Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="Jochen1, post: 5451964, member: 103829"]Dear Friends of ancient coins! I hope the following article contains something new for you. Etymology:(1) Greek:sys, wild boar, domestic pigchoiros, pig in generaldelphax, young sowsybros, boarmolobrion, kolybrion, young pig = wild boar piglet(2) Latin:sus, porcus, pig aper, wild boarscrofa, sowverres, boar (male domestic pig) The large number of different names alone shows us the importance of the pig for the people of antiquity. And a clear distinction was already made between wild boar and domestic pig. The wild boar (Sus scrofa) was found throughout the ancient world north of the Mediterranean, but not in North Africa. Homer counted it among the animals particularly prized by the nobility because its hunt was dangerous and it was a way to prove oneself a brave hero. It was hunted with dogs and used nets, spits and pits. It has become part of many legends. The best known are those of Herakles and the Erymanthian boar, of Theseus and the Crommyonian sow, of the hunt for the Calydonian boar and of the death of Adonis. Socially more important was the role of the domestic pig (Sus scrofa domesticus), which had been known since the Neolithic period among all cultural peoples known to us. It had already been domesticated from the wild boar in the 3rd millenium BC and since it was easy to breed, it was an important source of food. It is never mentioned in Hesiod, only rarely in Homer's Iliad, but then frequently in the Odyssey. Thus Odysseus' most loyal friend on Ithaca was the "divine" Eumaios, who, as Laertes' sowherd, commanded a herd of over 1000 pigs, for which he needed 4 shepherds He himself was the son of King Ktesios of Syria, but had then come to Ithaca as a slave until Telemachos, Odysseus' son, gave him back his freedom. But the pig, as a herd animal, was not only owned by nobles, but also belonged to the property of the so-called "little man". This was also true for the countries of the Near East, where it was generally considered unclean for religious reasons. It was a staple food, especially the piglets were naturally popular, and there were special pork outlets. The cookbook of Apicius contains a large number of recipes for this. He also came up with the idea of fattening pigs with figs in order to contain a particularly tasty liver. This Latin ficatum then became French foie via Italian fegato, which is still found today in the name for foie gras. Originally, pigs were forest animals that could feed on beechnuts and acorns. This "acorn fattening" was exploited, for example, in the Reinhardswald in Hessia/Germany, where in the so-called "Hutewald" (= Herding forest) 200 years ago almost 6,000 pigs and 20,000 sheep and goats were herded at the same time, along with 3,000 horses and 6,000 head of cattle! But pigsties were already known in antiquity. In the Odyssey such pens were used for up to 50 animals, later in Rome for up to 150. Roman authors already recommended pens in which mother pigs could be isolated with their piglets. Castration to achieve a higher live weight was also common. Pigs were known everywhere as sacrificial animals. They were also not assigned to any particular god. Among the Romans, they were slaughtered as expiatory sacrifices and to confirm an oath when concluding a contract of all kinds, for state alliances, but also for marriage contracts. As a group sacrifice, they were the suovetaurilia. Unlike cattle, pigs, like sheep and goats, belonged to the private religious sphere.[ATTACH=full]1237340[/ATTACH] Denarius of Ti. Veturius from the Roman Republic, showing a swearing scene with a pig. Crawford 234/1 The pig already appears in fables (Aesop!) and proverbs in antiquity, on the one hand as the epitome of filthiness, but on the other hand also as something valuable. The Athenians knew the old swearword "Boeotian sow" (Pindar), συοβοιωτος. Scrofula:Here I want to mention scrofula, a disease that got its name from scrofa, mother sow. In former times, this term was used to describe several different diseases of the lymph gland system with ulcers, especially of the neck and face, from which mother sows often suffered, a term that is obsolete today. In the Middle Ages, kingship, e.g. of the Merovingians, was associated with divine salvation, so that these kings could also cure scrofula by the laying on of hands. Thus thousands of sick people came to the royal court every year to be healed. These royal acts were still common under Louis XIV, the Sun King, and among English kings such as the Stuarts. Addendum: The porcelainThe true etymology of the word "porcelain" will probably be unknown to most of us. But to round off this article on the pig, I will mention it here, even though it is somewhat obscene. This name was borrowed in the 15th century from the synonymous porcellana, the Italian word for cowrie or porcelain snail. The latter is so called after the Italian porcellano, an obscene name for the female sexual organ, because its shape is reminiscent of her. Actually it means "little pig" in Italian porco "pig". After the Europeans got to know the porcelain from China and its production was kept secret by the Chinese, many believed that it was made from cowries because of the shiny shell. There are even said to have been experiments on this. So the porcelain snails are not named after the porcelain, but it is the other way round.[ATTACH=full]1237341[/ATTACH] Photo of the cowrie snail Cypraea tigerina. Ventral side Sources:(1) Apicius, Cookbook(2) Friedrich Kluge, Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, 1989(3) The Kleiner Pauly(4) Wikipedia Best regards[/QUOTE]

Create my FREE Account!

Log in or Sign up

Reply to Thread

Useful Searches