// ************************************************************************************ // ** This file has been created with the Rotating Content Tool by Amesbury Web. ** // ** For more information, visit us on the web: ** // ** ** // ** Rotating Content Tool -- http://rotatecontent.com/ ** // ** Company: Amesbury Web -- http://amesburyweb.com/ ** // ** Author: Randy Hoyt -- http://randyhoyt.com/ ** // ** ** // ************************************************************************************ today = new Date() month = today.getMonth() + 1 year = today.getFullYear() selectedDate = new Date("01/01/1900") selectedContent = "" varLength = 31 var entryDate = new Array(varLength) var entryContent = new Array(varLength) entryDate[0] = " " + month + "/01/" + year entryContent[0] = " Achates—the faithful (fidus) companion of Aeneas. He's the one always in the background, carrying his leader's bow and arrows and accompanying him to Carthage." entryDate[1] = " " + month + "/02/" + year entryContent[1] = " Aiax (Ajax)—son of Oileus and known as \"Lesser Ajax.\" His rape of Cassandra in the temple of Minerva leads to the near destruction of the Greek fleet and his own impalement on a reef. (In line 1.41, Aiacis Oilei scans long-long-short-short-long-long, where the A is lengthened by the consonantal i that follows it, the a is long by nature, the final i is short; the O is short, the i is long by nature, and the ei merge by synizesis into a single long syllable.) " entryDate[2] = " " + month + "/03/" + year entryContent[2] = " Alcides—a patronymic for Hercules, the grandson of Alceus. Metrically,  the form Hercules (long-short-long) cannot be used in dactylic hexameter. Hercules slew Cacus on the Aventine and was the hospes of Evander, which is why Pallas prays to him before confronting Turnus in Book 10." entryDate[3] = " " + month + "/04/" + year entryContent[3] = " Androgeos—the Greek, who, in storming Troy, first encountered Aeneas's band dressed in Greek armor. When he realized that he had fallen into enemy hands, he moved back like a man who had stepped on a snake in a famous simile not on the AP syllabus (2.379-81)." entryDate[4] = " " + month + "/05/" + year entryContent[4] = " Ausonia—another name for Italy.  Yet another is Hesperia (\"Western land\"). according to the poem, the original name of Italy was Oenotria." entryDate[5] = " " + month + "/06/" + year entryContent[5] = " Bacchus—the god of wine and, by metonomy, wine itself." entryDate[6] = " " + month + "/07/" + year entryContent[6] = " Camilla—warrior queen of the Volscians and favorite of Diana, who allies with Turnus. After having slain many of the Trojans and their allies, she was shot from behind by Arruns, who was himself shot by Ops, a nymph of Diana. The line describing her death, vitaque cum gemitu fugit indignata sub umbras (11.831), is identical to the final line of the poem." entryDate[7] = " " + month + "/08/" + year entryContent[7] = " Cassandra—daughter of Priam and Hecuba, she was a Trojan prophetess cursed by Apollo never to be believed. her suitor Coroebus was slain when he attempted to prevent her rape by Ajax." entryDate[8] = " " + month + "/09/" + year entryContent[8] = " Ceres—the goddess of grain and, by metonymy, bread or grain itself." entryDate[9] = " " + month + "/10/" + year entryContent[9] = " Coroebus—the suitor of Cassandra who came to Troy at the end of the war. On the last night of Troy, he had the idea for the Trojans to don Greek armor to trick the invaders, which eventually backfired. He was slain when he attempted to save Cassandra from being raped by Ajax." entryDate[10] = " " + month + "/11/" + year entryContent[10] = " Cyllenius—a name for Mercury, who was born to the nymph Maia on Mt. Cyllene. Mercury is the messenger of the gods, particularly Jupiter, and escort of the dead. Mercury is also known as Maia genitus." entryDate[11] = " " + month + "/12/" + year entryContent[11] = " Cytherea—a name for Venus, who was born from the sea off the coast of the island Cythera. This name, used even by Jupiter, seems to contradict her status in the epic as Jupiter's daughter." entryDate[12] = " " + month + "/13/" + year entryContent[12] = " Dis—the standard Roman name for the god of the underworld, which, by metonymy, seems to mean the underworld itself (atri ianua Ditis 6.127)." entryDate[13] = " " + month + "/14/" + year entryContent[13] = " Dolopes—a tribe of Thessalian Greeks, particularly associated with Pyrrhus, son of Achilles; by metonymy, the Greeks." entryDate[14] = " " + month + "/15/" + year entryContent[14] = " Iarbas—a son of Jupiter and king of the Gaetuli in North Africa. Iarbas had sold Dido the land on which she founded Carthage and was her unsuccesful suitor. His almost atheistic prayer in Book 4 prompts Jupiter to send Mercury to Carthage with the message that Aeneas must leave (naviget! 4.237)." entryDate[15] = " " + month + "/16/" + year entryContent[15] = " Iris—goddess of the rainbow and messenger of the gods, particularly of Juno, although Jupiter dispatched her with a message for Juno in Book 9. Iris cuts the lock of hair from Dido's head that allows her to die, which suggests that she may also have an association with the spirits of the dead similar to that of Mercury." entryDate[16] = " " + month + "/17/" + year entryContent[16] = " Iuturna (Juturna)—sister of Turnus. Already a demigod (their mother was a goddess), she was deified by Jupiter after he had raped her. At Juno's urging, she uses all her powers in an attempt to save her brother from death, even impersonating his charioteer. We discover that Turnus could penetrate her disguise. She is driven from the battlefied by a Fury and laments the very immortality that prevents her from joining her brother in death. Iuturna defiles her face and breast exactly as Anna had done for Dido (unguibus ora soror foedans et pectora pugnis 4.673, 12.871)." entryDate[17] = " " + month + "/18/" + year entryContent[17] = " Lausus—son of Mezentius, allied to Turnus. He and Pallas were the same age, but did not meet in combat. Rather, both were fated to die at the hands of greater warriors (Pallas was slain by Turnus and  Lausus by Aeneas). Lausus fell while defending his wounded father from Aeneas and was honored by the Trojan, who refrained from despoiling his corpse. " entryDate[18] = " " + month + "/19/" + year entryContent[18] = " Mezentius—exiled king of the Etruscans and father of Lausus, known for his cruelty and as a despiser of the gods (contemptor divum 7.648). After Aeneas had wounded him, he was protected by his son, whom Aeneas then slew.  Mounting his loyal steed Rhaebus, he charged Aeneas, who slew both horse and man. His dying request to Aeneas was that his foe permit him to be buried with his son. Aeneas's response is unknown." entryDate[19] = " " + month + "/20/" + year entryContent[19] = " Misenus—a Trojan trumpeter, companion of both Hector and Aeneas, who challenged Triton to a music contest and was allegedly drowned by him. It was his body that had to be buried before Aeneas was allowed to descend to the underworld." entryDate[20] = " " + month + "/21/" + year entryContent[20] = " Neoptolemus—another name (meaning \"New Battle\") for the son of Achilles, whom Vergil usually calls Pyrrhus (\"Redhead\"). The snake simile (2.471-75) suggests that Neoptolemus is in some sense a \"reincarnation\" of his father, but Priam disputed this similiarity after Pyrrhus had cut down Priam's son Polites. Priam cursed Pyrrhus just before Pyrrhus killed him. Andromache, the widow of Hector, revealed to Aeneas in Book 3 that Pyrrhus was, in fact, slain at an altar, just as he had slain Priam. After the death of Neoptolemus, his Trojan slaves Helenus and Andromache founded Buthrotum, a mini golf version of Troy.
" entryDate[21] = " " + month + "/22/" + year entryContent[21] = " Orcus—a name for the underworld. By metonymy from Lake Avernus, supposedly the gateway to hell, the underworld is also called Avernus in the famous facilis descensus Averno (6.126). The attempt to read Averno as ablative of route, rather than dative of direction, which would invalidate the metonymy, strikes me as an incredibly unpoetic reading of the Sibyl's words." entryDate[22] = " " + month + "/23/" + year entryContent[22] = " Pallas—son of king Evander of Pallanteum, the future site of Rome. Pallas was entrusted to Aeneas's care, but Turnus killed him on the battlefield and stripped him of his sword belt. When Turnus asked Aeneas for mercy at the end of the epic, it was this baldric that stirred the latter's rage and cost Turnus his life." entryDate[23] = " " + month + "/24/" + year entryContent[23] = " Palinurus—the Trojan helmsman whose life was the price exacted by Neptune for a safe passage of the Trojans from Sicily to Italy. An unburied corpse, his shade wished for Aeneas to \"sneak\" him across to the underworld in Book 6, but the Sibyl prevented it, while reassuring him of his eventual burial and honor. He is the first of the triad from Aeneas's past encountered by the hero in Orcus as he comes to terms with his past and future:
  1. Palinurus—died in Book 5;
  2. Dido—died in Book 4;
  3. Anchises—died in Book 3.
" entryDate[24] = " " + month + "/25/" + year entryContent[24] = " Pygmalion—brother of Dido and king of Tyre. slew Didon's husband Sychaeus, who was the richest man in Phoenicia. Dido stole his wealth and ships and fled to the site of Carthage to found a new empire." entryDate[25] = " " + month + "/26/" + year entryContent[25] = " Quirinus—Sabine war god identified with the deified Romulus." entryDate[26] = " " + month + "/27/" + year entryContent[26] = " Sinon—Greek at Troy who was \"captured\" and whose false story, along with the death of Laocoon, convinced the Trojans to bring the Trojan Horse into their city. He is the subject of the famous zeugma/hysteron proteron: inclusos utero Danaos et pinea furtim laxat claustra Sinon (\"Sinon stealthily releases the Greeks enclosed in the belly and the pine bolts\" 2.258-59)." entryDate[27] = " " + month + "/28/" + year entryContent[27] = " Sychaeus—husband of Dido and richest man in Phoneicia. He was slain by his brother-in-law Pygmalion, and his ghost revealed the truth to Dido and persuaded her to flee. His spirit was reunited with Dido's in the underworld." entryDate[28] = " " + month + "/29/" + year entryContent[28] = " Triton—son of Neptune who helped dislodge the Trojan ships from the sandbars in Book 1 and was challenged by Misenus to a music contest according to Book 6. If the story is to be believed, Triton drowned Misenus for his hubris." entryDate[29] = " " + month + "/30/" + year entryContent[29] = " Trivia—a name for Diana, meaning crossroads. As the goddess of a symbolic intersection of time and space, Diana becomes a goddess of the underworld and black magic, in addition to her role as huntress, protectress of wild animals, and archer goddess. She is the subject of the famous simile that compares Dido to her leading her dancing nymphs (1.498-502)." entryDate[30] = " " + month + "/31/" + year entryContent[30] = " venti—The winds play important roles in the plot and even the similes of the Aeneid. Here's a handy chart of their names: " if (typeof display == "undefined") { var display = "date" } if (display == "random") { var randomNumber = Math.random() randomNumber *= varLength randomNumber = parseInt(randomNumber) if(isNaN(randomNumber)) randomNumber = 0 else randomNumber %= varLength selectedContent = entryContent[randomNumber] } else { for (x=0; x<(entryContent.length); x++) { tempDate = new Date(entryDate[x]) tempContent = entryContent[x] if ((tempDate <= today) && (tempDate > selectedDate)) { selectedContent = tempContent selectDate = tempDate } } } document.write (selectedContent)