Stelios 23.06.2014 18:09 |
I am Greek so i am very familiar with this Greek actress/politician, but do you actually know her? I mean her image, perhaps her explosive tamperament, or even the protruding teeth/overbite ? ...Well one thing is for sure. Those two had a lot in common...! |
matt z 23.06.2014 20:46 |
Nope. Just an artsy glamorous and HUGE recasting of himself as Mercury "the messenger God" (derived fromthe Greek "Hermes" if I remember correctly. Makes sense as a vocalist with high aspirations |
Stelios 24.06.2014 06:42 |
Here she is,if anyone cares, on interview. I think you may find some resemblance in bone stracture, temperament and of course teeeeeth ! ?e???a ?e??????- Sp???a s????te??? Part 3 |
RafaelS 24.06.2014 13:55 |
You're Greek and you don't even know how to write her name right: Melina Mercouri |
pittrek 24.06.2014 14:19 |
Wasn't he named after Hermés? |
Stelios 24.06.2014 15:02 |
pittrek wrote: Wasn't he named after Hermés? Yes, but the girl nickname for fun,is a different story. Both have a Greek foundation however. |
Stelios 24.06.2014 15:04 |
RafaelSomma wrote: You're Greek and you don't even know how to write her name right: Melina Mercouri ...what can i say. I am so overblown my Freddie's charisma so i want to name everyone MERCURY (But thanx. I fixed the title) |
master marathon runner 25.06.2014 01:05 |
I don't know, it's all Greek to me. Haha haha haha haha haha haha haha ha ha haha haha! - ah forget it. |
thomasquinn 32989 25.06.2014 04:44 |
Ok people, little mythology lesson: Yes, the Greek and Roman pantheons are closely related. Yes, the Romans based a number of their gods (most notably Apollo) on Greek gods. However, that does not mean you can equate any two gods. For instance, Demeter (Greek) and Ceres (Roman) are both goddesses of grain, and Ceres was eventually brought in line with much of the imagery surrounding Demeter, but she started off separately and retained many aspects that differed greatly from Demeter. For instance, Ceres was also the goddess off People's Tribunes and Plebeian Laws and Rights, whereas Demeter was a purely fertility- and agricultural goddess. Similarly, Hermes and Mercury differed considerably. Hermes was much more of a naughty, trickster-god than Mercury. Whereas Mercury was, in the first place, the god of traders, Hermes was first of all the god of thievery and living off your wits. Hermes was very much a sexual god (his sons were Priapus and Pan, both gods of lust and intemperance), Mercury absolutely wasn't - the Romans associated him with certain aspects of warfare. So bottom line: please, don't simply equate Roman and Greek gods that resemble each other. They differ considerably, in the same way that the Jewish, Christian and Islamic views of god are very different, even though they worship the very same deity (Elohim in the Old Testament, Allah in the Koran = same name, which is derived from the early Semitic god El, which is leading much too far but suffice it to say that the word "Elohim" is a plural which means "the kinsmen of El"). |
Stelios 25.06.2014 05:07 |
thomasquinn 32989 thanks for the clarifying. Funny how you know so much more about Greek or should i say our (as Greeks our) mythology than me. I assume you are not Greek by the way. Just deeply informed. On a second note Freddie's persona according to the things you wrote seemed to be a collision of Mercury anf Hermes. Perhaps he had only the first in mind but his tamperament flirted strongly with the second also. |
thomasquinn 32989 28.06.2014 07:13 |
Nope, not Greek, but a little professionally deformed maybe. I'm an historian and mythology (not limited to Classical and Hellenistic, btw) is one of my favorite subjects, so that's pretty much why. It's a really interesting question what Freddie was thinking about when he chose the name. We'll never know for sure, but I assume that since Freddie doesn't seem to have had a scholarly interest in Greek and Roman mythology and most schools teach people that the Romans basically just copied their gods from the Greeks, he assumed that Hermes = Mercury. However, Mercury is a more common name to come across in English (not in the last place because of the planet) and also refers to the metal quicksilver. From what I've heard, Freddie's name was meant to refer to the dynamic, fluid character of the metal as much as to the deity. |
noorie 28.06.2014 11:18 |
Actually I saw or read somewhere (I have read soooo much about Queen, it is all a blur..) that he took the name after the planet Mercury. It was his 'ruling' planet or something. |
Stelios 28.06.2014 17:59 |
So what a mess. He took his name by : 1) the planet Mercury 2) the mythological God Mercury 3) the mythological God Hermes who he may thought was the same as Mercury 4) the dynamic and lequid metal Mercury ...and the funny thing is they may all be valid! So he ended up with nick-name Melina (Mercouri) just to make things a little bit messier. Quite a long road for this Bulsara boy ! |
Stelios 28.06.2014 18:01 |
thomasquinn 32989 wrote: From what I've heard, Freddie's name was meant to refer to the dynamic, fluid character of the metal as much as to the deity.thomasquinn 32989 do you remember by any chance the source of this. Was it a band-mate or friend of his, perhaps? |
thomasquinn 32989 01.07.2014 05:20 |
Stelios wrote:I don't recall, but I think I can look it up for you. Is it OK if I send you a PM when I do?thomasquinn 32989 wrote: From what I've heard, Freddie's name was meant to refer to the dynamic, fluid character of the metal as much as to the deity.thomasquinn 32989 do you remember by any chance the source of this. Was it a band-mate or friend of his, perhaps? |
Stelios 01.07.2014 05:30 |
thomasquinn 32989 wrote:Of course its OK, thomasquinn 32989.Stelios wrote:I don't recall, but I think I can look it up for you. Is it OK if I send you a PM when I do?thomasquinn 32989 wrote: From what I've heard, Freddie's name was meant to refer to the dynamic, fluid character of the metal as much as to the deity.thomasquinn 32989 do you remember by any chance the source of this. Was it a band-mate or friend of his, perhaps? Thanks for the interest :-) |
thomasquinn 32989 01.07.2014 05:30 |
noorie wrote: Actually I saw or read somewhere (I have read soooo much about Queen, it is all a blur..) that he took the name after the planet Mercury. It was his 'ruling' planet or something.That is actually something we can easily verify in the age of internet: Freddie was born September 5, 1946, apparently at roughly 5:10 in the morning, in Zanzibar City. With that information, we can quickly calculate a birth horoscope, through e.g. link The result is that Mercury doesn't take a central place in his birth horoscope. His rising sign would appear to be Pluto in Leo, with Mercury in Gemini appearing in the horoscope but not taking a central place. So it's there, but it doesn't appear to be especially significant. |
noorie 01.07.2014 12:01 |
Here are a couple of sources, but they could all be completely wrong! link By this time, Freddie had changed his own name, too. Bulsara was too exotic, too Zanzibar. The explanation of his replacement comes from Chris Chesney. "Freddie was a Virgo," he reveals, "and Mercury was his ruling planet. link In April 1970, Tim Staffell decided to leave Smile and Freddie joined them as lead singer. He changed the name of the band to Queen, and his last name to Mercury – Mercury being the Roman messenger of the Gods and Freddie’s ruling planet, as his star sign was Virgo. link Mercury was invited to join the band, which was promptly renamed - pun intended - Queen. It was then that he became Freddie Mercury (Mercury was his ruling planet) and, says May, 'changing his name helped him assume a different skin'. |
Motown1966 23.02.2020 16:37 |
Well my understanding is that Freddie greatly loved the Platters’ “The Great Pretender” that came out as far back as ‘55 and it was released on the label “Mercury Record!” Freddie often times would get his inspiration from other great singers/actresses (Liza Minnelli, Shirley Bassey, Aretha Franklin, et. al.) and incorporate what he’d felt were their best attributes to his stage persona, style of belting out songs, & overall artistry. Just like Freddie often was inspired by or ‘borrowed’ from other greats like Nijinsky’s character from his famous “Afternoon of a Faun” ballet where Freddie heavily borrowed the middle portion of the “I Want to Break Free” video sequence, he likely admired the Mercury Records label and kept their name in the back of his mind & revisit it later...when it suited him just like he’d later covered the Platters’ song “Great Pretender.” Sofaras the ‘Melina Mercuri’ nickname, THAT was an inside joke between Freddie and Elton John. Elton suggested Freddie utilize a different name when booking a stay in a hotel to trick the press/paparazzi. He came-up with ‘Melina’ and Freddie came-up with the ‘Mercuri’ ‘cos he was a HUGE fan of Golden era Hollywood pictures and so the fun started with Freddie renaming just ‘bout all of his closest male friends some female names (Elton became Sharon, Rod Stewart became Phyllis, Bri became Maggie May, Peter Freestone became Feebie (now mostly known as Phoebe), Rog was Liz Taylor, etc. Mary Austin was named Steve Austin after the “Six Million Dollar Man” show main character. |
Martin Packer 23.02.2020 19:36 |
So Freddie Pluto then... :-) |
mooghead 23.02.2020 19:41 |
Freddie Uranus. |