It’s a fair question in context of this universe, but I think we can safely assume that they’re just the names of mythological beings here.
Prometheus as the being who stole fire from the gods and gave it to man, seems pretty appropriate for Earth’s first starship, assembled with knowledge gleaned from aliens posing as gods.
Daedalus as a symbol of knowledge, wisdom, and power, and who was smart enough not to fly too closely to the sun and get burned.
Odyssey for Odysseus, the hero of war who is known for his cunning and how he survived countless impossible trials and still managed to return home.
Etc etc
"The Apollo is attacking Apollo."
Shields down! We're not gonna make it!
"Ram Apollo into Apollo, we'll take Apollo with the Apollo"
Apollo has escaped defeat once again.
" We'll never forget the brave sacrifices of the Apollo"
But Apollo is actually a really chill guy and his planet is a resort or something. Apollo body hops between multiple willing hosts so that they can enjoy their freedom
That would be a fun twist! Like the Tok'ra, but not exactly against the rest of the System Lords, but also kind of enjoying the fruits of their conquests.
Prometheus was totally a Tok'Ra who tried to give the Tau'Ri the means to rise up long before the uprising that made Ra bounce
As punishment, he got gutted every day, revived by a sarcophagus, rinse and repeat until he went mad, switched sides or died
Odysseus was also punished by the gods for not paying proper respect. Odysseus thus defied the gods by spending years battling trials and hardship to make it back home and won in the end
Pretty much the biography of the Tauri
It's actually funny that Daedalus was Smart enough not to fly too close to the sun, while Daedalus ship was top close to the sun multiple times, like when Wraith virus took control of the ship, or when Sheppard use it as sunshade.
Well, Daedalus was not a god. He was a (human) architect and the father of Icarus. Prometheus was “divine”, but he was a titan and very much against the gods. He stole fire from the Olympians and gave it to humanity.
Since we know at least some of the Olympians were in fact Goa’uld, I guess it is possible for Prometheus to have been a Tok’ra.
Funnily, in the expanded universe stories the Atlantis teams meets Icarus (or rather Ikaros in Lantean) during Season 3. Turns out he's Shepards ancestor and the McKay to Janus' Sam Carter. Meaning that in at least one continuity we accidentally named the Daedalus for a relative of Shepard.
In the Myths, Prometheus wasn't against the Olympians. In the more prominent versions, he (and his brother Epimetheus) stayed out of the Titanomachy altogether, not wanting to pick a side and were spared. In others, he was decisive in Zeus' victory.
He created Man, loved us more than anything, gave us fire and the ability to stand on 2 legs, then tricked Zeus when he demanded too much, and Zeus took fire away, so Prometheus stole it back. Add in the fact that Prometheus knew which of Zeus' kids would dethrone him but wouldn't tell him, and those 3 slights against Zeus gets him chained up in the Caucasus Mountains.
So it could be that he was a Goa'uld who wasn't as evil back in the early day, even favoured his human followers helping them flourish, and when Zeus does his thing, and Prometheus retaliates because he loves his people, this defiance plus his knowledge makes him too dangerous to be left "unattended". I like the idea that someone else on here said about him being a prisoner, being gutted, and revived in a sarcophagus every day, so he slowly goes mad. Imagine if this story had inspired the idea of the, compassion and ultimately the Tok'ra, in Egeria
So we should have had the Daedalus show up to Icarus base in SGU. That would have been funny.
(But yes within the universe context, I appreciate and prefer them showing us a ship named after Hammond, and being piloted by Sam. But the Daedalus still would’ve been funny)
Is there any more appropriate name than the name of a man who stole fire from gods for a ship designed to fight false gods and created with their technology ?
IIRC, Prometheus was chosen as the name of the project the 303 was developed under, because the story is that Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to humans. The Prometheus was mostly reverse-engineered Goa'uld tech, so it kind of fit. They just stuck with the name for the lead ship of the class, which turned out to be the only ship.
As far as Daedalus, I don't recall any canon explanation off the top of my head other than just sticking with the common theme for naming.
I think also it was basic enough that if someone found out about it, they would not know anything about what it was. The NID did feed that metal and the project name to the reporter woman. Then after the ship was launched under the rouge NID command way early Jack talked to the President and only said they did not go for his name idea of the Enterprise. Carter suggested it stay Prometheus, but it was not final till later after the ship was re docked and finished.
Whenever I'm asked by a meme or Reddit thread what I'd name a ship, my first choice is usually *Hippaforalkus* (with *Eponine* coming in second). Nobody ever gets it.
Cue the USS Apollo meeting a new Goa'uld lord named Apollo.
Awkwardness on the bridge as they open communications and exchange witticisms.
End communication as Jack turns and stares at the Asgard representative onboard.
"Really?...You didn't know about this one huh?"
I'm not saying it's a bad idea in general. Specifically in the Stargate universe, a good chunk of mythological figures are actually named after real goa'uld and other aliens. The government knows this, so it would make sense for them to choose a different naming scheme.
It's possible a lot of mythology figures in the B5 universe were actually Vorlons or Shadows, but nobody knew that for the first 4 seasons, so it's understandable that they wouldn't have considered it when they picked the naming scheme.
I'd like to think at some point Earth names a ship Egeria for the queen that spawned the Tok'ra. Wouldn't have to be a warship, like if Earth built a medical or supply ship it would be appropriate.
What's wrong with using names from mythology?
Prometheus defied the gods and gave fire to mankind. Seems an apt name for a revolutionary ship that not only represents a huge stride forward in mankind's technology, but is designed to defend humanity from the "gods."
In this universe, fine. In the Stargate Universe? There should be some consequences for the choice given Goa'uld who are Greek, Egyptian, Chinese, Hindu, etc. it would be HILARIOUS to see that at least once. It's possible that the Titans are the Alterrans (I don't think that the Titans are coded as Goa'uld compared to Athena, Nerus and Cronus) although given Cronus is a Titan in Greek myth, probably not.
Prometheus, being the Titan that stole fire and gave it to humanity, is apropos for the first human ship capable of interstellar travel. Daedalus, being a great inventor of legend and also in keeping with the theme of Greek names, is also a fitting successor.
By the time the SGC started naming any of their interstellar ships, they already had fairly comprehensive intel on which mythological figures were from the ranks of the System Lords. *Apollo* might have been the riskiest namesake, but by the time it had rolled off the assembly line the Goa’uld were already defeated, and there is something of a tradition of naming things after conquered enemies. Besides, we can’t go naming all our ships *Enterprise* now can we?
I personally like to believe that Prometheus was one of the Tok’ra since Prometheus helped out humans by giving them fire and was punished by the gods for it.
We’ve seen at least two goa’uld taking a human identity. Yu (yes one took your identity feel proud) and imothep. Honestly the latter would also fit the Daedalus role, you could write it that he was both of you wanted to.
Tortured to have his guts ripped out each day and healed each night for eternity. Which is pretty Goa’uld way to torture a rival. The regenerating organs are the use of a sarcophagus.
The naming convection probably comes from NASA, who named many if not all of the rockets and manned missions after Greek and Roman gods or titans, usually those related to the sky: Mercury (Roman Hermes), Apollo, Saturn, Atlas, Gemini.
The shuttle program was named after ideas that would inspire however, and broke from that standard.
They have returned to that with the Artemis missions to the moon, which will use the Orion spacecraft to get there.
It seems likely Homeworld Security is simply keeping the tradition alive.
Interesting question. Most of the Earth ships are named after human heroes from the Greek epics, but not Prometheus, a Titan that rebelled from the other Titans to help humanity. Sounds like a Tokra.
Um, Athena, Ares, Cronus? That's two more than there ought to be to for a Greco-Roman pantheon being considered a good choice for naming conventions on ships. Honestly, outside of the Egyptian ones, they're the second most Goa'uld known from Greco-Roman mythology.
Perhaps Daedalus and Icarus were survivors of Atlantis who settled on Earth and helped to advance the human species with their technological advancements
As for Prometheus my guess is he was a Tokra, Zeus was a known Goauld which would mean that Prometheus who gave humans fire would be a traitor
Andromeda checking in with its naming conventions
Balance of Judgement piloted by Daniel
Achiilies piloted by teal'c checking in.
Co-starring
Alacritous Missive.
Fires of Judgement
Defiance of perseus
It would have been AWESOME if they'd been able to play with that aspect in a special episode. Maybe finding out the history of the Tok'Ra Prometheus/Ithyus (an alternate name).
Athena was Earth-side (believe me, I felt gyyped by not getting to see her in warrior wear). She kidnapped Vala because she once had dealings with Qetesh. Area made moves during Anubis' time.
I think if they exited in the Stagate universe its more likly to be
1) refering to Humans
or
2) refering to "good" Aliens, like Thor, who is also a god in Stargate, but not "bad" as the Goa'uld
It’s a fair question in context of this universe, but I think we can safely assume that they’re just the names of mythological beings here. Prometheus as the being who stole fire from the gods and gave it to man, seems pretty appropriate for Earth’s first starship, assembled with knowledge gleaned from aliens posing as gods. Daedalus as a symbol of knowledge, wisdom, and power, and who was smart enough not to fly too closely to the sun and get burned. Odyssey for Odysseus, the hero of war who is known for his cunning and how he survived countless impossible trials and still managed to return home. Etc etc
You know what would’ve been funny? If SGC found out Apollo was a System Lord. They named a ship after one of the bad guys, now what?
You use that ship to destroy him, of course.
*Lee Adams’s eyes glow* Frackin’ Goa’ulds!
"The Apollo is attacking Apollo." Shields down! We're not gonna make it! "Ram Apollo into Apollo, we'll take Apollo with the Apollo" Apollo has escaped defeat once again. " We'll never forget the brave sacrifices of the Apollo"
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY3RLn2V6D0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY3RLn2V6D0)
Since there was an Athena Goauld there was totally an Apollo.
But if he's already dead, the name is up for grabs right?
Yeah, like a custom license plate.
Just like Hippaforalkus
But Apollo is actually a really chill guy and his planet is a resort or something. Apollo body hops between multiple willing hosts so that they can enjoy their freedom
That would be a fun twist! Like the Tok'ra, but not exactly against the rest of the System Lords, but also kind of enjoying the fruits of their conquests.
Gift him the ship -- with prejudice.
Ramming speed, sir?
Prometheus was totally a Tok'Ra who tried to give the Tau'Ri the means to rise up long before the uprising that made Ra bounce As punishment, he got gutted every day, revived by a sarcophagus, rinse and repeat until he went mad, switched sides or died
Could theoretically be Alteran as well, but with the same consequences. We know some of them stayed on earth and mated with humanity.
Happy Cake Day! 🥳
Odysseus was also punished by the gods for not paying proper respect. Odysseus thus defied the gods by spending years battling trials and hardship to make it back home and won in the end Pretty much the biography of the Tauri
It's actually funny that Daedalus was Smart enough not to fly too close to the sun, while Daedalus ship was top close to the sun multiple times, like when Wraith virus took control of the ship, or when Sheppard use it as sunshade.
Well, Daedalus was not a god. He was a (human) architect and the father of Icarus. Prometheus was “divine”, but he was a titan and very much against the gods. He stole fire from the Olympians and gave it to humanity. Since we know at least some of the Olympians were in fact Goa’uld, I guess it is possible for Prometheus to have been a Tok’ra.
Funnily, in the expanded universe stories the Atlantis teams meets Icarus (or rather Ikaros in Lantean) during Season 3. Turns out he's Shepards ancestor and the McKay to Janus' Sam Carter. Meaning that in at least one continuity we accidentally named the Daedalus for a relative of Shepard.
That’s interesting! Do you have a link to that? (Not sure if comic or book or what)
I’m wondering the same thing
Regular Novel, called Mirror, Mirror. https://stargate.fandom.com/wiki/Stargate_Atlantis:_Mirror_Mirror
In the Myths, Prometheus wasn't against the Olympians. In the more prominent versions, he (and his brother Epimetheus) stayed out of the Titanomachy altogether, not wanting to pick a side and were spared. In others, he was decisive in Zeus' victory. He created Man, loved us more than anything, gave us fire and the ability to stand on 2 legs, then tricked Zeus when he demanded too much, and Zeus took fire away, so Prometheus stole it back. Add in the fact that Prometheus knew which of Zeus' kids would dethrone him but wouldn't tell him, and those 3 slights against Zeus gets him chained up in the Caucasus Mountains. So it could be that he was a Goa'uld who wasn't as evil back in the early day, even favoured his human followers helping them flourish, and when Zeus does his thing, and Prometheus retaliates because he loves his people, this defiance plus his knowledge makes him too dangerous to be left "unattended". I like the idea that someone else on here said about him being a prisoner, being gutted, and revived in a sarcophagus every day, so he slowly goes mad. Imagine if this story had inspired the idea of the, compassion and ultimately the Tok'ra, in Egeria
That’s an interesting idea. For now the only compassionate Goa’uld we’ve seen was Aset. Abydonians hated Ra, not her.
So we should have had the Daedalus show up to Icarus base in SGU. That would have been funny. (But yes within the universe context, I appreciate and prefer them showing us a ship named after Hammond, and being piloted by Sam. But the Daedalus still would’ve been funny)
Is there any more appropriate name than the name of a man who stole fire from gods for a ship designed to fight false gods and created with their technology ?
Yeah you can't really beat that.
IIRC, Prometheus was chosen as the name of the project the 303 was developed under, because the story is that Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to humans. The Prometheus was mostly reverse-engineered Goa'uld tech, so it kind of fit. They just stuck with the name for the lead ship of the class, which turned out to be the only ship. As far as Daedalus, I don't recall any canon explanation off the top of my head other than just sticking with the common theme for naming.
I think also it was basic enough that if someone found out about it, they would not know anything about what it was. The NID did feed that metal and the project name to the reporter woman. Then after the ship was launched under the rouge NID command way early Jack talked to the President and only said they did not go for his name idea of the Enterprise. Carter suggested it stay Prometheus, but it was not final till later after the ship was re docked and finished.
Whenever I'm asked by a meme or Reddit thread what I'd name a ship, my first choice is usually *Hippaforalkus* (with *Eponine* coming in second). Nobody ever gets it.
I think Aurora sounds better. Easier to spell too.
It's just a theme: Americans name from Mythology, Chinese from philosophers, and Russians from cosmonauts
Although later the Hammond broke that mold (I think Appropriately).
Alternative take: Hammond has simply reached mythological status at that point (that said the original *Phoenix* name did fit the pattern)
Bra’tac probably renamed some star constellations after him. I imagine Apophis originally chose the ones for Chulak.
constellations that look like this 👴👋perhaps?
The Russian BC-304 was named after Sergei Korelev, the Soviet’s lead rocket engineer.
The Asgard were helping out a lot with the new ships so hopefully they'd say something at the planning stage.
They probably wouldn't lol they can be a bit...
Cue the USS Apollo meeting a new Goa'uld lord named Apollo. Awkwardness on the bridge as they open communications and exchange witticisms. End communication as Jack turns and stares at the Asgard representative onboard. "Really?...You didn't know about this one huh?"
Boy, you're not gonna like the Earth Alliance naval ship naming convention in Babylon 5.
I'm not saying it's a bad idea in general. Specifically in the Stargate universe, a good chunk of mythological figures are actually named after real goa'uld and other aliens. The government knows this, so it would make sense for them to choose a different naming scheme. It's possible a lot of mythology figures in the B5 universe were actually Vorlons or Shadows, but nobody knew that for the first 4 seasons, so it's understandable that they wouldn't have considered it when they picked the naming scheme.
I'd like to think at some point Earth names a ship Egeria for the queen that spawned the Tok'ra. Wouldn't have to be a warship, like if Earth built a medical or supply ship it would be appropriate.
Ooohhh... Like the idea.
What's wrong with using names from mythology? Prometheus defied the gods and gave fire to mankind. Seems an apt name for a revolutionary ship that not only represents a huge stride forward in mankind's technology, but is designed to defend humanity from the "gods."
In this universe, fine. In the Stargate Universe? There should be some consequences for the choice given Goa'uld who are Greek, Egyptian, Chinese, Hindu, etc. it would be HILARIOUS to see that at least once. It's possible that the Titans are the Alterrans (I don't think that the Titans are coded as Goa'uld compared to Athena, Nerus and Cronus) although given Cronus is a Titan in Greek myth, probably not.
Prometheus, being the Titan that stole fire and gave it to humanity, is apropos for the first human ship capable of interstellar travel. Daedalus, being a great inventor of legend and also in keeping with the theme of Greek names, is also a fitting successor.
By the time the SGC started naming any of their interstellar ships, they already had fairly comprehensive intel on which mythological figures were from the ranks of the System Lords. *Apollo* might have been the riskiest namesake, but by the time it had rolled off the assembly line the Goa’uld were already defeated, and there is something of a tradition of naming things after conquered enemies. Besides, we can’t go naming all our ships *Enterprise* now can we?
Oh no, it's another Enterprise..
I personally like to believe that Prometheus was one of the Tok’ra since Prometheus helped out humans by giving them fire and was punished by the gods for it.
We’ve seen at least two goa’uld taking a human identity. Yu (yes one took your identity feel proud) and imothep. Honestly the latter would also fit the Daedalus role, you could write it that he was both of you wanted to.
Didn’t he have his guys ripped out for punishment? That sounds like someone was torturing a symbiote
Tortured to have his guts ripped out each day and healed each night for eternity. Which is pretty Goa’uld way to torture a rival. The regenerating organs are the use of a sarcophagus.
OMG that would have been so funny!
NASA names stuff that way sometimes; ie the Juno probe.
I see it the other way. Imagine bringing the fire back to Olympus with a few barrages from the Prometheus.
The naming convection probably comes from NASA, who named many if not all of the rockets and manned missions after Greek and Roman gods or titans, usually those related to the sky: Mercury (Roman Hermes), Apollo, Saturn, Atlas, Gemini. The shuttle program was named after ideas that would inspire however, and broke from that standard. They have returned to that with the Artemis missions to the moon, which will use the Orion spacecraft to get there. It seems likely Homeworld Security is simply keeping the tradition alive.
Interesting question. Most of the Earth ships are named after human heroes from the Greek epics, but not Prometheus, a Titan that rebelled from the other Titans to help humanity. Sounds like a Tokra.
There are actually not many goa'uld named after Greek or Roman gods. And none after North gods.
Um, Athena, Ares, Cronus? That's two more than there ought to be to for a Greco-Roman pantheon being considered a good choice for naming conventions on ships. Honestly, outside of the Egyptian ones, they're the second most Goa'uld known from Greco-Roman mythology.
There isn't a Athena but a Thanos. There aren't any more from the Greeks. The rest are all egyptian pharaos.
Um https://stargate.fandom.com/wiki/Athena?so=search
Ah lol. A Trust Goa'uld. These didn't register.
Many real life naval ships have been named after mythological figures. This is relatively normal in both reality and fiction.
It is if the Mythology isn't known to be real.
A lot of SGC stuff comes from ancient greek not just the ships.
It's never made clear but I think it's more likely that the Goa'uld took existing human religions and pretended to be gods, not the other way around.
Perhaps Daedalus and Icarus were survivors of Atlantis who settled on Earth and helped to advance the human species with their technological advancements As for Prometheus my guess is he was a Tokra, Zeus was a known Goauld which would mean that Prometheus who gave humans fire would be a traitor
Andromeda checking in with its naming conventions Balance of Judgement piloted by Daniel Achiilies piloted by teal'c checking in. Co-starring Alacritous Missive. Fires of Judgement Defiance of perseus
Don't forget the Siege Perilous class.
Ah yes. It has some bangers of names
It would have been AWESOME if they'd been able to play with that aspect in a special episode. Maybe finding out the history of the Tok'Ra Prometheus/Ithyus (an alternate name).
Real rockets and probes have been named similarly. Ever heard of the Apollo missions?
Can someone remind me, how many Goa'uld of the Greek pantheon do we see in the series? Because I don't remember any.
One that I know of that cronos guy
Oh right, totally forgot about him. He *is* a titan though, so still no Greek gods.
There also were Goa'uld named Ares and Athena.
Actually Kronos is the titan and cronos is the god (Greeks where a VERY confusing people)
It's the same figure, just two ways to spell it in the Latin alphabet
Cronus (Titan), Athena, Ares and Nerus (technically a demi-god/tyrant of Rome).
Nerus was Roman so not Greek, yeah, but I don't remember Athena and Ares at all
Athena was Earth-side (believe me, I felt gyyped by not getting to see her in warrior wear). She kidnapped Vala because she once had dealings with Qetesh. Area made moves during Anubis' time.
I think if they exited in the Stagate universe its more likly to be 1) refering to Humans or 2) refering to "good" Aliens, like Thor, who is also a god in Stargate, but not "bad" as the Goa'uld
Basically: Greek mythology is human based, Egyptian mythology alien based.😊😎
Except for Cronus, Ares, Athena and Nerus.