Rhae_Valarie Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 So I was doing a bit of writing a while back when I found myself stuck on a name for a female character. Knowing that many authors (such as GRRM) look to literature and mythology for inspiration, I began doing the same and found myself fixating on a little known Greek goddess called Eris-Enyo. I tried jotting down the name without the hyphen in the middle and was shocked to find myself staring at the word Visenya. Not really, of course, but in my messy handwriting the r looked a lot like a v and in a split-second my brain went through the following process: Erisenyo Erisenya Evisenya Visenya For a moment I was simply going to chalk it up to having the series on my brain, but then I began reading about the mythological figure of Eris-Enyo and the similarities to Visenya Targaryen are striking. Eris-Enyo was the sister of the war god Ares, considered his right hand and fierce warrior herself, and always rode into war beside him. I started to think that I might have stumbled onto the mythological figures that helped inspire Aegon and Visenya's relationship. Taking out the hyphen and changing the o ending to the traditionally feminine a would have been no brainers. Of course, if this theory is correct, he would have then decided to change the beginning of the name, but authors have been known to make creative changes and invent names, so I don't feel it's a big leap. However, I haven't been able to find any info from GRRM himself regarding his inspiration regarding these characters. Does anyone know if he's ever spoken about this subject? Do you think he might have been inspired by the goddess Eris-Enyo and are there any other characters in the book you feel came from obscure material? I'd love to hear the connections you've made between the series and other literature, mythology and history!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaedys Targaryen Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 That is nicely noticed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seams Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 9 hours ago, Rhae_Valarie said: Do you think he might have been inspired by the goddess Eris-Enyo and are there any other characters in the book you feel came from obscure material? I'd love to hear the connections you've made between the series and other literature, mythology and history!!!! I think you must be right. That implies that there might be similar mythical origins for the name Rhaenys. I wonder where that name might have come from? The mythology connection I find compelling and mysterious come from the parallels between Tyrion's voyages and the voyages of Odysseus. In the ancient Greek story, the hero was tempted and kidnapped by a sorceress named Circe and tried to return to his wife, Penelope. In ASOIAF, Cersei and Penny obviously play different roles in Tyrion's arc. So why did GRRM choose those names for his characters? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nowy Tends Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 I'm sorry but Eris and Enyo are two different goddesses… Eris is goddess of discord; Enyo is goddess of war; there is no goddess named "Eris-Enyo", and I believe the hyphen doesn't exist in ancient Greek language… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cridefea Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 Vis in latin/ancient greek is "force", "power" or "violence" and "-enya" I always thought Martin uses it as poetic license for "-genia" in some Targaryen's names; that means "descendant" or "family". As for Iphigenia, to make you understand https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iphigenia But you could be right about Enio! it's a good idea! No poetic license and it would be relate to war, so not so different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhae_Valarie Posted February 23, 2018 Author Share Posted February 23, 2018 5 hours ago, Nowy Tends said: I'm sorry but Eris and Enyo are two different goddesses… Eris is goddess of discord; Enyo is goddess of war; there is no goddess named "Eris-Enyo", and I believe the hyphen doesn't exist in ancient Greek language… Yes, I've only encountered the hyphen in modern sources. While some stories depict them as two separate goddesses, there are many that show them as one goddess, due to their similarities.This is actually very common, such as with the goddess Artemis, who is sometimes called Selene and sometimes depicted as a separate entity than Selene. As far as Eris-Enyo (or Eris and Enyo) Wikipedia has this to say: "She is called the "sister of War" by Quintus Smyrnaeus,[1] in a role closely resembling that of Eris, the embodiment of strife and discord, with Homer, in particular, representing the two as the same goddess." So I believe the modern spelling of Eris-Enyo is a way to acknowledge both the sources that depict them as separate entities and the ones that depict them as the same goddess. Other quotes very reminiscent of Visenya include: "As goddess of war, Enyo is responsible for orchestrating the destruction of cities, often accompanying Ares into battle" "She frequently is associated with the war god Ares, as a companion, sister, wife, or perhaps, mother" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhae_Valarie Posted February 23, 2018 Author Share Posted February 23, 2018 4 hours ago, Cridefea said: Vis in latin/ancient greek is "force", "power" or "violence" and "-enya" I always thought Martin uses it as poetic license for "-genia" in some Targaryen's names; that means "descendant" or "family". As for Iphigenia, to make you understand https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iphigenia But you could be right about Enio! it's a good idea! No poetic license and it would be relate to war, so not so different. That's a really interesting thought!! Perhaps it's actually a combination of our theories. As a previous poster pointed out Enyo is sometimes portrayed as her own goddess, independent of Eris. Perhaps Martin used Enyo to inspire the ending of enya and paired it with Vis, due to its latin meaning. Though we may never know, it's fun to think about the hidden significance of these names Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhae_Valarie Posted February 23, 2018 Author Share Posted February 23, 2018 6 hours ago, Seams said: I think you must be right. That implies that there might be similar mythical origins for the name Rhaenys. I wonder where that name might have come from? The mythology connection I find compelling and mysterious come from the parallels between Tyrion's voyages and the voyages of Odysseus. In the ancient Greek story, the hero was tempted and kidnapped by a sorceress named Circe and tried to return to his wife, Penelope. In ASOIAF, Cersei and Penny obviously play different roles in Tyrion's arc. So why did GRRM choose those names for his characters? Wow!!! That is such a great observation and I think you are completely right. Perhaps the names are simply an allusion, due to the similarities of Tyrion to Odysseus. However, they might also hint at a great temptation in Tyrion's future, perhaps one offered by Cersei and which Penny urges him not to give in to? It reminds me of the prophecy given to Dany that urges her not to trust the lion (Tyrion) among others. Could he be tempted to betray her? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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