Caladrius

 

A Caladrius is a snow-white bird of Roman mythology (In Greek mythology, it was named a “Dhalion”) that was said to reside in the house of kings. The myth behind them was that they would not look at any ill patient who was not going to fully recover from whatever sickness they had. This bird was known for miraculous healing powers. The bird would take the sickness into itself and fly away to rid itself of the sickness, healing both the bird and the king. Many believe that the bird is an analogous to Jesus Christ himself, comparing the birds selflessness and Christ’s crucifixion.

          Many believe that the Caladrius is simply a creation of someone’s active imagination like many other mythologies, but some believe they were based on a real bird (It is believed to be based on the dove or possibly a Heron.) I believe that this myth was based on some type of comfort, that the belief in a bird that could heal the ill was soothing in dark times. Considering is based on a bird that we see today, we can see that the birds did not have actual healing powers, but a good attitude and strong belief can do a lot for the healing process.

The Bestiary

 

1.    Bestiary: bes·ti·ar·y

ˈbēsCHēˌerē,ˈbes-/

noun

noun: bestiary; plural noun: bestiaries

1.    a descriptive or anecdotal treatise on various real or mythical kinds of animals, especially a medieval work with a moralizing tone.

 

A bestiary (Also known as Bestiarum vocabulum ) Is a “Compendium of beast”. (Which is basically my fancy and annoying way of saying that it is a big old book about different medieval beasts and monsters. Did you like that vocab right there? I am making you think. See? It’s not all just knowledge about monsters, might as well toss some vocabulary in there.) It is said that bestiaries go all the way back to the Ancient world. They were extremely popular back in the medieval ages, much like sappy young adult romances today. Given the strictly religious beliefs of this time period, many of the animal histories and facts were accompanied with some sort of life or moral lesson. It furthered the belief that the world was a reflection of God’s word and that every living thing was special and had a special meaning.

          The earliest bestiary (at least, the one similar to the type that later became extremely popular) was an anonymous 2^nd century Greek volume called Physiologus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physiologus ). The book was practically a summary of all ancient knowledge of animals in classic writings written by authors, such as Aristotle, Herodotus, Pliny the Elder, Solinus, and Aelian. Bestiaries were actually most popular in the European countries of England and France around the 12^th century. Many bestiaries were basically a large book pulled together by various writings that came before them, almost a collage of ancient writings. The Aberdeen Bestiary is one of the most popular and widely known of over 50 manuscripts of bestiaries that actually still exist today (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberdeen_Bestiary ). Even the Italian artist, Leonardo da Vinci, had his own bestiary.

          Bestiaries of medieval times usually contained things such as descriptions and illustrations of species commonly located in Western Europe. The content was usually exotic animals and, what we today consider to be, imaginary animals. The descriptions in the bestiary included the physical characteristics of the creature, though these were often physiologically incorrect, along with the Christian morals and beliefs that the animal represented. Below the description, there would usually be an artistic drawing or illustration of the animal as described in the bestiary.

          Bestiaries would contain animals such as; bears, boars, elephants, deers, etc. The strange thing was, they would also contain unicorns, basilisks, griffins, caldrius, all types of creatures of mythology. The creatures would often be organized alphabetically and would show no description between the imaginary and non-imaginary creatures. My view of this lack of classification shows how deep rooted mythology was back in this time period. The folklore intermingled with daily creatures and no one seemed to object to the collaboration of both.

 

The Mechanics of Manticores

 

What is our creature of the day? Well, kids, today we are talking about the infamous manticore. The creature that has terrified believers of mythology for centuries. Are you scared yet? Well, you should be. The manticore is a legendary Eurasian creature, or hybrid, derived from Persia. It is actually quite similar to an Egyptian sphinx. The Persian origin name of the manticore was actually translated as “man-eater”. The name “manticore” comes from the Persian word “Martyaxwar.” “Martya” means “man” or “human”, “Xwar” means “to eat”.

          A manticore is described to have the body of a red lion, a normal human head with three rows of sharp teeth (Almost the same as a shark. You definitely don’t want to get bitten by either). In some tales and stories, manticores have bat wings, and a trumpet-like voice. Most other descriptions; characteristics and abilities, vary from story to story depending on which origin you are reading and the purpose of the tales. The modern Hollywood cinema or literary versions might romanticize a manticore for their intents and purposes or overrating a protagonists heroism much more than the original tales. In some stories, a manticore may be horned, winged, or even both. When the manticore is described to have a tail, it usually that of a dragon or a scorpion, and it may shoot poisonous filled spines or spikes to either paralyze or kill its victims. A manticore will completely engorge its prey whole and leaves no clothes, bones, or possessions of the prey behind. You would never know that a kill have taken place because it leaves behind no trace.

          Now, let us think about this for a moment. Let us think about how absolutely horrific it would be to encounter a manticore! A lion, bird, dragon, scorpion, human, shark hybrid?! The ancestry of this creature would be very intriguing to learn about (Especially how the human portion came into play… And how a creature as small as a scorpion reproduced with a dragon.. Like…what?)

          My biggest interest is, when this myth was created, did people honestly believe they had seen a manticore or was it completely based on someone’s imagination? Are all the different additions to the hybrid caused by different believed “sightings” of the creature?

 

          [1st century CE] (Natural History, Book 8, 30): Pliny quotes Ctesias as saying that the mantichora has the face and ears of a human being, grey eyes, a triple row of teeth that meet like the teeth of a comb, a lion's body of a blood-red color, and a voice like a pan-pipe blended with a trumpet. It stings with its tail like a scorpion. It is very fast and has a special appetite for human flesh.

Pliny the Elder   (http://bestiary.ca/prisources/psdetail529.htm )

 

[13th century CE] (De proprietatibus rerum, book 18): It is said, that in India is a beast wonderly shapen, and is like to the bear in body and in hair, and to a man in face. And hath a right red head, and a full great mouth, and an horrible, and in either jaw three rows of teeth distinguished atween. The outer limbs thereof be as it were the outer limbs of a lion, and his tail is like to a wild scorpion, with a sting, and smiteth with hard bristle pricks as a wild swine, and hath an horrible voice, as the voice of a trumpet, and he runneth full swiftly, and eateth men. And among all beasts of the earth is none found more cruel, nor more wonderly shape, as Avicenna saith. And this beast is called Baricos in Greek. ( Steele edition of 1905)

Bartholomaeus Anglicus     (http://bestiary.ca/prisources/psdetail1611.htm )

The Big Three

Anyone who has studied Greek Mythology will know that Zeus is the king of the Olympians. He was the one who stood against his father and lead the rebellion against the titans. My question is, why Zeus? After all, he was the youngest of all his siblings. Hades and Poseidon are powerful enough. Cronus had been given a prophecy that his child would overthrow him and take power which is why he ate all of his other children.

I have always wondered whether Zeus was the only one strong enough to defeat his father, or if it was because he was the only one who had not been eaten. From what I have read, nothing shows that Zeus is any stronger than his brothers, per say. If Cronus had not eaten his other children, Hades and Poseidon might have taken Cronus down themselves. Rhea had kept Zeus away from Cronus which allowed him the opportunity to take down his father

Twilight

 

The Twilight Saga Is considered to be one of the most popular teen romance franchises ever. It spawned an absolute obsession over vampires for people mostly from the ages of around 13 to people in their mid-twenties.  While the saga was a world-wide love and obsession for many, there were also many who thought that the extreme lack of relation between the vampires in the story and classic stories of vampires that have been around for centuries made the story simply ridiculous.

          Twilight is about a teenage girl named Bella Swan who moves in with her dad in Forks, Washington after her mother goes way with her step-dad for his job. She is shy, quiet, and plain. Bella goes to high school and, on her first day, is told by other students about the Cullens. They are an unrealistically attractive group of teenagers who were all adopted by a doctor is town named Carlisle. Bella takes particular notice of Edward Cullen. Edward is mysterious and gorgeous, yet takes no notice of any of the girls at school who try and flirt with him.

          Edward and Bella seem to have a strange magnetism, though Edward seems to try and avoid her at all costs. He tells Bella that they cannot be near each other, yet he shows up wherever she is. Of course, they cannot stay away from each other and they fall in love. Edward tells Bella that he is a vampire and avoided her because her blood is much more appetizing to him than anyone else’s.

          The Cullen vampires, while quite dreamy, are much different than any other vampires. They have minimal weaknesses compared to other vampires. The vampires in Twilight have super strength, super speed, and their eyes change color when they are hungry and when they are well fed, almost like a time gauge. Not only do they have these basic vampire abilities, but many vampires have additional powers that are unique to who they are. For example; Jasper Cullen has the ability to control the emotions of people around him, Edward Cullen can read the minds of other, Alice Cullen can see the future, Zafrina can put images of her own creation in the mind of others. The main problem that seem to be with the saga is that the vampires do not burn in sunlight, they sparkle.

          While the saga plays on the most cliché of teen romance and fantasy type stories, I will not deny that I myself became utterly obsessed over the books. I absolutely loved them and understand the obsession. Nothing is more comforting than being loved by a man who is stronger than others around you, can protect you, and will live long enough to love you forever.

Frankenstein

 

Ten feet tall. Green skin. Platform boots. Dead bolts in the neck. Incoherent sentences. Lab experiment. Have you guessed what little fairytale this is about? This misunderstood monster? That’s right. Frankenstein.

            Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus was written by Mary Shelley. Mary Shelley was an English writer, famous during the Gothic and Romantic era of writing. Her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley, was a famous Romantic poet and philosopher. Her father, William Godwin, was a well-known political philosopher and her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, was also well-known as a feminist and philosopher. No surprise that Mary herself became so famous while surrounded by such success, she was derived from it.

            Oddly enough, the first Edition of Frankenstein was published in London in 1818, but only anonymously. During this time, women had made progress (There were a few public figures of feminism such as Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Shelley’s mother) but writing had always been viewed as a man’s world. It is understandable why she might not put her name on her first addition, especially with the type of story. Mary Shelley did put her name on the second edition of her story that was published in 1823 in France. It is said the Frankenstein Castle, a hilltop castle which is in Odenwald overlooking the city of Darmstadt in Germany, was the inspiration of Mary Shelley’s story. She had traveled Europe and visited this castle in 1814, only 4 years before her first edition of Frankenstein was published. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein_Castle ) “Frankenstein is a German name consisting of two words: The Franks are a German tribe and "stein" is the German word for "stone". Accordingly the meaning of Frankenstein is "Stone of the Franks". The word "stein" is common in names of landscapes, places and castles in Germany. Consequently, the term "Frankenstein" is a rather ordinary name for a castle in this region.”

            Frankenstein, contrary to popular belief, is not the name of the actual creature except for in a stage adaption by Peggy Webling. The name “Frankenstein” comes from the eccentric scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who created the monster himself. The actual creature himself is most often referred to with degrading names such as; Creature, monster, daemon, it. The creature himself, when speaking to Victor, referred to himself as “The Adam of your labour” and “someone who would have been your Adam, but instead is your fallen angel.” In a recent film adaption, Frankenstein’s creature actually names himself Adam. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1418377/ ).

            Victor Frankenstein was born in Naples and, as a boy, was always interested in the works of Alchemists and believed in the “Elixir of life”. He eventually gave up on those dreams and science altogether. He then became interested in chemistry and became obsessed with creating life with inanimate matter. The scientist creates a monster, but is utterly horrified and disgusted by its hideous appearance. Victor Frankenstein flees in an attempt to escape what he’s done. The creature pursues the scientist, intending to get vengeance for his creator abandoning him. SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! IF YOU PLAN ON READING THE BOOK, DO NOT CONTINUE WITH THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH! IT WILL COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY OBLITERATE THE ENDING OF THE STORY! DO NOT CONTINUE TO READ AND BE UPSET THAT THE ENDING OF THIS STORY HAS BEEN RUINED FOR YOU! ….You have been warned.. In the end, Victor Frankenstein seeks out his monster after hearing of terrible things that have happened since his creation got lose. On his journey to find his monster, Victor Frankenstein sadly dies. The monster hears of his creator’s death and, while overwhelmed with grief, decides to destroy himself. He disappears and is never seen or heard from again.

            There are a few different interpretations of this story. The most common is about the power of man. This story is supposed to give a view of the consequences when man tries to play God and mess with the laws of nature. Victor was simply an eccentric scientist who wanted to do something great. In the end, Victor’s creation was nothing like what he had imagine and, ultimately, led to his demise.

Vampire Weaknesses

Are vampires truly invincible? I suppose I should be more specific. Every vampire from every show, movie, book, story, fable; they’re all different. They all have different weaknesses. In Twilight, their weakness was fire. It classic horror movies and fables, vampires had endless weaknesses; garlic, silver, sunlight, thresholds, fire. They may have had strength and speed, but it was much easier to kill classic vampires than today’s modern ones.

            Modern vampires are almost impossible to kill and, even if you can kill them, in some cases, they may be resurrected by a witch which is a complete game changer. There are few cases today where a vampire may actually be killed off by something as simple as a wooden stake. Give them a stake to the heart and you’re in the clear, of course, they would never let you get that close.

Love Of Vampires

True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, Twilight, Underworld, The Vampire Academy. What do all of these movies and TV shows have in common? They’re all about vampires! Vampires, in recent years, have become a trend setting topic and chart topping sensation, especially in the young adult age group. Over the last few years, vampires have been all the rage in books, movies, TV shows, fan-fiction, everything. The cliché plot is there is a shy high school girl, trying to make it through her last years of school, who tends to be a loner but is actually prettier than originally insinuated. There is an extremely popular and mysterious boy who, for some unknown reason, pays no attention to the countless girls he has constantly flirting with him and swooning over him, bowing down at his feet. By some coincidental encounter, the two meet. The loner girl and the mysterious guy seem to be magnetized to each other and always end up near each other, no matter how hard they try and stay away.

            The boy usually tells the girl at some point that he cannot be around her and that it is not safe for them to be together, obviously leaving the girl utterly confused. He typically disappears for a short period of time with no explanation. Once he returns, the girl will tell him she needs him and the boy caves in and says they can be together. He usually will confess to her in some dramatic scene that he is a vampire after trying to keep it from her, and she is oddly cool about the whole thing… She does not seem to mind that her new boyfriend could simply kill her when he had a bad day and got a little moody. To each their own.

            The idea of being in love with a vampire seems a bit.. twisted.. but it in all actuality makes perfect sense. Typically, vampires are supposed to be perfect. They are flawless and charismatic and charming, as predatory tools to lure their prey. The flawless perfection in addition to immortal is a pretty amazing and impressive thing. Who would not want someone who could love them forever? In my opinion, the romanticism of vampires has been around for quite a long time and will remain every girl’s dream for a long time to come.

The Original Werewolf

 

What is your first thought when you think “Werewolf”? Personally, my first thought is from my favorite TV show ‘Teen Wolf’. My second thought would be a homicidal monster on Halloween from a horror movie. The entire concept of wolves has changed for the modern generation. A werewolf used to be a classic monster along with; vampires, Frankenstein, zombies, mummies, witches. The point is, werewolves were once feared and hunted. The original interpretation of a werewolf was a human who would turn into a feral beast and would savagely attack and kill people every full moon. That is nothing close to the werewolves today.

            Werewolves, or Lycanthrope, are defined as humans with the ability to shift into a wolf or some form of hybrid creature, either on purpose or by being afflicted by some sort of curse; typically by a scratch or bite by another wolf. Lycanthropy was a concept that grew from different Christian interpretations around medieval times. The idea of Lycanthropy went right alongside the idea of witches and magic. In fact, around the time of witch hunts, when people were being accused of being witches or practicing witchcraft, people were accused in a similar way for being believed to be werewolves. People were often accused and persecuted for being werewolves, wolf riding, or even wolf charming. Werewolves became the center of attention following the dying down of witchcraft. Similar to modern times, wolves were often used in medieval romances and became a common topic in the emerging Gothic Horror genre.

            Of course, behind these fears, there is usually a source of the panic. The first recorded sighting of a werewolf was in Germany sometime in 1591. It was said from an ancient pamphlet that, one day, a few townspeople cornered a large wolf and set their dogs on it while they poked at it and pierced it with sticks. Instead of running away, or attacking the townspeople like any normal animal would do, the creature stood up straight. It turned out to be a middle-aged man named Peter Stubbe who lived in the same village. The townspeople put Peter on a torture wheel where he eventually confessed to committing 16 murders, two of his victims being pregnant women and thirteen being children. Peter was an extremely disturbed and, most likely psychotic, man. He claimed to have started practicing sorcery when he was only 12 years old and became so obsessed with it that he even tried to make a pact with the Devil. Peter started to attack people wearing a “magic girdle” and after a few months, would take the guise of a wolf and would brutally kill his victims.  In his “wolf form”, it was said that he would tear out his victims’ throats and would drink their warm blood until he drained them dry. As horrifying and disgusting as these crimes were, there was one that was incomparable to all others; the brutal murder of his own poor son. One day, Peter lured his own son into the woods. He bashed the child’s skull in and ate his brains. This was what his supposed “wolf form” was capable of.

            The myth of werewolves wasn’t completely made up of someone’s imagination for the sake of escaping boredom, it was a way to escape reality. It was a coping mechanism, a scapegoat for human behavior that typical people simply could not understand. Peter Stubbe’s crimes were so disturbing and inhuman that people had to think of a reason, had to give it some type of name. Creating the myth of werewolves was a way to keep people from living in constant fear of each other. The sad and horrifying truth is, these monsters, these beasts that fill our storybooks and myths, they are people that we will inevitably cross at some point in our lives. Our fear is not of mythical creatures that hide in our closets and under our beds, because the real monsters live inside humans themselves. People do terrible and cruel things to each other every single day, and we would like to think that that the people who live alongside us are not capable of such things because it makes life a little less frightening. No one wants to go through their lives thinking that anyone they meet or encounter during their day could be someone to harm them.

The Fall of the Titans

The battles and prejudices between the Original Greek Gods, the Titans, and the younger Greek Gods, the Olympians, are in no way unheard of. The Titans were the rulers of all and the strongest beings…. That is… Until their children overthrew them. Of course, certain Titans and Olympians were stronger than others of their kind. The Titans (Immortal giants who were the children of Gaia and Uranus, also known as Earth and Sky), were a race of deities who ruled during the Golden Age and were overthrown when the 3 major gods; Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, rebelled against their father, Cronus.

 

                Cronus was the last Titan ruler to come before the Olympian Gods. He overthrew his father, Uranus, and took power after. Unfortunately for Cronus, his parents, Gaia and Uranus, told him of a prophecy which said that he would be overthrown by one of his children, just as he had overthrown his father. In a desperate attempt on Cronus’ part to try and prevent the prophecy and his fall in power, he decided to get rid of all of his children. He ate Demeter, Hestia, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon once they were born, knowing that one of them could steal his power from him. He didn’t want to take any chances. Cronus’ female companion and mother of his children, Rhea, wanted revenge on Cronus for what he did to their children and to his own father. She went to Cronus’ mother, Gaia, and made a plan with her. Rhea was having a sixth child whom she kept a secret from Cronus. She gave Cronus as stone wrapped up, which he then ate as he believed it was their child, and hid Zeus away.

 

                Once Zeus had finally grown up, he returned to take vengeance on his father. He forced Cronus to take an emetic, which is something that induces vomiting, so he would release his brothers and sisters from his stomach. Once he had released them, there was a major war called Titanomachy ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanomachy ). The Olympians battled the Titans and the Titans were overthrown. The Titans were then banished and exiled to the pit of Tartarus in the Underworld.

 

                The question of this brutal history is, would the Titans have been overthrown without Zeus? Cronus was the most powerful Titan and had eliminated his other children. Without Zeus freeing his siblings and leading the rebellion, Cronus would not have fallen from power quite so soon. If Zeus hadn’t overthrown his father, it is uncertain how much longer the Titans would have ruled. The real question is, why was it Zeus that had to overthrow his father? He was the youngest of the family and his 2 brothers are almost as powerful. Did it happen to be the child that Rhea saved who would overthrow Cronus, or was it predestined to be Zeus’ fate?