this post was submitted on 28 Dec 2024
22 points (100.0% liked)
Melbourne
2142 readers
73 users here now
This community is a place created for the people of Melbourne and Victoria. We are a positive, welcoming and inclusive community. We might not agree about everything, but we always strive to stay civil and respectful.
The focus of our discussions is based around things that affect Victoria, but we are also free to discuss our local perspective on wider issues. Or head to the regular Daily Random Discussion thread to talk about anything.
Ongoing discussions, FAQs & Resources (still under construction)
Adoption Certificate for Nellie, the Daily Thread numbat (with thanks to @Catfish)
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Here's a cool etymology thing - Arctic means "bears", because you can see the Ursa constellations from the North Pole. And Antarctica (anti-arctic) means "no bears", you can't see the Ursa constellations there. It's coincidence I think, that the Arctic does in fact have Polar Bears, and Antarctica doesnt
Latin and Greek retained the original Proto-Indo European (PIE) root word for bear, "*rtko", in their words ursus and *arktos", respectively. We use the word "bear" now to describe that species, and "bear" also comes from the PIE word *bher, meaning "bright/brown". It's theorised that hunters had a taboo on the "Ursa/arktos" name, and instead used euphemisms and nicknames to describe the animal.
Just thought that was neat :3
"According to legend, Ursa Major was once the beautiful maiden Callisto, whom the god Zeus had an affair with. In order to protect her and their son, Arcas, from his jealous wife Hera, Zeus turned Callisto and Arcas into bears. He then picked up the bears by their short, stubby tails and threw them into the sky".
The ancient greeks had some really good drugs.
It's the ouzo. Also responsible for the orgies.
Uh, can I have what they're having? ๐
that is cool ๐
Also King Arthur (of Round Table fame) was probably named that to cash in on the bear's prestige/status. Consider also 'berserker' warriors - the bear-shirt warriors.