• Diplomjodler@lemmy.world
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    3 hours ago

    Odysseus was a minor character in the first book before he became the main protagonist of the sequel. So yes, Odysseus was there before the Odyssey.

    • grissino@lemmy.world
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      56 minutes ago

      Ackshually, The Odyssey is said to have been written before The Iliad, making the latter the prequel of the former.

      But since the name Odysseus was in use throughout Greece before the birth of Homer then yes indeed, Odysseus was there before The Odyssey.

  • Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de
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    5 hours ago

    Odyssey roughly translates to “The story of Odysseus”, so yes, the name existed before Homer’s story. The semantic connection of odyssey and a long, dangerous and arduous journey came way after that.

    • DagwoodIII@piefed.social
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      3 hours ago

      " ‘Waterloo’ means a complete and utter defeat. The French Emperor Napoleon lost everything at the Battle of Waterloo."

      “Why did he go there, if the town had such an unlucky name?”

      • tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip
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        58 minutes ago

        At least he went straight there, unlike that other French guy always taking a roundabout way of getting somewhere. You know, Monsieur Detour.

      • tetris11@feddit.uk
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        2 hours ago

        I have to admit that that’s an expression I’ve only heard in US circles. As an expression in England, it, well, has no meaning. We kicked some guy’s arse and lost our best general.

        • fibojoly@sh.itjust.works
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          1 hour ago

          Funnily I don’t think I’ve heard Waterloo used that often, in French.
          Berezina is more commonly heard as a “complete and utter fuck up of epic proportions”. It’s the most memorable defeat in the entire retreat from Russia, which itself was a complete disaster.

          Waterloo was more of a swansong, since Napoléon had just come back to power after having abdicated, and he was hoping to prove he still had it. He did not.

  • psx_crab@lemmy.zip
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    5 hours ago

    I’m gonna write a new book call Travelling Adventurer, and my protagonist is gonna called Traveour Venture.

  • markovs_gun@lemmy.world
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    5 hours ago

    I don’t understand memes like this that seem to be made by and for people who can’t use Google to find basic information

    • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
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      4 hours ago

      Because the meme isn’t about the actual facts. It’s about the joke at the end. Which you clearly missed.

        • fibojoly@sh.itjust.works
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          52 minutes ago

          But I do have all the facts. And I find it amusing that someone wrote what appears to be the thoughts of, indeed, someone clueless about the whole thing.
          Which, you would be surprised, happens quite often!
          For instance my kids know Odysseus as Ulysse, in French. And so they have no idea that an “odyssée” is named after the king of Ithaca and his maritime adventures. It’s a mild joke about people knowing a word from one source and, seeing it appear somewhere else, assume a different relationship than what actually happened.

          Like if someone discovered that Kleenex is a brand and exclaimed “Wow! I can’t believe they can just trademark an everyday word like that!”
          Or, “OMG, I can’t believe Microsoft invented words ? Bill Gates is such a genius, OMG! But what did we call them in the past?! 🤯”

          Go ahead try it.

    • tatann@lemmy.world
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      20 minutes ago

      And I don’t understand why people call social media posts “memes”

      There, we both must be fun at parties

      • fibojoly@sh.itjust.works
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        51 minutes ago

        Eh, that agree with you. Like all those stupid POV or “No one” macros. Words have no meaning anymore :/

      • mika_mika@lemmy.world
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        1 hour ago

        The world and society as we know it is, and has always been, just vibes. Absolutely nothing is real.

    • dohpaz42@lemmy.world
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      4 hours ago

      Of course we can all google information. But it’s more fun to involve other people; especially if we find it funny.