What, 'muggeziften'? It just means 'sifting gnats/musquitos'. ;)
(For our Dutch-challenged friends, yes, I can probably think of another word that's less, uhm, politically correct. In fact, some speculation as to the sexual attractiveness of Hymenoptera specifically the subcategory of Formicidae to one's discussion partner is involved. Alternatively there are insinuations about people's sexual behaviour towards a certain punctuation mark.)
Is it the greeks who didn't have standardized spelling, or is it that we spell their names differently according to which language we're spelling in? (I.e. 'Hercules' versus 'Herakles' or 'Hercule')
As far as I know, both. After all, which Greeks are we talking about specifically? Considering the geographical *and* chronological spread, there's quite a lot to choose from, even if we leave linear-A out of the equation. The myths themselves weren't standardised either, there's lots of different versions.
Bit like Agincourt - everyone knows the battle, rather than the village.)
Right, and the battle of Britain, everyone's heard of that, but who even remembers where... Oh. Wait. ;)
You might know this, but I'm just geeking out: Thermopylae was a mountain pass where an army of three hundred heavy troops, assisted by five thousand six hundred light infantery, could hold back an army of ten million. And did. The Spartans held back Emperor Xerxes' fucking *huge* army back for a week, allowing the entire population of Athens to evacuate to the island Salamis. Note: Sparta and Athens did not get along, they'd been at war constantly before Xerxes showed up. Yet one of the two kings of Sparta (Leonidas) sacrificed himself and his best troops at Thermopylae so Athens might live. Athens massed their fleet in front of Salamis and they destroyed Xerxes' (much bigger) fleet. It helped that Xerxes' ships were to big to maneuovre in the narrow strait of Salamis, while the Athenians were zipping around in their lighter and smaller and much faster vessels. Without his fleet Xerxes couldn't hold Greece, and that's why Greece didn't become just another province in the Persian empire. This is also the reason Alexander (the Great) invaded Persia. He didn't want Xerxes' descendents to try again.
Interesting detail: Before the invasion the oracle of Delphi had prophesied that Athens would only be safe behind walls of wood. This is pretty much spot on if you consider that the stone city walls didn't hold Xerxes' army back for more than a couple of hours. The wall of ships, on the other hand, saved them.
no subject
(For our Dutch-challenged friends, yes, I can probably think of another word that's less, uhm, politically correct. In fact, some speculation as to the sexual attractiveness of Hymenoptera specifically the subcategory of Formicidae to one's discussion partner is involved. Alternatively there are insinuations about people's sexual behaviour towards a certain punctuation mark.)
Is it the greeks who didn't have standardized spelling, or is it that we spell their names differently according to which language we're spelling in? (I.e. 'Hercules' versus 'Herakles' or 'Hercule')
As far as I know, both. After all, which Greeks are we talking about specifically? Considering the geographical *and* chronological spread, there's quite a lot to choose from, even if we leave linear-A out of the equation. The myths themselves weren't standardised either, there's lots of different versions.
Bit like Agincourt - everyone knows the battle, rather than the village.)
Right, and the battle of Britain, everyone's heard of that, but who even remembers where... Oh. Wait. ;)
You might know this, but I'm just geeking out: Thermopylae was a mountain pass where an army of three hundred heavy troops, assisted by five thousand six hundred light infantery, could hold back an army of ten million. And did. The Spartans held back Emperor Xerxes' fucking *huge* army back for a week, allowing the entire population of Athens to evacuate to the island Salamis. Note: Sparta and Athens did not get along, they'd been at war constantly before Xerxes showed up. Yet one of the two kings of Sparta (Leonidas) sacrificed himself and his best troops at Thermopylae so Athens might live. Athens massed their fleet in front of Salamis and they destroyed Xerxes' (much bigger) fleet. It helped that Xerxes' ships were to big to maneuovre in the narrow strait of Salamis, while the Athenians were zipping around in their lighter and smaller and much faster vessels. Without his fleet Xerxes couldn't hold Greece, and that's why Greece didn't become just another province in the Persian empire. This is also the reason Alexander (the Great) invaded Persia. He didn't want Xerxes' descendents to try again.
Interesting detail: Before the invasion the oracle of Delphi had prophesied that Athens would only be safe behind walls of wood. This is pretty much spot on if you consider that the stone city walls didn't hold Xerxes' army back for more than a couple of hours. The wall of ships, on the other hand, saved them.
Okay, I'm done now. :)