It’s only words… 3

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Getting back to the origin of words, this time we seek divine inspiration. The words below have their origins connected to Roman & Greek Gods. Of course words related to the Gods are bound to be intense in their emotions, and so it is with these words.

We begin with the ancient Roman God of war ‘Mars’, from whose name is derived the word ‘Martial’, which means, ‘suited for war’ or ‘warlike’.

For the Romans, a martial race, Mars was the most important God after Jupiter and was also considered the father of the Roman people because he was the father of Romulus, the founder of Rome.

His importance can be gauged from the fact that the month of ’March’ has been named in his honour. The start of spring was also the time when most war campaigns began and thus it was appropriate that the month be named after a God who took a savage delight in slaughtering his enemies. In fact until Julius Caesar set the calendar back by two months, March was the first month of the year.

The planet ’Mars’ was also named after him because it is shining red, which resembles blood, appropriate for the God of war. As the adage goes, ‘Like a badge of blood in the sky, the Red Planet has long stood for the gods of war’.

Besides war, Mars was the God of anger, courage, revenge, and terror. He was also the God of growth, agriculture, spring and fertility and was the protector of cattle. But he is better known for his exploits in the battlefield than in the cattle field. Mars is symbolized by, amongst other things, the wolf and the lance. His Greek equivalent is ‘Ares’.

We now move to ‘Vulcan’ or ‘Volcan’, the God of Fire & Iron as well as the patron saint of Blacksmiths and Craftsmen. Responsible for making the arms and armor for the immortals (the Gods & the heroes), he was said to have lived below the volcanic island of Vulcano (Mediterranean Sea, off the western coast of Italy). The word ’Volcano’ is derived from here. The volcano itself was said to be the chimney of Vulcan's forge and the hot lava, fragments and clouds of dust erupting from the volcano were thought to be coming form the chimney as he made the weapons, including Thunderbolts for Jupiter.

Vulcan, the son of Jupiter and Juno was depicted as an ugly figure with deformities in his legs but was linked to many goddesses including Maia (the Earth Mother), Vesta, Venus and Minerva. His Greek counterpart was Hephaestus.

Because of their fear & awe of fire and its ability to destroy, the ancient Romans would honor Vulcan with a festival called ‘Vulcanalia’, which was held every year on the 23rd of August. During this festival, fishes and small animals were thrown into the fire to supposedly placate him so that he would spare the more valuable and vulnerable things like grain and houses.

Another God, this time Greek, is Morpheus, the ancient God of sleep and dreams and from whom is derived the word ‘Morphine’, a bitter drug with very strong analgesic, sedative and hypnotic effects.

Morphine occurs naturally in the opium poppy and it is used for managing moderately severe and severe pain. It is highly addictive and can produce intense ecstasy and a sense of complete relaxation, although tolerance to it develops quickly, thus requiring higher amounts each time.

Morpheus’ name itself is derived from the Greek ‘morphe’ which means ‘who forms, or molds’. He was the son of Hypnos (the God of sleep) & Pasithea and was said to be responsible for shaping our dreams, although most sources say that he was only in charge of the human images in dreams, while his two brothers, Phobetor and Phantasos were in charge of animal and inanimate objects.

It is also said that he lived on a bed made of ebony in a dark cave decorated with poppy.

And from Eros, the Greek God of lust, desire, passion, physical love and fertility is the origin of the word ’Erotic’ meaning ‘which tends to arouse sexual love or desire’.

Eros’ Roman equivalent were Amor (love) and Cupid and he was also sometimes referred to as ‘Eleutherios‘ (the liberator) and ‘Protagonus’, the first-born or the primal God, implying that he was one of the Gods responsible for the creation of the universe. It is said that he was the one to make Gaia (Goddess representing the earth’s fertility) and Uranus (Latin for sky) fall in love, which resulted in the creation of all life.