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Trident




sculpture holding a 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 Gladiator s, 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 Bullfrog s, Flounder , and sometimes Carp . This kind of fishing is ''gigging''.

Information on real forked spears can be found in the article on the Military Fork .


SYMBOLIC USE


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 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 Christian tradition, the trident is associated with The Devil . Depictions of the Devil commonly indicate a trident as his Sceptre .




  • The BSD Daemon carries a trident to symbolize the Forking of processes in an operating system.



SEE ALSO



tridents are used in circumcising goats and other sundary animals as a form of ritual