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Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws Adrienne Mayor

Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws By Adrienne Mayor

Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws by Adrienne Mayor


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Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws Summary

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

A treasury of astonishing mythic marvels-and the surprising truths behind them

Adrienne Mayor is renowned for exploring the borders of history, science, archaeology, anthropology, and popular knowledge to find historical realities and scientific insights-glimmering, long-buried nuggets of truth-embedded 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 Doyle's sea serpent and Geronimo's dragon; Flaubert's obsession with ancient Carthage; ancient tattooing practices; and the strange relationship between wine goblets and women's breasts since the times of Helen of Troy and Marie Antoinette. And there's much, much more.

Showcasing Mayor's 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.

Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws Reviews

Mayor's 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 *

About Adrienne Mayor

Adrienne Mayor's books include The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's 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.

Additional information

NGR9780691211183
9780691211183
0691211183
Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws: And Other Classical Myths, Historical Oddities, and Scientific Curiosities by Adrienne Mayor
New
Paperback
Princeton University Press
2022-07-26
448
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a new book - be the first to read this copy. With untouched pages and a perfect binding, your brand new copy is ready to be opened for the first time

Customer Reviews - Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws