Tuesday, April 17, 2012

O is for Orion

So, another possible contributor to my overwhelming ego might be that I was named after highly influential mythical figures.  My full name is Adam Orion Jones.  I'm really only out-shined by some guy named Jesus Superman Gandhi.  Jones wasn't my last name at birth, I took it on when my old step-father adopted me.  I had the chance to change it back when my mother divorced him, but I kept it because:

1. I had never known my birth father at this point.
2. I had built an identity as Adam Jones
3. It was so common that it didn't feel tied to my step-father.
4. It had such a nice ring to it. "Adam Jones" flows very easily.

The super common last name added sort of an everyman appeal to these legendary figures.  I liked it.  But I've gotten a bit off topic.

Stories about Orion are extremely varied in Greek mythology.  There are many different versions of his life and deeds.  Many of which were fairly awful, but these were the Greeks. All of their heroes were sometimes villains.

However, it was universally agreed that he was super tall, handsome, strong, talented, and generally awesome.  
It's a lot to live up to.

Did you know that Orion was such a badass hunter that Mother Earth created a giant scorpion just to kill him?  Okay, he may have been planning to kill every animal on Earth, but still, that's a hell of a way to go.  It's no wonder that I hate scorpions.

The other legend of his death involves his goddess lover Artemis being tricked into shooting him in the head while swimming in the ocean.  Coincidentally, I also don't like the ocean.

Still, I think the next dog I get will be names Sirius. (His dog was so awesome they put him in the sky, too.)


Any of you guys feel compelled to fill delusionally large shoes?

1 comment:

nutschell said...

How interesting to be named after a constellation!
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com
Happy A-Zing!

Post a Comment