Hino Rei - Astrology and Mythology
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| Rei and Her Sunsign Rei is an Aries (Aries - the Ram - first sign of the zodiac), and fits the description of the stereotypical Aries perfectly: she's fiery, impulsive, hot-blooded, quick to anger, strong in character, and has leadership qualities, plus a lot of initiative and something of an ego - not truly vain, but not a model of self-effacement either. Like the ram she can be aggressive and stubborn; also, Aries is a fire sign, which fits perfectly with Rei's disposition and her affinity to fire both as a Senshi and as a Shinto priestess-in-training. In astrology, fire can signify spirit/soul, and moreover, Aries rules over the head (each zodiac sign rules over some portions of the body), and both of these aspects tie in neatly with Rei's ability to sense, contact, and make use of another plane of consciousness. The ruling planet of Aries is Mars (gee, can anyone guess why Rei, a.k.a. Sailor Mars, is an Aries? xp), and Rei's favorite colors (red and black) are the colors associated with both Aries and Mars. It might also interest you to note that the Japanese (along with the Koreans and Chinese) use a specific symbol to represent each day of the week, and the symbol used to represent Tuesday is the kanji for "hi" ("fire"), the first character in Rei's name. I mention this because the twelve zodiac signs all have a day they're associated with, and the sign of Aries is associated with Tuesday. Rei's Mythology To the Greeks, the god of war Ares was a loathsome god, hated even by all the other gods (except his lover Aphrodite) and viewed as a troublemaker, one who caused nothing but violence, strife, and death. The Romans, who were not as non-violent a people as the Greeks, viewed Mars (the Roman Ares) as a battle god as well, but they also considered him a benevolent, protective, and spiritual god who had honor and concern for humans. At her worst, Rei is like Ares was to the Greeks: discordant, bitchy, and vain. At her best though, she is like Mars was to the Romans: spiritual, with a true sense of honor, and very protective of those she cares about. As mentioned above, Ares is lover to Aphrodite, goddess of love and wife to Hephaestus, the Greek god of the forge... So I guess all those hentai fics pairing up Sailor Mars and Sailor Venus are on the right track... or something. XD *bwa ha* *L* Ares is usually accompanied in his battle chariot by his full-blooded sister Eris (Strife) and his two attendants: Deimos (Panic) and Phobos (Fear). The planet Mars has two moons, and the larger is named Phobos while the smaller is named Deimos; also, Rei has two pet crows named Deimos and Phobos. Mythology Behind the Constellation Aries Ino was the second wife to Athamas, king of Thebes (some say he was actually king of Boetia). Athamas had two children (a boy named Phrixus and a girl named Helle) by his first wife, the cloud goddess Nephele, and Ino was afraid that Nephele's children and not hers would inherit the throne. To prevent this, Ino paid women to scorch the grain before planting it so that no food would grow, and when famine resulted in the region, she then paid a king's messenger to return from the oracle at Delphi and to say that Phrixus and Helle had to be sacrificed in order to stop the famine. Nephele prayed for her children though, and sure enough, a ram with golden fleece belonging to Poseidon (the Greek sea god) swooped down to the altar and flew off with the two children right before they were about to be sacrificed. Other versions say that the god Hermes gave the ram to Nephele as a wedding present and that Nephele appealed to the ram directly. Whatever the case, Helle fell off the flying ram (poor girl ;_;) and drowned in the waters of the Hellespont (which is named after her), but Phrixus managed to stay on the ram's back till he was brought safely to Colchis, where he was welcomed by King Aeetes. There Phrixus sacrificed the ram to the gods in gratitude for their help (yes, the poor ram saves him and he kills it -_-) and the gods placed the ram in the sky as the constellation Aries - the Ram - to honor it. The ram's fleece stayed in Colchis, and became the famous Golden Fleece that Jason and his Argonauts found. |