The Who's Who of Trainers

Ancaeus - Ancaeus is one of the argonauts that offered to hunt down the immense boar that Artemis plagued Calydon with after they forgot her during an annual sacrifice.  Along with Meleagar and Atlanta and several others they finally found the boar, but things went badly.  Ancaeus was the first to be struck down along with several others.  Finally Atlanta drew first blood and Meleagar finished the boar off.  After its death there was a huge fight over the pelt, and Meleagar killed his two uncles which brought about his own death later.  Meleagar considered Ancaeus lucky to have been killed by the boar than to have to go through what came after.

Anelace the Cold-Hearted - Anelace is named after an archaic weapon of the same name.  An anelace is a heavy, broad-bladed, sharp-pointed, double-edged knife.

Arma the Blacksmith - Arma is the ancient greek word for defensive armor fitted to the body but often meant the shield specifically.  It can also refer to weapons, though generally only used in reference to offensive weapons that are used in close melee combat like swords and battle axes.  The word arma is plural and there seems to be no singular version of the word.

Athamas - Athamas was king of Boeotia and then later a king in Thessaly.  His second wife Ino plotted against the children of his first wife Nephele and he almost sacrificed his son Phrixus because of her deception.  When Dionysus was in his mother, Semele's, womb, Hera in all her jealousy forced Zeus to kill her.  But Zeus took the unborn Dionysus and sewed him into his thigh, where he developed and was born later.  Zeus entrusted his son to Hermes who in turn entrusted Dionysus to Athamas and Ino. But Hera drove them mad and made Athamas hunt his elder son Learchus as a deer and kill him. Athamas was banished and settled in the country he was named Athamantia marrying Themisto and having other children by her.

Bazouki the Musician - The bouzouki is a Greek instrument, part of a family of long-necked, wirestrung lutes played from South Italy, through the Ionian peninsula and the Balkans, to Turkey, into Central Asia and finally to North India. They're known by different names and have different specifics throughout these regions (bouzouki, baglama, saz, cura, dotar, tar, sitar, etc).  The instrument is especially useful because its tunings can mimic those of the fiddle, making fiddle tunes easy to execute and its tunings can greatly facilitate moving chords or lines against open drone strings, which facilitates the modal and drone-oriented character of much Celtic music.

Captain Nebula - Captain Nebula is the beautiful female pirate that appears in the Hercules the Legendary Journeys episode called "Web of Desire" among others such as "War Wounds".  A bunch of pirates, led by Nebula, land on an island where they plan to hide their latest booty.  Hercules and Iolaus, having problems with their ship, just happen to land on the same island.  They find this huge cocoon, the island caves seem to be the home of a huge man eating spider thing.  Well, after a few of her men die, Nebula decides to team up with Hercules and help him and Iolaus kill the beast and escape the island.

Cassandra - Cassandra is the daughter of the King of Troy, she appeared in the Hercules the Legendary Journeys episode called Atlantis. She received the gift of prophecy from Apollo but was cursed by him when she spurned him.  His curse caused nobody to ever believe anything that she predicted.  When the Greek armies delivered the Trojan Horse to the gates of Troy she warned them all not to bring it inside, but of course they didn't believe her and did it anyway. When the Greeks leapt from the wooden horse that night and attacked Troy, King Agamemnon took her captive.

Cautu - Our resident rogue, Hawkeye the Mighty, had a revelation the other night.  It seems that the name Cautu when sounded out correctly (like Toellanbac Way {To Hell and Back} in Oinoe) can be read as "Caught You".  Seems the perfect name for a traps trainer, thanks Hawkeye!

Daedalus - Daedalus was an Athenian architect and the first inventor of images. He received his craftsmanship from Athena. Daedalus was condemned in Athens for murder and he fled to Crete where he made the famous Labyrinth to which the Athenians every year sent seven youths and as many damsels to be fodder of the Minotaur. This Labyrinth which Daedalus constructed was a chamber whose passageways were so winding that those unfamiliar with them had difficulty in making their way out. He is also well known for his wings constructed of wood and wax that caused his son Icarus to plummet to his death.

Darnel - Darnel was a gladiator in the Xena Warrior Princess episode "The Dirty Half-Dozen".  Xena saves him along with a few others from a prison cell and trains them all to fight, for Ares has given a warlord the secret of Hephaestus forge and he is forging weapons for his army with it.  Darnel and the others help Xena and Gabrielle storm the warlords castle, but Darnel and another man turn traitor and got the others locked in a cell, or so they thought.  Darnel came later with a chain for Xena to use to escape from the cell and he and one of the other women run off to do good deeds together.

Deon - Deon can be seen in the episode of Hercules the Legendary Journeys called "The Power".  Deon is the son of Jacobus and Aphrodite.  When Deon decides to join his uncle Karis, an evil bandit warlord, Hercules and Jacobus rush to save him from the trouble he's getting into.  When they finally manage to get to Deon, Karis attacks him and Jacobus saves his son with a skilled knife throw.

Deric - Deric was the centaur in the episode of Hercules the Legendary Journeys "Outcast" that was married to a human wife named Lyla.  The locals of their town didn't appreciate the interracial couple and so torched his house one day while he was away, killing his wife who gave her life to make sure their son escaped.  Deric is then attacked when he comes back home by one of the mob and he kills him in self defense, for which he is charged with murder.  Hercules convinces Deric to turn himself in, but when he does the villagers capture his son and blackmail Deric into confessing to the murder.  Of course Hercules figures out a way to prove his innocence and he is set free with his son, and Zeus, in a rare display of kindness, brings his wife Lyla back to life.

Disaper - His name almost has to be a play on the word disappear, meaning to vanish.  He teaches escaping which when one is a master at such a skill as he is they may seem to disappear before your very eyes when they want to escape your presence.

Echion - Echion was one of the Spartoi, the men who sprang up from dragon's teeth which Kadmos planted in the soil. The name Echion means 'Snake-man'. Echion also appeared in the movie "Hercules in the Underworld".  More on this as I have more time to research it.

Gastacius - Gastacius was in the Xena Warrior Princess episode called "Athens City Academy of the Performing Bards".  He was the premier bard brought in to judge the contest at the academy to decide who was to be admitted to the school.  When Gabrielle was kicked out  by Homer's scheming father for cheating her way into the competition, Gastacius demanded that she be allowed to perform, because art should never take second place to rules.  After Gabrielle told her story, Gastacius had tears in his eyes as did most of the others there and he declared her the winner.  But Gabrielle decided that living the adventures was better than sitting and telling about them, so she struck off to find Xena again.

Heed - His name comes from the word heed which means to pay attention.  Seems the perfect name for a trainer of perception wouldn't you say?

High Priest Surpryz - Maybe his name is a play on the word surprise.  Is he hiding something?  Maybe we need to keep an eye on this one.

High Priestess Dispersa - I can only think that Dispersa's name comes from the word disperse meaning to cause to break up.  If you take that translation loosely you can see how causing something to break up would have to do with alteration magic.

Homer the Blind Bard - Homer was in the Xena Warrior Princess episode called "Athens City Academy of the Performing Bards".  He was a fellow student with Gabrielle and Stallonus, hoping to win a chance to study at the academy.  His father pushed him to hard though and when he was on the verge of quitting the storytelling business for good, Gabrielle talked some sense into him and he stayed and made it into the academy.  Contrary to popular belief....Homer is NOT BLIND!  "The Blind Bard" is a nickname that Gastacius gave him because he tells his stories with his eyes closed.

Jacobus - Jacobus can be seen in the episode of Hercules the Legendary Journeys called "The Power".  Jacobus is the father of Deon by Aphrodite.  When Deon decides to join his uncle Karis, an evil bandit warlord, Hercules and Jacobus rush to save him from the trouble he's getting into.  When they finally manage to get Deon, Karis attacks him and Jacobus saves his son with a skilled knife throw.

Kassius the Pugilist - Kassius is a reference to Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali).  Seems they've taken the boxer name idea and ran with it for the punching trainers.  Thanks to an anonymous informant on the Athenian Council of Elders for clearing up that he is indeed not Cassius from the shows.

Katrina the Scribe - Katrina appeared in the Hercules the Legendary Journeys episode "Doomsday"..

Klepto - Klepto is the thief in the episode of Hercules the Legendary Journeys "Monster Child in the Promised Land" that posed as a baby-sitter for Typhon and Echidna to steal their newest child, Obie, in order to impress a local warlord.  He manages to steal the baby monster and deliver him to the warlord, but in the process he finds he has come to care for the little sprat.  When Hercules and Typhon catch up with Klepto he volunteers to help them save the child from the warlord.

Kyron - Ok, I didn't catch the name of the episode and it was just a fluke that I even heard Kyron's name in it as I was flipping by, but it seems that he appears in an episode of "Young Hercules" as Hercules' teacher.  He was teaching him to jump all over these logs and twirl a staff around blind-folded, fun stuff.  Ok, I learned a little more about Kyron, he was the headmaster at the Warrior Academy that Hercules, Jason, Iolaus, and Lila trained at.  Seems he's dead now (spooky, ghost trainer) and Jason took his place at the Academy.

Laphiera - Ok, this isn't her exact name, but it's my best lead so far so I'm putting it up here.  In the episode "The Dirty Half Dozen" there was a female slave trader named Glaphyra who was trained by Xena to become a warrior along with three others (including Darnel).  Glaphyra is the one that threw the knives into Arganon's castle's walls so that Xena could climb them.  Two of them men out of the four people Xena trained turned traitor and got Xena and Glaphyra locked in a dungeon.  Darnel comes back and gets Xena and Glaphyra out of jail and they defeat the evil Arganon and Glaphyra and Darnel run off together to do good deeds.  Thanks for the tip Kianni.

Lurke - This stealth trainer's name seems to be a play on the word lurk - v 1: lie in wait, lie in ambush, behave in a sneaky and secretive manner [syn: {skulk}] 2: be about; "The high school students like to lurk in the Central Square"; "Who is this man that is lurking about the department?" [syn: {loiter}, {lounge}, {footle}, {lollygag}, {loaf}, {lallygag}, {hang around}, {mess about}, {tarry}, {linger}, {mill about}, {mill around}] 3: wait in hiding to attack [syn: {ambush}, {scupper}, {bushwhack}, {waylay}, {ambuscade}, {lie in wait}] ... hehe.

Lyla - Lyla was in the episode of Hercules the Legendary Journeys "Outcast" and was married to a Centaur named Deric.  The locals of their town didn't appreciate the interracial couple and so torched their house one day, she gave her life to make sure her son escaped alive.  Her husband kills one of the mob and is accused of murder, Hercules finds a way to prove him innocent and Zeus brought her back to life.  This isn't Gabrielle's sister....Gabrielle's sister spells her name Lila, not Lyla. 

Mannassos the Mauler - This is a play on the boxing great Jack Demspey, also know as the Manassa Mauler.  Thanks once again to that mysterious and anonymous informant from the Athenian Parliament.

Melanippe - Melanippe appears in quite a few Xena and Hercules episodes.  She was the sister of Antiope and said to be daughter to Chiron. When Hercules came for Hippolyte's girdle, Melanippe was captured by the son of Zeus. While a prisoner, she planned a successful mutiny, on one of Hercules' ships that freed her and some other captive Amazons. They took the ship, killing the Greeks and tossed their bodies overboard. Unfortunately these Amazons were trained to ride horses, not sail, and they were blown to the shores of Scythia. There they stole horses and became marauders. Her name means, "Black Mare."

Meleager the Mighty - Meleager appeared in the episode of Xena Warrior Princess called "The Prodigal".  Xena and Gabrielle are walking around one day and are suddenly ambushed, Gabrielle freezes and suddenly gets a longing for home so she leaves Xena and heads there.  When she gets there she finds her village was the next on a local warlord's list to be invaded.  Her village has hired Meleager the Mighty, an alcoholic and depressed ex-warlord to protect them. Turns out that Meleager had once froze in battle and took to drink to hide his shame.  Well Meleager helps save the village and all is well.

Menticles - Menticles was in the episode of Xena Warrior Princess called "The Price".  He was one of the Athenian generals in charge of the troops when Xena arrived to help them do battle against the Horde.  He despised Xena taking over of his troops but finally ended up listening to her since she seemed to be their only way out of the mess.  When she sent him out to try and look for water, he ignored her warnings to go a certain way and came crawling back into Athens half-dead after the Horde was through with him.
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Metioche the Gentle - I can find references to Metioche in Greek myth, but little more than that.  She seems to have something to so with the Trojan Horse and Apollodorus.  I think she might also be a daughter of Apollo?   I have been told by one of my contacts that Metioche and her sister Menippe offered themselves as sacrafices to free Boeotia from a pestilence.

Mihieros - Found out from a reliable source on the Athenian Parliament that Mihieros' name was intended to be "My Heroes".  I still kinda like the "My High Arrows" idea though, hehe.

Mynus - Maybe, maybe his name comes from the word minus meaning to take away.  Some alterations involve taking away, right?....okay, okay, I'm grasping at straws now.

Palaemon - Palaemon was in the episode of Xena Warrior Princess called "Blind Faith".  He kidnaps Gabrielle hoping to make Xena duel him so that he can say he's defeated the mighty warrior princess.  Xena sees that there is promise in this young man and so spares him his life.  She then becomes blinded by a splash of poison sumac but still rushes to save Gabrielle, dragging Palaemon along with her to use as her eyes.  By the end Xena has of course made him see how wrong his ways were and he walks away from the fight he had spent the entire episode trying to pick when she got her sight back.

Priestess Magisa - Maybe the name Magisa is a play on the word Magic?

Rissa

Shadius - I would have to say this is another play on words, this time the word being shady, shady being a descriptive term for a person who acts in a stealthy, furtive, or shifty manner.

Skulker - I can only guess that the name Skulker comes from the word skulker which  is another way to say prowler, a prowler being a person who acts in a stealthy, furtive, or shifty manner.

Stallonus - Stallonus was in the Xena Warrior Princess episode called "Athens City Academy of the Performing Bards".  He was the action-minded, street-wise bard that was in competition against Gabrielle.  As the name implies he was a spin-off Sylvester Stallone character.  His stories were full of action and short of words.  A few examples of his storytelling style, "And he grabbed the lizards horn.  And smoke came out of his nose.  And he grabbed its horn and..." and the whole time he'd be throwing himself around the room as if he were the actual one living the fight.  It's a wonder he survived his storytelling career to become a trainer.

Stoli - The only Stoli I could find was a brand of vodka.  Maybe he deserves to be the namesake of this highly alcoholic spirit, I don't know the man though and am not one to prejudge.  Send me a note if you know the guy, is he a raucous drunk or did he just have strange parents?'

Syllabus - A syllabus is a summary outline of a discourse, treatise, or course of study or of examination requirements, you guys can figure out what that has to do with spiritual magic, I can't do all the work!

The Trainer Gorza - The only references I could find to Gorza anywhere was that he was the god of destruction in Ghostbusters and seems he is a trainer of some sort in Dragonball Z.

Tysoon the Boxer - I can only guess that this is a blatant reference to Mike Tyson.

Volatileus - Seems his name comes from the term volatile, or explosive, which fits in perfectly with what he teaches.

Norse Trainers
What?!  You expected it to be in Greek??

Torgrim Hund - Du har nå kommet til min hjemmeside. Mitt navn er Torgrim Hund og jeg er bosatt i Gamlebyen. Jeg har et sted hvor jeg ofte liker å oppholde meg, nemlig Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Et ordentlig gøyalt sted!

Audun Berrfot - Den eneste utilgivelige synd i dag er å la være å skaffe seg det man har lyst på, var Berg Eriksens påstand. En egenskap som lojalitet blir i dag lett sett på som enfoldighet. Mistrivsel, derimot, er i mange tilfeller karriereskapende. Trives man ikke ett sted, kan man jo bare bytte beite. Som filmstjernen oppsøker den nye sjefen stadig nye roller­ les jobber.

Aslaug Fromme - Hefur lengst af verið blaðamaður, mest á Morgunblaðinu, en einnig hefur hún talsvert verið í lausamennsku Xena. Síðast vann hún á Tímanum, þó hún sé alls ekki framsóknarmaður, en hún sagði upp þar og fæst nú við þýðingar, þáttagerð og Joxer. Skaffe líka lagt ritstörf fyrir sig á öðrum vettvangi, eftir hana liggja skáldsögurnar Aslaug og Sylvía, en hún hefur líka fengist við viðtalsbækur og þýðingar á skáldsögum!!

Gudbrand Svarte - Asbjørnsen & Moe Norske folkeeventyr II Lasse Kolstad tar deg med inn i eventyrenes verden. Gudbrand tolking av de mest kjente og kjære folkeeventyrene gir en uforglemmelig opplevelse. Bjørnen og reven vedder Manndatteren og kjerringdatteren Gudbrand i Lia Herremannsbruden De tolv villendene Vår Herre og Sankt.

Eigil Arnulfsen - Den norske kirke har hittil ikke hatt noe sentralt medlemsregister, slik alle andre trossamfunn er pålagt for å få offentlig støtte. De siste årene har det imidlertid pågått et omfattende arbeid for å etablere et slikt troverdig og mest mulig korrekt medlemsregister. Til menighetsrådsvalget i skal Den norske kirke endelig ha klart et kirkelig manntall.

Halldis Sol-Skalden - Til tross for hard ordbruk i media er de fleste andre tros- og livssynssamfunn interessert i et samarbeid med Den norske kirke om etablering av medlemsregisteret. Human-Etisk Halldis, for eksempel, har vært kritisk til hele dette prosjektet, men de vil gjerne medvirke til at det kirkelige medlemsregisteret blir mest mulig korrekt slik at alle som reelt ikke er kirkemedlemmer, kommer ut av kirkeregisteret, forteller Thriae.

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