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This is the Conversation Forum for The Greek Myth of Heracles << correction OH NO! >> Subject: Milky Way Posted Mar 25, 2003 by Researcher 222738   Posting 1 Does anybody know the root of "Milky Way"? Could it possibly have its origin in this myth as accounted above? It's conceivable (in my admittedly warped mind at least) that "Milky Way" could be a relatively modern corruption of "Milky Whey". Of course I am ignoring that the original fable would have been in ancient greek, but I'd be fascinated to know the answer. Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Milky Way Posted Mar 25, 2003 by Zarquon's Singing Fish! This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 2 'Put to the breast of Hera, the child sucked so hard that Hera threw him off and a spurt of milk flew into the air, becoming the Milky Way.' I rather like this origin! Don't know of any other. Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Milky Way Posted Mar 26, 2003 by NAITA (Join ViTAL - A1014625) This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 3 The name may have come before the legend. Who knows what ancient man though of the sky before he started writing things down or created legends for it? Did they actually bother with a name for the Milky Way until they put it in legend? But your case for 'milky whey' would need some seriously hard proof. Dictionaries give the etymology as: Middle English, translation of Latin 'via lactea' : 'via', way + 'lactea', feminine of 'lacteus', milky. The ancient greeks called it galaxias, which turned into 'our' Galaxy. (And the dictionary says galactic can mean, relating to the galaxy, something huge, or something to do with milk.) Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Milky Way Posted Mar 26, 2003 by Researcher 222738 This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 4 Thanks for the insight. Much appreciated. Conversation list Most of the content on h2g2 is created by h2g2's Researchers, who are members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of the BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of any external sites referenced. In the event that you consider anything on this page to be in breach of the site's House Rules, please click on the relevant button to alert our Moderation Team. Conversation list

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