Comments on: By Any Other Name

By: ephemeron

ephemeron — Sat, 15 May 2004 02:08:23 +0000

FWIW, Trojan condoms got the name because of Priam’s remarkable virility—he fathered 50 sons and an indeterminate number of daughters. (Similarly, Ramses condoms are named for a pharaoh who’s supposed to have kept a couple of hundred wives and concubines and fathered over 150 children.)

By: Epacris

Epacris — Tue, 11 May 2004 05:43:08 +0000

From vivian: 2 * Dos Equis = Fourex condoms Is there really a condom brand called Fourex !? Have many Australians (particularly Queenslanders—aka banana-benders ) heard of this? We’ve all done jokes about Durex (sticky tape/condoms), but this one’s new to my sheltered ears. See http://www.australianbeers.com/beers/xxxx/xxxx.htm for elucidation of the importance of XXXX to those in our Deep North. (And mention Odysseus to Polytropos ( http://www.polytropos.org/archives/000002.html ) too.)

By: harry

harry — Tue, 11 May 2004 02:43:37 +0000

I attended USC for 5 1/2 years, and must have taught 300+ students there as a TA. Classics 101 (or whatever) was a popular way of fulfilling some GE requirement (because it had lots of sex, unlike Philosophy). I asked numerous undergraduates what happened when they got to the story of the Trojan Wars. They couldn’t tell me. Really—at that time at least (second half of the 80’s) USC undergraduates were, I suspect, almost uniformly ignorant of the fate of their forebears. I also thought for my first several months that USC had its own brand of condom; having observed that it produced official semi-ponrographic calenders I did not find this surprising.

By: Greg

Greg — Tue, 11 May 2004 02:27:50 +0000

It might be worth taking a look at Andrew Erskine’s Troy between Greece and Rome in this regard; it considers why the Romans claimed to be descended from the Trojans and what the Greeks thought of this.

By: vivian

vivian — Tue, 11 May 2004 01:49:33 +0000

Ah the things one thinks about when the newest love of one’s life happens to require hourly food/cuddle time. Fortunately it’s a pleasure, although the mind-altering effects and unexpected links between thoughts continue regardless. Next would you care to interpret the equation two beers equals sex: 2 * Dos Equis = Fourex condoms ?

By: Ophelia Benson

Ophelia Benson — Tue, 11 May 2004 01:33:45 +0000

“Although Euripides was writing, IIRC, when Athens and Sparta were at war.” Yup – and more bitterly as the war dragged on and Athens started behaving more and more badly. Especially toward small places like Melos. Oh gosh, what does that remind me of – hmm – nope, can’t think of it. But anyway, that’s just it. He chose to make the Greeks the dirty rotten bastards. (Though Hekabe isn’t exactly cuddly in her play.)

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 11 May 2004 00:07:07 +0000

“And even before that. Look at Euripides – one anti-Achaean play after another. The Greeks aren’t exactly the good guys in ‘The Trojan Women’ for example.” Ipthigenia at Aulis is similarly down on the Greek side. Although Euripides was writing, IIRC, when Athens and Sparta were at war.

By: cafl

cafl — Mon, 10 May 2004 22:15:28 +0000

Apropos the Vandals, I offer the UC Santa Cruz Fighting Banana Slugs – the fight song by the Austin Lounge Lizards is worth a listen.

By: Ophelia Benson

Ophelia Benson — Mon, 10 May 2004 22:07:19 +0000

“The Hellenistic and Roman periods produced almost exclusively “Trojans were good, Achaeans were bad” versions of the Trojan War even before the Roman “New Troy” meme became dominant” And even before that. Look at Euripides – one anti-Achaean play after another. The Greeks aren’t exactly the good guys in ‘The Trojan Women’ for example.

By: David

David — Mon, 10 May 2004 21:36:49 +0000

an anecdote: My brother attended Texas A&M University, and was in the Corps there. His unit was called, for whatever reason, Trojan-12. Many members of the unit (no pun intended) hoped for medical careers (my brother was not one of them), and the unit’s marching chant went “Trojan 12 For the prevention of disease only!”

By: eumaeus

eumaeus — Mon, 10 May 2004 21:05:38 +0000

> Achilles, though, is a big puffed-up prima donna. Which is why he is played by Brad Pitt.

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 10 May 2004 20:38:38 +0000

“Achilleus and Odysseus, perhaps.” Well, in the backstory, Odysseus tried to get out of going to war by faking insanity, only to be foiled when one of the Greeks places Odysseus’s (then unnamed) baby boy in front of his plough. Odysseus break down, and has to leave and fulfill his oath, calling his boy “Telemachus” after the distant battle his father is to fight. So I have some sympathy for the Big O. Achilles, though, is a big puffed-up prima donna.

By: GD

GD — Mon, 10 May 2004 20:04:40 +0000

Would red-blooded American males put on a condom called “Greek?” I can hear the ad slogans now: “There’s no love like Greek™ love!”

By: ADM

ADM — Mon, 10 May 2004 19:58:33 +0000

Heck—in the Iliad, there aren’t too many characters for whom we can’t feel sympathy. Achilleus and Odysseus, perhaps. Helen. Paris—stupid and young, but ultimately screwed by the goddesses. Agamemnon? tough call. Seriously, though—how many of the characters are independent actors, compared to people caught up in the internecine squabbles of the Olympians?

By: Xopher

Xopher — Mon, 10 May 2004 19:07:34 +0000

I’ve been saying that about the condoms for at least 20 years. Besides, they’re nasty galoshlike things.