Topic: Mythology in Sailor Moon

[Banshee 1919]

This is a thread on the analogies between Sailor Moon characters and mythological gods (as well as implications)

Sailor Moon is Selene (Greek goddess of the moon, her lover is Endymion)
Sailor Venus is Aphrodite (goddess of love, her Latin counterpart was Venus)
Sailor Mars is Ares (so called because arrows used to be used in battle and fights, his Latin counterpart is Mars, hence martial arts)
Sailor Mercury is Hermes (her mother is a doctor in the same manner Hermes is the god of medicine and was said to have invented the lyre, his Latin counterpart is Mercury though Mercury is called Suisei or Water Star in Japanese astronomy)
Sailor Jupiter is Zeus (as in lightning bolts and love interests, his Latin counterpart is Jupiter)the t
Sailor Uranus is Uranus (the father of Cronos and the grandfather of Zeus, not much difference and her attack "World Shaking" may have something to do with Uranus forming the world)
Sailor Neptune is Poseidon (marine-based powers, her symbol is the trident which is associated with Poseidon, see King Neptune and Neptune)
Sailor Pluto is Hades (the realm she guards is the underworld, "Dead Scream" her primary attack has something to do with the dead and the shadowy underworld whom Hades is associated with, his other name is Pluto but appears more frequently in Roman myth and is sometimes associated with the native god of the underworld, Orcus)
Sailor Saturn is Cronos (that's the trickiest, "Death Reborn Revolution" may have something to do with the sickle, whom Cronos used to castrate Uranus, has symobilcally have something to do with death as well as with harvest, hence the Grim Reaper, his Latin counterpart is Saturnus)

I'm starting with Sailor Saturn. Saturnus or Saturn was the name of a god whom the Romans worshipped. Saturn was the abstraction of harvest and its destruction and that to the Greeks, his counterpart Cronos was a god of destruction and the sickle and harvest signified death. Go to Wikipedia and type Grim Reaper, you'll get the point.

[VulturEMaN]

nice complication there banshee

[Elizabeth Rose]

Yeah, Sailor Moon is composed entirely of mythology with a modern twist.

[Banshee 1919]

Sailor Pluto is associated with mythological Pluto (god-king of the dead and the shadowly underworld, hence her association as the guardian of the underworld and her primary move is Dead Scream) and astrological/astronomical Pluto (Pluto's now a dwarf planet, something to do with time in turn Pluto/Hades as a chtonic-Olympian god).
I have two books on mythology, Mythology by Edith Hamilton and Age of Fable. I recommend you both.

Her civilian name is Setsunna Meiou, Setsunna meaning "sorrow" but also "instant" or "momentary" deriving from a Sankrit word for second. The family name is Meiou, that is "dark king" refers to Hades as the god of the shadowy underworld. If her family name was based on Hades, the name would be have been "Hell King" because Hades and Jigoku both mean hell.

Sailor Mars and Sailor Mercury are more astronomically based but mythology has something to do subtly with their civilian lives. Besides that, Hermes is associated with science and Ami is into science.

[Banshee 1919]

Sailor Venus and Aphrodite. Minako is the exact Japanese translation of Venus, once you replace "Binasu" with "mi" and "ko" save the "na". The whip, which Sailor Venus uses, is a BDSM accessory. Also, some of her attacks take the form of cosmetics, just as Aphrodite is the goddess of love and beauty.

[Daniel]

Sailor MoonNeptune is my Homie.

Sailor Moon, Sailor Venus and Sailor Chibi Moon are all useless..

Has anyone else noticed that Sailor Uranus is the soldier of WIND, her name sounds suspicious and her attack involves her throwing yellow wind at you? O.O

[Banshee 1919]

Uranus/Ouranos: Greek personification of the sky, hence the name and association.
There is some dispute on Sailor Uranus's power, because of animation.

The rest are easier to identify with the given gods:

1. Sailor Jupiter=Jupiter=Zeus-pter (the names of that god was derived from an Indo-European term for "godfather")
2. Sailor Venus=Venus=Aphrodite=Vanah (the later is Sankrit for desire, Venus was once a spring goddess who was later identified with her Greek counterpart)
3. Sailor Mercury=Mercurius=Hermes (The Latins did not have a god most like Hermes so they imported that idol for merchants and gave him a new name)
4. Sailor Pluto=Pluton/Hades (as implied)
5. Sailor Saturn=Saturnus (Etrustuan origin perhaps)
6. Sailor Moon=Selene (the original lunar goddess)
7. Sailor Neptune=Neptune (derived from Nethons)=Poseidon
8. Sailor Mars=Maritus=Ares (Ares wasn't that favored by the Greeks, portrayed as hateful, the Romans liked Mars better than the Greeks like Ares)

[IZ]

I think my geek detector just shattered...

[Banshee 1919]

Mythology links:

www.encyclopediamythica.com
wwww.mythopedia.com
mythology.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

[Banshee 1919]

Sailor Jupiter
Based on Zeus (thunder-bolts, love) and the planet Jupiter (astronomically called Mokusei or the Wooden Star, astrological associations are bravery and joy)
Sailor Mars
Based on Ares (ambiguously the arrow, which is not only practiced by Shinto miko but also as tools of battle from ancient times up to early Renaissance) and the planet Mars (most in part it's called Kisei or Firestar, astrological associations are passion and war)
Sailor Venus
Based on Aphrodite (in part of love and beauty) and the planet Venus (called Metal Star)
Sailor Neptune
Based on Poseidon and the planet Neptune
Sailor Mercury
Based on Hermes (science, lyre) and the planet Mercury (astrological implication is wisdom)
Sailor Saturn
Based on Cronos and the planet Saturn (note that Saturn was so-called because its prominent rings resemble the blade of a scythe or sickle, which in turn the favored tool of Saturn. The planet's symbol resembles the blade of a sickle. Associations are melancholy and silence)
Sailor Pluto
Based on Hades, the god of the dead and the dwarf planet Pluto (in astrology and the occult, aligned with time and change)
Sailor Moon
Based on Selene and the moon (occultic association, mystery)
Sailor Uranus
Based on Ouranous/Uranus and the planet Uranus

[Banshee 1919]

There has been dispute over Sailor Saturn or Hotaru and Setsunna but in my opinion after DG, they're quite different as being influenced by astrology and mythology. Setsunna is aligned with time and the dead, Hotaru with death and destruction (harvest and the sickle). Haruka is vague at times.

[KJ EMO KID 18]

Then is Sailor Pluto the same as Hades?

[KJ EMO KID 18]

Cronus is a god!??!?

[Banshee 1919]

Yes my brother, Cronus is a Titan and he killed his dad (and his body parts fell into the ocean, his blood comes forth the Furies, in Hesiogyny his testicles comes Aphrodite arising from her foam).

Sailor Pluto is based on Hades, in turns of that she has power over the dead and the underworld. Dead Scream is the wind of the underworld.

[Daniel]

Cronus is a god!??!?

...

Then is Sailor Pluto the same as Hades?

*Cries*