If you REALLY want to get picky about it, theres been numerous accounts that Star Wars infact copied many things off Dune. It actually makes quite a lot of sense.
Lucas was influenced by Frank Herbert's book, but I wouldn't say copy.
Then again, all modern loves stories are more or less adaptations of Romeo and Juliet, which in turn would have been an adaptation of something else, probably a mythological story.
Actually, it is. Ever heard of Pyramus and Thisbe? They were forbidden to be together by their folks, and so talked through a narrow slit through the walls separating their homes. They decided to meet and Thisbe (the girl) got there first and saw a lion with bloody teeth there, and she ran away into a nearby cave, dropping her cloak in the process. When Pyramus came, he saw the cloak that the lion had smeared blood on and, sure Thisbe was dead, he killed himself. When Thisbe came out of the cave, she saw Pyramus dead and killed herself, as well.
At least I think he based it off that story.
Two Iasons... Ah, I still don't like that. Here's how I look at the Iason incident:
At 0450 hours on 2629.105, the Odysseus-class exploratory-research vessel TCS Iason, under the command of Cmdr. Jedora Andropolous, encountered an unknown ship (which turns out to be Kilrathi B'ru'k-class merchantman) in System V343. Andropolous orders full shields and a readiness standby level 2. Two Ferrets attached to the Iason, piloted by Captain Izmuti and Commander James "Paladin" Taggart are sent out to commence scans on other possible ships in the area, but are shot down by these suspected ships. The Commander began hailing procedures according to the first contact protocols designed by the Committee for Interaction with Alien Intelligences. After twenty-two minutes, the Kilrathi ships open fire on the Iason, destroying the ship and all hands on board. The Iason's lifeless hulk is dumped in the Hyperion System as a challenge or warning.
Okay, it's not perfect, but I see it sort of that way. See what I mean by combining the two stories. Because if you believe that there are two Iasons, you might as well believe that Confed declared war on the Kilrathi twice, that there are two Custer's Carnivals, two Claws, and, hell, even two Bossmans.
I'm not saying anyone's neccessarily wrong, but the two Iasons explanation is a little silly, IMHO.
Okay, that's enough ramblings from me.
[Edited by Dralthi5 on 07-12-2001 at 10:55]