prog and greek mythology
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URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=25704
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Topic: prog and greek mythology
Posted By: pepo
Subject: prog and greek mythology
Date Posted: July 04 2006 at 18:45
| Is there any other prog work besides the fountain of salmacis and icarus borne in the wings of steel about greek mythology?. |
Replies:
Posted By: WaywardSon
Date Posted: July 04 2006 at 18:50
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Doesn´t Rush-Hemispheres have some Greek Mythology? Also Symphony X. |
Posted By: yesman72
Date Posted: July 04 2006 at 19:56
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Cinema Show by Genesis mentions Tiiresias |
Posted By: Deadwing12
Date Posted: July 04 2006 at 19:59
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Symphony X deals with all forms of mythology, though I couldn't tell you any specific examples. They do have a song based Homer's The Odyssey, which counts for something.
------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Deadwing008/?chartstyle=Basquiat"> 
|
Posted By: Stars Die
Date Posted: July 04 2006 at 20:04
Therion has a mythological theme to almost all of their material, they are bound to have made something about Zeus and the boys as well... ------------- Du Skojar om att jag Skojar men jag skojar inte alls |
Posted By: AcostaFulano
Date Posted: July 04 2006 at 22:54
| I'm not 100% sure, but I think the characters of OCTOPUS come from mythology |
Posted By: Raff
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 00:49
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"The Advent of Panurge" comes from literature (Rabelais' "Pantagruel", a 16th-century French masterpiece of comic literature). Iron Maiden's "Flight of Icarus" is also inspired by the Greek myth of Dedalus and Icarus and their flight from the Labyrinth. |
Posted By: Teaflax
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 01:00
Marillion's Grendel is based on the John Gardner book of the same name, which is based on the epic poem Beowulf, which is a folk tale, so... -------------  
|
Ghost Rider wrote:Posted By: Raff
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 01:12
| The history of "Beowulf" is a bit more complicated that a mere folk tale. As a matter of fact, I'm doing some research on the subject, so I'm aware that the poem has also quite a few historical implications. Anyway, I know of John Gardner's book, and I happened to come across his review of one of Tolkien's works in a book I've been translating lately. |
Posted By: Fassbinder
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 01:15
...all this looks like a renewal and continuation of the "Classical Poetry in Prog" thread, which took place recently...
|
Posted By: Joolz
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 01:36
Yes indeed. It could even be the earliest contribution to art/history from my own area of eastern England which in the 'Anglo-Saxon' period formed the kingdom of the East Angles. If you are not already familiar with it, Dr Sam Newton's book 'The Origins Of Beowulf and the Pre-Viking Kingdom Of East Anglia' is a fascinating read which makes a compelling argument [see his website http://www.wuffings.co.uk - http://www.wuffings.co.uk ]. |
Posted By: Cheesecakemouse
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 01:38
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Genesis - Fountain of Salamicus on their album Nursey Cyme, is based on the myth Hermes and Aphrodite creating the hermaphrodite ------------- |
Posted By: Dragon Phoenix
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 02:40
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Another take on the Icarus story is the brilliant song Icarus by Kayak. Outside prog, Trojan Blue by Icehouse is based on the Trojan war.
------------- Blog this: http://artrock2006.blogspot.com |
Posted By: Fassbinder
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 02:45
| Jethro Tull "Cold Wind to Valhalla" seems to be related to the mythology (not Greek, though). |
Posted By: N Ellingworth
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 02:49
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What about Ocean by Eloy? A concept album based on the legend of Atlantis. |
Posted By: Dragon Phoenix
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 02:56
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... whic reminds me of Earth and Fire - Atlantis....
------------- Blog this: http://artrock2006.blogspot.com |
Posted By: Sathvik
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 02:59
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In The Wake Of Poseidon? ------------- 
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Posted By: Dragon Phoenix
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 03:29
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And why did we all forget The Lamia by Genesis?
------------- Blog this: http://artrock2006.blogspot.com |
Posted By: Paco Fox
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 03:32
| Also 'The Oddyssey' by David Bedford. It's his most accesible record, although it's still quite experimental. |
Posted By: Dragon Phoenix
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 03:32
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There is also a rather obscure band Agamemnon who recorded a suite called Agamemnon.. http://www.progarchives.com/Progressive_rock_discography_CD.asp?cd_id=11108 As a side noet: apart from Agamemnon, also Pallas, Styx and Aphrodite's Child took their band names from greek mythology. ------------- Blog this: http://artrock2006.blogspot.com |
Posted By: Frasse
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 04:42
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No one mentioned Supper's Ready yet? Gabriel sings about Narcissus and Pythagoras. |
Posted By: BebieM
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 05:02
Pythagoras is not really Mythology, is he?  about Styx, are you sure this isn't Roman Mythology? As far as I know it's a river in the underworld, which appears in the Aeneis by Vergil who was a Roman. Is there any appearance in Greek Mythology too? |
Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 05:14
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Lots of bands took their names from Greek mythology: Atlas, Medea,
Icarus and Ikarus (different spellings of the same name), Daedalus and
Dedalus (see Icarus), Midas, Minotaurus, Hamadryad, Iris, Priam, Orion,
Orpheo (variation of Orpheus), Tantalus. To name a few.
-------------  BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 07:17
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let's not forget "The Three Fates" (Cllotho, Lachesis, Atropos) by ELP
-------------  A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta |
Posted By: Joolz
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 07:24
The Romans borrowed hugely from the Greeks, in many cases simply changing names or shoe-horning an obscure Roman name onto an established classic Greek entity. The Styx came from Greece - it was one of the rivers of the underworld which was the abode of the god Hades. The Styx separated the underworld from the world of the living. The infamous Achilles Heel came about because the boy Achilles was dipped into the Styx to give him immortality, but the heel was missed out, hence it became his week spot. Lesson over ....  |
Posted By: Stars Die
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 07:26
 YEah!------------- Du Skojar om att jag Skojar men jag skojar inte alls |
Posted By: Fassbinder
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 07:35
| A propos Achilles: "Achilles Last Stand" by Led Zeppelin... (though I don't really know what this song is about...) |
Posted By: Dragon Phoenix
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 07:36
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There is also the song Orpheus by David Sylvian.
------------- Blog this: http://artrock2006.blogspot.com |
Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 07:44
Yes, it also mentions "the mighty arms of Atlas". I always thought this was about Led Zep going on tour ("it was an April morning when they told us we should go") but it could be about Plant and his wife going on holiday to Greece (or Plant and Page).
|
Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 07:57
there were actually five rivers in the Greek Underworld: Styx (the river of hate), Acheron (the river of woe), Phlegethon (the river of fire), Cocytus (the river of wailing) and Lethe (the river of forgetfulness). Virgil mentions the Eridanos as river of the Underworld too in his Aeneid. and a little correction: Achilles was bathed in the waters of the Styx not for giving him immortality, but for giving him invulnerability. his mother Thetis forgot to dip the heel she held him by into the water too ------------- A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta |
Posted By: Joolz
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 08:27
"According to some versions, Styx had miraculous powers and could make someone immortal. Achilles may have been dipped in it in his childhood, acquiring invulnerability, with exception of his heel, which was held by his mother in order to submerge him." [from well known encyclopedia] In other words, Thetis attempted to make him immortal so that he was invulnerable. |
Posted By: Lex C
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 10:36
| haha Latin nerds, Blind Guardian has a 14 minute long epic on the trojan war. |
Posted By: Raff
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 10:37
It's not about anything mythological, the title being largely metaphorical for some life experience. Fantastic song, though - and very proggy!  |
Posted By: Raff
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 10:39
There are indeed references to Norse mythology ("Valkyrie maidens cry/ on the cold wind to Valhalla), but the song is mostly about the search for success. BTW, it's one of my favourite JT songs. |
Posted By: the icon of sin
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 10:48
|
The only Therion albums I have are Sirius B and Lemuria, but they have a few on Greek myths. "Typhon" (on the monster born from Tartarus and Gaia), "Dark Venus Persephone" (comparing Hades' temporary partner to Venus/Aphrodite) and "An Arrow From The Sun" (about Apollo and Olympia). The last song of Sirius B is called "Feuer Overture/Prometheus Entfesselt" and, although written in German (?) has references to Zeus, Pandora and Herakles, as well the Titan.
And you've got to love Symphony X's "The Odyssey".
EDIT: Also Nick Cave's "Lyre Of Orpheus". But I suppose it's not that prog.
|
Posted By: Frasse
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 11:27
Both. Pythagoras was a real-life mathematican and philosopher of ancient greece. According to myth he is also the inventor of music. I think that Gabriel has the later in mind when he sings that Pythagoras writes, in blood, the lyrics of a brand new tune. |
Posted By: Alucard
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 12:14
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Wishbone Ash used some references to Greek mythology in their early records : 'Phoenix', 'Argus'(+ the cover), 'Persephone'. ------------- Tadpoles keep screaming in my ear "Hey there! Rotter's Club! Explain the meaning of this song and share it" |
Posted By: Forgotten Son
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 12:25
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The Greek Neo-Prog band La Tulipe Noire's latest album, http://www.progarchives.com/Progressive_rock_discography_CD.asp?cd_id=11337 - Nostimon Hemar , is a concept album based on ancient Greek mythology: |
Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 12:27
that's by far not the same; Achilles would still have had to undergo an aging process and finally diie. for the ancient Greek immortality diid not automatically mean eternal youth, as the story of the Goddess Eos and her human lover Tithonios shows. she begged Zeus for immortality for her lover, which was granted, but forgot to beg for eternal youth too, so Tithonios grew older and older and weaker and weaker but could not die, until Zeus finally had pity on him and turned him into a grasshopper ------------- A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta |
Posted By: aapatsos
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 14:32
where did u learn all that ? they dont teach us such things in Greek schools...
 BTW Achilles is not a mythical character, he indeed existed...
|
Posted By: Fassbinder
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 15:54
| In the Jethro Tull's Minstrel in the Gallery album (remastered version) there is a song "Pan Dance", but it means nothing as it is an instrumental track. The relation to the Greek mythology is in the name only. |
Posted By: Stars Die
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 18:53
"And then There was silence" my favourite song! ------------- Du Skojar om att jag Skojar men jag skojar inte alls |
Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 19:10
|
a very subtle reference to Greek mythology can be found in "Ripples" by
Genesis; the line "The face that launched a thousand ships" is taken
from the Iliad (where it refers to Helen of Troy)
------------- A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta |
Posted By: the icon of sin
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 20:48
| There's a Perfect Circle song called "Orestes" dealing with the Erinyes, or Fates. |
Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: July 05 2006 at 21:38
the Erinyes must not be confused with the Fates or Moirae; the latter
are, as their name already suggests, Goddesses of fate: Clotho, the
spinner of the thread of life, Lachesis the disposer, who holds and
measures it, and Atropos the inevitable one, who finally cuts it off.
they are supposedly much older than the other Gods, and even Zeus
feared them. the Erinyes, or Eumenides, "the Kindly Ones", as they were
called after they ceased persecuting Orests for killing his mother
(thus avenging the murder of his father Agamemnon), were deities of
vengeance. Homer doesn't give number or names of them, Virgil gives
their number as three: Alecto the unceasing one, Megaera the grudging
one and Tisiphone the avenger------------- A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta |
Posted By: progadicto
Date Posted: July 06 2006 at 01:13
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Montefeltro - IL TEMPO DI FAR LA FANTASIA... the last song of tjis album is based on a short story by Jorge Luis Borges (argentinian writer) which talks about the Minotaur myth...
------------- ... E N E L B U N K E R... |
Posted By: Rust
Date Posted: July 06 2006 at 02:01
|
Pink Floyd - Sysyphus
My favorite song by Rick Wright, and on my favorite album by them, Ummagumma. The song tells the tale of Sysyphus and his eternal doom of rolling a rock up a hill. Very classical song, deffinetly worth 5 stars!
 ------------- We got to pump the stuff to make us tough from the heart Its astart What we need is awareness we cant get careless Mental self defensive fitness Make everybody see in order to fight the powers that be |
Posted By: the icon of sin
Date Posted: July 06 2006 at 06:35
Oops...I did mean Furies...
 It's not like I get them confused but it happens. And don't worry, I know all about Clytemnestra's story.
 |
Posted By: Rocktopus
Date Posted: July 06 2006 at 06:56
|
Its a bit off topic, but the Egyptian: Book of the Dead has inspired many songs as well: Van der Graaf Generator - The Boat of Millions of Years (b-side of Refugees, bonus Least we.. remaster). Fantastic song. It could have worked as a real epic. Steve Hackett - Shadow of the Hierophant. This is a real epic. I'm know there's more. (I know there is a progband named K2 that has an album called: Book of the Dead) ------------- Over land and under ashes In the sunlight, see - it flashes Find a fly and eat his eye But don't believe in me Don't believe in me Don't believe in me |
Posted By: Rocktopus
Date Posted: July 06 2006 at 07:14
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Van der Graaf: Siren Song and the Sphynx in the Face, are not mentioned yet, are they? ------------- Over land and under ashes In the sunlight, see - it flashes Find a fly and eat his eye But don't believe in me Don't believe in me Don't believe in me |
Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: July 06 2006 at 09:07
since you mention the Egyptian Book of the Dead, I would again like to mention the album "Xitintoday" by Nik Turner's Sphynx, which is all about this book. Nik Turner's Sphynx were, apart from Nik Turner on flute and saxes, half of Gong (Mike Howlett, Tim Blake, Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy) plus a few other musicians, most notably Morris Pert of Brand X, Harry Williamson of what was to become Mother Gong and Hawkwind drummer Alan Powell. in my opinion the best prog release of 1978. here a link to the album in the database: http://www.progarchives.com/Progressive_rock_discography_CD.asp?cd_id=8156 - http://www.progarchives.com/Progressive_rock_discography_CD.asp?cd_id=8156 ------------- A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta |
Posted By: Rocktopus
Date Posted: July 06 2006 at 12:32
|
[/QUOTE] since you mention the Egyptian Book of the Dead, I would again like to mention the album "Xitintoday" by Nik Turner's Sphynx, which is all about this book. Nik Turner's Sphynx were, apart from Nik Turner on flute and saxes, half of Gong (Mike Howlett, Tim Blake, Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy) plus a few other musicians, most notably Morris Pert of Brand X, Harry Williamson of what was to become Mother Gong and Hawkwind drummer Alan Powell. in my opinion the best prog release of 1978. here a link to the album in the database: http://www.progarchives.com/Progressive_rock_discography_CD.asp?cd_id=8156 - http://www.progarchives.com/Progressive_rock_discography_CD.asp?cd_id=8156 [/QUOTE] I've never heard of it (or maybe I just haven't been paying attention)! Looks extremly interesting. It actually looks like a must have. ------------- Over land and under ashes In the sunlight, see - it flashes Find a fly and eat his eye But don't believe in me Don't believe in me Don't believe in me |
Posted By: Raff
Date Posted: July 06 2006 at 12:38
|
Well, if we were to delve into mythologies other than Greek and Roman (which, BTW, are the most familiar at least to people who come from Southern Europe), I'm sure we would find a lot of extremely interesting reference in prog. Having been a mythology buff all my life (yes, I know, I'm a nerd!), I tend to notice these things. Obviously, records by the Norwegian bands so beloved by our dearest Ivansfr0st abound in references to Norse mythology. Other mythological references may instead be much more obscure: for instance, the name of John McLaughlin's Indo-Prog band Shakti refers to the female divine principle of Hindu mythology and religion. |