Rhadamanthine is an adjective that refers to stern or inflexible judgement. The other week we looked at the word omphalos, which had ancient Greek origins, and we're continuing with that theme a little bit this week as well.
The triumvirate of judges in the underworld included Minos, Aeacus, and Rhadamanthus. Rhadamanthus is credited with passing a judgement that if one acted in self defense then they should suffer no penalty, which sounds great, but many of his judgements were deemed incredibly strict, if not harsh.
Reports conflict, but word on the street is that when he was alive, Rhadamanthus married Amphitryon's widow Alcmene, adoptive mother of Heracles! He also makes an appearance in books four and seven of The Odyssey, and I'm ninety percent sure Virgil uses him in his role as Underworld judge in The Aeneid.
So, even though rhadamanthine has come to mean inflexibility in judgement, it turns out Rhadamanthus is a pretty popular character of the ages!
How many people do you know to whom this word could be applied?
-C