Eels in Roman Gardens
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- biogardener
- Kirk_Johnson
- biogardener
- Kirk_Johnson
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» biogardener - Eel, fish or snake?
Kirk, I think I know the answer to your question, I grew up by the Baltic Sea where eels are common. They are really fat and therefore lend themselves best for smoking. That is the only way that Germans ever eat them. If you saw the movie "The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel)" you will remember the locals throwing a horse's head into the sea to attract eels. They got them when they pulled up the head. Germans think of eels as disgusting, in fact, we think of them as snakes, not fish.If the Romans also thought of them as snakes, and I strongly suspect that they did, they may have considered them as sacred. You might want to investigate the possibility.
Germans obviously do not have the same feeling toward snakes as Romans, or else they would not consider them as disgusting.
The worship of snakes has a parallel in the Old Testament where Moses lifted up the snake on a pole and everyone who looked at the snake got healed. That corresponds to the symbol of Hippocrates, and it is a preview of Jesus being lifted up on the cross, so there again is the comparison of the snake to a person to be worshipped.
-- posted by biogardener
» Kirk_Johnson - Re: Eel, fish or snake?
In response to message posted by biogardener:Ancient Roman authors said that eels were a very popular food. Apparently most eels were raised for food. If some eels were seen as sacred, why were these eels singled out?
-- posted by Kirk_Johnson
» biogardener - The sacred was eaten
There is no contradiction between eating and worshiping an animal. That is the way Europeans did it. Eating a sacred animal endued man with its properties. As far as I can think back, only the Hindus do not eat the cattle they worship.In Europe, many animals were thought to represent deities, and they were certainly hunted and eaten. If you ate a bison, you gained its strength. If you ate a snake, you gained its healing properties and maybe also its cleverness.
There may be another aspect to this. Many of the European mythological stories about gods and men tell of contests between them. Gods were not regarded as eternal and untouchable. They had to defend themselves against other gods as well as against the best of men. Being able to outsmart a deity created the greatest of heroes. The Edda is full of these stories, and some of them are quite humerous.
-- posted by biogardener
» Kirk_Johnson - Ancient Egypt
The ancient Egyptians weren't allowed to kill cats, but they must have eaten some of the other animals that they worshipped, since they worshipped so many.I still wonder what was so special about Antonia's favorite eel.
-- posted by Kirk_Johnson
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