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Re: OT: babel and english

From:Thomas R. Wier <artabanos@...>
Date:Sunday, August 19, 2001, 17:38
Andreas Johansson wrote:

> Thomas Wier wrote: > > > >Right -- they're eponymous, like Romulus was for Rome. > >(I wonder if Athena was eponymous for Athens; it's hard to tell. > >She was the patron deity of the city, and was worshipped even > >in Minoan times. If the experience of urbanization of extremely > >ancient Mesopotamia is any indicator (ca. 3500 BC), where > >cities developed out of prior religious centers, the deity might > >well predate the city.) > > I can't find the source right now, but I distinctly remember reading > "Probably, Athens is named after Athena, not vice-versa" somewhere.
Okay, I can buy that. Either way seems plausible to me. Do you remember how old that source is? When reading historical theory, I typically try not to read something that's older than 50 years or so, because so much of the field has been changed since then. Unless you're talking about Hegel or Toynbee or something, I mean, who are still peripherally important, especially if you're arguing with Marxists. =================================== Thomas Wier | AIM: trwier "Aspidi men Saiôn tis agalletai, hên para thamnôi entos amômêton kallipon ouk ethelôn; autos d' exephugon thanatou telos: aspis ekeinê erretô; exautês ktêsomai ou kakiô" - Arkhilokhos