Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws : : And Other Classical Myths, Historical Oddities, and Scientific Curiosities / / Adrienne Mayor.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter EBOOK PACKAGE COMPLETE 2022 English
• VerfasserIn: Mayor, Adrienne,
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2022]; ©2022
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (448 p.) :; 49 b/w illus. 1 map.

A treasury of astonishing mythic marvels—and the surprising truths behind themAdrienne Mayor is renowned for exploring the borders of history, science, archaeology, anthropology, and popular knowledge to find historical realities and scientific insights—glimmering, long-buried nuggets of truth—embedded in myth, legends, and folklore. Combing through ancient texts and obscure sources, she has spent decades prospecting for intriguing wonders and marvels, historical mysteries, diverting anecdotes, and hidden gems from antiquity, medieval, and modern times. Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws is a treasury of fifty of her most amazing and amusing discoveries.The book explores such subjects as how mirages inspired legends of cities in the sky; the true identity of winged serpents in ancient Egypt; how ghost ships led to the discovery of the Gulf Stream; and the beauty secrets of ancient Amazons. Other pieces examine Arthur Conan Doyle’s sea serpent and Geronimo’s dragon; Flaubert’s obsession with ancient Carthage; ancient tattooing practices; and the strange relationship between wine goblets and women’s breasts since the times of Helen of Troy and Marie Antoinette. And there’s much, much more.Showcasing Mayor’s trademark passion not to demythologize myths, but to uncover the fascinating truths buried beneath them, Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws is a wonder cabinet of delightful curiosities.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction. The Borderlands of Myth, History, and Science -- ANIMALS: FABULOUS, REAL, AND EXTINCT -- 1 The Flying Snakes of Arabia -- 2 Sea Monsters and Mer-People of the Mediterranean -- 3 The Golden Fleece -- 4 Griffin Claws and a Unicorn Horn -- 5 Dolphin Tales -- 6 The Musical Racing Turtles of Greece -- 7 A Little Bird with Poison Poop -- 8 The Roman Army’s Vulture Mascots -- 9 Pet Birds through the Ages -- 10 Your New Puppy in Ancient Times -- 11 Weasels in Classical Myth and History -- 12 Living the Modern Ferret Lifestyle -- 13 Colossal Fossils of Greece -- 14 Hunting Griffins: An Imaginary Letter to a Paleontologist -- 15 Siegfried and the Dragon -- 16 Tracking the Lucky Rhino in China -- 17 Fake Fossils -- 18 Cuvier and the Mammoth Foot -- 19 Geronimo’s Dragon -- 20 Enslaved Africans Were First to Identify Mammoth Fossils in America -- FORMIDABLE WOMEN -- 21 Beauty Secrets of the Ancient Amazons -- 22 Arab Warrior Queens -- 23 Chiomara, Courageous Celtic Woman -- 24 Camilla: Why Is There an Amazon in the Aeneid? -- 25 Plato and the Amazons -- 26 The Brave Women of Argos -- 27 Cleopatra and Antony Go Fishing -- 28 The Poetess and the Queen of Amazons -- 29 Proving the Existence of Amazons in 1685 -- 30 Wine Goblets and Women’s Breasts -- CURIOUS HISTORY AND SCIENCE -- 31 Ghost Ships -- 32 Mirages at Sea -- 33 Winds in Ancient Myth and History -- 34 Death by Bronze “Frisbee” -- 35 Could Aristotle Guess Your Personality from Your Face? -- 36 The First Anti-Vaxxers -- 37 Poison Honey -- 38 Who Was the First Foot Fetishist? -- 39 “Giants” in Ancient Warfare -- 40 Sweating Truth in Ancient Carthage -- TRAVELERS, TATTOOS, AND TYRANTS -- 41 Tourists in Classical Antiquity -- 42 Grand Tourists in Greece, from Lord Byron to Sigmund Freud -- 43 Who Were the First Recreational Mountain Climbers? -- 44 Ancient Tattoos -- 45 Tattoos in Ancient China -- 46 Caligula: Let Them Hate, So Long as They Fear -- 47 A Mountain of a Man: Maximinus Thrax -- 48 King Midas -- 49 Home in a Body Bag -- 50 Perfumes of Power -- Notes -- Credits -- Index