Sofa (warrior)

Sofa is a Mandinka term for slave soldiers who served in the army of the Mali Empire. Sofas would also fight, in varying capacities, in the armies of later Mandé states such as the Bamana and Wassoulou empires.

Etymology

The word sofa translates into English as "father of the horse" ("so" means horse, and "fa" means "father") or "guardian of the horse". This term stems from the original function of the sofa as a caretaker for the horse or horses of Mandinka cavalry commanders called "farari".

Sofa in the Mandinka empire of Mali

Sofas make their first appearance in oral and written records during the formation of the Mali Empire. Sofas were recruited from "jonow" (slaves) captured in battle or bought from afar. They could be depended on in most instances for obedience, since their livelihood depended entirely on their master. The institution of slavery in the Mali Empire heavily rewarded loyalty, and jonow could rise to civil or military positions of prominence. Jonow became part of their master's clan, and were often freed after a certain amount of years.

Couch

A couch or sofa is a piece of furniture for seating two or more people in the form of a bench, with or without armrests, that is partially or entirely upholstered, and often fitted with springs and tailored cushions. Although a couch is used primarily for seating, it may be used for reclining and napping.

In homes, couches are normally found in the family room, living room, den, sitting room or the lounge. They are also found in hotels, lobbies of commercial offices, waiting rooms, and some bars.

The term couch is used in North America and Australia, whilst the term sofa is generally used in the United Kingdom. The word originated in Middle English from the Old French noun couche, which derived from the verb meaning "to lie down". It originally denoted an item of furniture for lying or sleeping on, somewhat like a chaise longue, but now refers to sofas in general.

Other terms which can be synonymous with the above definition are settee, chesterfield, divan, davenport, lounge, and canapé. The word sofa is from Turkish derived from the Arabic word suffa for "wool", originating in the Aramaic word sippa for "mat". The word settee comes from the Old English word, "setl", which was used to describe long benches with high backs and arms, but is now generally used to describe upholstered seating.

Sofa (Canadian band)

Sofa was a Montreal-based band that was active from 1993 to 1997. The group is best remembered for being the first group to release material on post-rock record label Constellation Records; bandmember Ian Ilavsky (later a member of Re: and Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band) was a co-founder of the label.

History

Most of Sofa's songs were written and played in a 10' x 10' room and were later presented in live shows, after which they were discarded. The band was made up of four members. They self-released two albums on cassette and with Constellation Records had two more releases (one 7" and one CD). The full-length, Grey, received positive reviews from several Canadian press outlets. One member of the band, Ian, is also the co-founder (along with Don) of Constellation Records, an independent record label.

Six months after the release of the full-length Grey, the group disbanded. The song "String of Lights" was included on the Constellation compilation disc Song of the Silent Land; one reviewer noted the song's "delicate emotion reminiscent of the Dirty Three".

Zeus

Zeus (/ˈzjuːs/ ZEWS;Ancient Greek: Ζεύς, Zeús, [zdeǔ̯s]; Modern Greek: Δίας, Días [ˈði.as]) was the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion, who ruled as king of the gods of Mount Olympus. His name is cognate with the first element of his Roman equivalent Jupiter.

Zeus is the child of Cronus and Rhea, the youngest of his siblings to be born, though sometimes reckoned the eldest as the others required disgorging from Cronus's stomach. In most traditions, he is married to Hera, by whom he is usually said to have fathered Ares, Hebe, and Hephaestus. At the oracle of Dodona, his consort was said to be Dione, by whom the Iliad states that he fathered Aphrodite. Zeus was also infamous for his erotic escapades. These resulted in many godly and heroic offspring, including Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Persephone, Dionysus, Perseus, Heracles, Helen of Troy, Minos, and the Muses.

He was respected as an allfather who was chief of the gods and assigned the others to their roles: "Even the gods who are not his natural children address him as Father, and all the gods rise in his presence." He was equated with many foreign weather gods, permitting Pausanias to observe "That Zeus is king in heaven is a saying common to all men". His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull, and oak. In addition to his Indo-European inheritance, the classical "cloud-gatherer" (Greek: Νεφεληγερέτα, Nephelēgereta) also derives certain iconographic traits from the cultures of the Ancient Near East, such as the scepter. Zeus is frequently depicted by Greek artists in one of two poses: standing, striding forward with a thunderbolt leveled in his raised right hand, or seated in majesty.

Zeus of Otricoli

The Zeus of Otricoli is an Ancient Roman bust found in Otricoli in 1175 that is now in the Sala Rotonda of the Pio-Clementine Vatican Museum.

It is presumed to be a Roman copy of a Hellenistic original. While some attributed the bust as a copy of the statue of Phidias at Olympia, numismatic reproductions of that famous statue would suggest otherwise. It appears to be more likely from subsequent centuries.

References

Zeus (Marvel Comics)

Zeus, full name Zeus Panhellenios, is a fictional character, a god appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Publication history

The comic version of Zeus is based on the god of the same name from Greek mythology. Zeus first appears in Venus #5 (June 1949), and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Fictional character biography