title: Alias (TV series)

text: Seven years before the first episode, Sydney Bristow was an undergraduate student. She was approached by someone who claimed to work for the Central Intelligence Agency and offered her a job as an agent. Having accepted, she was assigned to a unit called SD-6, which she was told was a secret "Black Ops" section of the CIA. She became a field agent. In the pilot, she tells her fiancé Danny Hecht (played by Edward Atterton) that she is a spy and as a result of her revealing SD-6's existence to him, Danny is murdered by SD-6. She discovers that her father Jack Bristow is also an SD-6 agent and that SD-6 is not part of the CIA; instead, it is part of the Alliance of Twelve, an organization that is an enemy to the United States. Sydney decides to offer her services to the "real" CIA as a double agent. Having learned that her father is also a double agent for the CIA, she begins the long and arduous task of destroying SD-6 from the inside.


title: Alias (TV series)

text: Major plotlines from season 1 include Sydney hiding her triple identity from her friends, both in her personal life and in her SD-6 job, Will Tippin's investigation into Danny's death, and the past activities of Sydney's mother. Sub-plots include Sydney's friendship with Francie, Francie's romantic relationship with Charlie, and Sydney's developing relationship with her CIA handler Michael Vaughn, of whom she is skeptical at first but grows to trust as her life becomes increasingly stressful. Season One focuses on the development of Sydney's character, and allows the audience to become familiar with her.


title: Alias (TV series)

text: The second season begins with the introduction of Irina Derevko, Sydney's mother, who soon becomes a key character in the series. Midway through the second season, the series underwent a "reboot" of sorts with Sydney successfully destroying SD-6 and becoming a regular agent for the CIA, still in pursuit of former SD-6 leader Arvin Sloane, his associate Julian Sark, and the Rambaldi artifacts. Sydney's friends at SD-6, Marcus Dixon and Marshall Flinkman, are finally made aware of her dual identity and recruited into the CIA. Sydney also begins a romantic relationship with Vaughn, now that their relationship will not endanger them.


title: Alias (TV series)

text: In the second half of the season, it is revealed that Francie Calfo, Sydney's best friend, was murdered and replaced by Allison Doren, a woman who was transfigured to look exactly like her. Allison was then in a position to spy on Sydney and Will. The end of the season saw Will possibly murdered and Sydney killing Allison and then falling unconscious. Sydney awakens two years later in Hong Kong, unable to remember the two years that have passed. She soon learns that her friends and the CIA believed her to be dead, and Vaughn found a new love and is now married.


title: Alias (TV series)

text: The third season takes place two years after the events of season 2, with Sydney having been missing and presumed dead. DNA evidence in a badly burned body confirmed her death to her family and friends. The truth, however, is that Sydney was kidnapped by a terrorist organization called The Covenant, who tried to brainwash her into believing she was an assassin named Julia Thorne. Eventually Sydney voluntarily had her memories of the two years erased in an attempt to forget some of the deeds she was forced to undertake as Julia and to ensure that one of Rambaldi's most dangerous artifacts would never be found.


title: Alias (TV series)

text: As Sydney recovers, she begins investigating her absence while reintegrating into the CIA. There she deals with the facts that Arvin Sloane had become a world-renowned humanitarian after being pardoned, and that Michael Vaughn had married NSC agent Lauren Reed. Reed is later revealed to be a member of the Covenant and a lover of Julian Sark. The National Security Council plays a role as a government organization that holds massive unsupervised power, with a Guantanamo-like detention facility, considerable influence over the CIA, and driven by questionable motives. Sydney later discovers that her mother and Arvin Sloane had a child together, the result of an affair between the two years before Sydney's birth. She locates her half-sister, Nadia, and rescues her from being killed by the Covenant. At the end of the season, Sydney goes on a mission and encounters Lauren. After they battle, Lauren begins to taunt Sydney by saying she has information about her past. When Vaughn shows up, Sydney goes to him, leaving Lauren a chance to attack again. Vaughn shoots Lauren, and she dies, but before she does she gives Sydney the number of a security deposit box where she can find information about her past.


title: Alias (TV series)

text: Season 4 begins where season three ended: with Sydney uncovering a shocking, classified document called "S.A.B. 47 Project." It is explained that the document authorizes Jack Bristow to execute Sydney's mother, who mysteriously placed a contract on Sydney's life (this was apparently something of a retcon to cover for actress Lena Olin presumably not returning to the series). The first page refers to Sydney as the "active" subject of a "project" that began on April 17, 1975, a possible reference to Project Christmas, and also setting up Jack as either the real head of (or somehow involved with) the Covenant and/or being a descendant of Rambaldi or Rambaldi himself. Sydney joins a black ops division of the CIA, patterned after SD-6 and run by her one-time nemesis Arvin Sloane. The new division is dubbed "APO": "Authorized Personnel Only". Members of APO (all hand-picked by Sloane) include almost all of the recurring characters from previous seasons, including Jack, Vaughn, Sydney's former partner (and third-season CIA director) Marcus Dixon, the computer and technical genius, Marshall Flinkman, and Vaughn's best friend Eric Weiss (brought in after having to be rescued by Sydney and Vaughn, who he previously believed to have left the CIA). Sloane's daughter and Sydney's half-sister Nadia Santos also eventually returns to join APO.


title: Alias (TV series)

text: During the season, an Arvin Sloane impostor, jokingly identified as "Arvin Clone", acquired the technology to implement a Rambaldi-predicted apocalypse. Using Omnifam, the real Sloane had polluted the world's drinking water with chemicals that caused feelings of peace and tranquility. However, these feelings can be reversed with the Mueller device. The third Derevko sister, Elena, had built a giant Mueller device in Sovogda, Russia, which drove the residents to insanity. Sydney, Jack, Irina, Nadia, and Vaughn parachute in, destroy the device and kill Elena. But Nadia is injected with the tainted water and driven insane. She battles Sydney until Sloane is forced to shoot his own daughter. Nadia is later put into a coma while a cure is sought and Irina is allowed to escape. The season concludes with Sydney and Vaughn becoming engaged. On a trip to Santa Barbara, Vaughn confides a shocking secret: his name isn't really Michael Vaughn; their initial meeting wasn't coincidental; and that his allegiance may not be to the CIA. Before he can divulge any more information, another car crashes into theirs and the season ends.


title: Alias (TV series)

text: As season five begins, Vaughn is abducted. Sydney learns that Vaughn is under suspicion of being a double agent and that the crash may have been a cover for his extraction. Vaughn later escapes and explains to Sydney that his real name is André Michaux. He reveals that he is investigating a secret operation known as Prophet Five, which at one point involved his father. During a mission in recovering a Prophet Five book, Sydney receives a phone call from her doctor with some untimely news – she's pregnant. (This development was created to deal with the actress' real-life pregnancy.) Vaughn is later shot, and apparently killed, on orders of Prophet Five operative Gordon Dean. Four months later, as Sydney continues to investigate Vaughn's murder, she works with an assassin and associate of his, Renée Rienne, in order to unearth the inner workings of Prophet Five, while at the same time trailing Dean and his criminal organization "The Shed", disguised as a black ops CIA division, very much like SD-6.


title: Alias (TV series)

text: Two new members are added to APO to replace Weiss, who moved to Washington, D.C. for a new job, and Nadia, who is still in a coma. Thomas Grace is a brash young agent with unorthodox methods who often butts heads with Sydney. Rachel Gibson is a computer specialist who, like Sydney, was deceived into thinking she was working for the real CIA and briefly works as a mole within The Shed, as did Sydney within SD-6, before The Shed's destruction by Dean. Sydney's mom and dad help her deliver her baby girl while under attack in a high-rise in Vancouver, Canada, on a mission in season 5, episode 11: "Maternal Instinct." In an ongoing subplot, Arvin Sloane follows his own personal obsession, finding a cure for Nadia. Sloane is jailed for his actions during Season 4; however, he is released after the sentencing committee is manipulated by Dean. In exchange for his freedom, Sloane is now working for Dean as a mole within APO. Unaware of Sloane's new allegiance, Jack agrees to let Sloane rejoin APO and use its resources to seek a cure for his daughter.


title: Alias (TV series)

text: With the series' end, it emerges that Sloane's ultimate goal is that of immortality, for which he sacrifices his daughter Nadia's life. However, he is trapped in Rambaldi's tomb by a critically wounded Jack, who sacrifices himself via a bomb to avenge all the pain Sloane caused Sydney over the years. Thus moments after Sloane achieves immortality he is trapped for all of eternity in a cave, where even Nadia's ghost deserts him. Sydney tracks Sark and the Horizon to Hong Kong, finding Irina. After a final battle between them, Irina plunges to her death. The series ends with a flash forward to several years in the future. Sydney and Vaughn are semi-retired and married, with a second child named Jack in honour of Sydney's father. Daughter Isabelle exhibits the same ability to complete the CIA test that marked Sydney's inborn skills to be an ideal agent at that age. After Isabelle completes the puzzle, Sydney calls to her from outside, asking what she is doing. She responds by saying, "Nothing", as she casually knocks it over before running outside to join everyone.


title: Alias (TV series)

text: "Alias" featured an ensemble cast portraying the various people in Sydney's life. During the course of the series, every main character becomes involved in the world of espionage in some form or another.


title: Alias (TV series)

text: In addition, "Alias" also featured many other famous actors in roles ranging from single-episode guest appearances to semi-recurring characters, including Jonathan Banks as Frederick Brandon, Raymond J. Barry as Senator George Reed, Tobin Bell as Karl Dreyer, Peter Berg as Noah Hicks, David Carradine as Conrad, David Cronenberg as Dr. Brezzel, Faye Dunaway as Ariana Kane, Griffin Dunne as Leonid Lisenker, Vivica A. Fox as Toni Cummings, Ricky Gervais as Daniel Ryan, John Hannah as Martin Shepard, Rutger Hauer as Anthony Geiger, Ethan Hawke as James Lennox, Djimon Hounsou as Kazari Bomani, Richard Lewis as Mitchell Yaeger, Peggy Lipton as Olivia Reed, Sir Roger Moore as Edward Poole, Richard Roundtree as Thomas Brill, Jason Segel as Sam Hauser, Christian Slater as Neil Caplan, Quentin Tarantino as McKenas Cole, Justin Theroux as Simon Walker, Keone Young as Professor Choy, and Danny Trejo as Emilio Vargas.


title: Alias (TV series)

text: Produced by Touchstone Television and Bad Robot Productions, film production primarily took place in the greater Los Angeles area. Studio shooting primarily took place at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, along with some outdoor shots near some of the studio's famous buildings (such as the original Animation Building or the ABC building, which appeared as a building in Hong Kong in the season 1 episode "The Coup"). Despite its worldwide locales, only one episode was ever filmed outside the Los Angeles region, in Las Vegas, Nevada.


title: Alias (TV series)

text: Head Hair Designer Michael Reitz was nominated for Outstanding Hairstyling for a Series at the Emmys 5 years in a row (2002–2006); as well as 3 nominations and 1 win at the Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Awards.


title: Alias (TV series)

text: "Alias" was also known for the variety of its costumes. "USA Today" wrote that the show "features the most outrageous array of sexy costumes since "Cher" went off the air". Laura Goldsmith was the costume designer and she received one Costume Designers Guild Award nomination.


title: Alias (TV series)

text: The New York edition of "Time Out" listed the show in their top 50 TV shows of the decade 2000 – 2009. "Alias" also appeared in UGO.com's list of Top 50 TV Shows of All Time. In 2010, Kristin dos Santos of E! ranked it number 4 on her list, "Top 20 TV Series of the Past 20 Years".


title: Alias (TV series)

text: The season 2 episode "Phase One" aired as a lead-out for Super Bowl XXXVII. Despite earning critical acclaim from "USA Today", and achieving series-high ratings of 17.4 million viewers, it was unable to fully benefit from the post-Super Bowl time slot due to ABC airing a 40-minute post-game show (unusually long even by Super Bowl standards), which pushed its start time past 11:00 p.m. ET. The episode retained only 19 percent of the Super Bowl audience, and has the dubious distinction of earning the lowest overall ratings for a program airing after a Super Bowl since at least 1987, and the lowest rating ever (8.3 rating) in the age 18–49 demographic for a post-Super Bowl program, until "Elementary" in 2013.


title: Alias (TV series)

text: Its ratings peak was reached in its fourth season, when ABC moved the program to Wednesday, in a 9:00 p.m. time slot following another (yet more successful) J. J. Abrams' drama, "Lost", while airing the season's episodes in (almost) consecutive weeks beginning with the January 5, 2005, 2-hour season premiere (watched by 15.8 million viewers; the second most-watched episode in the series) and ending in May 2005. However, the fourth season was the only season in which this near-consecutive-week schedule was used, and the increase in audience numbers was minimal, as it faced competition from the results broadcasts of season 4 of "American Idol", then nearing the peak of its popularity.


title: Alias (TV series)

text: Coming off its most-watched season, "Alias" was moved to Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. in the fall of 2005 by ABC in an effort to invigorate the network's weak Thursday-night lineup. However, the move proved unsuccessful for the series, receiving the lowest viewership in the show's history. "Alias" became another scripted show in the history of ABC to not survive more than a year in this timeslot since "Mork & Mindy" was cancelled in 1982. In November 2005, ABC announced that the current fifth season of "Alias" would be its final one. ABC then temporarily aired "Alias" on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. in December, receiving the lead-in support of "Lost".


title: Alias (TV series)

text: The ABC network gave the show a 4-month hiatus (allowing Jennifer Garner to give birth to her first child); however, when it was brought back in April 2006, its new time slot was Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. Notwithstanding, the viewer numbers still remained dismal, culminating in a 2-hour series finale airing on Monday, May 22, 2006 (broadcast against both the season finales of the hit dramas, Fox's "24" and CBS' "") which attracted 6.68 million viewers. In comparison, the first season averaged 9.7 million viewers.


title: Alias (TV series)

text: In August 2003, the actual CIA enlisted Jennifer Garner to appear in a recruitment video, which would be shown at fairs and college campuses. A CIA officer said: "Jennifer and the character of Sydney Bristow both reflect a lot of the qualities we look for in new career field officers."


title: Alias (TV series)

text: The "Alias" production team has participated in at least two spoofs based upon the series and featuring cast members.


title: Alias (TV series)

text: In May 2010, "E! Online" Kristin dos Santos reported that ABC was toying with the idea of rebooting "Alias", but getting rid of the mythological Rambaldi elements to make the storylines more accessible for a mainstream audience. Subsequently, "Entertainment Weekly" columnist Michael Ausiello confirmed that ABC was in the early stages of developing a reboot, but that the potential series probably would not make it beyond the development phase.


title: Alias (TV series)

text: Varèse Sarabande released a season one soundtrack containing 26 tracks. These tracks were used in the show, including the opening theme. All of them are composed by Michael Giacchino, except for the opening theme which was composed by J. J. Abrams. The tracks share a similar dance genre, however a few tracks, such as "In the Garden" share more of a slowed down tempo. A second soundtrack was also released containing music from the second season, but did not receive as much praise as the first soundtrack. A soundtrack for "Alias: The Video Game", composed by Chris Tilton (who also provided additional music for later episodes of the TV series), was also released, but can only be downloaded online.


title: Alias (TV series)

text: The original soundtrack was removed from the versions of the show available on streaming services such as Tubi. DVDs appear to have the original soundtrack on them.


title: Alias (TV series)

text: The video game "Alias", based on the series, is a third-person stealth action title developed and released by Acclaim Entertainment for the PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The plot was written by the creators of the show and the game features the voices of the cast principals. It was released on April 6, 2004, and has a rating of T for Teen. The game is set between episodes 19 and 20 of season 2. The game allows the player to be Sydney (and briefly on one mission Vaughn), and sends her on various missions to many different locations. The missions become more difficult as you come closer to finishing the game. The game includes using many spy-skills that Sydney uses in the show.


title: Alias (TV series)

text: Prior to the Acclaim release, ABC Television produced an episodic downloadable video game "Alias: Underground" which is available through ABC's website. The game was a 3D third-person stealth action game much like the Acclaim production, with missions released monthly during the original broadcast of the TV show's second season.


title: Alias (TV series)

text: A number of original novels based upon the series have been published, primarily for a teenage reading audience. Due to the intricate and story arc-based nature of the series, most novels published to date have been prequels to the series, some focusing on Sydney in her early missions for SD-6, and others focusing on Vaughn's missions before meeting her. Their canon status with regards to the televised series has yet to be determined. Although aimed at young readers, the books tackle serious subject matter, such as one volume which details the first time Sydney kills someone.


title: Alias (TV series)

text: The second series of novels, titled "The APO Series", fit into the season four timeframe and are published by Simon Spotlight Entertainment.


title: Alias (TV series)

text: Inkworks released the official trading cards for the series. Season One was published in 2002, Season Two in 2003, Season Three in 2004, and Season 4 in 2006. Each release included a full set of base cards and various inserts, including autographs and memorabilia from the cast.


title: Amanda Plummer

text: Amanda Michael Plummer (born March 23, 1957) is an American actress. She is known for her work on stage and for her roles in such films as "Joe Versus the Volcano" (1990), "The Fisher King" (1991), "Pulp Fiction" (1994), and "" (2013). Plummer won a Tony Award in 1982 for her performance in "Agnes of God".


title: Amanda Plummer

text: Plummer was born on March 23, 1957, in New York City, the only child of American actress Tammy Grimes and Canadian actor Christopher Plummer. Her father said that they named their daughter Amanda Michael after Amanda Prynne, a character from the play "Private Lives", and the actress Michael Learned. She attended the elite Trinity School before graduating from the United Nations International School (UNIS). She attended Middlebury College for two and a half years and, as a young adult, studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City.


title: Amanda Plummer

text: Plummer has received critical acclaim for her film work, including such films as "Cattle Annie and Little Britches" (1981), "The World According to Garp" (1982), "Daniel" (1983), and "The Hotel New Hampshire" (1984). Other films of note include "The Fisher King", for which she received a BAFTA film nomination (1992), a Chicago Film Critics Association Award nomination (1992), and a Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award (1992).


title: Amanda Plummer

text: Other films include "Pulp Fiction", for which she received an American Comedy Award nomination; "Girlfriend"; "Butterfly Kiss", "My Life Without Me"; "Vampire", and "Ken Park". She made her Broadway debut as Jo in the 1981 revival of "A Taste of Honey", which ran for almost a year with Valerie French playing Helen, Jo's mother. She received a Tony Award nomination, a Theatre World, a Drama Desk, and an Outer Critics Circle Awards for her portrayal.


title: Amanda Plummer

text: She won a Tony Award for Featured Actress and the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Boston Critics Circle Awards for her portrayal of Agnes in "Agnes of God", with Geraldine Page and Elizabeth Ashley. In 1983, she portrayed Laura Wingfield in a Broadway revival of "The Glass Menagerie". Other Broadway performances include Dolly Clandon in "You Never Can Tell" (1986), and as Eliza Doolittle in "Pygmalion" (1987; for which she received her third Tony Award nomination, this time for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play.)


title: Amanda Plummer

text: Off-Broadway plays include Beth in Sam Shepard's "A Lie of the Mind", and "Killer Joe", written by Tracy Letts. She has performed in many of Tennessee Williams' plays, including "Summer and Smoke", "The Gnädiges Fräulein", "The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore", and the world premiere of "The One Exception".


title: Amanda Plummer

text: In 1996, Plummer won an Emmy Award for her guest appearance on the episode "A Stitch in Time" of "The Outer Limits". In 2005, she won an Emmy as Miranda Cole in the "" episode "Weak", in which she played a woman with schizophrenia.


title: Amanda Plummer

text: She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and received another Emmy Award for her performance in "Miss Rose White", a Hallmark made-for-television film about a Holocaust survivor, for which she received the Anti-Defamation League Award. For her performance in "Last Light" (1993), she received a Cable Ace Award nomination. Other awards include the Hollywood Drama Critics Award for her performance in the title female role in "Romeo and Juliet", the Saturn Award for her performance as Nettie in "Needful Things" (1993), and a Cable Ace Award for her performance in "The Right To Remain Silent" (1996).


title: Amanda Plummer

text: Plummer played Wiress, a former "tribute" who won the Hunger Games, in "" (2013), the film adaptation of the second novel of "The Hunger Games" trilogy, by Suzanne Collins. Plummer starred alongside Brad Dourif in the critically acclaimed Off Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams' "The Two-Character Play" at New World Stages in 2013.


title: Amanda Plummer

text: In 2020, Plummer was featured in the Netflix drama series "Ratched". Plummer will play Vadic, the main villain of the third and final season of "", in 2023.


title: Amanda Plummer

text: Plummer dated screenwriter and director Paul Chart in the late 1990s. The two lived together in Los Angeles and worked together on Chart's film "American Perfekt".


title: Kenny Smith

text: Kenneth Smith (born March 8, 1965), nicknamed "the Jet", is an American sports commentator and former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played in the NBA from 1987 to 1997 as a member of the Sacramento Kings, Atlanta Hawks, Houston Rockets, Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, and Denver Nuggets. He won back-to-back NBA championships with Houston.


title: Kenny Smith

text: Smith played college basketball with the North Carolina Tar Heels, earning consensus first-team All-American honors as a senior in 1987. He was selected by Sacramento in the first round of the 1987 NBA draft with the sixth overall pick, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team with the Kings. After retiring from playing, Smith became a basketball commentator for the Emmy Award-winning "Inside the NBA" on TNT. He also works as an analyst for CBS/Turner during the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.


title: Kenny Smith

text: Smith was born in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City and later grew up in Queens, spending time in the LeFrak City neighborhood. He played some of his earliest basketball at New York's Riverside Church. Smith attended Archbishop Molloy High School, where he was coached by Jack Curran, the high school coach with the most wins in New York City and New York State history. Smith was named a McDonald's All-American in 1983, then played basketball at the University of North Carolina for Dean Smith.


title: Kenny Smith

text: Kenny Smith credits former South Carolina State star Bobby Lewis with his development as a shooter and ballhandler. Lewis averaged 30.9 points per game and was a First Team Division II All-American as a senior at South Carolina State. He later developed the "Bobby Lewis Basketball Skills Development Program", a training regimen that he presented at basketball camps around the country. Smith attended several of his lectures while in high school, and continued to use Lewis's drills throughout his basketball career, to this day teaching them at his own basketball camps. Of Lewis, Smith said, "He's the best lecturer ever. He had the best influence in terms of my workout regimen without question."


title: Kenny Smith

text: Kenny Smith joined junior Michael Jordan and senior Sam Perkins on a North Carolina team that was a pre-season #1 and finished the season ranked #1 with a 28–3 record. Smith averaged 9.1 points and 5.0 assists per game, and the Tar Heels lost to Indiana in the regional semifinals of the 1984 NCAA tournament. He led North Carolina to the Elite Eight in 1985, losing to eventual national champion Villanova. Smith was named a Consensus All-American (1st Team) as senior in 1987, averaging 16.9 points, 6.1 assists per game while helping North Carolina to return to the Elite Eight. Playing in a game that featured eleven future NBA players, Smith led the Tar Heels with 25 points and 7 assists in a loss to Syracuse, 79–75.


title: Kenny Smith

text: During his career at North Carolina, Smith averaged 12.9 points and 6.0 assists per game, while shooting .512 from the field, and .823 from the free throw line. In 1986–87, the first season the NCAA added three-point field goals, Smith shot .408. As of 2016, he ranks second in school history in total assists (768), fourth in total steals (195), and fifth in assists per game. Smith helped North Carolina to a record of 115–22 from the 1983–84 to 1986–87 seasons, including two Elite Eight appearances (1985 and 1987) and a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 1986. They won the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) regular season conference championships in 1984 and 1987, and tied for first in 1985. North Carolina never finished lower than 8th in the national polls during Smith's four years at the school.


title: Kenny Smith

text: Smith represented the United States in the 1986 FIBA World championship, on a team that included David Robinson, Muggsy Bogues and Steve Kerr. He was second on the team in scoring behind Charles Smith with 14.7 points per game. Smith scored 23 points to lead the US to an 87–85 win and the Gold Medal over a Soviet Union team that featured Arvydas Sabonis.


title: Kenny Smith

text: Smith was selected as a 6'3" 170 lb point guard by the Sacramento Kings with the sixth pick of the 1987 NBA draft. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team (1st Team) after averaging 13.8 points and 7.1 assists per game for the Kings. Smith began his NBA career playing for Hall of Famer Bill Russell, who was head coach for Kings until he was fired 58 games into the '87-88 season. Smith was traded to the Atlanta Hawks midway through the 1989–90 season, where he was a reserve player for the first time in his career, averaging 7.7 points per game while only starting five of thirty-games he played for the Hawks as a backup to team captain Doc Rivers.


title: Kenny Smith

text: After the 1989–90 season, Smith was traded to the Houston Rockets where he would spend the next six seasons. In 1990–91 Smith averaged 17.7 points per game while leading the Rockets in assists per game (7.1) and free throw percentage (.844). He helped the Rockets to a 52–30 record, the best regular season in franchise history at the time. They were swept by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs. Smith finished 17th in voting for the NBA Most Valuable Player Award, just ahead of teammate Hakeem Olajuwon.


title: Kenny Smith

text: Head Coach Don Chaney was fired after posting a record of only 26–26 in the 1991–92 season. He was replaced by former Rocket player Rudy Tomjanovich, who went 16–14 to close out the season, missing the playoffs by one game. The Rockets then went 55–27 in 1992–93, losing to the Seattle SuperSonics in the second round of the playoffs in seven games. Smith helped to force a game seven against Seattle by scoring 30 points, shooting 4–6 from three-point range, in a Game 6 victory for Houston. The Rockets won back-to-back championships in 1993–94 and 1994–95 with Smith as the starting point guard. From the 1992–93 to 1994–95 seasons, Smith averaged 11.7 points and 4.5 assists per game, with a three-point percentage of .425. In 57 playoff games during the same period, Smith had nearly identical averages of 11.6 points and 4.3 assists, shooting .456 from three-point range. In the first game of the 1995 Finals against the Orlando Magic, Smith had 23 points, 9 assists and made seven three-pointers, including the game-tying shot which sent the game into overtime. Smith's 7 three pointers in the first game of the 1995 NBA Finals was an NBA record at the time. The Rockets won the game 120–118, and went on to sweep the Magic in four games.


title: Kenny Smith

text: Smith had been gradually losing playing time to Sam Cassell, but he continued to be the Rockets' starting point guard through the 1995–96 season. Although Smith's points, assists, steals and minutes per game declined for the fifth straight season, he was still productive in 1995–96. He averaged 8.5 points and 3.6 assists per game, and shot .382 from three-point range and .821 from the free throw line. The Rockets finished fifth in the NBA Western Conference with a 48–34 record, upsetting the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Lakers in the first round before being swept in the second round by eventual Finals runner-up Seattle SuperSonics. In game four of the series against the Lakers, Smith had 17 points, 6 assists and was 4–4 from three-point range to help the Rockets win the series clincher 102–94. The win against the Lakers also marked the final NBA game for Magic Johnson, who returned to the NBA that season after a five-year absence.


title: Kenny Smith

text: The Rockets released Smith after the 1995–96 season, and he signed with the Detroit Pistons. He played only nine games with the Pistons before he was waived and signed by the Orlando Magic, who released Smith after only six games. Smith then signed with the Denver Nuggets, where he would finish his career as a player. Smith played sparingly for the playoff-bound Pistons and the Magic, but got the last meaningful playing time of his career with the Nuggets, a team that won only 21 games that season. Smith averaged 7.9 points and 3.1 assists while playing just under twenty minutes per game. Overall, Smith averaged 6.3 points and 2.4 assists per game, the lowest averages of his career, while his three-point percentage of .437 (59/135) was the second highest of his career, and the fourth season in which he shot better than 40 percent on three-pointers.


title: Kenny Smith

text: In his professional career, Smith scored 9,397 points (12.8 avg.), recorded 4,073 assists (5.5 avg) while shooting .480 from the field, .399 from three-point range, and .829 from the free throw line. He finished in the NBA top ten in three-point percentage three times (1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95), and top ten in free throw percentage twice (1992–93 and 1993–94). In the 1988–89 season Smith was fifth in the league in minutes played, seventh in minutes per game, and tenth in total assists. Smith's career three-point percentage of .399 42nd in NBA history through 2010. Through 2016 Smith held the Denver Nuggets franchise record for career three-point percentage (.425), and ranked among the all-time leaders in several categories for the Sacramento Kings and the Houston Rockets.


title: Kenny Smith

text: Smith joined Turner Sports in early 1998, working as a studio analyst for end of the NBA regular season and the playoffs. Smith works with Ernie Johnson Jr., Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O'Neal on "Inside the NBA", a winner of the Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Studio Show. Smith covered basketball for the 2001 Goodwill Games, and he occasionally appears on NBA TV as an analyst. Smith provided commentary for the MSG Network's broadcasts of New York Knicks games from 2005 to 2008, and works as an analyst for CBS/Turner during the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.


title: Kenny Smith

text: During the 2010 NBA All-Star Weekend, Smith was a member of the Texas team that won the Shooting Stars Competition.


title: Kenny Smith

text: While on the Scoop B Radio Podcast in 2017, Smith told Brandon Scoop B Robinson that the 1994 Houston Rockets would have beaten Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls had they faced each other in the NBA Finals.


title: Kenny Smith

text: On the August 26, 2020 edition of "Inside the NBA", Smith left the set as a show of solidarity with the six teams that elected to boycott the day's games in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake. The live broadcast, originally scheduled to lead into a double-header, was turned into a panel discussion of racial injustice in America after the announcement of the games' postponements.


title: Kenny Smith

text: In October 2022, Smith signed a long-term contract extension with Warner Bros. Discovery Sports to continue as a host on "Inside the NBA."


title: Kenny Smith

text: Kenny Smith played Leon Rich in the movie "Hustle" (2022), starring Adam Sandler and Juancho Hernangómez.


title: Kenny Smith

text: Smith has been married twice. He has two children from his first marriage; Kayla, an R&B singer and K.J., a basketball player at the University of North Carolina, his father's alma mater.


title: Kenny Smith

text: After divorcing his first wife, Smith met English model Gwendolyn Osborne in 2004 at a charity event. They married on September 8, 2006. They have two children together. Smith is also step-father to Osborne's daughter from a previous marriage. Osborne is a former model on "The Price Is Right". Gwendolyn Osborne filed for divorce in 2018.


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: Synecdoche, New York (pronounced ) is a 2008 American postmodern psychological drama film written and directed by Charlie Kaufman in his directorial debut. It stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as an ailing theater director who works on an increasingly elaborate stage production and whose extreme commitment to realism begins to blur the boundaries between fiction and reality. The film's title is a play on Schenectady, New York, where much of the film is set, and the concept of synecdoche, wherein a part of something represents the whole or vice versa.


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: The film premiered in competition at the 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival on May 23, 2008. Sony Pictures Classics acquired the United States distribution rights, paying no money but agreeing to give the film's backers a portion of the revenues. It had a limited theatrical release in the U.S. on October 24, 2008, and was a commercial failure on its initial release.


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: The story and themes of "Synecdoche, New York" polarized critics: some called it pretentious or self-indulgent, but others declared it a masterpiece, with Roger Ebert ranking it as the decade's best. The film was also nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, and is now considered one of the greatest films of the 21st century.


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: Theater director Caden Cotard finds his life unraveling. He suffers from numerous physical ailments and has been growing increasingly alienated from his artist wife, Adele. He hits bottom when Adele leaves him for a new life in Berlin, taking their four-year-old daughter, Olive, with her.


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: After the success of his production of "Death of a Salesman", Caden unexpectedly receives a MacArthur Fellowship, giving him the financial means to pursue his artistic interests. He determines to use it to create an artistic piece of brutal realism and honesty, into which he can pour his whole self. Gathering an ensemble cast into an enormous warehouse in Manhattan's Theater District, he directs a celebration of the mundane, instructing the cast to live out their constructed lives. As the mockup inside the warehouse grows increasingly mimetic of the city outside, Caden continues to seek solutions to his personal crises. He is traumatized as he discovers Adele has become a celebrated painter in Berlin and Olive is growing up under the questionable guidance of Adele's friend Maria. After a failed attempt at a fling with Hazel (the woman who works in the box office), he marries Claire, an actress in his cast, and has a daughter with her. Their relationship fails, and he continues his awkward relationship with Hazel, who is now married with children and working as his assistant. Meanwhile, an unknown condition is systematically shutting down his autonomic nervous system.


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: As the years rapidly pass, the continually expanding warehouse is isolated from the deterioration of the city outside. Caden buries himself ever deeper into his magnum opus, blurring the line between reality and the world of the play by populating the cast and crew with doppelgängers. For instance, Sammy Barnathan is cast in the role of Caden in the play after Sammy reveals that he has been obsessively following Caden for 20 years, while Sammy's lookalike is cast as Sammy. Sammy's interest in Hazel sparks a revival of Caden's relationship with her, leading Sammy to commit suicide.


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: As he pushes against the limits of his personal and professional relationships, Caden lets an actress take over his role as director and takes on her previous role as Ellen, Adele's custodian. He lives out his days in the model of Adele's apartment under the replacement director's instruction while some unexplained calamity occurs in the warehouse leaving ruins and bodies in its wake. Finally, he prepares for death as he rests his head on the shoulder of an actress who had previously played Ellen's mother, seemingly the only person in the warehouse still alive. As the scene fades to gray, Caden says that now he has an idea of how to do the play when the director's voice in his ear gives him his final cue: "Die."


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: Sony Pictures Classics approached Kaufman and Spike Jonze about making a horror film. The two began working on a film dealing with things they found frightening in real life rather than typical horror-film tropes. This project evolved into "Synecdoche". Jonze was slated to direct but chose to direct "Where the Wild Things Are" instead.


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: Early in the film, Hazel buys a house that is perpetually on fire. At first showing reluctance to buy it, Hazel remarks to the real estate agent, "I like it, I do. But I'm really concerned about dying in the fire," to which the agent responds, "It's a big decision, how one prefers to die." In an interview with Michael Guillén, Kaufman said, "Well, she made the choice to live there. In fact, she says in the scene just before she dies that the end is built into the beginning. That's exactly what happens there. She chooses to live in this house. She's afraid it's going to kill her but she stays there and it does. That is the truth about any choice that we make. We make choices that resonate throughout our lives." The burning house has been compared to Tennessee Williams's line "We all live in a house on fire, no fire department to call; no way out, just the upstairs window to look out of while the fire burns the house down with us trapped, locked in it." It has also been said that the house is a reference to Jungian psychology. In an interview, Kaufman mentioned that a Jungian scholar sees the house as a representation of the self.


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: The film continuously brings up the phrase "The end is built into the beginning", which refers to death's connection to birth. This is emphasized by how most of time is spent being not yet born or dead, and how life is a fraction of a second in comparison. Another connection to this theme is the film's starting and ending with a fade-in to a grey screen.


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: Caden and Adele are artists, and the scale on which they both work becomes increasingly relevant to the story. Adele works on an extremely small scale, while Caden works on an impossibly large scale, constructing a full-size replica of New York City in a warehouse, and eventually a warehouse within that warehouse, and so on, continuing in this impossible cycle. Adele's name is almost a mondegreen for "a delicate art" (Adele Lack Cotard). Commenting on the scale of the paintings (actually the miniaturized paintings of artist Alex Kanevsky), Kaufman said, "In [Adele's] studio at the beginning of the movie you can see some small but regular-sized paintings that you could see without a magnifying glass ... By the time [Caden] goes to the gallery to look at her work, which is many years later, you can't see them at all." He continued, "As a dream image it appeals to me. Her work is in a way much more effective than Caden's work. Caden's goal in his attempt to do his sprawling theater piece is to impress Adele because he feels so lacking next to her in terms of his work", and added, "Caden's work is so literal. The only way he can reflect reality in his mind is by imitating it full-size ... It's a dream image but he's not interacting with it successfully."


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: Many reviewers believe Kaufman's writing is influenced by Jungian psychology. Carl Jung wrote that the waking and dream states are both necessary in the quest for meaning. Caden often appears to exist in a combination of the two. Kaufman has said, "I think the difference is that a movie that tries to be a dream has a punchline and the punchline is: it was a dream." Another concept in Jungian psychology is the four steps to self-realization: becoming conscious of the shadow (recognizing the constructive and destructive sides), of the anima and animus (where a man becomes conscious of his female component and a woman becomes conscious of her male component), of the archetypal spirit (where humans take on their mana personalities), and finally self-realization (where a person is fully aware of the ego and the self). Caden seems to go through all four stages. When he hires Sammy, he learns of his true personality and becomes more aware of himself. He shows awareness of his anima when replacing himself with Ellen and telling Tammy that his persona would have made him more adept in womanhood than in manhood. In taking on the role of Ellen, he becomes conscious of the archetypal spirit and finally realizes truths about his life and about love.


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: In the Cotard delusion, one believes oneself to be dead or that one's organs are missing or decaying. Caden's preoccupation with illness and dying seems related.


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: When Caden enters Adele's flat, the buzzer pressed (31Y) bears the name "Capgras". Capgras delusion is a psychiatric disorder in which sufferers perceive familiar people (spouses, siblings, friends) to have been replaced by identical imposters. This theme is echoed throughout the film as people are replaced by actors in Caden's play.


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: In the closing scenes of the film, Caden hears instructions by earpiece. This is similar to the auditory third-person hallucination described by Kurt Schneider as a first-rank symptom of schizophrenia.


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: The film is meta-referential in that it portrays a play within a play, sometimes also called "mise en abyme".


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: This theme has been compared to William Shakespeare's line "All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players." It has also been compared to the music video for Icelandic singer Björk's song "Bachelorette", which portrays a woman who finds an autobiographical book about her that writes itself, which is then adapted into a play that features a play within itself. The video was directed by Michel Gondry, who also directed Kaufman's films "Human Nature" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". In an interview, Kaufman responded to the comparison, "Yeah, I heard that comparison before. The reason Michel and I found each other is because we have similar sort of ideas."


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: Throughout the film Caden refers to death's inevitability and the idea that everyone is already dead. "Practically everything in Caden's grotesque existence betokens mortality and decay," Jonathan Romney of "The Independent" wrote, "whether it be skin lesions, garbled fax messages or the contents of people's toilet bowls."


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: Some reviewers have noted that the film seems inspired by postmodernist philosopher Jean Baudrillard's concept of simulacra and simulation. One of the names Caden gives his play is "Simulacrum". "The Guardian" suggested that the film is the "ultimate postmodern novel". Baudrillard references the Jorge Luis Borges story "On Exactitude in Science" in his writings. Some commentators have compared the film's ending, when Caden is walking through his reproduction as it begins to fall apart, to the story.


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: Hazel's books also have significance in the film. She has Marcel Proust's "Swann's Way" (the first volume of "In Search of Lost Time") and Franz Kafka"'s The Trial"; both are related to the film's motifs.


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 69% based on 195 reviews, with an average rating of 6.80/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Charlie Kaufman's ambitious directorial debut occasionally strains to connect, but ultimately provides fascinating insight into a writer's mind." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 67 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "generally positive reviews". A number of critics have compared it to Federico Fellini's 1963 film "8½".


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: In his review in the "Chicago Sun-Times", Roger Ebert said, "I watched it the first time and knew it was a great film [...] the subject of 'Synecdoche, New York' is nothing less than human life and how it works. Using a neurotic theater director from upstate New York, it encompasses every life and how it copes and fails. Think about it a little and, my god, it's about you. you are." In 2009 Ebert wrote that the movie was the best of the decade. Manohla Dargis of the "New York Times" said, "To say that [it] is one of the best films of the year or even one closest to my heart is such a pathetic response to its soaring ambition that I might as well pack it in right now ... Despite its slippery way with time and space and narrative and Mr. Kaufman’s controlled grasp of the medium, "Synecdoche, New York" is as much a cry from the heart as it is an assertion of creative consciousness. It’s extravagantly conceptual but also tethered to the here and now." In the "Los Angeles Times", Carina Chocano called the film "wildly ambitious ... sprawling, awe-inspiring, heartbreaking, frustrating, hard-to-follow and achingly, achingly sad."


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: Negative reviews mostly called the film incomprehensible, pretentious, depressing, or self-indulgent. Rex Reed, Richard Brody, and Roger Friedman, all labeled it one of the worst films of 2008. Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the film a D+ and wrote, "I gave up making heads or tails of "Synecdoche, New York", but I did get one message: The compulsion to stand outside of one's life and observe it to this degree isn't the mechanism of art — it's the structure of psychosis." American film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote, "[I]t seems more like an illustration of his script than a full-fledged movie, proving how much he needs a Spike Jonze or a Michel Gondry to realize his surrealistic conceits."


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: "The Moving Arts Film Journal" ranked the film at No. 80 on its list of "The 100 Greatest Movies of All Time". In addition, it is the 61st-most acclaimed film of the 21st century according to review aggregator "They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?"


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: The film appeared on many critics' top-ten lists of the best films of 2008. Both Kimberly Jones and Marjorie Baumgarten of the "Austin Chronicle" named it the best film of the year, as did Ray Bennett of "The Hollywood Reporter".


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: It appeared on 101 "Best of 2008" lists, with 20 of them giving it the number-one spot. Those who placed it in their top ten included Manohla Dargis of "The New York Times", Richard Corliss of "Time", Shawn Anthony Levy of "The Oregonian", Josh Rosenblatt of the "Austin Chronicle", Joe Neumaier of the "New York Daily News", Ty Burr and Wesley Morris of the "Boston Globe", Lou Lumenick of the "New York Post", Philip Martin of the "Arkansas Democrat-Gazette", Scott Foundas of "LA Weekly", and Walter Chaw, Bill Chambers and Ian Pugh of "Film Freak Central" (all three of whom placed it at number one).


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" named it the best film of the 2000s. In the 2012 "Sight & Sound" poll, four critics ranked it among the 10 greatest films of all time, and Ebert considered the film a strong contender for his own list. Also in 2012, in "Time", Richard Corliss ranked it 7th on his list of the "Greatest Movies of the Millennium (Thus Far)".


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: In a 2016 BBC critics' poll, "Synecdoche, New York" was ranked the 20th-greatest film of the 21st century.


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: In 2019, the film ranked as No. 7 in The 100 Best Films of the 21st Century poll conducted by "The Guardian".


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: Charlie Kaufman was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the 2008 Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Original Screenplay.


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: Kaufman was awarded Best Original Screenplay by the Austin Film Critics Association and the film was placed on their Top 10 Films of the Year list.


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: The film won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature and the Robert Altman Award at the 2008 Independent Spirit Awards ceremony; it also was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay.


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: At the 2008 Gotham Independent Film Awards, the film tied with "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" for Best Ensemble Cast.


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: The film was nominated by the Visual Effects Society Awards in the categories of "Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture", "Outstanding Matte Paintings in a Feature Motion Picture", and "Outstanding Created Environment in a Feature Motion Picture".


title: Synecdoche, New York

text: A number of critics have compared the film to the American docu-comedy television series "The Rehearsal" created by Nathan Fielder.


title: Selene

text: In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Selene (; , meaning "Moon") is the goddess and the personification of the Moon. Also known as Mene, she is traditionally the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, and sister of the sun god Helios and the dawn goddess Eos. She drives her moon chariot across the heavens. Several lovers are attributed to her in various myths, including Zeus, Pan, and the mortal Endymion. In post-classical times, Selene was often identified with Artemis, much as her brother, Helios, was identified with Apollo. Selene and Artemis were also associated with Hecate and all three were regarded as moon and lunar goddesses, but only Selene was regarded as the personification of the Moon itself. Her Roman equivalent is Luna.


title: Selene

text: The name "Selene" is derived from the Greek noun "selas" (""), meaning "light, brightness, gleam". In the Doric and Aeolic dialects, her name was also spelled ("Selána") and ("Selánna") respectively.


title: Selene

text: Selene was also called Mene. The Greek word "mene", meant the moon, and the lunar month. The masculine form of "mene" ("men") was also the name of the Phrygian moon-god Men. Mene and Men both derive from Proto-Hellenic "*méns" ("month"), itself from Proto-Indo-European "*mḗh₁n̥s" (meaning moon, the lunar month), which probably comes from the root "*meh₁-" ("to measure"), and is cognate with the English words "Moon" and "month". The Greek Stoic philosopher Chrysippus interpreted Selene and Men as, respectively, the female and male aspects of the same god.


title: Selene

text: Just as Helios, from his identification with Apollo, is called Phoebus ("bright"), Selene, from her identification with Artemis, is also called Phoebe (feminine form). Also from Artemis, Selene was sometimes called "Cynthia", meaning "she of Mount Cynthus" (the birthplace of Artemis).


title: Selene

text: Surviving descriptions of Selene's physical appearance and character, apart from those which would apply to the moon itself, are scant. There is no mention of Selene as a goddess in either the "Iliad" or the "Odyssey" of Homer, while her only mention in Hesiod's "Theogony" is as the daughter of Hyperion and Theia, and sister of Helios and Eos. She was, however, the subject of one of the thirty-three "Homeric Hymns", which gives the following description:


title: Selene

text: Two other sources also mention her hair. The "Homeric Hymn to Helios" uses the same epithet "εὐπλόκαμος" ("bright-tressed"), used in the above "Hymn to Selene" (elsewhere translated as "rich-", "lovely-", or "well-tressed"), while Epimenides uses the epithet "ἠυκόμοιο" ("lovely-haired").


title: Selene

text: In late accounts, Selene (like the moon itself) is often described as having horns. The "Orphic Hymn to Selene" addresses her as "O bull-horned Moon", and further describes her as "torch-bearing, ... feminine and masculine, ... lover of horses," and grantor of "fulfillment and favor". Empedocles, Euripides and Nonnus all describe her as γλαυκῶπις ("glaukṓpis", "bright-eyed", a common epithet of the goddess Athena) while in a fragment from a poem, possibly written by Pamprepius, she is called κυανῶπις ("kyanṓpis", "dark-eyed"). Mesomedes of Crete calls her γλαυκὰ ("glaukà", "silvery grey").


title: Selene

text: The usual account of Selene's origin is given by Hesiod in his "Theogony", where the sun-god Hyperion espoused his sister Theia, who gave birth to "great Helios and clear Selene and Eos who shines upon all that are on earth and upon the deathless Gods who live in the wide heaven". The "Homeric Hymn to Helios" follows this tradition: "Hyperion wedded glorious Euryphaëssa, his own sister, who bare him lovely children, rosy-armed Eos and rich-tressed Selene and tireless Helios", with "Euryphaëssa" ("widely shining") probably being an epithet of Theia. However, the "Homeric Hymn to Hermes" has Selene as the daughter of Pallas, the son of an otherwise unknown Megamedes. This Pallas is possibly identified with the Pallas, who, according to Hesiod's "Theogony", was the son of the Titan Crius, and thus Selene's cousin. Other accounts give still other parents for Selene: Euripides has Selene as the daughter of Helios (rather than sister), while an Aeschylus fragment possibly has Selene as the daughter of Leto, as does a scholium on Euripides's play "The Phoenician Women" which adds Zeus as the father. Furthermore, in Virgil's "Aeneid", when Nisus calls upon Selene/the Moon, he addresses her as "daughter of Latona."


title: Selene

text: According to the "Homeric Hymn to Selene", the goddess bore Zeus a daughter, Pandia ("All-brightness"), "exceeding lovely amongst the deathless gods". The 7th century BC Greek poet Alcman makes Ersa ("Dew") the daughter of Selene and Zeus. Selene and Zeus were also said to be the parents of Nemea, the eponymous nymph of Nemea, where Heracles slew the Nemean Lion, and where the Nemean Games were held.


title: Selene

text: From Pausanias we hear that Selene was supposed to have had fifty daughters, by her lover Endymion, often assumed to represent the fifty lunar months of the Olympiad. Nonnus has Selene and Endymion as the parents of the beautiful Narcissus, although in other accounts, including Ovid's "Metamorphoses", Narcissus was the son of Cephissus and Liriope.


title: Selene

text: Quintus Smyrnaeus makes Selene, by her brother Helios, the mother of the Horae, goddesses and personifications of the four seasons; Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn. Quintus describes them as the four handmaidens of Hera, but in most other accounts their number is three; Eirene ("peace"), Eunomia ("order"), and Dike ("justice"), and their parents are Zeus and Themis instead.


title: Selene

text: Lastly, Selene was said to be the mother of the legendary Greek poet Musaeus, with, according to Philochorus, the father being the legendary seer Eumolpus.


title: Selene

text: Like her brother Helios, the Sun god, who drives his sun chariot across the sky each day, Selene is also said to drive a chariot across the heavens. There are no mentions of Selene's chariot in either Homer or Hesiod, but the "Homeric Hymn to Selene", gives the following description:


title: Selene

text: The earliest known depiction of Selene driving a chariot adorns the inside of an early 5th century BC red-figure cup attributed to the Brygos Painter, showing Selene plunging her chariot, drawn by two winged horses, into the sea (Berlin Antikensammlung F 2293). The geographer Pausanias, reports seeing a relief of Selene driving a single horse, as it seemed to him, or as some said, a mule, on the pedestal of the Statue of Zeus at Olympia (c. 435 BC). While the sun chariot has four horses, Selene's usually has two, described as "snow-white" by Ovid. In some later accounts the chariot was drawn by oxen or bulls. Though the moon chariot is often described as being silver, for Pindar it was golden.


title: Selene

text: In antiquity, the lunar eclipse phenomena were thought to be caused by witches, particularly the ones from Thessaly, who brought the Moon/Selene down with spells and invocations of magic. References to this magical trick, variously referred to as ("kathaireĩn"), are scattered throughout ancient literature, whereas eclipses of both the Sun and the Moon were called "kathaireseis" ("casting-downs") by the Greek populace. A famous example of that is Aglaonice of Thessaly, an ancient Greek astronomer, who was regarded as a sorceress for her (self-proclaimed) ability to make the Moon disappear from the sky (: "kathaireĩn tén selénen"). This claim has been taken–by Plutarch at first, and subsequently by modern astronomers–to mean that she could predict the time and general area where an eclipse of the Moon would occur. Those who brought down the Moon were thought to bring ill fortune upon themselves, as evidenced by the proverb "" ("you are bringing down the Moon on yourself") said for those who caused self-inflicted evils; some witches supposedly avoided this fate by sacrificing their children or their eyeballs.


title: Selene

text: Selene is best known for her affair with the beautiful mortal Endymion. The late 7th-century – early 6th-century BC poet Sappho apparently mentioned Selene and Endymion. However, the first account of the story comes from the third-century BC "Argonautica" of Apollonius of Rhodes, which tells of Selene's "mad passion" and her visiting the "fair Endymion" in a cave on Mount Latmus:


title: Selene

text: The eternally sleeping Endymion was proverbial, but exactly how this eternal sleep came about and what role, if any, Selene may have had in it is unclear. According to the "Catalogue of Women", Endymion was the son of Aethlius (a son of Zeus), and Zeus granted him the right to choose when he would die. A scholiast on Apollonius says that, according to Epimenides, Endymion fell in love with Hera, and Zeus punished him with eternal sleep. However, Apollodorus says that because of Endymion's "surpassing beauty, the Moon fell in love with him, and Zeus allowed him to choose what he would, and he chose to sleep for ever, remaining deathless and ageless". Theocritus portrays Endymion's sleep as enviable because (presumably) of Selene's love for him. Cicero seems to make Selene responsible for Endymion's sleep, so that "she might kiss him while sleeping". The Roman playwright Seneca, has Selene abandoned the night sky for Endymion's sake having entrusted her "shining" moon chariot to her brother Helios to drive. The Greek satirist Lucian's dialogue between Selene and the love goddess Aphrodite has the two goddesses commiserate about their love affairs with Endymion and Adonis, and suggests that Selene has fallen in love with Endymion while watching him sleep each night. In his dialogue between Aphrodite and Eros, Lucian also has Aphrodite admonish her son Eros for bringing Selene "down from the sky". While Quintus Smyrnaeus wrote that, while Endymion slept in his cave beside his cattle:


title: Selene

text: Lucian also records an otherwise unattested myth where a pretty young girl called Muia becomes Selene's rival for Endymion's affections; the chatty maiden would endlessly talk to him while he slept, causing him to wake up. This irritated Endymion, and enraged Selene, who transforms the girl into a fly (). In memory of the beautiful Endymion, the fly still grudges all sleepers their rest and annoys them.


title: Selene

text: Philologist Max Müller's interpretation of solar mythology as it related to Selene and Endymion concluded that the myth was a narrativized version of linguistic terminology. Because the Greek "endyein" meant "to dive," the name Endymion ("Diver") at first simply described the process of the setting sun "diving" into the sea. In this case, the story of Selene embracing Endymion, or Moon embraces Diver, refers to the sun setting and the moon rising.


title: Selene

text: Gaia, angered about her children the Titans being thrown into Tartarus following their defeat, brought forth the Giants, to attack the gods, in a war that was called the Gigantomachy. When Gaia heard of a prophecy that a mortal would help the gods to defeat the giants, she sought to find a herb that would make them undefeatable. Zeus heard of that, and ordered Selene as well as her siblings Helios (Sun) and Eos (Dawn) not to shine, and harvested all of that plant for himself. Selene's participation in the battle is evidenced by her inclusion in the Gigantomachy frieze of the Pergamon Altar, fighting against Giants next to her siblings Helios and Eos and her mother Theia in the southern frieze. Selene gallops sidesaddle in advance, and wears a woolen undergarment and a mantle. Additionally, on a rein guide for a chariot a goddess thought to be Selene with a crescent and veil over her head is depicted, who stands with Helios on a gate tower and tries to repel the attacks of snake-legged Giants.


title: Selene

text: According to the late account of Nonnus, when the gigantic monster Typhon laid siege against the heavens, he attacked Selene as well by hurling bulls at her, though she managed to stay in her course, and rushed at her hissing like a viper. Selene fought back the giant, locking horns with Typhon; afterwards, she carried many scars on her orb, reminiscent of their battle.


title: Selene

text: Ampelus was a very beautiful satyr youth, loved by the god Dionysus. One day, in Nonnus' account, Ampelus rode on a bull, and proceeded to compare himself to Selene, saying that he was her equal, having horns and riding bulls just like her. The goddess took offense, and sent a gadfly to sting Ampelus' bull. The bull panicked, threw Ampelus and gored him to death.


title: Selene

text: When Zeus desired to sleep with the mortal queen Alcmene and sire Heracles, he made the night last three days, and ordered Selene via Hermes to dawdle in the sky during that time.


title: Selene

text: Selene also played a small role in the first of Heracles' twelve labours; whereas for Hesiod, the Nemean Lion was born to Orthrus and the Chimera (or perhaps Echidna) and raised by Hera, other accounts have Selene involved in some way in its birth or rearing. Aelian states: "They say that the Lion of Nemea fell from the moon", and quotes Epimenides as saying:


title: Selene

text: Anaxagoras also reports that the Nemean lion was said to have fallen from the moon. Pseudo-Plutarch's "On Rivers" has Hera collaborating with Selene, "employing magical incantations" to create the Nemean Lion from a chest filled with foam. Hyginus says that Selene had "nourished" the lion in a "two-mouthed cave".


title: Selene

text: According to Virgil, Selene also had a tryst with the god Pan, who seduced her with a "snowy bribe of wool". Scholia on Virgil add the story, ascribed to Nicander, that as part of the seduction, Pan wrapped himself in a sheepskin.


title: Selene

text: Diodorus Siculus recorded an unorthodox version of the myth, in which Basileia, who had succeeded her father Uranus to his royal throne, married her brother Hyperion, and had two children, a son Helios and a daughter Selene, "admired for both their beauty and their chastity". Because Basileia's other brothers envied these offspring, and feared that Hyperion would try to seize power for himself, they conspired against him. They put Hyperion to the sword, and drowned Helios in the river Eridanus. Selene herself, upon discovering this, took her own life. After these deaths, her brother appeared in a dream to their grieving mother and assured her that he and his sister would now transform into divine natures; and:


title: Selene

text: Plutarch recorded a fable-like story in which Selene asked her mother to weave her a garment to fit her measure, and her mother replied that she was unable to do so, as she kept changing shape and size, sometimes full, then crescent-shaped and others yet half her size.


title: Selene

text: In Lucian's "Icaromenippus", Selene complains to the titular Menippus of all the outrageous claims philosophers are making about her, such as wondering why she is ever waxing or gibbous, whether she is populated or not, and stating that she is getting her stolen light from the Sun, causing strife and ill feelings between her and her brother. She asks Menippus to report her grievances to Zeus, with the request that Zeus wipes all these natural philosophers from the face of the earth. Zeus agrees, urged by Selene's complaints and having long intended to deal with the philosophers himself.


title: Selene

text: Claudian wrote that in her infancy, when her horns had not yet grown, Selene (along with Helios – their sister Eos is not mentioned with them) was nursed by her aunt, the water goddess Tethys.


title: Selene

text: According to pseudo-Plutarch, Lilaeus was an Indian shepherd who only worshipped Selene among the gods and performed her rituals and mysteries at night. The other gods, angered, sent him two lions to tear him apart. Selene then turned Lilaeus into a mountain, Mt. Lilaeon.


title: Selene

text: Ovid mentions how in the myth of Phaethon, Helios' son who drove his father's chariot for a day, when Phaethon lost control of the chariot and burned the earth, Selene in the sky looked down to see in amazement her brother's horses running wild lower than normal.


title: Selene

text: In antiquity, artistic representations of Selene/Luna included sculptural reliefs, vase paintings, coins, and gems. In red-figure pottery before the early 5th century BC, she is depicted only as a bust, or in profile against a lunar disk. In later art, like other celestial divinities such as Helios, Eos, and Nyx (Night), Selene rides across the heavens. She is usually portrayed either driving a chariot (see above) or riding sideways on horseback (sometimes riding an ox, a mule or a ram).


title: Selene

text: Selene was often paired with her brother Helios. Selene (probably) and Helios adorned the east pediment of the Parthenon, where the two, each driving a four-horsed chariot, framed a scene depicting the birth of Athena, with Helios and his chariot rising from the ocean on the left, and Selene and her chariot descending into the sea on the right. Selene and Helios also appear on the North Metopes of the Parthenon, with Selene this time entering the sea on horseback. From Pausanias, we learn that Selene and Helios also framed the birth of Aphrodite on the base of the Statue of Zeus at Olympia. There are indications of a similar framing by Selene and Helios of the birth of Pandora on the base of the Athena Parthenos. Pausanias also reports seeing stone images of Helios, and Selene, in the market-place at Elea, with rays projecting from the head of Helios, and horns from the head of Selene. Selene also appears on horseback as part of the Gigantomachy frieze of the Pergamon Altar.


title: Selene

text: Selene is commonly depicted with a crescent moon, often accompanied by stars; sometimes, instead of a crescent, a lunar disc is used. Often a crescent moon rests on her brow, or the cusps of a crescent moon protrude, horn-like, from her head, or from behind her head or shoulders. Selene's head is sometimes surrounded by a nimbus, and from the Hellenistic period onwards, she is sometimes pictured with a torch.


title: Selene

text: In later second and third century AD Roman funerary art, the love of Selene for Endymion and his eternal sleep was a popular subject for artists. As frequently depicted on Roman sarcophagi, Selene, holding a billowing veil forming a crescent over her head, descends from her chariot to join her lover, who slumbers at her feet.


title: Selene

text: Moon figures are found on Cretan rings and gems (perhaps indicating a Minoan moon cult), but apart from the role played by the moon itself in magic, folklore, and poetry, and despite the later worship of the Phrygian moon-god Men, there was relatively little worship of Selene. An oracular sanctuary existed near Thalamai in Laconia. Described by Pausanias, it contained statues of Pasiphaë and Helios. Here "Pasiphaë" is used as an epithet of Selene, instead of referring to the daughter of Helios and wife of Minos. Pausanias also described seeing two stone images in the market-place of Elis, one of the sun and the other of the moon, from the heads of which projected the rays of the sun and the horns of the crescent moon. Selene (along with Helios, Nyx and others) received an altar at the sanctuary of Demeter at Pergamon, possibly in connection with the Orphic mysteries.


title: Selene

text: Originally, Pandia may have been an epithet of Selene, but by at least the time of the late "Hymn to Selene", Pandia had become a daughter of Zeus and Selene. Pandia (or Pandia Selene) may have personified the full moon, and an Athenian festival, called the Pandia, usually considered to be a festival for Zeus, was perhaps celebrated on the full moon and may have been associated with Selene. At Athens, wineless offerings ("nephalia") were made to Selene, along with other celestial gods, Selene's siblings Helios and Eos, and Aphrodite Ourania; in Attica, it seems that Selene was identified with Aphrodite.


title: Selene

text: Selene was sometimes associated with childbirth, for it was believed that during the full moon women had the easiest labours; this helped in her identification with the goddess Artemis, as well as other goddesses connected to women's labours. The idea that Selene would also give easy labours to women paved way for identification with Hera and the Roman Juno and Lucina, three other childbirth goddesses; Plutarch calls Selene "Hera in material form." Roman philosopher Cicero connected Selene's Roman counterpart Luna's name to childbirth goddess Lucina's, both deriving from "light" (thus bringing the unborn child into the light). Nonnus also identified Selene with Eileithyia.


title: Selene

text: Selene played an important role in love magic. In Theocritus' second "Idyll", a young girl invokes Selene in a love-spell. The idyll opens with the girl ordering her maid to bring potions and magical utensils, followed by an invocation to Selene and Hecate, and finally the rather lengthy spell itself; once she finishes her spell, the girl recounts to Selene of how she met and was betrayed by her lover, and calls upon the goddess to witness and help her, hence the love tail is woven into the love spell. And, according to a scholium on Theocritus, Pindar wrote that lovesick women would pray to Selene for help, as Euripides apparently had Phaedra, Selene's great-niece, do in his lost play "Hippolytus Veiled". Plutarch wrote that Selene was called upon in love affairs because she, the Moon, constantly yearns for the Sun, and compared her in that regard to Isis.


title: Selene

text: Her and her brother's worship is also attested in Gytheum, a town in Laconia near Sparta, via an inscription ("C.I.G. 1392"). In the city of Epidaurus, in Argolis, Selene had an altar dedicated to her. Records show that a type of cake called ("boûs", "ox") decorated with horns to represent the full moon or an ox was offered to her and other divinities like Hecate, Artemis and Apollo. In addition, a type of flat, round moon-shaped cake was called 'selene' ("moon") and was offered "to the goddess."


title: Selene

text: According to a certain Epigenes, the three Moirai, or Fates, were regarded in the Orphic tradition as representing the three divisions of Selene, "the thirtieth and the fifteenth and the first" (i.e. the crescent moon, full moon, and dark moon, as delinted by the divisions of the calendar month).


title: Selene

text: Selene is the Greek proper name for the Moon, and 580 Selene, a minor planet in the asteroid belt, is also named after this goddess.


title: Selene

text: The chemical element Selenium was named after Selene by Jöns Jacob Berzelius, because of the element's similarity to the element tellurium, named for the Earth (Tellus).


title: Selene

text: The second Japanese lunar orbiter spacecraft following was named SELENE (Selenological and Engineering Explorer) after Selene, and was also known as Kaguya in Japan. HMS Selene (P254), a 1944 British submarine and Ghia Selene, a concept car from the Ghia design studio from 1959, also bore her name.


title: Vyasa

text: Krishna Dvaipayana (), better known as Vyasa (; ) or Vedavyasa (वेदव्यासः, "Veda-vyāsaḥ", "the one who classified the Vedas"), is a revered sage portrayed in most Hindu traditions. He is traditionally regarded as the author of the "Mahabharata." He is also regarded by many Hindus as the compiler of a number of significant scriptures. As a partial incarnation, Amsa Avatar (aṃśa-avatāra) of Vishnu, he is also regarded by tradition as the compiler of the mantras" of the Vedas" into four Vedas, as well as the author of the eighteen "Puranas" and the Brahma Sutras. He is one of the seven Chiranjeevis.


title: Vyasa

text: Vyasa's birth name is "Krishna Dvaipayana", which possibly refers to his dark complexion and birthplace, although he is more commonly known as "Veda Vyasa" ("Veda Vyāsa") as he has compiled the single, eternal "Veda" into four separate books "Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda" and "Atharvaveda".


title: Vyasa

text: The word "Vyasa" ("Vyāsa") refers to "compiler," or, "arranger," and also means "separation," or, "division." Other meanings are "split," "differentiate," or, "describe." It is also a title, given to "a holy sage or a pious learned man," and applied to "persons distinguished for their writings."


title: Vyasa

text: Swami Vivekananda expresses the opinion that Vyasa may not have been a single person but a lineage of sages who were content to simply develop the ideas without claiming credit, as they were free from desire for the results of their work, and hence attributed the authorship to Vyasa.


title: Vyasa

text: Hindus traditionally hold that Vyasa categorized the primordial single Veda into four canonical collection. Hence he was called Veda Vyasa, or "Splitter of the Vedas," the splitting being a feat that allowed people to understand the divine knowledge of the Veda.


title: Vyasa

text: The "Vishnu Purana" elaborates on the role of Vyasa in Hindu chronology. The Hindu view of the universe is that of a cyclic phenomenon that comes into existence and dissolves repeatedly. Each "kalpa" cycle is presided over by a number of Manus, one for each "manvantara", and each "manvantara" has a number of "Yuga Cycles", each with four "yuga" ages of declining virtues. The "Dvapara Yuga" is the third "yuga". The "Vishnu Purana" (Book 3, Ch 3) says:


title: Vyasa

text: According to the Vishnu Purana, Aswatthama, the son of Drona, will become the next sage (Vyasa) and will divide the Veda in 29th Maha Yuga of 7th Manvantara.


title: Vyasa

text: Vyasa is traditionally regarded as the chronicler of this epic and also features as an important character in "Mahābhārata." The first section of the "Mahābhārata" states that it was Ganesha who wrote down the text to Vyasa's dictation, but this is regarded by scholars as a later interpolation to the epic and this part of the story is also excluded in the "Critical Edition" of the "Mahabharata".


title: Vyasa

text: Vyasa's "Jaya" (literally, "victory"), the core of the "Mahabharata", is a dialogue between Dhritarashtra (the Kuru king and the father of the Kauravas, who opposed the Pāndavas in the Kurukshetra War) and Sanjaya, his adviser and charioteer. Sanjaya narrates the particulars of the Kurukshetra War, fought in eighteen days, chronologically. Dhritarashtra at times asks questions and expresses doubts, sometimes lamenting, fearing the destruction the war would bring on his family, friends and kin.


title: Vyasa

text: Large and elaborate lists are given, describing hundreds of kingdoms, tribes, provinces, cities, towns, villages, rivers, mountains, forests, etc. of the (ancient) Indian subcontinent (Bhārata Varsha). Additionally, he gives descriptions of the military formations adopted by each side on each day, the death of individual heroes and the details of the war-races. Eighteen chapters of Vyasa's Jaya constitute the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred text in Hinduism. The Jaya deals with diverse subjects, such as geography, history, warfare, religion and morality.


title: Vyasa

text: The 100,000 verses of Vyasa's work "Mahābhārata" is told by Vaishampayana to Janamejaya. It is structured as a narration by Ugrasrava surnamed Sauti, a professional storyteller, to an assembly of rishis who, in the forest of Naimisha, had just attended the 12-year sacrifice known as Saunaka, surnamed Kulapati. At 100,000 verses, the "Mahābhārata" is the longest epic poem ever written. The Bhagavad Gita is presented in Bhishma Parva.


title: Vyasa

text: Vyasa is also credited with the writing of the eighteen major Purāṇas, which are works of Indian literature that cover an encyclopedic range of topics covering various scriptures. He narrated the Devi-Bhagavata Purana to Parikshit's son Janamejaya.


title: Vyasa

text: The Brahma Sutras, one of the foundational texts of Vedanta, is written by Badarayana also known as Veda Vyasa. Badarayana is also called "Vyasa", which literally means "one who arranges".


title: Vyasa

text: During her youth, Satyavati was a fisherwoman of Kaivartta clan who used to ferry people across river, to help her father. One day, she helped Parashara to cross the river Yamuna. He was enchanted by her beauty and wanted an heir from her. Initially, Satyavati did not agree, telling that if others would see them, then her purity would be questioned. Parashara created a secret place in bushes of a nearby island and a blanket of thick fog. She conceived and immediately gave birth to a son. Parashara named him Krishna Dvaipayana, referring to his dark complexion and birthplace. Dvaipayana became an adult and promised his mother that he would come to her when needed. Parashara restored Satyavati's virginity, gifted her an enchanting smell and left with his son. Satyavati kept this incident a secret, not telling even King Shantanu whom she was married to later.


title: Vyasa

text: Shantanu and Satyavati had two sons, named Chitrāngada and Vichitravirya. Both of them died early without leaving an heir, but Vichitravirya had two wives - Ambika and Ambalika. A widowed Satyavati initially asked her stepson, Bhishma, to marry both the queens, but he refused, citing his vow of celibacy. Satyavati revealed her secret past and requested him to bring her firstborn to impregnate the widows under a tradition called Niyoga. By this time, Vyasa had compiled the Vedas.


title: Vyasa

text: Sage Vyasa was unkempt because of months of meditation in the forest. Hence upon seeing him, Ambika who was rather scared shut her eyes, resulting in their child, Dhritarashtra, being born blind. The other queen, Ambalika, turned pale upon meeting Vyasa, which resulted in their child, Pandu, being born pale. Alarmed, Satyavati requested that Vyasa meet Ambika again and grant her another son. Ambika instead sent her maid to meet Vyasa. The duty-bound maid was calm and composed; she had a healthy child who was later named Vidura.


title: Vyasa

text: When the children of Vichitravirya grew up, Bhishma got them married to different women. Dhritarashtra was married to Gandhari, princess of Gandhara. Pandu married Kunti and Madri. Pandu left the kingdom, leaving Dhritarashtra as the acting king. Gandhari, during her adolescence, received a boon to have a hundred children but her pregnancy was taking a long period of time. After two years of pregnancy, Gandhari aborted her developing fetus, giving birth to a hard mass that looked like an iron ball. Vyasa came to the kingdom and using his knowledge, he asked to divide the mass into one hundred and one-pieces and put them into pots for incubation. After a year, 101 babies were born. Meanwhile Pandu's wives, Kunti and Madri, were blessed with three and two sons respectively.


title: Vyasa

text: While everybody rejoiced at the news of the birth of the Pandavas and Kauravas, misery took place in the forest. Pandu, who was cursed, died because of his attempt to make love with Madri. Kunti and the Pandavas returned to Hastinapura. Vyasa, feeling sorrow for his mother's fate, asked her to leave the kingdom and come with him to live a peaceful life. Satyavati, along with her two daughters-in-law, went to the forest.


title: Vyasa

text: Vyasa had a son named Shuka, who was his spiritual successor and heir. As per "Skanda Purana", Vyasa married Vatikā, alias Pinjalā, who was the daughter of a sage named Jābāli. It is described that Vyasa's union with her produced his heir, who repeated everything that he heard, thus receiving the name Shuka (lit. Parrot). Other texts including the "Devi Bhagavata Purana" also narrate the birth of Shuka but with drastic differences. Vyasa was desiring an heir, when an "apsara" (celestial damsel) named Ghritachi flew in front of him in form of a beautiful parrot, causing him sexual arousal. He discharges his semen, which fell on some sticks and a son developed. This time, he was named Shuka because of the role of the celestial parrot. Shuka appears occasionally in the story as a spiritual guide to the young Kuru princes.


title: Vyasa

text: Besides his heir, Vyasa had four other disciples Paila, Jaimini, Vaishampayana and Sumantu. Each one of them was given the responsibility to spread one of the four Vedas. Paila was the made the incharge of "Rigveda", Jaimini of the "Samaveda", Vaishampayana of the "Yajurveda" and Sumantu of "Atharvaveda".


title: Vyasa

text: Vyasa is believed to have lived on the banks of Ganga in modern-day Uttarakhand. The site was also the ritual home of the sage Vashishta, along with the Pandavas, the five brothers of the "Mahabharata".


title: Vyasa

text: Vyasa is also mentioned in the Sankara Digvijaya. He confronts Adi Shankara, who has written a commentary on the Brahma-Sutras, in the form of an old Brahmana, and asks for an explanation of the first Sutra. This develops into a debate between Shankara and Vyasa which lasts for eight days. Recognizing the old Brahmana to be Vyasa, Shankara makes obeisance and sings a hymn in his praise. Thereupon, Vyasa inspects and approves Shankara's commentary on the Brahma-Sutras. Adi Shankara, who was supposed to die at the end of his sixteenth year, express his desire to leave his body in the presence of Vyasa. Vyasa dissuades him and blesses him that he may live for another sixteen years to complete his work.


title: Vyasa

text: The festival of Guru Purnima is dedicated to Vyasa. It is also known as "Vyasa Purnima", the day believed to be both of his birth and when he divided the Vedas.


title: Vyasa

text: In "Brahm Avtar", one of the compositions in Dasam Granth, Guru Gobind Singh mentions Rishi Vyas as an avatar of Brahma. He is considered the fifth incarnation of Brahma. Guru Gobind Singh wrote a brief account of Rishi Vyas's compositions about great kings— Manu, Prithu, Bharath, Jujat, Ben, Mandata, Dilip, Raghu Raj and Aj— and attributed to him the store of Vedic learning.


title: Bangarraju

text: Bangarraju () is a 2022 Indian Telugu-language supernatural action drama film directed by Kalyan Krishna Kurasala and produced by Annapurna Studios and Zee Studios. It is a sequel to the 2016 film "Soggade Chinni Nayana" and stars Nagarjuna, Ramya Krishna, Naga Chaitanya and Krithi Shetty.


title: Bangarraju

text: "Bangarraju" was filmed from August to December 2021, with film score and soundtrack composed by Anup Rubens. "Bangarraju" was released theatrically on 14 January 2022, coinciding with Sankranti. It opened to mostly positive and mixed reviews and was a box office success, grossing over crore worldwide.


title: Bangarraju

text: When Bangarraju is returning to Narakam, he is told that he has been shifted to Svargam due to the good deeds that he has done during his time back on earth. After a few months, Ramu and Seetha both have a child, but Seetha dies after bearing the child. Sathyabhama and Ramu decide to take care of the child and name him Bangarraju, and simultaneously Ramu's cousin Ramesh also names their child Naga Lakshmi, and they decide that they will get them both married in the future. However, due to Ramu's heavy work schedule, he decides to leave his child with Satyabhama. As Chinna Bangarraju is growing up, he shares a lot of the same qualities that his grandfather had while also having conflicts with Naga Lakshmi. In one such instance where Chinna Bangarraju is found with a girl, Satyabhama sees this and has a heart attack, which she dies from. She then finds Bangarraju's soul in Svargam flirting with the other ladies, and Bangarraju is shocked to see her die this early.


title: Bangarraju

text: They then see Chinna Bangarraju all grown up and that he has become the same man that his grandfather was, and at the same time Naga Lakshmi is trying to become the village Sarpanch after her father. With Chinna Bangarraju and Naga Lakshmi constantly fighting, both Bangarraju and Satyabhama ask permission from Yama and Indra to go back to earth to solve their problems and get married. Meanwhile, Ramesh encounters a problem with the lands of a friend. and Chinna Bangarraju helps him and fights off ruthless henchmen. The henchmen come back and try to kill Chinna Bangarraju at a pooja in the temple, and due to this, Naga Lakshmi reacts violently and slaps Bangarraju. It is then found out that Chinna Bangarraju's cousin Aadi has been planning to get Chinna Bangarraju killed because they know that Chinna Bangarraju's family has been protecting a temple that has rare stones at the bottom of it and to get the stones, they need to kill the family.


title: Bangarraju

text: Meanwhile, Bangarraju tries to get Naga Lakshmi to like Chinna Bangarraju, which she does. In a turn of events, it is revealed that Aadi's father Sampath was still alive and that he has been also seeking vengeance against the family for killing his father and grandfather. At the same time, Bangarraju successfully gets Chinna Bangarraju and Naga Lakshmi to love each other. Sampath, on the other hand, knows that Bangarraju's soul is the one that killed his father and grandfather and that the soul is back now also for Chinna Bangarraju and tells Aadi about it. With this, Sampath plans to get a ring that will be placed on Chinna Bangarraju's hand during his engagement which will stop Bangarraju's soul from entering his body. It is then found out that Ramesh was also in on this plan all along, and that he also wants Chinna Bangarraju to be killed for the stones and the potential marriage to his daughter to Aadi.


title: Bangarraju

text: Knowing all of this, Bangarraju and Satyabhama try various ways to stop Chinna Bangarraju from being killed, but he ultimately ends up being kidnapped by Aadi and is brought to Sampath and Ramesh to be killed. When Chinna Bangarraju is on the verge of being killed, the divine snake from the earlier film falls on Ramu's car, and Bangarraju, sensing this, jumps into Ramu's body to fight Sampath, Ramesh, and Aadi. Chinna Bangarraju regains consciousness, and the ring is removed from his hand, allowing Bangarraju to also enter his body. After both Chinna Bangarraju and Ramu kill Sampath and Aadi, they plan to kill Ramesh also but stop due to them seeing Naga Lakshmi, and they decide not to tell her the truth. Chinna Bangarraju and Naga Lakshmi both get married, and at a pooja alter, Yama and Indra impose a barrier that allows Chinna Bangarraju and Ramu to see and touch Bangarraju and Satyabhama. Chinna Bangarraju sees Satyabhama and talks about how he lived with sadness after her death and he begs her not to leave him again.


title: Bangarraju

text: Meanwhile, Ramu says that him seeing Bangarraju for the first time gives him a sense of braveness to which Bangarraju replies saying that Ramu needs to be a better father to Chinna Bangarraju and that he should not neglect his son due to Ramu constantly focusing on his work. After an emotional union both Bangarraju and Satyabhama's souls are then joined with Shiva since their karma was completed.


title: Bangarraju

text: Following the success of "Soggade Chinni Nayana" in 2016 and the accompanying popularity of Bangarraju's character, Nagarjuna announced the film's sequel with Kurasala returning as the director. The sequel is titled "Bangarraju" after the original's protagonist with Nagarjuna reprising his role. Ramya Krishna also reprised her role as Satyabhama. Nagarjuna's son Naga Chaitanya is cast as Bangarraju's grandson Chinna Bangarraju. Krithi Shetty was paired opposite him as Naga Lakshmi. According to Kurasala, "Bangarraju" has a fresh storyline and stands on its own, despite it being a sequel. Kurasala planned to cast Nagarjuna's second son Akhil Akkineni in the film, but did not materialize due to scheduling conflicts.


title: Bangarraju

text: "Bangarraju" production was supposed to begin some time after "Soggade Chinni Nayana" but was postponed due to several reasons. Kurasala completed its pre-production works in November 2020 and began casting for the film. In March 2021, during a press meet of "Wild Dog", Nagarjuna announced his intentions to release "Bangarraju" in January 2022, aiming for a Sankranti release.


title: Bangarraju

text: The film was launched with a formal puja ceremony in Hyderabad on 20 August 2021. Anup Rubens, who composed the music for "Soggade Chinni Nayana", returns for "Bangarraju". Annapurna Studios and Zee Studios have collaborated to jointly produce the project with Nagarjuna as its producer. Principal photography of the film began on 25 August. Shooting took place at the Ramoji Film City. The production then shifted to Mysore where a week-long schedule took place. Filming wrapped up on 23 December 2021. It was scheduled to release on 14 January 2022 coinciding with Sankranti.


title: Bangarraju

text: The film score and soundtrack album of the film is composed by Anup Rubens. The music rights were acquired by Zee Music.


title: Bangarraju

text: "Bangarraju" received mixed reviews from critics. Writing for "Cinema Express", Murali Krishna CH called it a "perfect follow-up for its predecessor, "Soggade Chinni Nayana."" "The film is peppered with hilarious one-liners, and Kalyan Krishna perfectly captures the portrait and vibe of a coastal village, complete with characters that are rooted in the setting," he added. Anji Shetty of "Sakshi" stated that Nagarjuna and Chaitanya's performance is the core strength of the film with a particular praise for the climax sequence.


title: Bangarraju

text: "The Times of India" critic Neeshita Nyapati opined that "Bangarraju" was an "old wine in a new bottle," and had nothing fresh to offer. On the technical aspects, she wrote: "Anup Rubens' music is fun and fits well into the story. Cinematographer Yuvaraj also pulls off the visuals well. The weak VFX however is a let-down and doesn't let you immerse well into the story." Calling "Bangarraju" a "passable festive entertainer," Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of "The Hindu" felt that the sequel banked heavily on Nagarjuna and Chaitanya but barely skimed the surface of the supernatural revenge family drama story. "The Indian Express"' critic Manoj Kumar R criticized the film and pointed out over-sexualisation, unoriginality, lack of common sense and basic respect for logical thinking and honest storytelling as its problems.


title: Bangarraju

text: "Bangarraju" was successful at the box office, grossing around 118.87 crore in three weeks of its run. On its opening day, "Bangarraju" grossed crore worldwide, with a distributor's share of crore. By the second day of the release, the film collected a total gross of crore worldwide, with a distributor's share of crore.


title: Bangarraju

text: During a promotional event of the film in January 2022, Nagarjuna, answering a question posed by a journalist, asserted a possibility of a sequel to "Bangarraju" of Soggade Chinni Nayana 2016 movie.


title: Cerebral edema

text: Cerebral edema is excess accumulation of fluid (edema) in the intracellular or extracellular spaces of the brain. This typically causes impaired nerve function, increased pressure within the skull, and can eventually lead to direct compression of brain tissue and blood vessels. Symptoms vary based on the location and extent of edema and generally include headaches, nausea, vomiting, seizures, drowsiness, visual disturbances, dizziness, and in severe cases, coma and death.


title: Cerebral edema

text: Cerebral edema is commonly seen in a variety of brain injuries including ischemic stroke, subarachnoid hemorrhage, traumatic brain injury, subdural, epidural, or intracerebral hematoma, hydrocephalus, brain cancer, brain infections, low blood sodium levels, high altitude, and acute liver failure. Diagnosis is based on symptoms and physical examination findings and confirmed by serial neuroimaging (computed tomography scans and magnetic resonance imaging).


title: Cerebral edema

text: The treatment of cerebral edema depends on the cause and includes monitoring of the person's airway and intracranial pressure, proper positioning, controlled hyperventilation, medications, fluid management, steroids. Extensive cerebral edema can also be treated surgically with a decompressive craniectomy. Cerebral edema is a major cause of brain damage and contributes significantly to the mortality of ischemic strokes and traumatic brain injuries.


title: Cerebral edema

text: As cerebral edema is present with many common cerebral pathologies, the epidemiology of the disease is not easily defined. The incidence of this disorder should be considered in terms of its potential causes and is present in most cases of traumatic brain injury, central nervous system tumors, brain ischemia, and intracerebral hemorrhage. For example, malignant brain edema was present in roughly 31% of people with ischemic strokes within 30 days after onset.


title: Cerebral edema

text: The extent and severity of the symptoms of cerebral edema depend on the exact etiology but are generally related to an acute increase of the pressure within the skull. As the skull is a fixed and inelastic space, the accumulation of cerebral edema can displace and compress vital brain tissue, cerebral spinal fluid, and blood vessels, according to the Monro-Kellie doctrine.


title: Cerebral edema

text: Increased intracranial pressure (ICP) is a life-threatening surgical emergency marked by symptoms of headache, nausea, vomiting, decreased consciousness. Symptoms are frequently accompanied by visual disturbances such as gaze paresis, reduced vision, and dizziness. Increased pressures within the skull can cause a compensatory elevation of blood pressure to maintain cerebral blood flow, which, when associated with irregular breathing and a decreased heart rate, is called the Cushing reflex. The Cushing reflex often indicates compression of the brain on brain tissue and blood vessels, leading to decreased blood flow to the brain and eventually death.


title: Cerebral edema

text: Cerebral edema is frequently encountered in acute brain injuries from a variety of origins, including but not limited to: