New Riddle

[Guest]

Fifteen score and more I weigh

When reckoned by the brood of Re

But less than one score you would quoth

If counting true by rule of Thoth.

I was born by Father Greg

When Famous Bill to Anne bent leg

And hail’d by Rome so full of pride

But on my birth great Caesar died.

I keep account and deft compute

For every man, genteel or brute

But don’t correct me when I sum

And twelve of thirty’s less than one

I’ve been named for Gods and Kings

And kin cavort with Maya and Ming

But sheep and fish define my frame

Tell me now what is my name?

Edited to make lines 3 and 4 less ambiguous. Didn't change the underlying meaning though, only the reference.

[bonanova]

Hmmm.

Well, here's a start

Ra [Re?] had 4 children [brood]:

[1] Nut (sky)

[2] Shu

[3] Tefnut (together the Air)

[4] Geb (Earth)

and Thoth, God of the Moon, Magic and Writing [and a handsome devil to boot]

was the god who overcame the curse of Re, allowing Nut to give birth to her five children, with his skill at games.

Working on the rest of it, instead of sleeping tonight.

[Guest]

You are on the right track so far, but "brood" in line one is the less common usage meaning "of a kind" rather than "the offspring of."

[Guest]

Should I spoil this one yet? Or post some hints?

[bonanova]

hints

[Guest]

Ok hints. I'll do one or two per stanza and they should get you thinking in the right direction. These might be give aways. Try stanza 2 and 4 first if you don't want really obvious hints.

Stanza 1

Re was the God of what? What about Thoth? What "counts" based upon these things?

Stanza 2

Who is the most famous Bill? What is Bill short for? What else happened of note when he married Anne? (in that year)

Father Greg. What could this mean? Any other definition of Father besides one's sire? What would connect this Greg and a great Caesar?

Stanza 3

What would be something that all men use to calculate that would give you 1 (x) if you counted up 12 sets of 30?

Stanza 4

What would the Maya and Ming have in common? What about a Sheep and a Fish? What are other names for a sheep and a fish?

[Guest]

WJC

[Guest]

Not sure what the last post means. Should I post the answer?

[Guest]

Not sure what the last post means. Should I post the answer?

No,, just point us to an Era,, WJC, was a pun,, William Jefferson Clinton

[Guest]

Ok, I thought for sure someone would get this. Should I post the answer now?

[Guest]

Days of the year.

[Guest]

calendar?

Ra -

year/calendar of Thoth - similar to solar year (however nowadays our calendar year has 365 days, each 4 years a leap year)

Julian calendar - introduced by Julius Ceasar

Gregorian calendar -adopted by Pope Gregory XIII

who is bill and anne (no idea)

Mayan calendar

Chinese Calendar (Ming)

12*30 < 1 year

framed by pisces and aries

[Guest]

Smile4me gets it! (Pretty much)

And the answer / explaination is ...

The Gregorian calendar.

The Egyptians used a 365 day calendar that was a forerunner of our own. Re was the sun god and Thoth the moon god. If you use sun cycles (days) to count then there are 365 1/4 units in the calendar. If you use moon cycles, there are about 14 (basis for the month).

Father Greg would be Pope Gregory XIII. He advocated the Gregorian calendar in the year that William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway. The Gregorian calendar modified and replaced the Julian calendar, named for and advocated by Julius Caesar.

All men use the calendar to track time. It's very accurate, but if you track 12 sets of 30 days you have less than 1 year.

The months of the Gregorian Calendars, and the Julian calendar before it, were named for Gods and Kings. The Maya and Ming both had sophisticated calendars that were not based upon the Gregorian. The Ram and Pisces are the zodiac signs that begin and end the year in the Gregorian calendar.

[bonanova]

Good one ...

[unreality]

possibly love?

[Guest rushofblood]

Stanza two:-

Famous Bill - William Shakespeare, who married (bent leg = down on one knee and propose?) Anne Hathaway in 1582.

1582 was the year when many countries switched from the Julian calendar the Gregorian calendar (hence "great Caesar died").

And father Greg...Pope Gregory XIII . I know someone just posted this answer, but I didn't copy and I was very proud of myself because for once I figured something out.

Edited February 19, 2008 by rushofblood

[Guest]

wow never would have figured that out and "guest rush blood" im guessing u don't mean anne hathaway the actress?

[Guest]

Very very well written Mr Writersblock,

May be of interest....

Earlist calendar 28000 bc Cro Magnon lunar calender on bone carving

4241bc earliest Egyptian date (12x30=5 exrad ays)- leap year proclaimed 218 bc rejected by priests

Maya Cycle began 3114 bc ends 2012 ad - world ends every Great Cycle

753 bc first Roman calendar (10 months)

700 bc Romans switched to 12 months

141-127 bc Hippachus year 365 days 5 hrs 55 mins

Aryabbata (india) 365d 8h 36m 0s

525 AD was introduced

876 ad first use of zero in the form of 0 in India -

1267 ad Opus Maius Roger Bacon (11min more over the solar year) 1day every 125 - 130 yrs now regarded as 128

1345 ad Attempted reform Clement VI - first mechanical clocks mid 1300s

1517 ad cal. reform fails

1582ad Gregorian accepted

1715 ad accepted protest Germany 1775 Fully

1752 UK colonies accept

1917 Russia accept

1949 Mao Zedong accepts

1972 coordinated Universal TIME year (290.091.200.500.000.000 Oscllations of Cesium)

The Egyptians used a cut tall reed, cut a notch at the highest water level that year. Next highest level dictaed year had passed. Not known yet how they arrived at 365 days

[Guest]

Fifteen score and more I weigh

When reckoned by the brood of Re

But less than one score you would quoth

If counting true by rule of Thoth.

I was born by Father Greg

When Famous Bill to Anne bent leg

And hail’d by Rome so full of pride

But on my birth great Caesar died.

I keep account and deft compute

For every man, genteel or brute

But don’t correct me when I sum

And twelve of thirty’s less than one

I’ve been named for Gods and Kings

And kin cavort with Maya and Ming

But sheep and fish define my frame

Tell me now what is my name?

Edited to make lines 3 and 4 less ambiguous. Didn't change the underlying meaning though, only the reference.

is it not the calender?

[Guest]

Very very good composition.

[Guest]

Fifteen score and more I weigh

When reckoned by the brood of Re

But less than one score you would quoth

If counting true by rule of Thoth.

I was born by Father Greg

When Famous Bill to Anne bent leg

And hail’d by Rome so full of pride

But on my birth great Caesar died.

I keep account and deft compute

For every man, genteel or brute

But don’t correct me when I sum

And twelve of thirty’s less than one

I’ve been named for Gods and Kings

And kin cavort with Maya and Ming

But sheep and fish define my frame

Tell me now what is my name?

Edited to make lines 3 and 4 less ambiguous. Didn't change the underlying meaning though, only the reference.

Answer: Bible

[Guest]

Fifteen score and more I weigh

When reckoned by the brood of Re

But less than one score you would quoth

If counting true by rule of Thoth.

I was born by Father Greg

When Famous Bill to Anne bent leg

And hail’d by Rome so full of pride

But on my birth great Caesar died.

I keep account and deft compute

For every man, genteel or brute

But don’t correct me when I sum

And twelve of thirty’s less than one

I’ve been named for Gods and Kings

And kin cavort with Maya and Ming

But sheep and fish define my frame

Tell me now what is my name?

Edited to make lines 3 and 4 less ambiguous. Didn't change the underlying meaning though, only the reference.

Julian Calendar