The Mummy (1932 film)
The Mummy is a 1932 American pre-Code horror film directed by Karl Freund. The screenplay by John L. Balderston was from a story by Nina Wilcox Richard Schayer. Released by Universal Studios, the film stars Boris Karloff, Zita Johann, David Manners, Edward Van Sloan and Arthur Byron; the film is about an ancient Egyptian mummy named Imhotep, discovered by a team of archeologists and inadvertently brought back to life through a magic scroll. Disguised as a modern Egyptian, the mummy searches for his lost love, who he believes has been reincarnated into a modern girl. In 1921, an archaeological expedition led by Sir Joseph Whemple finds the mummy of an ancient Egyptian high priest named Imhotep; when an inspection of the mummy by Whemple's friend Dr. Muller reveals that the viscera were not removed, Muller deduces that although Imhotep had been wrapped like a traditional mummy, he had been buried alive. Buried with Imhotep is a casket with a curse on it. Despite Muller's warning, Sir Joseph's assistant Ralph Norton opens it.
He reads aloud an ancient life-giving scroll, the "Scroll of Thoth". Imhotep rises, the sight of which snaps Norton’s mind and causes him to laugh hysterically, as the Mummy shuffles off with the scroll. Ten years Imhotep is masquerading as a modern Egyptian named Ardath Bey, he calls upon Sir Joseph's son Frank and Professor Pearson and shows them where to dig to find the tomb of the princess Ankh-es-en-amon. After locating the tomb, the archaeologists present its treasures to the Cairo Museum and thank Bey for making their discovery possible, it is further revealed that Imhotep's horrific death was punishment for sacrilege: attempting to resurrect his forbidden lover, Princess Ankh-es-en-amon. Imhotep soon encounters Helen Grosvenor, a half-Egyptian woman bearing a striking resemblance to the princess. Believing her to be Ankh-es-en-amon's reincarnation, he attempts to kill her, with the intention of mummifying her, resurrecting her, making her his bride. Helen is rescued when she remembers her ancestral past life and prays to the goddess Isis to come to her aid.
The statue of Isis emits a flash that sets the Scroll of Thoth on fire. This breaks the spell. At the urging of Dr. Muller, Frank calls Helen back to the world of the living while the Scroll of Thoth continues to burn. In credits orderBoris Karloff as Ardath Bey / Imhotep / The Mummy Zita Johann as Helen Grosvenor / Princess Ankh-es-en-Amon David Manners as Frank Whemple Arthur Byron as Sir Joseph Whemple Edward Van Sloan as Dr. Muller Bramwell Fletcher as Ralph Norton Noble Johnson as The Nubian Kathryn Byron as Frau Muller Leonard Mudie as Professor Pearson James Crane as Pharaoh Amenophis Henry Victor as The Saxon Warrior. C. Montague Shaw as Gentleman Inspired by the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922 and the Curse of the Pharaohs, producer Carl Laemmle Jr. commissioned story editor Richard Schayer to find a literary novel to form a basis for an Egyptian-themed horror film, just as the novels Dracula and Frankenstein informed their 1931 films Dracula and Frankenstein. Schayer found none although the plot bears a strong resemblance to a short story by Arthur Conan Doyle entitled "The Ring of Thoth".
Schayer and writer Nina Wilcox Putnam learned about Alessandro Cagliostro and wrote a nine-page treatment entitled Cagliostro. The story, set in San Francisco, was about a 3,000-year-old magician who survives by injecting nitrates. Laemmle was pleased with these ideas, he hired John L. Balderston to write the script. Balderston had contributed to Dracula and Frankenstein, had covered the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb for New York World when he was a journalist so he was more than familiar with the popular tomb unearthing. Balderston moved the story to Egypt and renamed the film and its title character Imhotep, after the historical architect, he changed the story from one of revenge upon all the women who resembled the main character's ex-lover to one where the main character is determined to revive his old love by killing and mummifying her reincarnated self before resurrecting her with the spell of the Scroll of Thoth. Balderston invented the Scroll of Thoth. Thoth was the wisest of the Egyptian gods who, when Osiris died, helped Isis bring her love back from the dead.
Thoth is believed to have authored The Book of the Dead, which may have been the inspiration for Balderston's Scroll of Thoth. Another source of inspiration is the fictional Book of Thoth that appeared in several ancient Egyptian stories. Karl Freund, the cinematographer on Dracula, was hired to direct, making this his first film in the United States as a director. Freund had been the cinematographer on Fritz Lang's Metropolis and photographed the television series I Love Lucy; the film was retitled The Mummy. Freund cast Zita Johann, who believed in reincarnation, named her character'Ankh-es-en-Amon' after the only wife of Pharaoh Tutankhamun; the real Ankhesenamon's body had not been discovered in the tomb of King Tut and her resting place was unknown. Her name, would not have been unknown to the general public. Filming was scheduled for three weeks. Karloff's first day was spent shooting the Mummy's awakening from his sarcophagus. Make-up artist Jack Pierce had studied photos of Seti I's mummy to design Imhotep.
Gelastic seizure
A gelastic seizure known as "gelastic epilepsy", is a rare type of seizure that involves a sudden burst of energy in the form of laughing or crying. This syndrome occurs for no obvious reason and is uncontrollable, it is more common in males than females. This syndrome can go for long periods of time without a diagnosis, as it may resemble normal laughing or crying if it occurs infrequently, it has been associated with several conditions, such as temporal and frontal lobe lesions, atrophy, tuberous sclerosis and post-infectious foci, but hypothalamic hamartomas. The term "gelastic" originates from the Greek word "gelos"; the main sign of a gelastic seizure is a sudden outburst of laughter or crying with no apparent cause. The laughter may sound sardonic rather than joyful; the outburst lasts for less than a minute. During or shortly after a seizure, an individual might display some twitching, strange eye movements, lip smacking, fidgeting or mumbling. If a person who suffers from the seizures is hooked up to an electroencephalogram, it will reveal interictal epileptic discharges.
This syndrome manifests itself before the individual reaches the age of three or four. The temporal lobes, the hypothalamus are the areas of the brain with the most involvement with these seizures; this may cause learning disabilities, faulted cognitive function as well. It is not uncommon for children to have tonic-clonic seizures, atonic seizures directly following the seizure; those that are associated with hypothalamic hamartomas may occur as as several times hourly and begin during infancy. Seizures that occur in infancy may include bursts of cooing, respirations and smiling. Due to early hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis activation in girls who suffer from the seizures, it is not uncommon for them to display secondary sex characteristics before the age of eight. A gelastic seizure is caused by a hypothalamic hamartoma, or a brain tumor. A hypothalamic hamartoma is defined as a benign mass of glial tissue near the hypothalamus; the size of the hamartoma can vary from one centimeter to larger than three centimeters.
They can cause several different types of seizures including a Gelastic Seizure. These structures can be detected with different imaging modalities such as computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, Single Photon emission computed tomography and Positron Emission Tomography. A computed tomography scan of an individual with a hypothalamic hamartoma would reveal a suprasellar mass with the same density as brain tissue. Images of these masses are not enhanced with the use of contrast. However, although a computed tomography scan may be useful in diagnosing the cause of a seizure, in the case of a hypothalamic hamartoma, magnetic resonance imaging is the tool of choice due to the cerebrospinal fluid which defines these masses. Single Photon emission computed tomography may be used which involves the use of a radiotracer, taken up by the ictal region of the brain where the tumor lies. Positron Emission Tomography using F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose show reduced metabolism at the site of seizure onset.
Gelastic seizures have been observed after taking a birth control pill. Optic nerve hypoplasia is the only reported condition with gelastic seizures without hypothalamic hamartomas, suggesting that hypothalamic disorganization alone can cause gelastic seizures. A diagnosis is difficult in children, due to the difficulty in differentiating between actual laughing or crying, versus a seizure that involves laughing and crying. In pre-verbal infants, a diagnosis may be impossible. A long history must be taken with a description of all the signs leading to and during the seizure; the episodes can be confused with behavioral and emotional disorders. Some doctors ask parents to videotape the children's outbursts; the tapes may be difficult to obtain, but can be helpful in speeding up the difficult diagnosis process. Diagnosis is complicated due to the many possible causes of the seizures. Imaging is always helpful in an attempt to diagnose seizures caused by hypothalamic hamartoma. If there is evidence of this, the diagnosis takes much less time.
Gelastic seizures are not responsive to pharmacotherapy. They can produce secondary seizure characteristics; these options are not a guaranteed cure, depend on the individual patient's pathology. The treatment depends on the cause of the seizures. If the seizures are caused by a tumor, surgical removal can be attempted. However, surgical removal is not always an immediate cure, there can be complications. Complications can include cerebral infarcts, cognitive deterioration. Hormonal treatment can be attempted to help individuals with precocious puberty. Anti-epileptic drugs could be an option as well depending on the patient's criteria; these drugs could include carbamazepine, lamotrigine, levetiracetam and topiramate. However none of these medications are capable of stopping the seizures from occurring, like any medication, there may be undesirable side effects. There is a specialized form of radiotherapy that may be an option depending on the tumor type and location. Once again, there are few areas in the world that offer this treatment.
Gamma knife radiosurgery can be the treatment of choice. It is a low risk option due to its lower frequency of neurological deficits, it is recommended for patients with tumors. Like many other types of seizures, gelastic seizures are hard to control
Mary Poppins (film)
Mary Poppins is a 1964 American musical fantasy film directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by Walt Disney, with songs written and composed by the Sherman Brothers. The screenplay is based on P. L. Travers's book series Mary Poppins; the film, which combines live-action and animation, stars Julie Andrews in her feature film debut as Mary Poppins, who visits a dysfunctional family in London and employs her unique brand of lifestyle to improve the family's dynamic. Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns are featured in supporting roles; the film was shot at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California using painted London background scenes. Mary Poppins was released on August 1964, to critical acclaim, it received a total of 13 Academy Awards nominations, including Best Picture – a record for any other film released by Walt Disney Studios – and won five: Best Actress for Andrews, Best Film Editing, Best Original Music Score, Best Visual Effects, Best Original Song for "Chim Chim Cher-ee".
In 2013, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally or aesthetically significant". Mary Poppins is considered Walt Disney's crowning live-action achievement, is the only one of his films which earned a Best Picture nomination during his lifetime. A sequel, Mary Poppins Returns, was released in 2018. In Edwardian London, 1910, Bert entertains a crowd as a one-man band when he senses a change in the wind. Afterwards, he directly addresses the audience, gives them a tour of Cherry Tree Lane, stopping outside the Banks family's home. George Banks returns home to learn from his wife, that Katie Nanna has left their service after Jane and Michael ran away again, they are returned shortly after by Constable Jones, who reveals the children were chasing a lost kite. The children ask their father to help build a better kite. Taking it upon himself to hire a new nanny, Mr. Banks advertises for a no-nonsense nanny. Instead and Michael present their own advertisement for a kinder, sweeter nanny.
Mr. Banks rips up the letter, throws the scraps in the fireplace, but the remains of the advertisement magically float up, out into the air; the next day, a number of elderly, sour-faced nannies wait outside the Banks' home, but a strong gust of wind blows them away, Jane and Michael witness a young nanny descending from the sky using her umbrella. Presenting herself to Mr. Banks, Mary Poppins calmly produces the children's restored advertisement, agrees with its requests, but promises the astonished banker she will be firm with his children; as Mr. Banks puzzles over the advertisement's return, Mary Poppins hires herself, convinces him it was his idea, she meets the children helps them magically tidy their nursery through song, before heading out for a walk in the park. Outside, they meet Bert. While the children ride on a carousel, Mary Poppins and Bert go on a leisurely stroll. Mary Poppins enchants the carousel horses, participates in a horse race, which she wins. While being asked to describe her victory, Mary Poppins announces the nonsense word "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious".
However, the outing is ruined when a thunderstorm dissolves Bert's drawings, returning the group to London. On another outing, the four meet weird Uncle Albert, who has floated up in the air due to his uncontrollable laughter. Mr. Banks becomes annoyed by the household's cheery atmosphere, threatens to fire Mary Poppins. Instead, Mary Poppins inverts his attempt by convincing him to take the children to the bank for a day. Mr. Banks takes Jane and Michael to the bank, where they meet Mr. Dawes Sr, his son. Mr. Dawes aggressively attempts to have Michael invest his tuppence in the bank, snatching it from him. Michael demands it back, causing other customers to misinterpret, all demand their own money back, causing a bank run. Jane and Michael flee the bank, getting lost in the East End until they run into Bert, now working as a chimney sweep, who escorts them home; the three and Mary Poppins venture onto the rooftops, where they have a song-and-dance number with other chimney sweeps, which spills out into the Banks' home.
An incensed Mr. Banks returns, receives a phone call from his employers, he speaks with Bert, who tells him he should spend more time with his children. Jane and Michael give their father Michael's tuppence in the hope to make amends. Mr. Banks walks through London to the bank, where he is given a humiliating cashiering, is dismissed. Looking to the tuppence for words, he blurts out "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!", tells one of Uncle Albert's jokes, heads home. Dawes mulls over the joke, but "gets" it, floats up into the air, laughing; the next day, the wind changes, meaning Mary Poppins must leave. A happier Mr. Banks is found at home, having fixed his children's kite, takes the family out to fly it. In the park, the Banks family meets Mr. Dawes Jr, who reveals his father died laughing from the joke. Although sorry, Mr. Banks soon becomes happy for him, as Mr. Dawes Jr. had never seen his father happier in his life and re-employs Mr. Banks as a junior partner. With her work done, Mary Poppins flies away, with Bert bidding her farewell, telling her not to stay away too long.
Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins, a magical and loving woman who descends from the clouds in response to the Banks children's advertisement for a nanny. She is firm in her use of authority but gentle and kind as well, a major departure from the original boo
Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany
Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany, was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist. More than ninety books of his work were published in his lifetime, both original work and compilations have continued to appear. Dunsany's œuvre includes many hundreds of published short stories, as well as plays and essays, he achieved great fame and success with his early short stories and plays, during the 1910s was considered one of the greatest living writers of the English-speaking world. Born and raised in London, to the second-oldest title in the Irish peerage, Dunsany lived much of his life at what may be Ireland's longest-inhabited house, Dunsany Castle near Tara, worked with W. B. Yeats and Lady Gregory, received an honorary doctorate from Trinity College, was chess and pistol-shooting champion of Ireland, travelled and hunted extensively, he died in Dublin after an attack of appendicitis. Edward Plunkett, known to his family as "Eddie," was the first son of John William Plunkett, 17th Baron of Dunsany, his wife, Ernle Elizabeth Louisa Maria Grosvenor Ernle-Erle-Drax, née Ernle Elizabeth Louisa Maria Grosvenor Burton.
From a wealthy and famous family, Lord Dunsany was related to many well-known Irish figures. He was a kinsman of the Catholic Saint Oliver Plunkett, the martyred Archbishop of Armagh, whose ring and crozier head are still held by the Dunsany family, he was related to the prominent Anglo-Irish unionist, nationalist / Home Rule politician Sir Horace Plunkett, George Count Plunkett, Papal Count and Republican politician, father of Joseph Plunkett, executed for his part in the 1916 Rising. His mother was a cousin of Sir Richard Burton, he inherited from her considerable height, being 6' 4"; the Countess of Fingall, wife of Dunsany's cousin, the Earl of Fingall, wrote a best-selling account of the life of the aristocracy in Ireland in the late 19th century and early 20th century, called Seventy Years Young. Plunkett's only grown sibling, a younger brother, from whom he was estranged from around 1916, for reasons not clear but connected to his mother's will, was the noted British naval officer Sir Reginald Drax.
Another, brother died in infancy. Edward Plunkett grew up at the family properties, most notably Dunstall Priory in Shoreham and Dunsany Castle in County Meath, but family homes such as in London, his schooling was at Cheam, Eton College and the Royal Military College, which he entered in 1896. The title passed to him at his father's death at a young age, in 1899, the young Lord Dunsany returned to Dunsany Castle after war duty, in 1901. In that year he was confirmed as an elector for the Representative Peers for Ireland in the House of Lords. In 1903, he met Lady Beatrice Child Villiers, youngest daughter of The 7th Earl of Jersey, living at Osterley Park, they were married in 1904, their only child, was born in 1906. Beatrice was supportive of Dunsany's interests, assisted him in his writing, typing his manuscripts, helping to select work for his collections, including the 1954 retrospective short story collection, overseeing his literary heritage after his death; the Dunsanys were active in both Dublin and London, travelled between their homes in Meath and Kent, other than during World Wars I and II, the Irish War of Independence.
Dunsany himself circulated with many other literary figures of the time. To many of these in Ireland he was first introduced by his uncle, the co-operative pioneer Sir Horace Plunkett, who helped to manage his estate and investments for a time, he was friendly with, for example, George William Russell, Oliver St. John Gogarty and, for a time, W. B. Yeats, he socialised at times with George Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells and was a friend of Rudyard Kipling. In 1910 Dunsany commissioned a two-storey extension to Dunsany Castle, with a billiards room and other facilities; the billiards room includes the crests of all the Lords Dunsany up to the 18th. Dunsany served as a Second Lieutenant in the Coldstream Guards during the Second Boer War, he volunteered in the First World War, was appointed Captain in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. He was stationed for some time at Ebrington Barracks in Derry. Having heard of disturbances in Dublin in 1916, during the Easter Rising, while on leave, he drove in to offer assistance and was wounded, with a bullet lodged in his skull.
After recovery at Jervis Street Hospital, what was the King George V Hospital, he returned to duty. His military belt was lost in this episode and was used at the burial of Michael Collins. Having been refused forward positioning in 1916, being listed as valuable as a trainer, in the latter stages of the war he spent time in the trenches, in the last period wrote propaganda material for the War Office with MI7b. At Dunsany Castle there is a book of wartime photos with lost members of his command marked. During the Second World War, Dunsany signed up for the Irish Army Reserve and the British Home Guard, the two countries' local defence forces, was active in Shoreham, the most-bombed village in England during the Battle of Britain. Dunsany's fame arose chiefly from his prolific writings, he was involved with the Irish Literary Revival. Supporting the Revival, Dunsany was a major donor to the Abbey Theatre, he moved in Irish literary circles, he was well-acquainted with
Pecos Bill
Pecos Bill is a fictional cowboy in stories set during American westward expansion into the Southwest of Texas, New Mexico, Southern California, Arizona. These narratives were invented as short stories in a book by Edward S. O'Reilly in the early 20th Century and are considered to be an example of fakelore. Pecos Bill was a late addition to the "big man" idea of characters, such as Paul Bunyan or John Henry; the first known stories were published in 1917 by Edward O'Reilly for The Century Magazine and collected and reprinted in 1923 in the book Saga of Pecos Bill. O'Reilly claimed they were part of an oral tradition of tales told by cowboys during the westward expansion and settlement of the southwest including Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, but American folklorist Richard M. Dorson found that O'Reilly invented the stories as "folklore", that writers either borrowed tales from O'Reilly or added further adventures of their own invention to the cycle. Edward "Tex" O'Reilly co-authored a cartoon strip with cartoonist Jack A. Warren known as Alonzo Vincent Warren, between 1929 and 1938.
When O'Reilly died in 1946, Warren began. This was a story about "Pecos Bill", who had received a "lump on the naggan" that caused him amnesia; the cartoons were published in The Sun and were syndicated. He has a wife, named Slue-Foot Sue. Pecos Bill made the leap to film in the 1948 Walt Disney animated feature Melody Time, he was portrayed by Steve Guttenberg in a 1985 episode of Tall Tales & Legends and Patrick Swayze in Disney's 1995 film Tall Tale. "Pecos Bill" was the nickname of Civil War general William Shafter, although this was before O'Reilly created the legend. Shafter was considered a hero in Texas and had some legendary poetry written about how tough he was. According to the legend, Pecos Bill was born in Texas in the 1830s. Pecos Bill's family decided to move out because his town was becoming "too crowded". Pecos Bill was traveling in a covered wagon as an infant when he fell out unnoticed by the rest of his family near the Pecos River, he was raised by a pack of coyotes. Years he was found by his real brother, who managed to convince him he was not a coyote.
He grew up to become a cowboy. Pecos used a rattlesnake named Shake as another snake as a little whip, his horse, Widow-Maker, was so named because no other man could live. Dynamite was said to be his favorite food, it is said Pecos sometimes rode a cougar instead of a horse. On one of his adventures, Pecos Bill managed to lasso a twister, it was said that he once wrestled the Bear Lake Monster for several days until Bill defeated it. Pecos Bill had a lover named Slue-Foot Sue, he was fishing with the pack. Shake, Widow-Maker, Slue-Foot Sue are as idealized as Pecos Bill. After a courtship in which, among other things, Pecos Bill shoots all the stars from the sky except for one which becomes the Lone Star, Pecos proposes to Sue, she insists on riding Widow-Maker before, after the wedding. Widow-Maker, jealous of no longer having Bill's undivided attention, bounces Sue off. Pecos attempts, but fails, to lasso her, because Widow-Maker didn't want her on his back again, she hits her head on the moon. After she has been bouncing for days, Pecos Bill realizes that she would starve to death, so he lassos her with Shake the rattlesnake and brings her back down.
Widow-Maker, apologizes. In Bowman's version of the story, Sue recovers from the bouncing but is so traumatized by the experience she never talks to Pecos Bill again. In other versions, Sue couldn't stop bouncing, Bill couldn't stop her bouncing either, so Bill had to shoot her to put her out of her misery. Though it is said that Bill was married many times, he never loved the others as much as Sue, the other relationships didn't work out. In the Melody Time version, Sue gets stranded on the moon upon impact due to Widow-Maker's interference in preventing Bill from lassoing her, causing a disheartened Bill to leave civilization and rejoin the coyotes, who now howl at the moon in honor of Bill's sorrow. In the more popular versions, including many children's books and Sue are reunited and live ever after. In Laura Frankos' short story "Slue-Foot Sue and the Witch in the Woods", Sue's bustle-ride deposits her in Russia, where she must fight a duel with Baba Yaga. In the "Pecos Bill" episode of Tall Tales & Legends, Sue is played by Rebecca DeMornay.
Pecos Bill appeared in a 1985 episode of Tall Tales & Legends portrayed by Steve Guttenberg, in the 1995 Disney film Tall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventures of Pecos Bill portrayed by Patrick Swayze. In the story The Death of Pecos Bill, Pecos Bill is in a bar when a so-called city boy walks in with gator-skin shoes and a gator-skin suit, otherwise trying to present himself in the manner of an outlaw cowboy. Pecos Bill laughed himself to death outside. Comedian Robin Williams recorded a children's audiobook version of the story, with music by Ry Cooder, for Rabbit Ears/Windham Hill, in 1988. Pecos Bill appeared in the children's book The Great Texas Hamster Drive by Eric A. Kimmel. Harold W. Felton authored three books of Pecos Bill tall tales Pecos Bill appears in the PBS television show "Between the Lions", where he lassoes a tornado Slue-Foot Sue is the heroine of Laura Frankos' sketch "Slue-Foot Sue and the Witch in the Woods," in the comedy-fantasy anthology Did You Say Chi
Calchas
In Greek mythology, was an Argive seer, with a gift for interpreting the flight of birds that he received of Apollo: "as an augur, Calchas had no rival in the camp". He interpreted the entrails of the enemy during the tide of battle. Calchas was the son of son of the seer Idmon, by Polymele, he was the brother of Leucippe and Theoclymenus It was Calchas who prophesied that in order to gain a favourable wind to deploy the Greek ships mustered in Aulis on their way to Troy, Agamemnon would need to sacrifice his daughter, Iphigeneia, to appease Artemis, whom Agamemnon had offended. The episode was related at length in the lost Cypria, of the Epic Cycle, he states that Troy will be sacked on the tenth year of the war. In the Iliad, Calchas tells the Greeks that the captive Chryseis must be returned to her father Chryses in order to get Apollo to stop the plague he has sent as a punishment: this triggered the quarrel of Achilles and Agamemnon, the main theme of the Iliad. In the story, Poseidon assumes the form of Calchas in order to rouse and empower the Greek forces while Zeus is not observing the battle.
In Sophocles' Ajax, Calchas delivers a prophecy to Teucer suggesting that the protagonist will die if he leaves his tent before the day is out. Calchas plays a role in Quintus of Smyrna's Posthomerica. Calchas said, it is he rather than Helenus that predicts that Troy will only fall once the Argives are able to recruit Philoctetes. It is by his advice that they halt the battle though Neoptolemus is slaughtering the Trojans, he tells the Argives that the city is more taken by strategy than by force. He endorses Odysseus' suggestion that the Trojan Horse will infiltrate the Trojans, he foresees that Aeneas will survive the battle and found the city, tells the Argives that they will not kill him. He did not join the Argives when they boarded the ships, as he foresaw the impending doom of the Kapherean Rocks. Calchas died of shame at Colophon in Asia Minor shortly after the Trojan War: the prophet Mopsus beat him in a contest of soothsaying, although Strabo placed an oracle of Calchas on Monte Gargano in Magna Graecia.
It is said that Calchas died of laughter when he thought another seer had incorrectly predicted his death. This seer had foretold Calchas would never drink from the wine produced from vines he had planted himself. In medieval and versions of the myth, Calchas is portrayed as a Trojan defector and the father of Chryseis, now called Cressida. 4138 Kalchas, Jovian asteroid
Joker (character)
The Joker is a supervillain created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson who first appeared in the debut issue of the comic book Batman, published by DC Comics. Credit for the Joker's creation is disputed. Although the Joker was planned to be killed off during his initial appearance, he was spared by editorial intervention, allowing the character to endure as the archenemy of the superhero Batman. In his comic book appearances, the Joker is portrayed as a criminal mastermind. Introduced as a psychopath with a warped, sadistic sense of humor, the character became a goofy prankster in the late 1950s in response to regulation by the Comics Code Authority, before returning to his darker roots during the early 1970s; as Batman's nemesis, the Joker has been part of the superhero's defining stories, including the murder of Jason Todd—the second Robin and Batman's ward—and the paralysis of one of Batman's allies, Barbara Gordon. The Joker has had various possible origin stories during his decades of appearances.
The most common story involves him falling into a tank of chemical waste which bleaches his skin white and turns his hair green and lips bright red. The antithesis of Batman in personality and appearance, the Joker is considered by critics to be his perfect adversary; the Joker possesses no superhuman abilities, instead using his expertise in chemical engineering to develop poisonous or lethal concoctions, thematic weaponry, including razor-tipped playing cards, deadly joy buzzers, acid-spraying lapel flowers. The Joker sometimes works with other Gotham City supervillains such as the Penguin and Two-Face, groups like the Injustice Gang and Injustice League, but these relationships collapse due to the Joker's desire for unbridled chaos; the 1990s introduced a romantic interest for the Joker in his former psychiatrist, Harley Quinn, who becomes his villainous sidekick. Although his primary obsession is Batman, the Joker has fought other heroes including Superman and Wonder Woman. One of the most iconic characters in popular culture, the Joker has been listed among the greatest comic book villains and fictional characters created.
The character's popularity has seen him appear on a variety of merchandise, such as clothing and collectible items, inspire real-world structures, be referenced in a number of media. The Joker has been adapted to serve as Batman's adversary in live-action and video game incarnations, including the 1960s Batman television series and in films by Jack Nicholson in Batman. Mark Hamill, Troy Baker, others have provided the character's voice. Bill Finger, Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson are credited with creating the Joker, but their accounts of the character's conception differ, each providing his own version of events. Finger's, Kane's, Robinson's versions acknowledge that Finger produced an image of actor Conrad Veidt in character as Gwynplaine in the 1928 film The Man Who Laughs as an inspiration for the Joker's appearance, Robinson produced a sketch of a joker playing card. Robinson claimed that it was his 1940 card sketch that served as the character's concept, which Finger associated with Veidt's portrayal.
Kane hired the 17-year-old Robinson as an assistant in 1939, after he saw Robinson in a white jacket decorated with his own illustrations. Beginning as a letterer and background inker, Robinson became primary artist for the newly created Batman comic book series. In a 1975 interview in The Amazing World of DC Comics, Robinson said he wanted a supreme arch-villain who could test Batman, but not a typical crime lord or gangster designed to be disposed, he wanted an exotic, enduring character as an ongoing source of conflict for Batman, designing a diabolically sinister-but-clownish villain. Robinson was intrigued by villains, he said that the name came first, followed by an image of a playing card from a deck he had at hand: "I wanted somebody visually exciting. I wanted somebody that would make an indelible impression, would be bizarre, would be memorable like the Hunchback of Notre Dame or any other villains that had unique physical characters." He told Finger about his concept by telephone providing sketches of the character and images of what would become his iconic Joker playing-card design.
Finger thought the concept was incomplete, providing the image of Veidt with a ghastly, permanent rictus grin. Kane countered that the Robinson's sketch was produced only after Finger had shown the Gwynplaine image to Kane, that it was only used as a card design belonging to the Joker in his early appearances. Finger said that he was inspired by an image in Steeplechase Park at Coney Island that resembled a Joker's head, which he sketched and shared with future editorial director Carmine Infantino. In a 1994 interview with journalist Frank Lovece, Kane stated his position: Bill Finger and I created the Joker. Bill was the writer. Jerry Robinson came to me with a playing card of the Joker. That's the way. Looks like Conrad Veidt – you know, the actor in The Man Who Laughs, by Victor Hugo.... Bill Finger had a book with a photograph of Conrad Veidt and showed it to me and s
