Captcha Challenge - "Streams of Oceanus"
I've been enjoying doing Captcha challenges because the Captchas have been very entertaining lately. I figured I would get some goofy little saying that I could riff about. Little did I know that I would get a Captcha that would require me to Google something--but I guess that's the "challenge" part!
So, it turns out that Oceanus is both a 'who' and a 'what'. Oceanus sounds like some sort of water god, but "streams of Oceanus" sounds like Oceanus is the water. Well, apparently they are both correct, because to the ancient Greeks, Oceanus was actually a body of water that encircled the Earth, kind of a "world ocean", and in particular the streams (currents) around the Equator are the "streams of Oceanus".
However, there is also Oceanus, one of the Titans, a son of Uranus and Gaea. (The Titans are the precursors of the Olympian gods with whom we are more familiar, like Zeus, Hera and Athena). Oceanus the Titan is the personification of Oceanus the world ocean. Lots of gods are the personification of things (the Egyptian Amun-Ra was the sun, and the Greek god Helios also represents the sun), so this is not too strange. I also found a very cool statue of Oceanus that is part of the Trevi Fountain (Fontana di Trevi), a very famous landmark in Rome.
This Captcha Challenge required a little more work on my part than I thought it would, but it is cool to learn something new, isn't it? Of course, the irony is that I've spent long enough writing now that the Captcha has probably timed out, and when I refresh it, I'll probably get something like "smelly socks" :)
Picture of Oceanus at the Trevi Fountain from Wikimedia Commons
Image Credit » en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Oceanus_at_Trevi.JPG
Comments
alexdg1 wrote on April 3, 2015, 8:18 PM
The world wonders...did you get "stinky socks" as the Captcha?
valmnz wrote on April 3, 2015, 8:42 PM
Well, that was certainly an interesting one to find. I seem to get the same boring captchas over and over.
BarbRad wrote on April 3, 2015, 8:50 PM
It's always good to learn something new. I guess I'd better publish something so I can see the new captchas in action. All I ever seem to see is the Progressive girl until I can click her away.
wolfgirl569 wrote on April 3, 2015, 9:08 PM
That was an interesting one. I never learned much about the gods and goddess from any of those times. Tink I need to study them some.
scheng1 wrote on April 4, 2015, 2:44 AM
There is a listed company in Singapore known as Oceanus, but the business is not doing well.
MegL wrote on April 4, 2015, 4:47 AM
That was fascinating. I wondered if "The Streams of Oceanus" would turn out to be a sci fi novel.
allen0187 wrote on April 4, 2015, 8:12 AM
I've never encountered such captcha. Thank you for the bit of information. If all captchas are like that, then captcha challenges would be more fun to do!
cmoneyspinner wrote on April 13, 2015, 3:27 PM
Found this through a share via Tsu. Added to my Pinterest board which is a collection of legends, mythology, etc.
AliCanary wrote on April 13, 2015, 5:19 PM
That's so cool! Thanks!