I just have a question about his name. I was going back through Ender's Shadow and it says Helga (the lady at the charity kitchen door) sort of gave Achilles his name because of his bad leg. If she were to give him the name as the text said, would she really give it to him with french pronunciation? Her probably not being french and french not really spoken there at all according to Carlotta later.
I could be looking way too far into this, yeah.
(anyone else still read the name to yourself as uh-KILL-eez?)
Posted by kojabu (Member # 8042) on :
I definately do, sometimes I have to remind myself that it's not pronounced that way.
Posted by Sid Meier (Member # 6965) on :
indeed eaiser to remember but remember this is the Low Countries with alot of french influence.
Posted by TheSeeingHand (Member # 8349) on :
After reading enough of the Shadow series I just pronounced 'uh-SHEEL'. Now whenever I see the name 'Achilles' I pronounce it the french way.
Posted by Ramdac99 (Member # 7264) on :
hahah TheSeeing, I almost said "uh-SHEEL's heel" once.
Posted by Illidan (Member # 8399) on :
jongo05, I was thinking about the same thing. perhaps OSC added the feature for our inconvenience.
Posted by JaimeBenlevy (Member # 6222) on :
I think I remember reading that Achilles gave himself that name, naming himself after the superhero. Edit: Just checked the book, pg.15, third paragraph to the bottom, "Bean wanted to scream at her as she saw her target coming, a bully who called himself Achilles after the comics hero"
Posted by Illidan (Member # 8399) on :
I've never heard of heard of Achilles the superhero.
Posted by SpEeDMaSTeR (Member # 7568) on :
And I've never heard of Illidan except in a computer game, but Achilles is from Greek mythology as I'm sure you well know. There is no need to be cynical.
[ July 29, 2005, 11:55 PM: Message edited by: SpEeDMaSTeR ]
Posted by JaimeBenlevy (Member # 6222) on :
Who's being cynical?
Posted by Illidan (Member # 8399) on :
Wow, someone else who realizes the connection between my screen name and Warcraft.
Posted by jongo05 (Member # 7580) on :
quote:I think I remember reading that Achilles gave himself that name, naming himself after the superhero. Edit: Just checked the book, pg.15, third paragraph to the bottom, "Bean wanted to scream at her as she saw her target coming, a bully who called himself Achilles after the comics hero" Just checked the book, pg.15, third paragraph to the bottom, "Bean wanted to scream at her as she saw her target coming, a bully who called himself Achilles after the comics hero"
on page 32 in Ender's Shadow
quote: for the very day one of the big boys--but the weakest of them, with a bad leg, they call him Achilles--well I suppose I gave him that name years ago because Achilles had a weak heel
the first can be true while the second is true, because how reliable is Bean's source of that information, he is just 4.
(still UH-sheel?)
Posted by Erez (Member # 8282) on :
I read Ender's Shdaow in hebrew and it read Ashile with no confusion at all, so when I read the rest of the series in english it wasn't a problem at all. The trouble was at that episode (I think on Shadow of the Hegemon) that Bean writes on the nets about Achilles and Troy, then it took me a few seconds to realize what he was talking about because I still thought of him as Ashile (which to my knowledge wasn't in Troy...). My problem is, if his name was given to him, how was he named before and where did his last name came from later? who has a last name but doesn't remember his first? it's like Elvis but backwards.
Posted by Sid Meier (Member # 6965) on :
Ashile is from troy Paris shot an arrow that his Achilles in the heel the one place where Achilles could be harmed (in myths anyways). ANd of course it killed him. (what a way to go! Killed by an arrow in the heel jeez...)
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Sid, you're kind of right. Achilles was at Troy, but he wasn't from there. He was one of the Greek heroes in the Trojan War. Some traditions do attribute his death to Paris, but in others Apollo himself kills him.
Posted by sands (Member # 8344) on :
apollo guides paris's arrow to achilles's heel which was the only part of him that was mortal.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
quote:apollo guides paris's arrow
According to some traditions, yes. Others have Apollo doing the dirtywork himself.
Posted by Sid Meier (Member # 6965) on :
sorry I didn't mean "from" as in born there, I mix up words sometimes. I meant form the Torjan Wars, and anyone kow why a certain brand of condoms are called trojans?
Posted by SpEeDMaSTeR (Member # 7568) on :
Like the Trojan horse (which should actually be called the Greek horse...) things are kept inside the "Trojan."
In the most popular myth after slaying Hector and dragging his body around behind his chariot Paris, who is a brother of Hector, kills Achilles with a poisoned arrow to his heel.
![[Confused]](confused.gif)
Who's being cynical?