WORDS DEALING WITH TIME

CHRON-

What does it mean?

WORD TOWER

CHRONOLOGY

Made of two roots• Chron-• -ology-

CHRONICLE

SYNCHRONIZE

CHRONIC

CHRONOMETER

CHRONOCYCLEGRAPH

WHAT DAY IS IT? WHY?

MYTHOLOGY

THE BEGINNING

The Greeks named the days week after the

sun, the moon and the five known planets,

which were in turn named after the gods

Ares, Hermes, Zeus, Aphrodite, and Cronus.

The Greeks called the days of the week the

Theon hemerai "days of the Gods".

THEN CAME THE ROMANS

The Romans substituted their

equivalent gods for the Greek gods,

Mars, Mercury, Jove (Jupiter),

Venus, and Saturn. (The two

pantheons are very similar.)

THE NORDIC (NORSE)

THE NORDIC

The Germanic peoples generally

substituted roughly similar gods for the

Roman gods, Tiu (Twia), Woden, Thor,

Freya (Fria), but did not substitute Saturn.

days of the week in various languages *stop at end

SUNDAYSun’s Day

• Old English Sunnandæg

Sun god Apollo (Greek and Roman) in late Greek

and Roman mythology. Some languages have

changed this day to mean “Lord’s day” to better

reflect their religions.

MONDAY

Moon’s Day• Old English

Mōnandæg• This is likely

based on a translation of the Latin name dies lunae (Spanish lunes.)

TUESDAY

Mars’ Day (Roman)

Mars (Ares=Greek):

god of war, battle rage

and initiation; son of

Zeus/Hera

Norse: Tiw's-day Tiw

(Tyr): god of battle and

victory

WEDNESDAY

Mercury’s Day• Old English Wōdnesdæg

Mercury (Hermes): god of

commerce; Messenger of the

gods; Trickster god; son of

Zeus/Maia

Woden's-day Woden/Wotan

(Odin): Father and ruler of the

gods and mortals; god of war,

learning, poetry and the dead.

THURSDAY

Jupiter’s Day• Ger. Donnerstag

Jupiter Jove (Zeus): son of

Kronos/Rhea; Supreme god,

Lord of Heaven (Olympus)

and mortals

Norse: Thor's-day Thor:

god of thunder and sky, and

good crops; son of Odin and

Frigg.

FRIDAY

Venus’ Day• Old English Frīgedæg

Venus (Aphrodite):

goddess of sexual desire,

love, beauty and procreation

Norse: Frigg's (Friia's)-day

Frigg (Friia): wife of Odin;

great mother of the gods;

goddess of married love.

SATURDAY

Saturn’s Day• Its original Anglo-

Saxon rendering was Sæturnesdæg

Saturn (Kronos): god of

fertility, agriculture, time;

ruler of the Titans; father

of first generation of

Greek gods Saturn's-day.

HOW ABOUT THE MONTHS?

HISTORY OF CALENDARS

Julian Calendar: 45 B.C.

Gregorian Calendar: (also known as Western or

Christian)• Signed by Pope Gregory XIII Feb 24, 1582• Many countries with Protestants or Eastern Othodox did

not agree with the change.• 1600 Scotland adapts• 1752 England adapts• Some as late as 20th century (Russia and Greece)• Made adjustments of 11 minutes per year, changed

number of leap years. AND changed the beginning of the year to more closely fit Christian calendar.

MARCH

Mars: Roman

God of War.

March was the

original beginning of

the year and time

for the resumption

of war.

APRIL

Aphrodite: Greek goddess of love

and beauty.

Also possibly related

to the latin verb

APERIRE “to open” as

this is the month that

buds open.

MAY

Maia :

Goddess of

spring

JUNE

Juno`s

month

Juno is the

goddess of

marriage and

well-being of

women

JULY

Julius

Caesar was born in

this month.

He reformed the

calendar system, and

in the process named a

month after himself.

AUGUST

Augustus Caesar:

Great-nephew of JuliusNamed this month after himself

when he was completing and

clarifying Julius Ceasar’s calendar. It

is said that many good things

happened to him this month, so he

named it after himself.

SEPTEMBER

From SEPT =

SEVEN

OCTOBER

From OCT =

EIGHT

NOVEMBER

From NOV=NINE

DECEMBER

From DEC = TEN

JANUARY

Janus:

Roman God of

Beginning and

Endings

FEBRUARY

Februa=

Feast of

purification

celebrated in

Rome during

this month.