Operatives, welcome to Operation FALX. We're building this on the fly as you encounter challenges during this unprecedented event. This resource will help you deal with whatever comes your way inside of the TSTT Immersion space.

Promētheus

Ūranus, Sāturnus, Juppiter

Three Jobs in Every Sentence

Every sentence in the key-texts is doing a small amount of work with a small number of parts. It helps to know the names of the parts, because you will use them for as long as you read Latin.

The subject is who or what the sentence is about, the one doing the action. The verb is the action itself. The object is who or what receives the action. In the English sentence "Prometheus loves humans," Prometheus is the subject, loves is the verb, and humans is the object.

Now look at the same idea in the key-text: Promētheus hominēs amat. Prometheus, humans, loves. All three parts are there. One of them is not where you expected it, and we will come back to that in the next CODEX.

Some sentences have no object at all, because nothing is receiving an action. The key-texts are full of these: Promētheus est deus, Prometheus is a god. Mōns Olympus est altus, Mount Olympus is tall. The verb est, "is," works like an equals sign. It does not act on anything; it tells you what something is. You will see est more than any other word in Latin, so it is worth recognizing on sight.

Consĭdera: Find the sentence Promētheus ignem capit in the key-text. It means "Prometheus takes the fire." Which word is the subject, which is the verb, and which is the object? What did you use to figure that out?

Two Families of Gods

When you read the Latin key-texts, you met three names in a row: Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter. Each one was king. Each one was replaced by his son. This is a pattern, and one of the most important ideas in all of classical mythology.

The oldest gods are called Tītānēs, Titans. Uranus and his children, Saturn among them, belong to this first generation. The Titans are enormous, ancient, and powerful in ways that feel less like people and more like forces of nature. Saturn, Sāturnus in Latin, ruled the world after overthrowing his father, and his reign was said to be a golden age, a time of abundance and peace.

Then came the Olympians. Jupiter, Juppiter in Latin, led his brothers and sisters in overthrowing Saturn, just as Saturn had overthrown Uranus before him. The Olympians took their name from Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece, where they made their home. They are the gods most Romans knew and worshipped: Jupiter, Juno, Neptune, Minerva, Venus, Mars, and the rest.

Prometheus is a Titan, not an Olympian. He belongs to the older generation. When the Olympians came to power, most Titans were imprisoned or pushed aside. Prometheus, though, was different. He chose to help humanity, even when it cost him everything.

Consĭdera: Saturn overthrew his father, and Jupiter overthrew his father. Each one became king by defeating the king before him. What do you think that pattern says about how power works in this world?

What Prometheus Did, and What It Cost Him

The Latin text tells you that humans were miserī, miserable, without fire. Fire was everything in the ancient world: light in the darkness, heat for cooking, protection from animals, the center of every home and every city. Without it, humans were helpless. Prometheus saw this and could not accept it.

He stole fire from the gods and brought it down to earth. In some versions of the myth, he carried it hidden inside a hollow fennel stalk, smuggling it past the eyes of the gods.

Jupiter was furious. The punishment he ordered was severe: Prometheus was chained to a rock in the Caucasus mountains, at the edge of the world, and each day an eagle came and ate from his body. Each night he healed, so the punishment could begin again the next day. It had no end.

The Latin text says Promētheus in vinculīs est: Prometheus is in chains. You have already seen what is left of those chains on the Caucasus rock. You know they are empty now.

Consĭdera: Prometheus knew he would be punished. He helped humanity anyway. Do you think what he did was worth it?

Tellus: The Earth Beneath Everything

The second key-text introduces Tellus, whose name simply means Earth. She is also called Terra, and together those names gave us words we still use: terrain, territory, terrestrial.

Tellus is older than the Olympians, older than the Titans, older than almost anything. She is the earth itself, the ground under every story in classical mythology. Saturn is her son. The generations of gods, the whole chain of overthrowings and successions, begins with her.

You will meet Tellus in person during this operation. When you do, remember that she has been here longer than anyone else you will encounter. Her perspective is patient, vast, and very long indeed.

Consĭdera: Every king in these stories is Tellus's descendant. Saturn is her son. Jupiter is her grandson. What does it mean that the earth itself is the mother of all of them?

A Note on Names

You may have noticed that the gods you are meeting have both Latin and Greek names. Jupiter is the Latin name for the Greek Zeus. Saturn is the Latin name for Cronus. Uranus stays Uranus in both languages. Tellus is the Latin name for Gaia.

Romans inherited much of their mythology from the Greeks and made it their own. In Operation FALX, you will use the Latin names throughout, because the world you are working in is the Roman version of these stories.