elmos fire, also a slang for naughty men.

Rusalka – In Slavic folklore, a mermaid is variously called Rusalka or variations make them out to be female ghosts, spirits or water nymphs who haunt water spots near their death. Said to dance in the middle of the night and entice handsome men, drowning them, or climb trees singing songs, brushing their hair etc.

Adaro – Malevolent merman – like sea spirits from the Solomon islands. Said to arise fro mthe wicked part of a persons spirit. Gills behind ears, tailfins for feet, horns like a sharks dorsal fin and a swordfish like spear growing out of its head.

Berehynia – A female spirit in Slavic mythology. Originally the spirit was similar to Rusalkas but since the 1980s, thanks to the words confusing etymology, is now considered part water sprite, part hearth goddess, protectoress of the home. A statue of one rapcled the statue of Lenin in the center of Kiev.

Tiamat – In Mesopotamian religion, Tiamat is a chaos monster, a primordial Goddess of the ocean, mating with Abzul(God of freshwater)to produce children.

Kelpie - In Celtic folklore the Kelpie is a waterhorse. Some say it can turn into a beautiful woman to lure people into the water to drown them. Others say the horse tricks people into riding it and turns its skin adhesive, then drowns them.

Naga – Buddhist/Hindu naga?

Charybdis – A Greek sea monster and later rationalised as a whirlpool and considered a shipping hazard in the strait of messina. Said to spout whirlpools thrice a day and was across Scylla, a similar monster on the other side of the strait.

Hydron - ?

Graeae – The Graeae are 3 old sisters who share 1 eye and 1 tooth. Daughters of Phorcys and Ceto, thus they were either aquatic or chthonic deities. They were sisters to the Gorgons.

Scylla – A seamonster like Charybdis, but inhabiting a bigger rock on the other side of the strait.

Nakki – A Finnish shapeshifting water spirit  that lives in ponds, docks, wells etc. and is known to pull young children into the depthif they lean too far over.

Camenae – In Roman mythos the Camenae were goddesses of childbirth, wells and fountains and also prophetic deities. There were 4 Camenae. Cermenta, Egerio, Antevorta and Postverta. They were later identified with the Greek muses.

Marid – Marids were especially powerful and large jinn in Arabic folklore.

Vodyanoi – In Slavic mythology, a vodyanoi is a male water spirit said to appear as a naked old man with a frog like face, greenish bear, long hair, body covered in algae and muck and black fish scales, webbed pawns instead of hands and eyes that burn like coals.

Tikoloshe – The Tokoloshe in Zulu mythology is a mischievous little man who can be called upon by witchdoctors to cause trouble for others. Why they refer to it as a water spirit I do not know but it’s not accurate. Considered to be completely white, gremlin like, hairy, bear like etc. variations are far and wide but it’s usually considered dwarf sized. Said to rape women or bite off their toes, dig up bodies and spread diseases, termites, rabid dogs and other animals. The only way t toward off a tokolshe is to have a brick beneath each of your bed’s legs. The Zulu population are still extremely superstitious about it.

Veles – A major Slavic supernatural force of earthy waters and the underworld. Associated with dragons, cattle, magic, musicians, wealth and trickery. St. Nicholas, ie Santa, is based off him, among others. His stories and mythology are insane far too much to add here. Post Christianity he was split into different characters, as a God of the underworld and dragons he became identified with the Devil. His benevolent sides were split into different saints. As cattle god he became Saint Blaise, who also became a patron of shepards, in many eastern Slavic folk tales he was replaced with St. Nicholas, from stories of him being a giver of wealth and trickster.

Yam – Yam was the Levantine god of the sea, dating back to bronze and early iron ages. Yam is the primordial deity of chaos, representing the power of the sea untamed and raging. He is the Canaanite equivalent of Tiamat. Yam holds special hostility towards Baal, son of Dagon.  Yams special enemy Hadad, or “king of heaven” and the “first born son” of El, whom ancient Greeks identified with Cronus, just as Baal was identified with Zeus, Yam with Poseidon and Mot with Hades. He can also be related to Jormungandr. Like Yam and Hadad, he and Thor slay each other at the end of the world.

Yemaja – Yemaja us an Orisha, a variation of God in the Yoruba religion, that was brought to the American coast by captive slaves. She is the ocean, the essence of motherhood and a fierce protector of children. As the captives spread so did the variations of her name, reaching as far as Brazil, Cuba and Haiti.

 

Amarna – Amarna is an extensive Egyptian archaeological site that’s the remains of a newly built city bu Pharaoh Akhenaten of the late Eighteenth Dynasty, which was abandoned shortly after his death(1332 BC) The name for the city by ancient Egyptians was written as Akhetaten, meaning “Horizon of the Aten”. Aten being the discof the sun, famously related to Ra. Akhetaten’s chief wife was the famous Nefertiti. Amarna is notable also for going against established Egyptian art. Unlike the strict idealistic formalism of previous Egyptian art, it depicted its subjects more realistically. These included informal scenes, such as intimate portrayals of affection within the royal family or playing with their children, and no longer portrayed women as lighter coloured than men. The art also had a realism that sometimes borders on caricature.

 

Sangeru – Sângeru is a commune in Prahova country, Romania,composed of 6 villages. Archaeological evidence shows that the village was occupied from the bronze age and the Geto-Dacian period(1^st-3^rd centuries BC). The village boasts a well preserved museum in a mnor raised duringthe 18^th century by boyar Andrei Bozianu.

Merrow – The Scottish and Gaelic version of mermaids, but with selkie traditions. They wore caps or capes that, when stolen, forces them to stay on land. Humans fro mthe waist up and fish from the waist down. They were said to be gentle, modest, affectionate and benevolent. Dating back millennia from when Milesians first landed on Irish shores.

 

 

 

Pluto
Underworld of Greek/Roman characters, Pluto being the Roman version of Hades. Also the second biggest dwarf planet after Eris.

Acheron – Also known as the river of woe, and 1 of the 5 rivers in the Greek underworld. The Cocytus and Phlegethon flowed into it. Possibly named after Acheron, son of Helios  and either Gaia or Demeter, and turned into the river after serving the Titans drinks during their fight with Zeus. The Roman poet virgil called it the principal river of Tartarus, from which the Styx and Cocytus sprang. The souls of the newly dead would be ferried over the Acheron by Charon into the underworld.

Nix – Discovered by Hal A. Weaver et al. One of Plutos 5 moons. Nix is the Greek goddess of darkness and night, and mother of Charon. Born from chaos and mother of numerous gods, including Eris.

Hydra – Discovered by Hal A. Weaver et al. Plutos outermost moon. Named after the 9 headed beast Hercules fights in Greek mythos and a reference to Pluto being the 9th planet.

Charon – Discovered by James W. Christy. One of Plutos 5 moons and the largest. Named after Christys wife Charlene(“Char”) Christy, the other colleagues at the observatory suggested Persephone. Stuck with Charon after discovering it was also the name of the ferryman in the Greek underworld. Ferrying over the river Acheron and not Styx as commonly believed.

Palus – Latin for Marsh, otherwise….?

Minthe – Minthe was a Naiad associated with the Cocytus river. Almost seducing Hades she was interrupted by Queen Persephone who metamorphosed her into the sweet swelling mint. Mint was used in Greek funerary rites, together with rosemary and myrtle.

Narcissus – Narcissus was a hunter, son of the river god Cephissus and a nymph named Liriope.  He was exceptionally proud and disdained those that loved him. Nemesis, the goddess of revenge, noticed his beauty and lured him to a pool, wherein he saw his own reflection and fell in love with it, not knowing it was an image, and eventually died there. Thus the origin of “narcissism”.

Oceanum - ? There’s no direct reference to “Oceanum”, so I’m assuming it to be “Oceanus”. Oceanus was believed by the ancient Romans and Greeks to be the divine personification of the World Ocean, an enormous river encircling the world.  In Greek mythology this river was personified as a Tita, a son of Uranus and Gaia. In Roman and Hellenistic mosaics this Titan was depicted as having the upper body of a muscular man with a long bear and horns(often crab claws) and the lower body of a serpent(Fitting Typhon’s description). Oceanus consort is Tethys, and their offspring are the ocean nymphs and three thousand Oceanids, all the rivers, lakes and fountains in the world. In the Titan war Oceanus was one of the few Titans to withdraw and not take part in the war.

Regna - ?

Hades – The Greek ruler of the underworld and brother to Zeus. The river Styx also sometimes bears this name, but it’s worth noting that the ferryman Charon crosses Acheron and not Styx. The oldest son of Cronus and Rhea, Hades, along with his brothers Poseidon and Zeus, overthrew Cronus’ Pantheon and claimed the world as their own. He had three sisters, Demeter, Hestia and Hera. These 6 were the original Olympian pantheon. Feared, although not evil, rather being a neutral force set on keeping the balance and ruling over his domain. Precious metals came from under the earth, and so it was thought that he was had control over these as well, and referenced as “Plouton”, the word for “wealth”, which is where the Roman word “Pluto” derives. He was the ruler of the underworld, but not Death itself, that role belonged to Thanatos.

Cypress – Cyparissues, or Kyporissos, was a boy beloved by Apollo. His favourite companion was a tamed stag, a gift from Apollo, which he accidently killed with his hunting javelin, and in his grief transformed him into a cypress tree, the classical symbol of mourning.

Cerberus – Or Greek “Kerberos”, as the moon is better known, since “Cerberus” is already designated to an unrelated asteroid.A multi-headed dog, or “hellhound”, with a serpents tail, a mane of snakes, and a lion’s claws. He guards Hades/Plutos domain and prevents the dead from escaping. The offspring of Echidna, a half-woman half-serpent, and Typhon. Its siblings are the Lernaean Hydra,Orthus, a two-headed hellhound and the Chimera, another 3 headed monster. Capturing Cerberus without weapons was the final task assigned to Heracles.

Outer Terminus – The end terminus compared to Mercury’s initial?

 

Hieracon – Or Theracon, or ancient Egyptian Pr.Nemty, was a ancient fortigued city of upper Egypt, on the right bank of the Nile, where today the village of al Atawla can be found. In Roman times the cohors prima of the Lusitanian auxiliaries were stationed there.

 

Sechura – The Sechura desert is a long strip located within Peru along the nothern Pacific coast. Notably, the desert has been subject to many floods from rivers and storms. In 1728, an earthquake generated tsunami swept inland destroying the town of Sechura, after which survivors moved more inland to its current location. During the El Niño years, flooding regularly occurs. In 1998, the runoff from flooding rivers poured into the desert, creating Peru’s second largest lake.

Eris – Many shortened names of diseases, fungi, parasites. Biggest dwarf planet and 9th biggest body known to orbit the sun, 1 moon Dysnomia and the 2 are the most distant known objects in the solar system. Eris is the goddess of chaos, strife and discord. Her Latin name is “Discordia”. A famous tale of Eris is her initiating the Trojan war. The goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite had been invited with the rest of Olympus to the forced wedding of Peleus and Thetis, the parents of Achilles. Eris was snubbed because goddess of discord at parties tends to be a downer. She, as part of a plan hatched by Zeus and Themis, tossed the golden apple of discord, inscribed “For the most beautiful one” or “To the fairest one”, provoking the goddesses to start quarrelling over who gets it. The hapless Paris, Prince of Troy, was appointed to select the fairest by Zeus. The goddesses stripped naked to try and win and also attempted to bribe him. Hera offered political power, Athena promised infinite wisdom and Aphrodite offered the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen, wife of Menelaus of Sparta. His choice doomed his city.

Acanth – Acanthamoeba?

Ascar – Ascaris is a genus of parasitic nematode worms or “small, intestinal roundworms”. They can  cause Ascariasis in 15% of cases. Initially symptons include shortness of breath, fever followed by abdominal swelling , abdominal pain and diarrhea.

Brugia – Brugia Malagi. Transmitted by mosquitos and is restricted to South and South East Asia. The roundworm cause lymphatic filariasis, aka elephantiasis, extreme swelling of the lower limbs.

Candira – The Candiru virus is a species in the genus Phlebovirus. The Candiru fish, also known as toothpick fish or vampire fish, is native to the Amazon basin. Known for an alleged tendency to invade and parasitise the human urethra, although tales go back to the 19th century, the first documented case from a human urethra occurred in 1997. Said to be attracted to urine, which has been proven false, the fish invades the urethra and embed its spines, forcing the victim to amputate. Again, there’s only been 1 documented case, and stories imply women are more likely to suffer an attack. No anal invasions have been reported to date.

Cyath -

Giardia – Giardiasis, popularly known as beaver fever is a zoonotic parasitic disease. The giardia organism inhabits the digestive tract of a wild variety of domestic and wild animals, as well as humans. It is the most common pathogenic parasitic infection in hummans worldwide; there were 280 million people with it in 2013. Symptons include loss of appetite, diarrhea, loose or watery stools, stomach cramps, upset stomach, projectile vomiting(uncommon), bloating, excessive gas and burping(sulphurous).

Sparga – Sparganosis is a parasitic infection caused by the plerocercoid larvae of diphyllobothroid tapeworms belonging to the genus Spirometra. The infection spreads via contaminated water, followed by a second host such as frogs or snakes, or a second host contaminating open wound or mucus membrane. Humans are accidental, while dogs, cats and other mammals are definite. Prevalent in Eastern Asia, it has been documented around the world. Once a human gets infected, the larvae migrate to an area under the skin where they typically develop into a painful nodule. Migration to the brain results in cerebral sparganosis and the eyes ocular sparganosis. Painful inflammatory reaction in the tissues around the larvae under the skin are followed by nodules that usually itch, swell, turn red, and migrate, often accompanied by painful edema. Seizures, headaches and hemiparesis are common symptons.

Ixodes  - Genus of hard bodied ticks(Ixodidae)

Solium - ?

Viver - ?

Cosis - ?

Phalan – Phalansterium? A genus of single-celled organisms compromising several species. Phalansterium produces tetraspores.

Oestrus – Oestrus is a genus of botflies, aka warldeflies, heelflies, gladflies. Botflies typically lay their eggs on mosquitos, ticks or other flies , where the eggs either hatch via bodyheat and dig in or through the mosquito bite. They then live under said mammals skin for 8 weeks after which they emerge as pupae. Don’t google pics.

Psoro – Psoroptes is a genus of mties responsible for psoroptic mange, better known as sheep scab or cattle scab.

Xini – ?

Ranova – ?

Saxis –  ?

Lepis – Lepisa fungi? Clitocybe? Attribute?

Grathos –

Histo – Histology?

Hymero – ?

Isos – Isospora?Genus of internal parasites under Coccidia, responsible for Isosporiasis, acute, non-bloody diarrhoea.

Nimus – ?

Kala-azar – Visceral leishmaniasi(VL), or black fever, kala-azar or Dumdum fever, is the most severe form of leishmaniasis, a disease caused by the protozoan parasites of the Leishmania genus. It is the second largest parasitic killer in the world(after malaria), responsible for an estimated 500 000 infections each year worldwide. The parasite(from sandflies) migrates to the internal organs such as liver, spleen and bone marrow, and, if left untreated, will almost always result in the death of the host. Signs and symptons include fever, weight loss., fatigue, anemia and substantial swelling of the liver and spleen. Of particular concerb, according to the WHO, is the emerging problem of HIV/VL co-infection. The lackening of the skin that gave the disease its common name in India does not appear in most strains of the disease.

Naeglar – A genus of protozoa. A microscopic euglenozoa commonly found in warm freshwater and soil. Only one species, Naegleria fowleri infects humans. It infects people by entering through the nose when simming or diving in warm freshwater places, like lakes or rivers. Once the moeba enters the brain it causes a usually fatal infection called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis(PAM), but again, very rare.

 

Zabala – Or Zabola, is a commune in Covasna County, Romania. More likely thoughis the reference to Zabala, a city of ancient Sumer which is now the Dhi Qar governorate in Iraq. It was at the crossing of the ancient Iturungal and ninagina canals. The deity was Inanna, a Sumerian goddess of love, fertility and warfare. She was also related to the planet Venus and Akkadian counterpart is Ishtar. A notable hymn describing her is; "When the servants let the flocks loose, and when cattle and sheep are returned to cow-pen and sheepfold, then, my lady, like the nameless poor, you wear only a single garment. The pearls of a prostitute are placed around your neck, and you are likely to snatch a man from the tavern." She has quite an elaborate and expanded background.

 

Akkad – Akkad was the capital city of the Akkadian empire, prominent in the 3^rd Millenium BCE. Akkad is only known through textual sources, a definite location has yet to be found, but speculated to have been on the Euphrates or, more likely, Tigris. Only know from Genesis 10:10 until it was identified in Mesopotamian cuneiform texts. The main goddess of Akkad was Ishtar, who was also identified with the Simerian goddess Inanna. The Akkadian empire collapsed in 2154 BCE, within 180 year os its founding, having united the Sumerian under its rule as well as parts of Iran. The collapse is mostly the cause of the regions environmental changes, the change from lush greenery to the arid wastes we know today.

“For the first time since cities were built and founded,

The great agricultural tracts produced no grain,

The inundated tracts produced no ostriches,

The irrigated orchards produced neither wine nor syrup,

The gathered clouds did not rain, the masgurum did not grow.

At that time, one shekel's worth of oil was only one-half quart,

One shekel's worth of grain was only one-half quart. . . .

These sold at such prices in the markets of all the cities!

He who slept on the roof, died on the roof,

He who slept in the house, had no burial,

People were flailing at themselves from hunger.”

The Curse of Akkad, after the sacking of the E-kur temple by Naram’Sin’s attack on the city of Nippur.