My name is Alley/Ali, or even just KiKat if you want. I'm currently in university, so updates are sporadic at best. However, I don't plan on abandoning stories. I only upload stories with the intent of finishing them. It might take forever, but I will finish them!

THE ORACLE'S GIFT - GREEK & ROMAN REFERENCES

I love to study Greek and Roman history, so there will be a fair amount of references. Not all of them will mean something, there are some names that are borrowed just because I like the sound of it.

Governing System in Silcyia - as stated in the intro, the system in Silcyia has two kings, a council of nobles, and a council of normal citizens. This is roughly the way it worked in ancient Sparta. Ancient Roman authors would later called it the best mix of monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy. It was designed so that not one faction had more power than the other. The fact that Silcyia has some of the strongest soldiers is also reminiscent of Sparta's powerful reputation back in their prime, though Silcyia is more open to showing others their way than the Spartans were.

Asteria - the Queen of Zahan takes her name after the titan of the same name who was the goddess of nighttime rituals and falling stars. She is the mother of the goddess of witchcraft, Hecate. Her name is simply borrowed because I liked it, not that it has any resemblance to her.

Vulcan - also known as Hephaestus in Greece, Vulcan was the Olympian god of fire, metalworking, stonemasonry, architecture and sculpture.

Daphne - Daphne's name was mostly pick because of the plant genus has poisonous berries, but Daphne was also a nymph. She was beloved by Apollo but she wanted nothing to do with him, so she fled. However, when she grew exhausted and Apollo didn't give up, she was transformed into a laurel tree. The tree became Apollo's sacred plant because he still loved her.

Notched Gold - a lot of ancient coins have notches in them, especially Athenian owl coins. The owls were made of entirely of silver and had a standardize weight, so you can see if your coin is a counterfeit by striking it so you can see the metal inside. However, some counterfeiters were especially clever because they would make their own fake notches, so that it would look like it was still silver on the inside.

Iphis and Ianthe - I just stole the names because I liked them (Ianthe in particular, which my professor pronounced as eye-an-they). However, this is an interesting story, where Iphis (a gender-neutral name) was born female but raised male, so that they wouldn't be exposed an infant. It works for a time, though Iphis grows up being unsure of how to feel about the entire thing, until Iphis' father tries to arrange a between Iphis and Ianthe. Iphis' mother freaks out, since the marriage will make it clear that Iphis was biologically female the entire time, so she goes to he temple of Isis (yes, the Egyptian goddess), who apparently makes Iphis male. However, it should be noted that Iphis and Ianthe never seem to have children. This is a story found in Ovid's Metamorphoses if you're interesting in what is possibly the first story featuring somebody who is transgendered. In my story, Iphis and Ianthe are strictly father and daughter, they're not a couple.

Other Greek & Roman Names:

These are the names of submitted characters that happen to have a basis in Greek and Roman mythology, or is just a Greek or roman name, but since they are submitted, I'm not sure if it was entirely intentional.

Amaryllis - it's a Greek name, but the name also appears in Virgil's writings, called the Eclogues.

Ajax - Ajax was one of the Greek soldiers tat appeared in the Iliad, as one of the best of the Greek soldiers. According to Homer, the duel with Achilles' amour was his undoing.