Mythful Meanings

In the English language, many meanings come from myths. This blog considers many of those words.

Myths are stories people tell to explain the great mysteries of life, such as birth and death, why the sun rises and sets, and why the moon changes in a predictable pattern.

I decided to start over from the end of the alphabet and work toward the beginning. I have a stack of index cards with information typed on them, all in alphabetical order. When I started this blog, I started at A, because I didn't realize that all the entries would be pushed down.

Saturday, September 1, 2007

Saturn

To the ancient Romans, Saturn (Greek, Cronos or Uranus) was the chief of the Titans, those original deities who preceded the gods of Olympus. Saturn was the father of Jupiter (Greek Zeus), the king of the gods of Olympus.

English word: Saturn gives us many words in English, starting with the planet Saturn, and including Saturday. Also it gives us saturnalia, which was originally a festival, and now means any period of general license and excessive vice. It also gives us saturnine meaning "heavy, grave, gloomy, dull."
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)