Much of Sailor Moon is influenced by different mythologies. This area of the shrine gives some background information on the Greek and Roman gods that correspond to Haruka and Michiru, as well as the Japanese myths behind the Talismans.

Originating from Greek mythology, Uranus, also simply called Heaven, was the child of Chaos. His wife was Gaea, also known as Earth. Uranus and Gaea had many children: three Hecatoncheires, monsters with one hundred hands and fifty heads; three Cyclops, each with only one eye; and many Titans. Uranus hated his monsterous children, so he sealed the Hecatoncheires in the Earth. Gaea asked her remaining children to avenge themselves against Uranus. However, only the Titan Cronus came to her aid. He used a scimitar to cut off Uranus's testicles. The blood that fell from the testicles produced the Erinyes, or the Furies; the Giants; and the Meliai. The testicles fell into the sea, and Aphrodite was created from them. In this manner, Cronus separated heaven and earth, and after defeating his father, he became the supreme ruler of the world.

Poseidon was the son of Cronus and Rhea. Because it was predicted that one of Cronus's children would cause his downfall, Cronus swallowed each of them after they were born. However, Rhea managed to secretly take her sixth child, Zeus, to Crete. In the baby's place, she covered a stone with clothes and presented it to Cronus; Cronus, believing it to be Zeus, swallowed it. Once Zeus was grown up, he returned and forced Cronus to regurgitate all the children he had swallowed. After this, Zeus and his siblings, along with Prometheus and the Hecatoncheires, defeated Cronus and the other Titans in a fierce war.

With the world newly secured, Zeus and his siblings, the gods and goddesses, were now the rulers. Zeus and his two brothers, Poseidon and Hades, drew lots for which section of the world they would rule over. Hades received the underworld, Poseidon the sea, and Zeus became the chief god.

Poseidon, as the god of the seas, was second to Zeus in power. His wife was Amphitrite, granddaughter of Ocean. Poseidon gave the first horse to man, and he is therefore commonly related to the animal. Poseidon's nickname is "Earth-shaker" because of his earth-shaking abilities with his trident.

The god Neptune is of Roman origin; originally he was the god of freshwater, but when he later became identified with the Greek Poseidon, he was transformed into the god of the sea. "Neptunalia" on July 23 is a festival in honor of him, when there is a shortage of water.

Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune possess two of the three Talismans. Uranus has the Space Sword, and Neptune has the Deep Aqua Mirror (Submarine Mirror). Sailor Pluto keeps charge of the third Talisman, the Garnet Orb. The Talismans - sword, mirror, and jewel - have roots in Japanese mythology. The following are excerpts from from Encyclopedia Mythica:

Ninigi-no-mikoto
Prince-Ear-of Rice and Plenty; the rice-god, ancestral god the Japanese imperial family. He is a grandson of the sun goddess Amaterasu and her husband Takami-Musubi. His mother sent him to the earth take charge of the general and political affairs.

Accompanied by his sister, the vivacious Uzume, he descended to earth and arrived at the point where eight paths lead in all directions of the compass. They he met the terrible deity who guards the Floating Bridge to Heaven, who frightened him but not Uzume. Therefore, the god of the paths guided Ninigi to all the regions of his terrestrial kingdom. Out of gratitude, Ninigi give his sister in marriage to him. He himself married Ko-no-Hana.

Later, Ninigi and his descendants fought their way from southern Japan to the Jamato plain (east of Osaka) and there they founded the imperial dynasty of Jamato. Amaterasu gave him a mirror, a jewel, and a sword (which are still the imperial symbols of sovereignty in Japan).

Amaterasu
When her brother, the storm-god Susanowo, ravaged the earth she retreated to a cave because he was so noisy. She closed the cave with a large boulder. Her disappearance deprived the world of light and life. Demons ruled the earth. The other gods used everything in their power to lure her out, but to no avail. Finally it was Uzume who succeeded. The laughter of the gods when they watched her comical and obscene dances aroused Amaterasu's curiosity. When she emerged from her cave a streak of light escaped (a streak nowadays people call dawn). The goddess then saw her own brilliant reflection in a mirror which Uzume had hung in a nearby tree. When she drew closer for a better look, the gods grabbed her and pulled her out of the cave. She returned to the sky, and brought light back into the world.

Susanowa
His little pesterings, especially against his sister, proved his undoing: he looses his beard, his fingernails, and all his possessions, and is banished. He wanders the earth and has many adventures, such as the slaying of the eight-headed snake Koshi and by defeating this monster he obtained a powerful sword, called Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi ("grass cutting sword"). Some other feats were conquering Korea and wiping out the plague. Okuni-Nushi, his son, eventually tricked him out of the sword.

Encyclopedia Mythica.

Hamilton, Edith. Mythology. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1942.

"Neptune." Encyclopaedia Britannica Micropaedia. 15th ed. 1979.

"Uranus." Encyclopaedia Britannica Micropaedia. 15th ed. 1979.