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| Bacchus (by Caravaggio) |
USA Today reports that two Michigan neighbors dug up 42 mastodon bones from one of their backyards.
The great Greek god of grapes, Dionysus (aka "Bacchus"), would have been well pleased had they celebrated with a glass of wine. He, too, had been destined to cross paths with these mighty beasts.
Legend has it that Dionysus was fathered by Zeus, king of the Mount Olympus gods. Dionysus’ mother, however, was not Zeus’ wife Hera. Therein
the problem lies.
Hera was determined to get rid of this dastardly reminder of her husband’s infidelity. Theoi.com tells us that she therefore “threw” Dionysus “into a state of madness, in which he wandered about through many countries of the earth.”
Along the way, Dionysus fought many a great battle. With a little
help from his “host of Pans, Satyrs, and Bacchic women,” Dionysus managed to charm most of his enemies. Nevertheless, he sometimes needed to bring out the big guns.
These “big guns” turned out to be mastodons. It is said that Dionysus drove the Amazons from the Aegean island of Samos by employing an army of elephants. The site
upon which this is said to have occurred is known as Panaima, which means “Bloody Battlefield.”
Panaima contains some of the most prolific fossil beds in all of Europe.
The presence of all these mastodon bones might have long ago inspired the Greek myth of Dionysus and the war elephants.
Resources
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/01/12/neighbors-find-mastodon-bones-backyard/21643043/#?ocid=
http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Dionysos.html
Copyright January 13, 2015 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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