星期五, 11月 30, 1984

A s c l e p i u s /æsˈkli piəs/



H y g i e i a [haɪˈji ə] P a n a c e a [pænəˈsi ə] D a n a u s [ˈdænɪ əs]

Batesia plant, in the family Fabaceae; Batesia butterfly, in the family Nymphalidae.

F l o r a: In Greek mythology, P a n a c e a (Greek Πανάκεια, Panakeia) was a goddess of Universal remedy. A daughter of Asclepius and Epione.

The genus name of g i n s e n g is Panax (or "panacea"), reflecting Linnean understanding that plant was widely used in Traditional Chinese Medicine as a cure-all.

F a u n a: D a n a u s comes from the Greek mythological figure who had 50 daughters (monarchs have multiple generations in a year). He was the twin brother of the more well known Aegyptus (they were descendents of Io, the woman the ever-womanizing Zeus turned into a heifer to hide from the ever-jealous Hera). Aegyptus went on to become the king of Egypt and sired 50 sons, all of whom - save one - were killed by the Danaids (the collective name for Danaus's 50 daughters - more here).

Plexippus was one of Aegyptus's sons. The sons drew straws (sort of) to marry one of the daughters. Danaus had no interest in letting his daughters marry his twin brother's sons so they 51 of them fled to Argos. The Aegyptus and his 50 jilted sons tracked them down. Danaus readily submitted, not wanting harm to fall upon Argos, but told his daughters to kill their husbands on the first night of their marriage. Plexippus married and was murdered by Amphicomone.

One daughter, Hypermnestra, spared her husband, Lynceus, as he alone respected his wife's desire to remain a virgin. He later killed Danaus. He and Hypermnestra remained wedded and started the lineage of rulers of Argos (which includes such notables as Perseus). The other daughters chose new husbands by holding footraces. Other milkweeds or tigers have specific epithets that derive from other sons of Aegyptus (like Chrysippus). Link

P.S. Hypolimnas misippus, D a n a i d Eggfly  
C h r y s i p p u s, the illegitimate son of Pelops abducted by Laius.

星期四, 11月 29, 1984

H a m a d r y a s & H a m a d r y a d s

Eight Hamadryads /hæ məˈdraɪ əd/, the daughters of Oxylus and Hamadryas:

Karya (Walnut, Juglans or Hazelnut, Corylus)
Balanos (Oak)
Kraneia (Dogwood)
Morea (Mulberry)
Aigeiros (Black Poplar)
Ptelea (Elm, Ulmus)
Ampelos (Vines, especially Vitis)
Syke (Fig)

Hamadryad M O R E A 「 護 樹 寧 芙: 桑 」

 M o r u s L. Pyramus and Thisbe: the gods listen to Thisbe's lament, and forever change the colour of the mulberry fruits into the stained colour to honour the forbidden love.

C h r y s a o r

"he who has a golden sword"
(from χρυσός, golden; and ἄορ, sword)

星期三, 11月 28, 1984

Nicolas P O U S S I N (1594- 1665)

The Empire of Flora (1631)


The Triumph of Flora

Doubtful knight's spur, Consolida ajacis; Shrubby germander, Teucrium fruticans. link

King Teucer: son of the river Scamander and nymph Idaea. Before the arrival of Dardanus, the land that would come to be called Dardania. Batea, his daughter and the only child, was married to Dardanus. King Teucer was considered the first figure to bear the bloodline of the Trojans.

Teucer, son of King Telamon of Salamis: During the Trojan War, Teucer was mainly a great archer, who loosed his shafts from behind the giant shield of his half-brother Ajax the Great.

Because of his half-brother's suicide, Teucer stood trial before his father, where he was found guilty of negligence for not bringing his dead half-brother's body or his arms back with him. He was disowned by his father, wasn't allowed back on Salamis Island, and set out to find a new home. His departing words were introduced in the seventh ode of the first book of the Roman poet Horace's Odes, in which he exhorts his companions to "nil desperandum", "despair in no way", and announces "cras ingens iterabimus aequor", "tomorrow we shall set out upon the vast ocean". This speech has been given a wider applicability in relation to the theme of voyages of discovery, also found in the Ulysses of Tennyson.