Recently, I noticed that the DCEU's Wonder Woman's shield has some sort of inscription around the edges.
From the best image that I could find, these inscriptions look like Greek to me.
So, what does this inscription mean?
Recently, I noticed that the DCEU's Wonder Woman's shield has some sort of inscription around the edges.
From the best image that I could find, these inscriptions look like Greek to me.
So, what does this inscription mean?
Dr. Vincent Tomasso, Asst. Professor of Classics at Trinity College, Hartford, has kindly transliterated the text on the shield into Greek text (or rather the closest available letters in variants of Ancient Greek).
The inscription reads (from upper left-hand side, reading left to right)
AΛΡΙFΑΛΨFΑΛΑ ΘΣΑΗΣΑΔΑΤΙΚΑ ΗΣΑΖΟΘΡΑΣΑ ΡΑΤΙΨFΑΗΑΣΑΤΙ ↑ΥFΑΝΑΜΡΑΜΑΝ ΤΑΜ↑UFΑΝΑΜΛ ΑΤΙΥFΛΗΣΑΤΙ ΑΤΗΘΑΒΑΛΑΝΤ
...
In ancient Greek, which is what Nerdist wanted me to translate, they’re meaningless.
The text derives largely from Ancient Greek.
The variant on WW’s sword appears in inscriptions from Attica and Argos in mainland Greece to the islands of Naxos and Ceos.
but with some odd additional letters that seem to be closer to runic script and some other crap just thrown in.
The inscription on the sword (in similar text) reads
Line 1: ↑ΥFΑΝΑΜΡ ΑΜΑΝΤΑΙΝΑΜΡ ΑΜΑΝΙΑΜ↑ΥFΑ∀AΜΛΑ ΤΙΨΡΑHΑΣ
Line 2: ΑΤΙΑΤΙΙΘΑΡΑΛΑΝΨΑΤΙΙΘΑΡΑNΨΑ ΛΡΙΕΑΓΨΕΑΡΑΘΣΑΗΣ
Line 3: ΑΔΑΤΙΚΑ ΗΣΑΖΑOΘΡΑΣΑΛΑΤΙΨ HΑΗΑΣΑΤII)
is supposedly part of a quote from Joseph Cambell's Goddesses: Mysteries of the Feminine Divine
“Originally Artemis herself was a deer, and she is the goddess who kills deer; the two are dual aspects of the same being. Life is killing life all the time, and so the goddess kills herself in the sacrifice of her own animal. Each life is its own death, and he who kills you is somehow a messenger of destiny that was yours from the start.”