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| CERUS on the Skyline Drive |
I named my motorcycle CERUS after the mythical Greek war horse. Most people do not recognize the name of CERUS, so I thought I'd explain why I put that name on my license plate, and what the name means.
(I know: the name's no good if you have to explain it. But just read on, and see if you don't agree that CERUS is the perfect name for a warrior's iron steed.)
In ancient Greece, King Adrastos was the warrior-king of Argos, and CERUS was his mount. The name CERUS means "fit," and legend has it that CERUS was faster than the wind. What is more, Argos was home-port of Jason and the Argonauts whose quest was the Golden Fleece. Anyone who loves Golden retrievers can appreciate that coincidence....
Perfect!
Now, in his kingly stable Adrastos also had a an immortal horse. A gift from Hercules, this half-god, half-horse creature one day saved King Adrostos in the battle of Thebes. A lightly edited version of that war is recounted below for the curious reader. Suffice to say, I will save the name of the immortal god-horse, Arion, for a custom-built motorcycle. Meanwhile, my stock Road King is my trusty mount, and the name CERUS suits him fine.
Finally, I will anticipate some readers calling for the revocation of my man card for the somewhat effeminate practice of naming my vehicles. I realize that naming vehicles is a girl thing. And that's the point: The tradition of naming my vehicles goes back to when my oldest daughter was very young.
I bought a used car and the air freshener smelled like strawberries. Allison, then 4 years old, dubbed the Accord, Candy Car. If she asked nicely, Candy Car would respond to Allison's requests to open or close the windows, or change the radio station (all via electronic controls out of her sight).
The next vehicle was a Honda Odysee. Allison's sister Madeline was about 4 years old. After a little explanation from Allison and me, Madeline agreed to name the Odysee Homer.
When I bought my Road King via a vendor in Baghdad, I thought about a fitting name my girls would appreciate. I suppose it was the epic journeys which Homer described that planted the Greek war horse idea in my mind.
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| Map showing ancient Greek cities of Argos and Thebes |
CERUS: Greek name meaning "fit." In mythology, this is the name of the horse belonging to
Adrastos that was swifter than the wind.
ADRASTOS (Ἄδραστος): Greek name meaning "inescapable" or "not running away." In mythology, this is the name of a king of Argos.
JASON (
Greek: Ἰάσων, Iásōn; gen.: Ἰάσονος) was a late
ancient Greek mythological hero from the late 10th Century BC, famous as the leader of the
Argonauts and their quest for the
Golden Fleece. He was the son of
Aeson, the rightful king of
Iolcus. He was married to the sorceress
Medea.
The
ARGONAUTS (
Greek: Αργοναύται, Argonautai;
Georgian: არგონავტები, ArgonavTebi, (
Laz language: Argonatepe)) were a band of heroes in
Greek mythology who, in the years before the
Trojan War, accompanied
Jason to
Colchis (modern day west of
Georgia) in his quest to find the
Golden Fleece. They sailed from the Greek port city of Argos, thus, they were the Argonauts.
ARION (
Ancient Greek:'Ἀρίων, Ἀρείων, gen.: Ἀρίωνος, Ἀρείωνος): In
Greek mythology, Arion or Areion is a Greek name meaning "martial; war-horse." This is the name of the horse
Hercules gave to
Adrastos; it was an immortal horse which Poseidon fathered with his sister, Demeter (goddess of the harvest) while both were disguised as horses. Arion's right feet were those of a human. It ran with incredible speed, and, according to the Latin poet
Sextus Propertius, spoke with a human voice.
King ADRASTOS of ARGOS wars against THEBES and is SAVED by his HORSE
After the death of Oedipus, two brothers, Eteokles and Polyneikes, agreed to rule Thebes for one year, in turn. But the end of the first year, when Plyneikes should have started his turn, Eteokles refused to surrender the throne.
Polyneikes was forced into exile and went to King Adrastos of Argos. Upon his arrival, Polyneikes quarreled with Tydeus of Aitolia, another fugitive. Adrastos parted them and married them with his daughters, fulfilling an oracle, which had been given to him, that he would marry his daughters with a lion and a boar. Indeed the shields of the two exiles carried a lion and a boar.
In order to reinstate Polyneikes to the throne, Adrastos launched a war against Thebes. The seven battle chiefs were King Adrastos himself, plus Amphiaraos, Kapaneus, Hippomedon, Parthenopaeos, Tydeus, and the would-be king of Thebes, Polyneikes.
With auxiliaries from Arcadia, Messene and other cities from Peloponnese, Adratos' party marched towards Thebes. There was a battle near the Ismenian hill with the Thebans, who were assisted by the Phokians and the Phlegyae. Adrastos won the battle, and the Thebans were forced within their walls.
Adrastos then attacked the city, each chief selecting one of the seven gates of the city to fight. Thebes was in great danger and was probably saved from the prophet Teiresias, who made the prophesy "that the city would be saved if Menoekeos, son of Kreon, would give his life to God Ares".
When the youth learned this, he went out from the gate and slew himself, giving his life without a second thought. That gave courage to Thebans, who fought with great enthusiasm.
When Parthenopaeos was killed by a stone from Periklymenos, Adrastos ordered his troops back. It was the turn of the Thebans now to attack, when Eteokles challenged in combat his brother Polyneikes, from which the outcome of the war would have been decided. Unfortunately for the armies, the brothers slew each other and the war started again.
The sons of Astakos of Thebes fought bravely, Melanippos killed Tydeus. His other son Leades killed Eteoklus and Amphidikos killed Hippomedon.
Amphiaraos in his turn, in order to avenge the death of Tydeus, killed Melanippos. He was close to being pierced by the spear of Periklymenos, when the ground opened under him and took him together with his chariot and horses. The spot, on which the event happened, was shown to the days of Pausanias.
Amphiaraos worshipped as god at Thebes, Oropos and Argos and for many centuries was giving prophetic answers to peoples questions.
When Adrastos lost Amphiaraos, "the eye of his army," and all the other chiefs had been killed, he was forced to leave and he was saved by his immortal horse Arion, the offspring of Poseidon.
