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truepennyThis would be me, geeking about names. And Criminal Minds.
Hotch
Reid
JJ
Garcia
Elle
Morgan
Prentiss
Names are obviously important in Criminal Minds. Our first introduction to the BAU is a scene of Hotch and Haley discussing names for their unborn son, specifically the name Gideon, and we return to names in "No Way Out," with Frank's dissection of Gideon's names. (Let me also point out how apt Frank's name is. For he is, in fact, devastatingly frank.)
So, since I'm a geek about names anyway, and since I'm feeling work-avoidant this Friday morning, I thought I'd consult the oracles* about the names of the BAU.
---
*The oracles are the three name books I keep on the bookcase directly behind my desk. They are the books I can reach fastest and easiest. Seriously. I don't even have to move my chair The most reliable of the oracles is of course E. G. Withycombe, The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, but for purposes of this particular popular culture exercise, I'll also be consulting Lareina Rule, Name Your Baby, and Hilary Spence, The Modern Book of Babies' Names.
JASON GIDEON
Withycombe (and, my god, I've had this book since 1989, have read it cover to cover at least three times, and am only now noticing that somehow they've got Jason coming before Jasmine. Wow.) says:
(Withycombe is, yes, sometimes too erudite for her own good)
Rule says:
And from Spence:
Pace Ms. Withycombe, I think it highly unlikely that most of the people naming their sons Jason know about the Biblical person. (Although, since CM has already proved it pays attention to the Apocrypha, the relevant bit from Acts--Chapter 16 of Romans being basically a shout-out to the homeboys--goes like this:
And in all likelihood, the CM team named Jason Gideon for Jason of the Argonauts.
And that is a very complicated intertext. The Oxford Classical Dictionary (also on the bookcase behind my desk, although harder to reach) says:
I'm not going to transcribe the entry on the Argonautica, but the important thing is that, as heroes go, Jason isn't much. He's a trickster rather than an epic hero. The entry on Apollonius Rhodius complains bitterly about his attitude toward his subject matter without seeming to recognize that, in fact, the Argonautica is as much a parody of epic as it is a pastiche. Jason isn't supposed to have the "energy of a heroic leader." He cheats to win the Golden Fleece, and then of course he throws over the woman, both princess and sorceress, who killed her own brother for him. (Jason is also not much with the smarts.)
He's relevant to Jason Gideon, though, because he is the leader of the Argonauts, one of the few examples in ancient Greek literature of men working together instead of fighting bitterly and pointlessly (the quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon springs immediately to mind). The Argonauts are the noblest heroes in Greece (although lists vary--as with archangels--Heracles and Orpheus are always included), and they do, more or less work together. Their adventures, it should be noted, tend toward the nonepic. They rid Cyzicus of harpies, but then kill him in an accident--just as one example.
So Jason is not exactly a noble namesake, nor one to be trusted.
About Gideon, Withycombe says:
Rule says:
And Spence says:
We have a plethora of exciting options for the meaning of Gideon--I actually find Spence quite apropos to Gideon's character. The Biblical Gideon was clearly from Missouri. (KJV Judges online; Gideon's in chapters 6 through 8.) He's charged by God with destroying idols, and there's the very interesting bit where he puts together an army of 32,000 men and God will only let him take 300; I can see a parallel with the BAU having only seven members, when they clearly have enough work for forty-nine at least. (He makes the Midianites turn on each other, much as the warriors who rise from Cadmus's dragon teeth do--one of the feats Jason has to perform to win the Golden Fleece.) The Israelites plead with Gideon to be their king, but he refuses to usurp the authority of God. He's an Eastern Orthodox saint; his feast day is September 26. (I am amused by wikipedia's summation: "he married a large but unspecified number of women"--cf. Gideon's two wedding rings. Also note that Gideon's son Abimelech (the son of a concubine) murders all seventy of his half-brothers to secure his right to rule.)
Like Jason, Gideon is not without ambiguity as far as heroes go. And so Jason Gideon, himself an ambiguous hero, is aptly named.
Okay, and since I've got a doctor's appointment this afternoon, the rest of the team will have to wait for another post.
Hotch
Reid
JJ
Garcia
Elle
Morgan
Prentiss
Names are obviously important in Criminal Minds. Our first introduction to the BAU is a scene of Hotch and Haley discussing names for their unborn son, specifically the name Gideon, and we return to names in "No Way Out," with Frank's dissection of Gideon's names. (Let me also point out how apt Frank's name is. For he is, in fact, devastatingly frank.)
So, since I'm a geek about names anyway, and since I'm feeling work-avoidant this Friday morning, I thought I'd consult the oracles* about the names of the BAU.
---
*The oracles are the three name books I keep on the bookcase directly behind my desk. They are the books I can reach fastest and easiest. Seriously. I don't even have to move my chair The most reliable of the oracles is of course E. G. Withycombe, The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, but for purposes of this particular popular culture exercise, I'll also be consulting Lareina Rule, Name Your Baby, and Hilary Spence, The Modern Book of Babies' Names.
JASON GIDEON
Withycombe (and, my god, I've had this book since 1989, have read it cover to cover at least three times, and am only now noticing that somehow they've got Jason coming before Jasmine. Wow.) says:
this name, occasionally used as a christian name since the 17th C, especially in USA, is not that of the Greek hero, but that of the author of the book of Ecclesiasticus and of a kinsman of St. Paul at Thessalonica who was persecuted on his account (Acts xvii. 5, Rom. xvi 21). Jason was the English translators' rendering of the Greek Eason [epsilon - alpha - sigma - omega - nu], which was no doubt a hellenizing of some Hebrew name, possibly Joshua or Jesus. Jason has recently (1976) become fairly common.
(Withycombe is, yes, sometimes too erudite for her own good)
Rule says:
Greek: Iason. "Healer." A Greek who had a knowledge of healing. Jason was among the ancient Greek heroes. Jason Robards, Jr., actor.
And from Spence:
[Greek] 'The healer'.
Pace Ms. Withycombe, I think it highly unlikely that most of the people naming their sons Jason know about the Biblical person. (Although, since CM has already proved it pays attention to the Apocrypha, the relevant bit from Acts--Chapter 16 of Romans being basically a shout-out to the homeboys--goes like this:
But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, "These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus." And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things. And when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they let them go.
(Acts 17--I have the Reader's Bible (Oxford UP, 1951), which is KJV and does not give verse numbers))
And in all likelihood, the CM team named Jason Gideon for Jason of the Argonauts.
And that is a very complicated intertext. The Oxford Classical Dictionary (also on the bookcase behind my desk, although harder to reach) says:
Iason [iota - alpha - sigma - omega - nu], in mythology, so of Aeson and leader of the Argonauts (q.v.) Apart from his adventures on the voyage the chief events of his life are as follows. On the usurpation of Pelias his parents smuggled him out of Iolcus, under cover of a mock funeral and a report of his death, and gave him to Chiron to bring up. On reaching young manhood he returned to claim his heritage, and arrived in the city with but one sandal, having lost the other in crossing a torrent. Pelias, who knew that the man with the one sandal was to be fatal to him (or in general, that one of the Aeolidae should overthrow him), managed to induce him to go for the Golden Fleece (Pind. Pyth. 4.71 ff., for the earliest surviving account). The episode of the lost sandal is variously explained, the most interesting story being that Hera disguised as an old woman met him and asked to be taken across the river, in struggling through which he lost his shoe in the mud. It seems possible that originally Pelias did not neglect to sacrifice to her (Ap. Rhod. 1.14) but refused to carry her across. See in general Apollonius, loc. cit. and schol.; Genos Apolloniou [gamma - epsilon - nu - omicron - sigma alpha - pi - omicron - lambda - lambda - omega - nu - iota - omicron - upsilon]; Hyginus, Fab. 12 and 13. After the return from the voyage the chief incident is his desertion of Medea (q.v.; cf. CREON I); thereafter there is nothing interesting save the manner of his death (foretold Eur. Med. 1386-7, whereon see schol.): as he slept under the stern of the Argo, part of it fell off and killed him.
I'm not going to transcribe the entry on the Argonautica, but the important thing is that, as heroes go, Jason isn't much. He's a trickster rather than an epic hero. The entry on Apollonius Rhodius complains bitterly about his attitude toward his subject matter without seeming to recognize that, in fact, the Argonautica is as much a parody of epic as it is a pastiche. Jason isn't supposed to have the "energy of a heroic leader." He cheats to win the Golden Fleece, and then of course he throws over the woman, both princess and sorceress, who killed her own brother for him. (Jason is also not much with the smarts.)
He's relevant to Jason Gideon, though, because he is the leader of the Argonauts, one of the few examples in ancient Greek literature of men working together instead of fighting bitterly and pointlessly (the quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon springs immediately to mind). The Argonauts are the noblest heroes in Greece (although lists vary--as with archangels--Heracles and Orpheus are always included), and they do, more or less work together. Their adventures, it should be noted, tend toward the nonepic. They rid Cyzicus of harpies, but then kill him in an accident--just as one example.
So Jason is not exactly a noble namesake, nor one to be trusted.
About Gideon, Withycombe says:
Hebrew 'having only a stump (for a hand)', the name of one of the Judges over Israel. Adopted as a christian name by the English Puritans and French Huguenots, and still current in the USA.
Rule says:
Hebrew: Gid-on. "Hewer or feller, destroyer." A man who cut down trees. Gideon in the Bible ruled Israel for forty years; Gideon Granger, U.S. Postmaster General (1767-1822).
And Spence says:
[Hebrew]'Brave indomitable spirit' or 'The destroyer'.
We have a plethora of exciting options for the meaning of Gideon--I actually find Spence quite apropos to Gideon's character. The Biblical Gideon was clearly from Missouri. (KJV Judges online; Gideon's in chapters 6 through 8.) He's charged by God with destroying idols, and there's the very interesting bit where he puts together an army of 32,000 men and God will only let him take 300; I can see a parallel with the BAU having only seven members, when they clearly have enough work for forty-nine at least. (He makes the Midianites turn on each other, much as the warriors who rise from Cadmus's dragon teeth do--one of the feats Jason has to perform to win the Golden Fleece.) The Israelites plead with Gideon to be their king, but he refuses to usurp the authority of God. He's an Eastern Orthodox saint; his feast day is September 26. (I am amused by wikipedia's summation: "he married a large but unspecified number of women"--cf. Gideon's two wedding rings. Also note that Gideon's son Abimelech (the son of a concubine) murders all seventy of his half-brothers to secure his right to rule.)
Like Jason, Gideon is not without ambiguity as far as heroes go. And so Jason Gideon, himself an ambiguous hero, is aptly named.
Okay, and since I've got a doctor's appointment this afternoon, the rest of the team will have to wait for another post.
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no subject
Date: 2007-03-09 06:45 pm (UTC)Pelias/Pelleas.
Just noticin', z'all.
no subject
Date: 2007-03-09 06:52 pm (UTC)But I love Criminal Minds! I thought I was the only one who watched it!
no subject
Date: 2007-03-09 06:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-09 08:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-08 04:55 pm (UTC)Those little green bibles, left in night stands to comfort travellers.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-08 05:11 pm (UTC)Rocky Raccoon
checked into his room
only to find Gideon's Bible.
Gideon checked out
and left it no doubt
to help with good Rocky's revival.