Dioscroides was a Greek physician who was born in the first century AD. He traveled great distances in his lifetime and used his travels to study the plants and nature around him. After long studies of plants were conducted, and experiments as well, Dioscorides wrote De Materia Medica. De Materia Medica is a pharmacopoeia (a book, or piece of work, published by officials in the government to provide the public with drug qualities and standards.

Grout, James. “Dioscorides: De Materia Medica.” Dioscorides: Materia Medica, Encyclopedia Romana, 12 Mar. 2023, https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/aconite/materiamedica.html.

When Gargantua was sent to Paris, it was for the purpose of getting an education. His teachers were called sophisters or sophists. Sophists, according to George Duke from Deakin University in Australia, were known as "itinerant professional teachers and intellectuals" (Duke paragraph 1). Sophists is a very sophisticated term for a professor. However Sophists only offered wealthy young men an education, so they could get their money's worth from their teachings.

Duke, George. “The Sophists .” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2022, https://iep.utm.edu/sophists/.

While this whole story focuses on the symbolism of the colors green and gold, blue is also an important color. Blue can "represent serenity and tranquility, instilling a scene with a calming effect" (Gaiman 7). The lord and host in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight keeps a great relaxed and calm composure throughout the whole story. The host provides a safe place and a fun trading game for Sir Gawain, which correlates to the easy goingness of the color blue. The host's wife can be represented with the color blue as well, both of them staying collected and easy going. The color blue represents them well.

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/color-symbolism-in-literature

A girdle is widely known as a belt/cord that is worn around one's waist. But in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the green girdle represents much more than just women's clothing. The green girdle, when Sir Gawain accepts it from the host's wife, serves as "a functional tool, it saves Gawain’s life when he is struck by the Green Knight’s axe" (Forster paragraph 1). The girdle ends up being the best item for Sir Gawain to accept from the woman.

However, even later in the poem, the girdle when worn different came to represent more meanings. Sir Gawain later wore it around his shoulder and arm and it ended up representing his "failure to uphold his Christian virtues" (Forster paragraph 1). Overall, the girdle provided a lot of symbolism in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

https://scholarship.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/handle/10066/10981

The Bacchantes was a group of women who followed the god, Dionysus. Dionysus was the god of pleasure, wine, frenzy, madness, and more crazy ideas. The Bacchantes were portrayed as care-free wild women who loved dancing. They had depictions of them on "Greek vases and statues as women with loose hair" (Encycolpeida Mythica Paragraph 2). The mention of the Bacchantes provides a picture of the celebration between the women in Lysistrata, and the men from Athens and Sparta, finally rejoiced. The Bacchantes were seen as alluring as well, with their loose hair down, and their ecstatic dancing. These are things that could add to the list of things about women that the men of Ancient Greece, as told by Aristophanes, could not resist.

Mythica, Encyclopedia. “Bacchantes.” Bacchantes | Facts, Information, and Mythology, 17 Nov. 2006, https://pantheon.org/articles/b/bacchantes.html#:~:text=The%20Bacchantes%20were%20a%20group,priest%20was%20called%20a%20Bacchant.

Eurotas was not only a river, but also a god. He was said to be the river-god of Lacedemonian. This was the ancient name of what became Sparta. The River Eurotas flowed south, past the city of Sparta and into the Mediterranean sea.

Atsma, Aaron J. “Eurotas.” EUROTAS - Laconian River-God of Greek Mythology, 2017, https://www.theoi.com/Potamos/PotamosEurotas.html.

According to Hinduism, the Vasus are elemental gods. What is read as Vasus, was once Indra. There were said to be 8 Vasus. "Vasus once stole the divine cow, Kamadhenu (fulfiller of desires) from sage Vashista" (V, Jayaram Paragraph 2). (A sage was known as someone who had spiritual and wise teachings). Because of the powers that they stole, they were easily found and were sentenced to be humans on Earth. They came to be known as the children of Ganga (mother of humanity in Hinduism).

V, Jayaram. “Gods of Hinduism, the Eight Vasus.” Gods of Hinduism, the Eight Vasus, 2019, https://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/concepts/vasus.asp.