Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws: And Other Classical Myths, Historical Oddities, and Scientific Curiosities

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Description

Adrienne Mayor is renowned for exploring the borders of history, science, archaeology, anthropology, and popular knowledge to find historical realities and scientific insightsglimmering, long-buried nuggets of truthembedded 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 ancient, 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 Doyles sea serpent and Geronimos dragon; Flauberts obsession with ancient Carthage; ancient tattooing practices; and the strange relationship between wine goblets and womens breasts since the times of Helen of Troy and Marie Antoinette. And theres much, much more.

Showcasing Mayors 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.

Reviews

"Mayors cabinet of curiosities conveys admirably her sense of the wonder, complexity, and engrossing strangeness of the ancient Greco-Roman world, as well as the richness and diversity of the many ages that followed."---James Romm, Wall Street Journal
"Covering much more than just myths and monsters, this book also contains information about ancient science and mirages, and everything from tourism to tattoos. . . . This book has a little something for everyone." * Library Journal *
"A good bedstand book, for dipping into at will for a bite-sized diversion."---Janet Brennan Croft, Mythlore
"In this hugely entertaining new anthology of historical curiosities we reap the benefits of Mayors willingness to burrow into the dusty corners of history and to pick up on myths and stories other historians tend to slide past without stopping."---Terry Potter, Letterpress Project
"This delightful collection of 50 mini-essays by Stanford University research scholar Adrienne Mayor answers some of the most fascinating questions readers wouldnt otherwise have thought to ask themselves about classical folklore and the history of science. . . . Mayors inquisitive spirit animates the answers she provides." * Christian Century *
"Mayor has a vast store of knowledge and is a masterful storyteller. Her latest work is a delightful feast for curious minds."---Diana Bentley, Minerva Magazine
"An interesting gallimaufry of 50 short essays that seek to extract nuggets of truth from mythology, legends, and folklore." * Choice Reviews *
"Informative and vastly entertaining."---Anita Guerrini, History Today

Author Bio

Adrienne Mayors books include The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Romes Deadliest Enemy, which was a finalist for the National Book Award, Gods and Robots: Myths, Machines, and Ancient Dreams of Technology, and The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World (all Princeton). She is a research scholar in classics and the history of science at Stanford University.