In one form or another, alchemy can, from what I’m reading, be traced back to the time of the Babylonians and possibly to the Sumerians. That’s Bronze Age.
Also, even if it weren’t valuable for use in making bronze, the fact that it is an elemental metal would be considered significant even then. They knew of seven elemental metals. They knew of seven planets (counting the Sun and Moon, and they did). Not a big stretch of the imagination to associate the two. Humans are good at making patterns and associations, even when there’s no (to us) reasonable basis to do so.
As to why Jupiter, I don’t know. Maybe it was because they’d made the associations you suggest and Jupiter and tin were what was left over so they got paired up. Or maybe it was because, as I said before, it was rare at the time and required to create the metal that gave the era its name.
And here is the curious or possibly awkward thing, considering the history of trademark disputes between the Superman and Captain Marvel universes: on one hand, we have a Marvel female superhero privately named Carol Danvers; on the other hand, we have a DC female superhero (Supergirl) privately named Kara Danvers. Both blonde-haired athletes wearing blue/red/gold uniforms.
At least their first names wouldn’t sound anything alike if shouted during a crowded fight scene (in, say, a crossover movie) — because that would make matters even more confusing! … Oh, wait. :smack:
The alloying of tin and copper made bronze for knives and swords, rather important: you might say the marriage of Jupiter and Venus signified that importance.
Well, Kara using ‘Kara’ and ‘Danvers’ together started with the TV series.
Two comic versions of the character have used it since then - the current main universe version used it for about 2 years (from when the Rebirth version of the comic took many cues from the TV series, up to when she went into space, therefor abandoning the identity) and the version in Being Super was raised as Kara Danvers.
But prior to the series, if she was using the Danvers name, it was Linda (Lee) Danvers.
Indeed. The comic character was “Linda Lee” from 1959-1961 (during which time she was living at an orphanage where Superman had parked her so she could learn Earth-ways. In 1961, the character was adopted by the Danvers couple and used their name as “Linda Danvers” right up to the character’s death in 1985.
Except that Jupiter and Venus were never married. Jupiter was married to Juno, and though he slept around a lot, I don’t think it’s ever mentioned that he got it on with Venus. And Venus was technically married to Vulcan, but mostly got it on with Mars.
Depending on the specific account, Aphrodite/Venus was either Zeus/Jupiter’s aunt (born of Ouranos/Uranus’s genitals which Kronos/Saturn severed and threw in the sea) or his daughter (with the Titan Dione).
Zeus had sexual relations with some of his aunts, but I can’t recall any story in which he slept with his own daughter.
The alchemists weren’t the sort to make an association just due to the fact that tin was “left over,” especially to such a significant planet as Jupiter. And whatever its value 1500 years earlier, at that time tin was less valuable than any of the other metals except maybe lead or iron. So I’m sure that the link between tin and Jupiter must have been due to some association that we’re not aware of.
I’d like to take this opportunity to use this post to promote my favorite comic book/pop culture resource, the MTR Network. They do a Character Corner podcast, where they cover the relevant history of comic characters, and they’ve taken up the practice of focusing on characters that have upcoming movies. If you’re interested in a deep dive into the characters’ histories, but prefer an audio/podcast format to reading the wikipedia entries, I highly recommend MTR Network!
Here’s a trio of podcasts they’ve released in the past month, which cover the history of Captain Marvel (All of the Marvel iterations, as well as the Fawcett/DC version):
You forgot
1966 MF Enterprises publishes a short-lived series of a completely different Captain Marvel – a robot that could split off his arms and legs (and maybe head I guess) to fight independently. I believe this is relevant because it was this series that made Marvel realize they should get busy and trademark the name.
What’s so messy about the post-Crisis Supergirl, a shapeshifting artificial lifeform/clone of Lana Lang created by the (heroic) Lex Luthor of a pocket dimension, that later became merged to a demon worshipping human Linda Danvers and became an “earth bound angel” with a demon named Buzz as a sidekick? :smack:
Tin, and bronze, remained important metals well past the end of the Roman Empire’s heyday.
Roman swords were made with bronze. The tin mines in Cornwall were one of only three sites in Western Europe from which tin could be mined, and even after Rome withdrew from England, they came back to buy the tin. In fact, tin is one of the main reasons Rome invaded and ruled England.
So tin was and remained incredibly important for a long, long time, and was certainly valuable enough to be associated with the major god of the Roman pantheon.
Recent excavations at Tintagel show it to have been a major trade port well into the 500s and later, and what they sold was tin. The sale of tin allowed the rulers there to live very luxurious (for Dark Ages values of luxury) lives.
I’m still not buying an association merely on the basis of value, even if it was valuable. All the other associations are more specific. Basically you’re still saying they are associated because they were “left over.” We’re missing some aspect of the qualities of tin, or of Jupiter, that led them to be linked.
