Favorite Deity

O.K., I just checked the poll on this site (hadn't checked it in a while) to see who is leading the favorite god or goddess question.  Right now, the winner is Poseidon!  He has the lead but is closely followed by Athena and Apollo (both tied for second).  Where does Zeus come into play?  He has a measly three votes.  Come on people!  THE KING OF THE GODS being out voted for by Demeter???  And poor Hera.  Not only does she spend her time running around tormenting heifers, but she only got one vote (right along with Artemis).  What really kills me is that Hestia got two votes.  There are two people in this world that actually voted for Hestia as a favorite deity.  Come on.  Fess up.  Who voted for her?   I picked Poseidon because as a swim coach and a beach lover, I feel a connection with the god of the ocean.  So who did you pick?

Wine of the Gods

I'm reading a little political thriller titled Act of Treason by Vince Flynn when I came along this little quote:

"Retsina is a Greek wine that is preserved with pine resin.  To some deluded Greek nationalists it is the wine of the gods.  To anyone who has ever tasted a decent bottle of French Bordeaux, retsina is about as enjoyable as drinking turpentine."

Well, I didn't know that about the wine of the gods.  Heck, I don't know much about wine at all, not being a big drinker.  When I do drink, it is with a distinctly low budget taste - very sweet and as un-dry as you can get.  So I looked it up.  Here is what I found:

Funny enough, the Epicurious Dictionary (of which I do not own a copy) says that retsina is "sappy and turpentinelike."  Ha!  Right from my book.  But that still doesn't tell me how they get the wine of the gods.  I continued my search and found out that you must pair it with Greek foods to get the full flavor (doesn't help me much), it gets its flavor from pine resin (well maple syrup is tree sap too and that's not too bad), and - FINALLY - the pine flavor made people think that it was tree nymph tears.  I'm not so sure that drinking tears sounds to appetizing (even if it is the tears of a mythological being.  

Heck, I'd try it.  Probably hate it, but I'd try it.  How about you?  Anyone out there ever try this stuff?  Leave a comment and tell me if it is as godly as they say.

If you'd like to read about wine and mythology from around the world, hit this link. AND DON'T FORGET TO TELL ME WHAT THIS STUFF TASTES LIKE!

Now You See Me...

O.K., longer posts are coming soon - just let me get all my grades turned in.  I guess students should be more important than blogging...

There is a news article out about a cloak of invisibility.  It is pretty cool in that they are close to developing an actual material that when wrapped around something it becomes essentially invisible.  This is different from the inivisible British tank which uses little camera to reflect the scene on the other side of the tank (supposedly battle ready in a few years).  No this is a material using fiberglass that bends the light rays around it.

I say BIG DEAL!  Pluto has been doing it for centuries and he only uses a helmet.  

Biblical Mythology

Mythology is all around us.  There I was sitting in church this Sunday when I ran across this passage in Acts 14 (here are verses 11-13 from the New International Version):

 11When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" 12Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. 13The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.

What we have here is the temple where Zeus was worshipped.  This temple was built because of two trees that grew here.  You know this story, Baucis and Philemon, the only two who were kind to Zeus and Hermes (both in disguise).  They gave what they had and as reward, the old couple were turned into trees so that they could be together for much longer.  

Here is Paul and Barnabas preaching the gospel and the people assumed it was the two gods again! What is the rest of this story?  When Paul told them they were not gods, the people got so angry that they stoned him and left him for dead. 

I know this is not the only mythology shown in the New Testament.  As we study Paul in class, I'll keep my eyes peeled for more instances.  If you know of any, post a comment!

Name the Mars Land Rover

I got this e-mail, but alas!  I'm no longer teaching a mythology course.  So maybe some of you would like to participate.  I'm sure that we could find a good mythology name for it:

NASA is inviting students in grades K-12 to help name the rover for the Mars Science Laboratory mission:  http://marsrovername.jpl.nasa.gov.  K-12 students can write a short essay suggesting a name, and may even win a trip to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to meet the engineers who built it.  The winner will also have the chance to sign his or her name on the rover prior to its launch.

Students 13 and younger must submit a mail-in form with a parent/guardian signature.  Students 14-18 years old may submit by mail or online. The contest ends January 25, 2009.  http://marsrovername.jpl.nasa.gov 

Now, for those of us without students to rope into this, let's throw out our ideas.  What mythological name suits the beast that roams the face of the god of war?

Virgen Birth?

No the above is not a misspelling.  In keeping with an earlier post about virgin births, I thought you might be interested in this article found in the news.