this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2023
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There's gods for everything, but of course computers didn't exist in ancient Roman and Greek times. What God or Goddess in your opinion would personify Testing?

And yes these answers matter. 😬

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Pan.

Panic and pandomodium with a desire to escape it all for a party in the woods.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago (2 children)

If we're happy with non-godly mythological figures, definitely Sisyphus though.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

Sisyphus

ooh. that's good. I was thinking Atlas, cuz he carries the world, but Sisyphus is a better metaphor. Might offend my QA members though πŸ˜‚

[–] fubo 8 points 1 year ago

One well-known tech company has a rollout tool named Sisyphus.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

BTW, pandemonium has nothing to do with Pan. Pandaemonium is the capital of Hell in Paradise Lost; I think it's roughly Greek for "the place with all the demons".

[–] fubo 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Some engineers follow Athena as goddess of practical wisdom; but another option would be Hephaestus as god of automation.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I had been thinking Athena, but didn't realize Hephaestus was the god of automatation! Ok, these are top two right now. Athena is my cat's name πŸ˜‚

[–] fubo 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

According to Homer, Hephaestus built automatons of metal to work for him or others. This included tripods with golden wheels, able to move at his wish in and out the assembly hall of the celestials; and servant "handmaidens wrought of gold in the semblance of living maids", in them was "understanding in their hearts, and speech and strength", gift of the gods. They moved to support Hephaestus while walking. And golden and silver lions and dogs at the entrance of the palace of Alkinoos in such a way that they could bite the invaders, guard dogs that didn't age nor perish.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hephaestus#Automatons

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

haha yeah I already created the repo with that name πŸ˜‚ it's perfect for a testing library.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

Prometheus. Stole fire and gave it to humanity. Then in return was tied down and had to go through the same torture day after day for 30,000 years.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Not quite a god but

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphinx

In Greek tradition, the sphinx is a treacherous and merciless being with the head of a woman, the haunches of a lion, and the wings of a bird. According to Greek myth, she challenges those who encounter her to answer a riddle, and kills and eats them when they fail to do so.

The word sphinx comes from the Greek Σφίγξ, associated by folk etymology with the verb σφίγγω (sphΓ­ngō), meaning "to squeeze", "to tighten up".

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

ooh, this is pretty good.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

I'm thinking Anoia from the mind of Terry Pratchett.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Loki. If he doesn't find a way to mess it up, it's truly bulletproof

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Thoth gradually became seen as a god of wisdom, magic, and the measurement and regulation of events and of time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoth

Testing is just a type of performance measurement in my mind.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Athena. She's the goddess of both wisdom and warfare. I can't fathom a better analogue.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I had been considering Athena, but it's quite a leap I thought. @[email protected] said Hephaestus is the god of automation and I think that's pretty dope. Of course, Athena is pretty good too. That's the name of one of my cats!

[–] Myriadblue 4 points 1 year ago

I was thinking Janus who oversaw the beginning and end of conflict, but really they are a better god of Source Control because they preside over change.

Maybe Zeus because they constantly tested others and achieved their position through trials?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Hygieia β€” the goddess of cleanliness

[–] joel_anderson 3 points 1 year ago

I like this question. Maybe Dionysus a god of ritual madness?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I would second !fubo with Hephaestus as god of automation.

Alternatively, Anansi the Spider, god of wordsmiths and, being a spider, innately associated with weaving. So if you need help weaving your words into functioning syntax... maybe he can help you out.