1. The chemical analysis of wine.
2. Ancient Greek mythology, history and literature.

I'm definitely your woman if you do.

I know about the chemical effects of wine...

Well get you.

well, I say chemical effect. What I really mean is "I have been drunk"

Well I know how the chemical analysis differs with country of origin. Na na na na na.

I'd like to know why red wine and white wine taste SO different, when the only difference is the colour of the skin, the juice is exactly the same for red and white grapes. I assume the difference is to do with chemical make up of the skins, but what is this difference?

The skins of white grapes aren't included in the winemaking process. White wine is the juices of fermented grapes. With red wines, the skins are crushed along with the grape and the whole lot left to ferment (the skins separate and form a new layer, they can be mixed back in and that's where you get must).

The skins of the grapes are virtually the same, but the final product ends up with a lot more tannins in red wine. Also, extra acids and sugars are added to white wine (more so than red) so the winemaker can precisely control the taste and quality of the finished wine.

I am enlightened.<3

did orpheus ever get his missus back (even briefly or temporarily) in the end?

and if you found his head, what would you ask it to sing for you?

why does red wine give you a hangover when white wine doesn't. I know it's got something to do with tanin but what's so damn special about tanin that gives it the right to batter my skull of a Saturday morning?

did orpheus ever get his missus back (even briefly or temporarily) in the end?

and if you found his head, what would you ask it to sing for you?

Hmmm, I don't have much interest in Orpheus but I'll answer anyway. No, he did not get t'wife back. He was a prat who couldn't follow one simple rule and thus the fair Eurydice was snatched back into the Underworld. I give you this answer which is actually from Roman texts (and Roman spelling I might add) because I assume it's the myth you're thinking of, but in Greek literature Orpheus was never promised his wife back, he was simply able to chat to her spirit.

For anyone unfamiliar with the myth, to save you googling, Orpheus' wife Eurydike died - how she died varies from source to source - and thus she was taken to the Underworld. Orpheus was so sad that he decided to go and play his music (he was skilled with the lyre was Orpheus) and enchant the gods of the Underworld so much that they'd give him his wife back. He was promised that she could return ONLY if he walked in front of her and did not look back until they were free from Hades (the Underworld). The twat looked back, didn't he, and she was lost forever.

Were he to come back, I'd ask him to sing the Odyssey to me. But it was a bit before his time, and he wasn't a bard, so I don't know if he could manage that, bless his cotton socks.

why does red wine give you a hangover when white wine doesn't. I know it's got something to do with tanin but what's so damn special about tanin that gives it the right to batter my skull of a Saturday morning?

Hangovers are caused by toxins, which are formed when wine is broken down in your body. Tannin, which is found in darker drinks, is already a toxin so red wine has much less work to do than white in giving you a hangover.

So avoid dark drinks and stick to light & white this Christmas. :)

who was oedipus?

I'll tell you the basic myth, if I allowed myself to tell you all the details I'd go on for about 10 pages. This is the most widely accepted myth.

Oedipus (Oidipodes - meaning "swollen foot") was born to the Theban King and Queen, Laius and Jocasta (Epikaste). There had been a prophecy that Laius' son would kill him so the baby was sent away to die on a mountain. His ankles were pierced and a metal bar put through them, I don't for the life of me know why they did that. The messenger that was sent to kill the baby couldn't do it, and instead he gave the baby to a shepherd nearby. The shepherd gave the baby to the Corinthian King and Queen (Polybus and Merope), because they could not conceive.

So Oedipus grew up as the Prince of Corinth, and one day somebody made a comment about him being a bastard that so enraged him he decided to visit Apollo's oracle at Delphi to ask the god for the truth. The oracle told him that he would kill his father and sleep with his mother. Oedipus understandably wanted to protect his parents, whom he still believed to be the Corinthian monarchs, so as he left Delphi he veered off at a crossroads towards Thebes instead of Corinth with the aim of starting a new life away from his parents. A man in a chariot came onto the crossroads and tried to knock Oedipus out the way. He was so angry that he killed the man in the chariot and all his companions except one. Killing was common in Greek society so it didn't really bother him, he just carried onto Thebes where he was told that the King had died. He took the Queen as his wife and they had a very happy and harmonious marriage, producing four children.

His wife was, of course, his mother, and the man he had killed his father. It's a bit of a mystery as to why Jocasta did not recognise him for the scars on his ankles, since Oedipus walked with a limp and definitely had lasting injuries. Eventually, the city of Thebes began to suffer because of the terrible sins of the king and all the young were dying, the women and animals becoming infertile. Oedipus, a very good king by all accounts, did his best to find out why. Eventually all was revealed, and Jocasta realised she had married her son. She was so disgusted that she hung herself. The Greeks believed that pollution entered the body through the eyes, and that dead spirits went to the Underworld. As such Oedipus stabbed his eyes out to avoid having to look at his family in the Underworld. He was exiled and his Uncle Creon took over as the King of Thebes.

He was looked after by his daughter, Antigone, who has a story of her own. He died a poor man with no friends except his daughter. The story is especially poignant because usually tragic heroes have a tragic flaw, something in their personality that means they deserve whatever the gods inflict on them. Oedipus had no such flaw, except perhaps his temper, which wasn't really enough to deserve what happened to him.

That was actually pretty cool. I obviously knew of oedipus, from the freudian doctrines. But you put the story in a very differant light.
So oedipus was actually a victim of hes own good nature? good job ;)

These ancient Greek Gods you speak so eloquently of , how did they get to be here.?
Did they evolve from small monkey-gods , or did they come from a far distant echelon?

We was talking more about Ancient Greek folk lore. Greek gods are something else mate, and yes they elvolved from super monkeys from mars, everyone noes that innit.

Yes, I want to know why a woman uses a bleeding fanny as an excuse to commit hell and get away with it.

These ancient Greek Gods you speak so eloquently of , how did they get to be here.?
Did they evolve from small monkey-gods , or did they come from a far distant echelon?

First there was Chaos - this didn't mean what it does to us, in the original Greek chaos meant a primal nothingness (much like this forum). It got confused along the line somewhere with Latin and came to mean what we know as chaos. Out of this came a few things, the most important being Eros (not the Greek god Eros that came to be known as Cupid in Roman times, this was a driving force behind procreation) and Gaia, which means earth. Gaia gave birth to Uranus (the sky or heavens) and together they had 12 "ordinary" children and a few monsters including the Cyclopes and the hundred handed giants.

The youngest of their kids was Kronos. Kronos hated daddy and Gaia hated Uranus because he imprisoned their "unusual" children in Tartaros (a sort of Hell). So together they plotted and Kronos lopped off daddy's balls so he couldn't impregnate Gaia and take her children away again. Drops of blood fell to earth (Gaia) and more monsters were born. The testicles themselves fell into the sea, which started foaming and frothing, and from that the goddess of love, Aphrodite, was born.

Kronos took his sister, Rhea, as his wife and together they had six children, the Titans (this is where we get the word Titanic). There was a prophecy that one of his kids would overthrow him, so Kronos swallowed each of them as they were born. When the youngest, Zeus, was born, Rhea was so fed up of Kronos eating their offspring that she wrapped a stone in swaddling clothes and gave that to him instead. Zeus was raised in a cave and suckled by a goat, Amalthea, and when he was strong enough he attacked his father. He tore a great hole in his stomach and out came his brothers and sisters, all fully grown and magnificent. These were Hades, Hestia, Demeter, Hera and Poseidon. Zeus took his sister, Hera, as his wife (notice all the parallels) and together the six of them fought the Titans in an eleven year war called the Titanomachy. They were victorious and Kronos and Rhea were banished to somewhere or other (it varies).

So of the Olympians, the most commonly known Greek gods who lived on Mount Olympus there were: Zeus, Hades, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Aphrodite, Ares, Hephaistos, Hermes, Apollo, Artemis, Dionysus and Athene. Sometimes Hestia was counted, but she gave up her place on Mount Olympus to live on the earth and Persephone could also be counted but she lived mainly in the Underworld. There were always only 12 gods on Mount Olympus, although the 12 changed.

Hades, Poseidon and Zeus have the most important roles. They divided up the world between them and got the Underworld, the Sea and the Land respectively. Zeus was the King and his wife Hera the queen. Aphrodite was already born. Zeus had Ares and Hephaistos by Hera. He was always being unfaithful and he has hundreds of kids, but of the Olympians he had Persephone by his sister Demeter, Apollo and Artemis (twins) by Leto, Dionysus by Semele, Athene with Metis and Hermes with Maia.

Their roles were:
Zeus - King of the gods, ruler of the earth. As Zeus Xenos he was in charge of guest-friendship and he also had the mighty thunderbolts that he fought the Titans with.
Hera - goddess of marriage (there should be a titter here, since she was cheated on constantly)
Hades - god of the Underworld
Poseidon - god of the sea and of horses
Aphrodite - goddess of love, lust and sexuality
Demeter - goddess of fertility
Persephone - queen of the Underworld
Athene - goddess of wisdom, arts and crafts, and many other things
Apollo - god of prophecy, leader of the Muses, god of music and medicine. As Phoebus Apollo he was god of light.
Artemis - goddess of the moon and of the hunt, also of the young.
Dionysus - god of wine
Ares - god of bloodlust in war
Hestia - goddess of the hearth and of home
Hermes - the messenger of the gods, god of athletics and crossroads, travellers and shepherds, lying etc. etc.

Again, it would take far too long to tell you everything. If you want to know about particular gods let me know.

That was actually pretty cool. I obviously knew of oedipus, from the freudian doctrines. But you put the story in a very differant light.
So oedipus was actually a victim of hes own good nature? good job ;)

Not really, he wasn't destroyed BECAUSE he was good, it was more IN SPITE of it. Some sources say his father Laius pissed off the gods and so his son suffered, because the Greeks believed that things were passed down to your descendants, whether it was something good you did that earned your son a friend or whether you did something naughty and got your son to shag his mother. The moral may be not to search too hard for the truth since Oedipus was a bit of a detective, but that seems unsatisfactory since one of the Delphic maxims was "know thyself". Likewise his temper isn't a satisfactory reason for him to die.

We was talking more about Ancient Greek folk lore. Greek gods are something else mate,

It's alright, I know about both. :)

Yes, I want to know why a woman uses a bleeding fanny as an excuse to commit hell and get away with it.

When our fannies are bleeding we have severe hormone imbalances going on, like you had during puberty before you grew up. Oh... wait...

P.S. Yes I know you didn't mean literally bleeding, but that's what you get for talking like you're in Eastenders.

why are so many greek gods named after perfumes/aftershaves?

why are so many greek gods named after perfumes/aftershaves?

This is something I've puzzled and puzzled over, and I think it must be because corporations are the Devil's doing, and the Devil is trying to discount the gods?

As a wise man once said, when deep space exploration ramps up it'll be the big coroprations that names eveything. The IBM stellarsphere. Planet Starbucks.

Was that wise man Chuck Palhniuk perchance?

Chuck Palahniuk, oui madame.

madame? oi!

Pardon, mademoiselle.

you're mean. I may go comfort eat now.

You do that sunshine, feast yeself on nectar and sweet ambrosia.

Does anyone else have a passionate yearning to know about wine/Greek crap? If I don't end this boredom soon I may self combust.

LMAO

You're all nuts, you do know this, right? btw, that was not, in any way, meant as a criticism

I'm perfectly sane thanks. *chews own arm*

Oh. I don't want this thread to die. I finally felt like I could do something.

What does ones arm taste of?

mine would taste of frogs and snails and puppy dog tails.

Is that about wine or Ancient Greece?

*mutters*

What sort of wine did the ancient greeks drink.
And did they have sex with it and then kill their own mothers/offsring/siblings?
Wow, 2 for the price of one look:)

What sort of wine did the ancient greeks drink.
And did they have sex with it and then kill their own mothers/offsring/siblings?
Wow, 2 for the price of one look:)

I've already answered the first one, but since it wasn't in this thread I'll excuse you. They drank red wine, mixed with water. To drink unmixed wine was a sign of a barbaric culture.

No, they didn't have sex with wine (you spanner). They did sometimes kill their families though.