I am guilty of actually checking out pics from Mars sent back to us by the NASA built Mars rover. It is very intriguing to me, even though the only time the world takes notice is when a sand shape of some sort resembles an earthly product or something familiar like a face or a spoon.
I'm fascinated by it all. NASA has been trying to reach this kind of data collection for many years now. Most times they crash a vessel in an exercise of expensive trial and error, but they have adjusted and finally made it work on a much larger scale than previous attempts.
OK, that's a lie, but I take every opportunity to rep my hometown. 'Sup Erie!
All this water talk about the planet Mars got me thinking about how the human race has looked up and dreamed about the red planet since we realized it was there. Finding water on the planet is a monumental deal beyond what us "modern folk" realize.
The first written record of Mars happened over 3000 years ago in Ancient Egypt. The History Database of the Global Environment (HYDE) estimates the world population to be around 30 to 40 Million people at the time of the recording (5% of what it is today). Egypt had astronomers, a fact that speaks volumes about their society and hierarchy. In a world that small, Egypt recognized the importance of learning and discovery beyond their own environment (a lesson we all should practice on smaller scales).
Egypt is not alone in observing the planet. Ancient Chinese astronomers also took note, as did the Greeks.
Given that Mars shines brighter than distant stars to the naked eye, it needed a specific name. Greeks called it "Ares," Chinese called it "The Fire Star" and the Egyptians called it "Her Desher" (the Red One).
Romans named it after their God of War, Mars. The name stuck. Mars (the God) was a symbol of power, the namesake of March, and the Father of Rome's creators, Romulus and Remus. Why not name a bright light in the sky after him?
The planet and the god also inspired one of my favorite pieces of classical music. It's been running on repeat in my head for a few weeks now:
Mars, the Bringer of War was written by Gustav Holst during the WWI era (sometime between 1914 - 1918) as part of his Planets suite. For me it correctly captures the tone of the first modern war. One can easily picture the naivety of egocentric generals standing in large offices, the ruins of cities, the triumph and pride of fools, and the suffering and loss of families and loved ones.
The world in general tends to lend some romanticism to the World Wars of the 20th century. It's definitive bad guys, good versus evil storytelling and national pride all play out in black and white on our nostalgic history channels. In hindsight, War of that stature can be romanticized easily, and it eases the timeline of how WWI led to the devastation of WWII and so on. As each generation passes, it becomes less relevant on the surface to a large majority of our growing population, which is unfortunate. I only mention this because I am surprised at how little press the 100th anniversary of the first World War has received.
In popular culture, Mars, the Bringer of War has been the inspiration for many other works. As a Star Wars fan, drawing the line between Mars and the Imperial Death March is elementary, but as a Metalhead, hints of this work bleed into the best of the dark musical genre.
It can be argued that the examples above can also be directly traced to the Tritone, which is true. Tritone scales evoke a sense of evil, and have been utilized in blues just as much as metal. To be fair, most genres of music throughout history have hints of Tritone, but Metal is rooted in it 100%. Gustav is just as important to Metal as Wagner and Greig for that reason. If these guys were alive and composing today, I imagine them recording on black flying v's in the woods for an authentically evil sound.
The world in general tends to lend some romanticism to the World Wars of the 20th century. It's definitive bad guys, good versus evil storytelling and national pride all play out in black and white on our nostalgic history channels. In hindsight, War of that stature can be romanticized easily, and it eases the timeline of how WWI led to the devastation of WWII and so on. As each generation passes, it becomes less relevant on the surface to a large majority of our growing population, which is unfortunate. I only mention this because I am surprised at how little press the 100th anniversary of the first World War has received.
In popular culture, Mars, the Bringer of War has been the inspiration for many other works. As a Star Wars fan, drawing the line between Mars and the Imperial Death March is elementary, but as a Metalhead, hints of this work bleed into the best of the dark musical genre.
It can be argued that the examples above can also be directly traced to the Tritone, which is true. Tritone scales evoke a sense of evil, and have been utilized in blues just as much as metal. To be fair, most genres of music throughout history have hints of Tritone, but Metal is rooted in it 100%. Gustav is just as important to Metal as Wagner and Greig for that reason. If these guys were alive and composing today, I imagine them recording on black flying v's in the woods for an authentically evil sound.
That completes my ramble for today.
Nago
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