Latest news with #Menelaus
Spectator
5 days ago
- General
- Spectator
Does Canopus have a connection with canopy?
I spent some time looking for the connection between the ancient city of Canopus and the English canopy. Nelson won the Battle of the Nile in Aboukir Bay. The bay was named after the city of Abu Qir, which was named after a Christian martyr, St Cyrus. Abu Qir stands on the site of the city of Canopus, to which ran the Canopic Way, from Alexandria. Canopus was said to have been founded by Menelaus, the King of Sparta who figures in the Iliad. Canopus, the pilot of his ship, was fatally bitten by a snake, and around the monument built by Menelaus grew the city. At Canopus, the Egyptian god Osiris was worshipped under the form of a jar with a human head. Modern antiquaries gave the name Canopic jars to other such jars with quite a different purpose: to hold the entrails of mummified bodies. The helmsman Canopus was also remembered in ancient times by a star in the constellation of Argo, itself named after Jason's ship, a beam of which killed him. Argo was among the 48 constellations named in the 2nd century ad by the astronomer Ptolemy in a book that we call the Almagest, from its Arabic name, deriving from Greek meaning 'the greatest'. The star Canopus is the second brightest in the sky, and it seems that the south-eastern wall of the square-built Kaaba in Mecca faces the rising point of Canopus, and the orientation of early mosques was taken from this. Mosques perhaps, but not mosquitoes. The Ancient Greek for mosquito was kōnōps, which does not come from konos ('cone') and ops ('face'), but perhaps from some pre-Greek word. Still, the Greek konopeion 'a couch with mosquito curtains' developed in two ways. One was into the French canapé 'sofa', hence a little bit of bread with something sitting on it: our party canapé. The other development, in the Middle Ages, was into canopy, a hanging, sometimes a hanging of honour. So Canopus has no connection with canopy, but I enjoyed finding that out.'
Observer
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Observer
Wars happen... when politics don't!
What on earth is going on? Now India and Pakistan are at each other's throats again and all as the consequence of a partitioning that occurred in 1947. Theirs may well have always been a fractious peace, but their politicians owe it to their constituents to do their jobs, to be wise, when boldness and haste, beckon. Apart from such conflict potentially destabilising global peace, it reflects incredibly badly upon us in terms of our ability to respect each other and those qualities that make us who and what, we are. In years gone by, war and conflict took place purely for greed, with gold, silver, diamonds, tobacco and spices the 'currencies' of war, as the British, Spanish, Germans and French plundered the world; and through their avarice, could not see the futility, of war, the pain and anguish of death; and the desolation, the emptiness. Too many victories were forged in unequal battles between shot and spear, pyrrhic victories, devoid of any genuine sense of achievement. So many wars and conflicts have been fought over love and jealousy, such as that inspired by Helen, wife of the Spartan King Menelaus. Seduced by Paris of Troy, their very public lust left the Trojans and Spartans fighting for ten years over the walled city of Troy, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands. Over ten years paupers and princes alike were to perish, as the Spartans hurled their forces against the impenetrable walls of the city. The conflict only ended when the 'Trojan Horse,' a 'gift' by any other name and Spartan trickery saw the defences breached at last. 'Helen of Troy' though, despite 'marrying' Paris and subsequently his brother Deiphobus, was to reunite with Menelaus and live happily ever after... so it was all for nothing in the end! King Arthur, of the Round Table, had his knights and a beautiful Queen, Guinivere, but she succumbed to a love affair with the bravest of his knights, Sir Lancelot. A bitter conflict of two years ended with the knighthood of the Round Table divided, their quest for the 'Holy Grail' abandoned, their impeccable championship of chivalry and their respect for each other, for their very way of life, emasculated. Arthur withdrew an irrevocably broken man, never to rule, or fight again, while, in her shame Guinivere entered a nunnery and would never step outside its walls again and the lion that was Lancelot became a hermit-like recluse, an object of ridicule, a world away from the fame and fortune of the 'Dragonslayer.' Again, there were no winners here, just the inevitable pain and suffering. Cleopatra of Egypt, at a mere eighteen years, was to seduce the mighty Roman Julius Caesar, in her feud for the Egyptian throne she felt unfairly deprived of by her brother Ptolemy XIII and her sister Arsinol. In her name, Caesar invaded Egypt and became Emperor of Rome, before being betrayed and stabbed. Cleopatra then set herself to win Mark Antony and for her, he waged an ill-advised war on his own people to have Cleopatra's son recognised as Caesar. As their enemies closed in on them Antony stabbed himself and Cleopatra succumbed to self-inflicted snake bites, neither achieving in battle, the perfect ending to their love story. They were all losers! The one great hope for wars fought over passion is the story of Romulus the ruler of Rome in its first days around 2800 years ago. With few women in the city and anxious to grow their population, the Romans abducted hundreds of women from other cities. When war loomed, it was those very victims, the Sabine women, who prevented bloodshed by standing between the antagonists insisting that violence was not the solution. As a result, Rome grew quickly to create a reign of a thousand years. Knowing we will never prevent wars for greed and perhaps the Sabine women should be our inspiration? Only the foolish among the political hierarchies of the sub-continent, would seek to scorn wisdom and perpetuate fickle indifference, because, in conflict there are no winners, only survivors. BLURB Apart from such conflict potentially destabilising global peace, it reflects incredibly badly upon us in terms of our ability to respect each other and those qualities that make us who and what, we are
