There are a lot of little details around us we don't even know the meaning of, and yet we fluidly incorporate them into our lives. Whenever I find I was wrong in thinking something was meaningless, obsolete, or uninteresting, I make a point of looking into it and finding out more.
A while back, I finished reading Rick Riordan's "The Son of Neptune". As I was flipping through the last pages, which contained a list of Roman gods, I came across the goddess Nike.
Ring any bells? Of course it does! "Just do it" Nike. Interesting? I'll let you decide for yourself; that's why I'm writing this post about brand names and logos related to Greek or Roman mythology.
The world-renowned sportswear and footwear brand, Nike, is also the Greek winged goddess of victory, and arguably, speed. It's an optimistic, inspirational, confident, and empowering name, perfect for the brand. Well, except if you think of the poor abused Bangladeshi, Pakistani, and Indian children laboring over them.
So have fun with that ^_^
Trident is a well-known brand of gum, but also Poseidon's primary weapon (Poseidon being the Greek god of the sea), a three-thronged spear.
Apparently, "Trident" also literally translates into
"three-toothed" --> teeth --> GUM.
Starbucks' name isn't Greek or Roman, that's another controversial beast entirely. No, Starbucks has a Greek reference in its logo. See that beautiful woman holding the two fishtails? That is a Siren. You know what Sirens do? They enchant sailors with their bewitching melodies, and lure them to their island where they crash their ships on its rocky shore... and most probably become Siren munchies. Sirens rob sailors of their common sense and get them obsessed until all their thoughts revolve around reaching the source of the music.
So have fun with that ^_^
Trojan condoms. Maybe the Trojan War sounds familiar to some: Helen of Troy, "the face that launched a thousand ships", and most relevant to most people, the Trojan Horse. At the end of the Trojan War, the Trojans had won the battle, but the Greeks weren't going to give up just yet. They sent the infamous Trojan Horse to the Trojans as a "congratulatory gift". The Trojans dragged the horse through their walls and into their city. Of course there was the tiny complication of it being full of Greek soldiers. So now begins the funny part, think "condoms" while reading this next phrase. Once inside, the Trojan Horse broke open and released a stream of brave warriors set on invading the premises.The Greeks ended up winning the war.
So have fun with that ^_^
Mars is a chocolate bar that I honestly do not like eating, but since it's still being produced and these bars have to be going somewhere, people must be eating them, or an alien race disguised as humans adore them.
But I digress. Mars could be an indirect Roman reference, since the Planet Mars is also names after the Roman god of war Mars, whose Greek counterpart is Ares. What the chocolate bar has to do with war or a planet, I cannot tell you, but there you go.
Lots of us are familiar with the soap Dove. You might remember their very smart advertising about real beauty being natural and all that. On that note, their logo and name, a dove, is Aphrodite's symbol. Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love and beauty. Very fitting, and refers to the goddess without being cheesy enough to call your company "Aphrodite".
Amazon.com sells things... online shopping and stuff. It was named after the Amazon River, one of the most voluminous (pretty darn big) rivers in the world, because the founder had great aspirations about the company's size. That river was named after the Greek Amazons. An Amazon in Greek mythology, is a member of a race of warrior women. The Amazons had a matriarchal society, in which women fought and governed while men performed the household tasks. Yey, if you ignore the inhuman cruelties they dealt men. So have fun with that ^_^
The Versace fashion Label is very Italian, very big, and very high-end. It's logo is the face of Medusa, a known character in Greek mythology. Popular in movies that revolve around mythology, Medusa is the character with snakes for hair. The story of Medusa is that she was a very beautiful woman who greatly insulted the goddess of wisdom and strategy, Athena, by sleeping with Poseidon in her sacred temple. So Athena cursed her; she made her so ugly, anyone who looked at her would turn to stone. Essentially, the story of Medusa is not a positive one, her beauty and vanity only ended up getting her cursed... and then she was so ugly anyone who glimpsed her turned into stone. Not the best image for a fashion label, but there you go. So have fun with that ^_^
I am NOT going to get into the cars. So many models. So many names. Maybe another time...
I hope you enjoyed the post!
A while back, I finished reading Rick Riordan's "The Son of Neptune". As I was flipping through the last pages, which contained a list of Roman gods, I came across the goddess Nike.
Ring any bells? Of course it does! "Just do it" Nike. Interesting? I'll let you decide for yourself; that's why I'm writing this post about brand names and logos related to Greek or Roman mythology.
The world-renowned sportswear and footwear brand, Nike, is also the Greek winged goddess of victory, and arguably, speed. It's an optimistic, inspirational, confident, and empowering name, perfect for the brand. Well, except if you think of the poor abused Bangladeshi, Pakistani, and Indian children laboring over them.
Trident is a well-known brand of gum, but also Poseidon's primary weapon (Poseidon being the Greek god of the sea), a three-thronged spear.
"three-toothed" --> teeth --> GUM.
Starbucks' name isn't Greek or Roman, that's another controversial beast entirely. No, Starbucks has a Greek reference in its logo. See that beautiful woman holding the two fishtails? That is a Siren. You know what Sirens do? They enchant sailors with their bewitching melodies, and lure them to their island where they crash their ships on its rocky shore... and most probably become Siren munchies. Sirens rob sailors of their common sense and get them obsessed until all their thoughts revolve around reaching the source of the music.
Trojan condoms. Maybe the Trojan War sounds familiar to some: Helen of Troy, "the face that launched a thousand ships", and most relevant to most people, the Trojan Horse. At the end of the Trojan War, the Trojans had won the battle, but the Greeks weren't going to give up just yet. They sent the infamous Trojan Horse to the Trojans as a "congratulatory gift". The Trojans dragged the horse through their walls and into their city. Of course there was the tiny complication of it being full of Greek soldiers. So now begins the funny part, think "condoms" while reading this next phrase. Once inside, the Trojan Horse broke open and released a stream of brave warriors set on invading the premises.The Greeks ended up winning the war.
So have fun with that ^_^
Mars is a chocolate bar that I honestly do not like eating, but since it's still being produced and these bars have to be going somewhere, people must be eating them, or an alien race disguised as humans adore them.
But I digress. Mars could be an indirect Roman reference, since the Planet Mars is also names after the Roman god of war Mars, whose Greek counterpart is Ares. What the chocolate bar has to do with war or a planet, I cannot tell you, but there you go.
Lots of us are familiar with the soap Dove. You might remember their very smart advertising about real beauty being natural and all that. On that note, their logo and name, a dove, is Aphrodite's symbol. Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love and beauty. Very fitting, and refers to the goddess without being cheesy enough to call your company "Aphrodite".
The Versace fashion Label is very Italian, very big, and very high-end. It's logo is the face of Medusa, a known character in Greek mythology. Popular in movies that revolve around mythology, Medusa is the character with snakes for hair. The story of Medusa is that she was a very beautiful woman who greatly insulted the goddess of wisdom and strategy, Athena, by sleeping with Poseidon in her sacred temple. So Athena cursed her; she made her so ugly, anyone who looked at her would turn to stone. Essentially, the story of Medusa is not a positive one, her beauty and vanity only ended up getting her cursed... and then she was so ugly anyone who glimpsed her turned into stone. Not the best image for a fashion label, but there you go. So have fun with that ^_^
I am NOT going to get into the cars. So many models. So many names. Maybe another time...
I hope you enjoyed the post!
