New efforts!

[Aggelakis]

I remember someone reliable here confirmed that.

they said Nexon said something similar to: ...etc.

Once again, Joshex. You're misremembering. No one "reliable" said that here or anywhere.

[Aggelakis]

Well, it is but it isn't, I was referring to how the Greeks and Romans (and others if I remember correctly) believed that the Winter Solstice was when the Gods of Olympus would hold one of two meetings, the other meeting happening during the Summer Solstice, but for CoH/CoV, it ain't mythology, that's for sure...

The Winter Solstice is a day. It's the shortest day. It's not mythology.

[Victoria Victrix]

The Winter Solstice is a day. It's the shortest day. It's not mythology.

Exactly so.  It is, in fact, the scientific designation of an astronomical (not astrological, which would be mythology) phenomena marking the shortest day and the longest night of the year.

There are actually two Winter Solstices every year.  One for the Northern Hemisphere, and one for the Southern Hemisphere.  Winter solstice occurs for the Northern Hemisphere in December and for the Southern Hemisphere in June.

There are also two Summer Solstices, which mark the longest day and shortest night of the year.  One for the Northern Hemisphere in June, and one for the Southern Hemisphere in December.

[Taceus Jiwede]

Exactly so.  It is, in fact, the scientific designation of an astronomical (not astrological, which would be mythology) phenomena marking the shortest day and the longest night of the year.

There are actually two Winter Solstices every year.  One for the Northern Hemisphere, and one for the Southern Hemisphere.  Winter solstice occurs for the Northern Hemisphere in December and for the Southern Hemisphere in June.

There are also two Summer Solstices, which mark the longest day and shortest night of the year.  One for the Northern Hemisphere in June, and one for the Southern Hemisphere in December.

You learn something new everyday!    (This PSA has been brought to you by PBS) Knowledge is power!

[Stitchified]

The Winter Solstice is a day. It's the shortest day. It's not mythology.

As i said before, my thing about the Winter Solstice was concerning the Greek & Roman Viewpoints on what it meant

[Vee]

I suppose we could call thinking the sun stops in its revolution around the earth mythological :P

[MegaWatt]

Oh boy only 2 more pages until 1K ! why are we talking about the solstice....unless GASP ! the circle is planing an evil ritual on the winter solstice !

[MM3squints]

Oh boy only 2 more pages until 1K ! why are we talking about the solstice....unless GASP ! the circle is planing an evil ritual on the winter solstice !

If the stars line up and the air the air is crisp, legends has it on the day of December 22, the day of 2015 Winter Solstice, when someone makes a the 1000th post on exactly midnight, the game god will grant us the wish of having a fully running server to be played on at 1201 AM on December 22, 2015. If the 1,000th post should come before midnight December 22, 2015, well the game gods will tell us to do something else.

[ivanhedgehog]

My birthday is Dec 22...I can live with that

[Paragon Avenger]

There is one.  One man who can get the game back for us.  The Circle knows his name.  The Circle knows his plans.  The Circle will attempt to, on 21-DEC-2015 @ 11-59pm to 12:01am 22-DEC-2015 try to do their ritual circle around that man.  I have news ...
That Man Is You!

[blacksly]

I suppose we could call thinking the sun stops in its revolution around the earth mythological :P

I would actually call it heretical. Burn the heretics at the stake!!!

[DocHornet]

I would actually call it heretical. Burn the heretics at the stake!!!

Burn the hermetics at the stake!!!

Oh, wait. Hermetic. No oxygen to burn. Never mind...

[Arcana]

Exactly so.  It is, in fact, the scientific designation of an astronomical (not astrological, which would be mythology) phenomena marking the shortest day and the longest night of the year.

Well, if we're talking about the days before the invention of the telescope, the difference between astronomy and astrology would be a distinction without a real difference.  Today, I'm not sure I would even call most modern astrology "mythology" as its connections to historical astrology are often somewhat tenuous.

Also, technically speaking the modern astronomical solstices are moments in time where the axial tilt of the Earth aligns with the sun.  If the Earth is tilting away from the Sun at that moment then the duration of the day in the Northern hemisphere will be the shortest it can be in a year and longest if the Earth is tilting towards because those represent the moments when the Sun will trace the highest or lowest arc across the sky.  So the actual day of the solstice is not the solstice in astronomical terms.  However, prior to the modern astronomical definition of the solstice in terms of planetary orbits and axial tilts it was the actual day that was recognized as the solstice because the definition was basically the longest or shortest day.

[Arcana]

As i said before, my thing about the Winter Solstice was concerning the Greek & Roman Viewpoints on what it meant

True, but you also said "well it is but it isn't" which implied you thought it was debatable.  Not even in the time of the Greeks was the solstice "mythological" for the simple reason it actually happens.  The solstice can't be a myth if we can prove it actually happened.  Myths we are certain are true are history.  Its historical that the Greeks and Romans celebrated the solstices.  What they believed happened on the solstices are mythology.  If the Greeks believed the gods celebrated hump-day on Wednesday, Divine Hump-day would be mythological.  Wednesday would not be.

[Arcana]

No one "reliable" said that here or anywhere.

Lets just go for the home run right here.  No one reliable has actually said much of anything about the specific cause(s) of the shutdown.  What's been presented has run the gamut from informed speculation to uninformed speculation to side effects may include drowsiness, inability to focus, hallucinations, dementia, and an inability to recall posting about Korean companies while asleep.

[LadyVamp]

Lets just go for the home run right here....  What's been presented has run the gamut from informed speculation to uninformed speculation to side effects may include drowsiness, inability to focus, hallucinations, dementia, and an inability to recall posting about Korean companies while asleep.

Nice one, Arcana! I needed a good laugh while at work.

[Stitchified]

True, but you also said "well it is but it isn't" which implied you thought it was debatable.  Not even in the time of the Greeks was the solstice "mythological" for the simple reason it actually happens.  The solstice can't be a myth if we can prove it actually happened.  Myths we are certain are true are history.  Its historical that the Greeks and Romans celebrated the solstices.  What they believed happened on the solstices are mythology.  If the Greeks believed the gods celebrated hump-day on Wednesday, Divine Hump-day would be mythological.  Wednesday would not be.

You make an excellent point, though, I have a question, The Greeks and Romans believed that the Winter Solstice was when the Olympian Gods met, so wouldn't the Olympian Gods meeting on the Winter Solstice be the mythical part of the Winter Solstice?

[Arcana]

You make an excellent point, though, I have a question, The Greeks and Romans believed that the Winter Solstice was when the Olympian Gods met, so wouldn't the Olympian Gods meeting on the Winter Solstice be the mythical part of the Winter Solstice?

My Bullfinch is a little weak these days, but if I recall correctly the Olympian gods met at the Winter and Summer Solstices because those were significant days (being the longest day and longest night), not the other way around.  In other words, people knew the solstices were important in some way, so they believed the Gods must have met on those days.  Those days were not important just because they were special to the Gods.  For that reason, I would say the solstices were not mythological in nature and the fact that Gods met on that day isn't a mythical "part" of the solstice.  To put it another way, if the Greeks believed that the Gods met on the Winter Solstice in Las Vegas, that wouldn't make the solstice meeting the mythical part of Las Vegas.

Now, if the Greeks believed that the Gods met every year on a particular day, and used their magical powers to cause the nights to stop getting longer and start to get shorter so the world didn't freeze, so the Winter Solstice was the shortest day *because* after that day the Greek Gods made the days start getting longer again, then I would say *that* was the mythical part of the Winter Solstice to the Greeks.  There would be an actual mythical component to the Winter Solstice, rather than just coincidentally being the day that the Olympians decided to hook up.

[Felderburg]

Divine Hump-day...

... being the day that the Olympians decided to hook up.

That checks out with my memory of Greek mythology. Except it wasn't just Wednesday, and it wasn't just gods.

for CoH/CoV, it ain't mythology, that's for sure...

... you can't tell me that the Winter Event JUST happens to be called the Winter Solstice by pure chance

No, but the CoH Greek gods aren't the same, exactly, as the Greek gods of our mythology.

I would also imagine it's called winter solstice for the same reason there're no churches to speak of in CoH: to avoid alienating or angering people.

[Ohioknight]

My Bullfinch is a little weak these days, but if I recall correctly the Olympian gods met at the Winter and Summer Solstices because those were significant days (being the longest day and longest night), not the other way around.  In other words, people knew the solstices were important in some way, so they believed the Gods must have met on those days.  Those days were not important just because they were special to the Gods.  For that reason, I would say the solstices were not mythological in nature and the fact that Gods met on that day isn't a mythical "part" of the solstice.  To put it another way, if the Greeks believed that the Gods met on the Winter Solstice in Las Vegas, that wouldn't make the solstice meeting the mythical part of Las Vegas.

Intellectual Greek Philosophical culture (from some time before the rise of Athens) considered the equinox's of vast importance because they marked the gates to the higher heavens -- the doorways to the outer heavens on the great sphere of fixed stars that enclosed the world.  Their significance was that those were the places on the sky where the two Cosmic circles crossed (the circle of the equator and that of the Zodiac -- which is the circle of the planets' path).  The Solstices were those places where the path of the Planets was at greatest distance from the circle of the equator which was the mid-section, the"belt" if you will, of the cosmos.