The gods of the periodic table

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The gods of the periodic table
Source: listas.20minutos.es
Some of the names that appear in the periodic table are mythological names. In most cases these names were given without a relationship between the element and the character, although then there may be coincidences. Anyway, it is an interesting and fun way to learn things about mythology and the elements.

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Selenium

Selenium
Of the moon, called Selene in Greek mythology. She is mythologically (not periodically) sister of Helio, the sun god. Mythology sometimes mixes it with Artemis.

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Titanium

Titanium
Some sources claim that the name of titanium has nothing to do with mythology, but others say it comes from the titans of Greek mythology, which have appeared mentioned several times throughout this article. Primal gods, ancestors of the rest of the Greek gods.


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Thorium

Thorium
Knowing Thor, the god of thunder, it is not surprising that thorium is a radioactive element (although the truth is that it has a very long half-life ... will it disintegrate with the Ragnarok?). As a curiosity, it has the same origin as the word "thunder" in most Indo-European languages. Thor is considered an elder god of Norse mythology, he is a protective warrior who fights giants with his great hammer, unlike his father Odin, who incited war. Different abilities are also attributed to him, and he appears in numerous myths either praising his wisdom or relating it to fertility. He will play an important role in the Ragnarok, facing his enemy the snake Jörmundngandr, daughter of Loki and the giant Angrboda. (Can you kill a snake with thorium?)

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Promise

Promise
Of the titan Prometheus, son of Jápeto, whose suffering was analogous to that of the scientists who tried to synthesize it. Prometheus was a very humanist titan (some legends claim that he was the creator of humanity modeling humans in mud), he deceived the gods for the benefit of men. He stole the fire of the gods to deliver it to humans, among other things. Zeus wanted to punish him, injuring him and humanity: he sent Pandora to marry his brother to open the famous box of misfortunes, which brought humanity so many misfortunes, and chained Prometheus in a place where an eagle all arrived. The days to devour your liver. As Prometheus was a god, his liver grew again and that torture was continually borne. Some legends accounts that Heracles released him, and since he was the son of Zeus and that company gave him glory, Zeus allowed it and Prometheus could be free.

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Vanadium

Vanadium
From "vanadis", goddess of Viking beauty, another name of Freyja. Although it was originally called “erythronium” by its discoverer Andrés Manuel del Río, it was called “vanadium” when it was rediscovered by Nils Gabriel Sefström, since it was mistakenly thought that Manuel del Río's erythronium was actually chrome. So the name of vanadium remains, and it is suspected that he could put this name because of the range of colors that vanadium compounds present, beautiful as the goddess. Freyja, goddess of beauty and fertility, daughter of Njord, the god of fertile land and navigation. It was believed that she received half of those killed in battle at her palace in Fólkvangr, the other half went to Valhalla with Odin. Freyja belonged to the Vanir, a quieter divine family than the Aesir, to whom Odin belongs, lord of wisdom and father of victory. There were wars between them, and at the end, the Vanir handed over Freyja and his brother Freyr as hostages, who eventually became part of the Aesir. Perhaps the most curious thing about this goddess is that she is related to the Tantalus and Niobe gods of Greek mythology: all three are in the same column.


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Helium

Helium
Del Sol. Helio (or Helios) was the personification of the sun, and brother of Selene (selenium) and Eos, the moon and the aurora, respectively. All children of titans.

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Palladium

Palladium
It comes from "Shovels", indirectly from the name of a god. This name was taken from an asteroid that was discovered shortly before the palladium element, and the asteroid was named in honor of Athena, goddess of war and justice. Palas, being placed in honor of Athena, suggests that they referred to an epithet of her, but apart from this, he was the god of wisdom, son of Crío and Euribia.

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Tantalum

Tantalum
From the god Tantalus, a god who committed the three great sins of Greek mythology: Offending a host (stole ambrosia and nectar, and told the secrets heard on the table of Olympus), harming a child (invited the gods to eat and served his son when food was scarce), and defy the gods (he was involved in stealing a gold mastiff that Cronos had given Rhea to take care of baby Zeus). The gods did not like that Tantalus killed his son Pélope, and Hermes rebuilt his body so that the moiras would bring him back to life. For all his crimes, he was punished in Tartarus, with water covering him to the chin and under a tree full of fruits. Every time he tried to drink or eat, what he wanted moved away from his mouth, since he was doomed to never be able to taste fruit or water. Not to mention a rock that takes all eternity swinging over it, not knowing whether or not it will crush it. In spite of everything, he had a great offspring, he fathered three children, and in the line of the resurrected Pélope came Agamentón (great-grandson of Tantalus). He also had Níobe. The tantalum was discovered by Anders Gustaf Ekeberg in 1802, and everything indicates that it was this character who inspired his name. Like Tantalus, very cruel things happened through the tantalum, such as the financing of the Second Congo War by the coltan, which contains tantalum, but also contains niobium.


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Niobium

Niobium
Related to tantalum in mythology and properties, since they belong to the same group. Níobe, goddess of Greek mythology, daughter of Tantalus and wife of the king of Thebes (Anfión). Níobe made fun of Leto for having had only two children, and boasted of his own. The offended gods punished Niobe by killing his children: Apollo took care of the men, and Artemis of the women. Only Amiclas and Melibea were saved. Níobe, undone, became stone, and the legend tells that it is the marble in the shape of a woman from which tears sprout on Mount Sípilo; Another legend tells that his tears formed the Aqueloo River. There are different versions of the unfortunate Niobe, but they all end with the murder of their children and the death of her, whether by sorrow or suicide. The niobium, can be called columbium, since it was the one that was put to the discovery, but when doubting if it was tantalum, it was rediscovered by another scientist (who called it niobium) and then it was determined that the columbium, in effect , was different from tantalum and identical to niobium. It is the component of coltan, next to the tantalum, Tantalum (his daughter in mythology and his father in the table). Between the two they can form an allegory of war: Tantalize the cruel and Niobe the unfortunate.