Trident
A
trident is a three pronged staff or spear. The word's origin is from
Latin tridens or
tridentis, from
tri "three" and
dentes "teeth". It was used by
fishermen to catch fish. As a weapon, it was also used by the
retiarii,
Roman gladiators, who used a
net to wrap their adversary and a trident to kill him. In the southern
United States, this type of spear, called a
gig, is used for catching
bullfrogs,
flounder, and sometimes
carp. This kind of fishing is referred to as
gigging.
Information on real forked spears can be found in the article on the
military fork.
From the fishing origins, the trident is often associated with
Poseidon, the
god of the sea in
Greek mythology. By hitting the earth with his trident, Poseidon created the
horse and some water sources in
Greece.The Roman Gods, such as
Neptune (parallel to Poseidon) also used a trident as a staff, and created earthquakes and new bodies of water. A good example can be seen in
Gian Bernini's
Neptune and Triton.
A trident has also references as:
*The
U.S. Navy Special Warfare badge, worn by members of the elite
SEAL Teams, is officially known as a Trident, while jokingly called a
Budweiser by some SEALs.
*As a symbol, the trident in the centrer of the
flag of Barbados - Symbolic of the country's independence from the
United Kingdom. A highly stylised trident, known as the
tryzub, constitutes a part of the
Ukrainian coat of arms.
*The trident or
Trishula is also the missile weapon of the
Hindu god
Shiva, and it often includes a crossed stabiliser to facilitate its flight when thrown.
*In
DC Comics, the superhero
Blue Devil carries a trident.
*In
Reboot, AI AndrAIa uses a trident
*In
Christian mythology, the trident is associated with
the Devil. Depictions of the Devil commonly indicate a trident as his
sceptre.
*It was King
Triton's weapon of choice in
Disney's
The Little Mermaid (1989) and the weapon of choice of Diana from the
PAX network's made for TV movie,
Mermaids (2003).
Trident is the name of the
US Navy's Fleet Ballistic Missile program, consisting of
Ohio class submarines and
Trident II D-5
submarine-launched ballistic missiles.
*The
BSD Daemon carries a trident to symbolize the
forking of processes in an operating system.
*
Trident (band) is a three-girl pop band from
Romania.
*
Hawker-Siddeley HS121 Trident was a British jet airliner produced by Hawker Siddley at Hatfield in the 1960's; various version were produced from the Trident 1 to the Trident 3B.
*In the video game
Golden Sun: The Lost Age the player collects the three pieces of the Trident of Ankhol, which is the only item able to break through Poseidon's impenetrable shield.
*
Demons and symbols*
Christian mythology*
Trisula
