Having just watched the Disney / Pixar movie Brave, I’m pondering the vaguely Scottish-Irish-Celtic-European mythology and motifs buried in this film. There’s a lot of bear + mother goddess symbolism which I find fascinating.
Mythphile
all the myth that’s fit to print
Browsing the archives for the Greek tag
19 Oct 11
“Midas Has Donkey Ears,” Whistleblowers and Wikileaks
You’ve heard of King Midas of the “Golden Touch,” monarch of ancient Phrygia (See theoi.com’s Midas entry for classical Greek and Roman sources.) Probably you’ve heard Nathaniel Hawthorne’s version, which makes Midas into a moralistic fable about gold-greed and appreciating the simple things in life. Hawthorne supplies King Midas with a daughter to drive the [...]
27 Aug 11
What’s in a name: Irene, Greek goddess of…you’re kidding!
Well, here’s an irony for you. Irene, the hurricane which is currently pounding the east coast with wind, rain, storm surge, tornadoes, etc is named after the Greek goddess of peace, Εἰρήνη (Eirene, pronounced eye-RAY-nay). The Romans called her by the more familiar name of Pax. Eirene/Irene was one of the three horai, goddesses of the [...]
2 Apr 11
The Ham Sandwich and Eternal Happiness
An old logic joke goes like this: I. Nothing is better than eternal happiness. II. A ham sandwich is better than nothing. III. Therefore, a ham sandwich is better than eternal happiness! It turns out that there are a lot of ham sandwich myths trying to reassure us that our life is tasty just as [...]
20 Feb 11
In Memoriam: The Shoe Tree of Nevada
The Shoe Tree is dead. Long live the Shoe Tree. I learned about Nevada’s Shoe Tree on the “Loneliest Road in the World” from a touching article in the Los Angeles Times. In December 2010, this modern-day sacred tree was cut down by vandals with a chainsaw, after serving as a curious and cryptic symbol in [...]