Notes and Supplementary Information

- Anime: The animated Bishjo Senshi Sr Mn continuity.

- Manga: The graphic novel Bishjo Senshi Sr Mn continuity.

- The word character may be used in two different ways in this article. Depending on the context, character may refer to a written symbol that represents a word or sound in a writing system. In other cases, character may refer to an individual from Bishjo Senshi Sr Mn or classical mythology. Whenever I use that word, I try to be clear about the intended meaning.

- Hiragana: The Japanese syllabic script that is used primarily to write grammatical words and elements.

- Katakana: The Japanese syllabic script that is used primarily to write Western loan words, non-Japanese proper names (except for Chinese and Korean names), and onomatopoeic Japanese words.

- Kanji: The Chinese characters that are used to write the core of the Japanese vocabulary.

- Furigana: The small characters that are placed along the top or the side of kanji to indicate their pronunciation.

Helios of Elysion and the Helios Spy Satellite

     This online Japanese-English dictionary has an entry that shows that Eriosu approximates Helios.  According to the entry, the Japanese refer to the French Helios Spy Satellite as Eriosu Teisatsu Eisei.  So, the combination Eriosu approximates the French pronunciation of Helios: "ay-lee-os."  The French do not pronounce the aitch sound in that name.

The Maenads

     Some fans think that the two young women in the manga who live with Helios in Elysion should not be called the Maenads.  Phi explains why she does not accept the name:

     The Maenads in classical Greaco-Roman mythology were not always mad and frenzied.  Usually, they played and danced with their god Dionysus.  When they wished to destroy their impious enemies, they become wild and dangerous.

     According to this online Japanese-English dictionary, the Japanese write Mendo to approximate Maenad.  In volume fourteen of the Bishjo Senshi Sr Mn manga, Helios explains the roles of the Maenads in Elysion:

     Please note that Ms. Takeuchi made Helios use the Japanese word miko to refer to the two women.  That word often means shrine maiden or sorceress.  That online Japanese-English dictionary also shows that miko can also refer to a bacchante.  The word bacchante refers to a Maenad.  Therefore, Mendo refers to the Maenads by name, and the word miko is a Japanese epithet of the Maenads.

False Mendes Hypothesis

Phi thinks that the Maenads should really be called Mendes:

Even Yoon Mi Kim mentioned Mendes on her Web site:

     Mendes was the Greek name of an ancient Egyptian god.  He was not a goddess.  I have found some information about him:

1. The Oxford Classical Dictionary
Oxford at the Clarendon Press 1966
Edited by M. Cary, et al.
P. 557

2. Herodotus, The Histories (ed. A. D. Godley)

     Actually, the ancient Egyptians referred to the deity as Banebdjedet.

3. A Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses
Routledge 1986
George Hart
P. 52-53

     Why did Phi think that Mendes was a goddess?  The Mendes entry at Encyclopedia Mythica seems to be where Phi found some of her information.  That entry says that Mendes was a deity of nature.  There is nothing in the entry that suggests that the word deity refers to a goddess.  Sources that are more detailed would have shown her that Mendes was a male deity, not a female one.

     When the Japanese wish to approximate the name Mendes using katakana characters, they write Mendesu, not Mendo.

Helios and Elios in a CD Booklet

     Gregory Lam once claimed in a Usenet message that the first publication of a certain SuperS CD booklet shows the priest’s name as Helios.  Unfortunately, he did not say the name of the CD.

     Another Usenet message from Gregory Lam shows shis:

     That booklet is not promoting logical spellings for the names of the girls, either.  It is inconsistent in the way it presents their names.

1.

a. The Cerecere spelling derives from Ceres. b. Seresere is the romanization of the katakana-character combination that is used to write the character’s name ().

2.

a. The Junjun spelling derives from Juno or the the katakana-character romanization Junjun. b. Junjun is the romanization of the katakana-character combination that is used to write the character’s name ().

3.

a. The Vesves spelling derives from Vesta. b. Besubesu is the romanization of the katakana-character combination that is used to write the character’s name ().

     The girl who wears blue has a name that pertains to the name Pallas.  We should realize that the Parapara spelling is actually the romanization of the katakana-character combination that is used to write her name ().  (The Japanese use the combination Parasu to approximate Pallas.  The Para part of Parasu approximates the Palla part of Pallas.)  If Ceres goes with Cerecere, and Vesta goes with Vesves, then Pallas goes with Pallapalla.  The book is flip-flopping between the katakana-character romanization method (Parapara) and the method that pertains to the spellings that orthographically derive from the original, Roman-letter spellings of the asteroid names (Cerecere, from Ceres).  (Conveniently, Junjun can actually be used in either method.)

     If the writers of that booklet wrote Elios in the second publication because they thought Helios in the first publication was an error, why did they not bother to fix the Parapara to Pallapalla so that it better fits in with Cerecere and Vesves?  Furthermore, since the writers flip-flopped between those two methods carelessly, one could say that they flip-flopped between Helios and Elios carelessly.

     Elios is actually what the Greeks in modern times call the sun and the ancient Greek solar deity.  The CD booklet may show Elios, but that does not mean that the character is not supposed to be connected to the solar deity Helios.  Even if Ms. Takeuchi unambiguously intended the Roman-letter spelling Elios, that does not mean that she did not want to connect the character to the god.  After all, Ms. Takeuchi did approximate the Greek name Hellenikon as Erinikon, not as Herinikon.

The Priest and the Sun God

     Some fans have said that the priest of Elysion does not seem to have anything to do with the sun or the Greek sun god.  The katakana-character combination Eriosu is one of the ways to write Helios in Japanese.  The priest exhibits the gold motif.  (Gold is associated with the sun.  The Greek sun god often exhibits the gold motif.  One source calls Helios the “golden Titan.”)  The other characters who are strongly connected with the Elysion area have names from Greek mythology: Pegasus and Endymion in the anime (and the Maenads in the manga).  Even the name Elysion came from Greek mythology.  So, the Elysion characters have names that follow the mythological-name motif.  Those facts are enough to connect the priest to the Greek god of the sun.

     The fairy Poupelin may not seem to have anything to do with pâte à choux.  That does not change the fact that the combination Pupuran approximates the French term poupelin.  That term refers to a type of French confectionery.  The SuperS movie exhibits the confectionery-name motif.  When we consider the implications of that motif, the combination Pupuran makes sense.

     Cyprine’s red-haired twin may not seem to have anything to do with the minerals Ptilolite and Clinoptilolite.  However, that does not change the fact that the combination Puchiroru is one of the ways to approximate the Ptilol parts of those mineral names.  The BSSM series exhibits the mineral-name motif.  When we consider the implications of that motif, the combination Puchiroru makes sense.

     The hypothesis that states that Elios has no relationship to the sun requires a Mysterious Unknown explanation.  Such a hypothesis is inferior to one that can explain the name.

[DIES GAUDII] | [Contact] | [Article] | [Sources Cited]

© 2002-2008 Ian Andreas Miller. All rights reserved. Those statements refer to all of the original content on these Web pages. All of the other works that are mentioned on these pages are the properties of their authors.