Abstract
NO archæologist denies that in the “myth-making age” (whenever that may have been; we are still making myths now) our primitive ancestors were often struck with the appearance of the heavenly bodies, and made pretty stories out of them. But what he does deny is that, at any rate in the case of Greece, the majority of the myths, or anything like the majority, are of celestial origin. We know, also, far too much about the probable early history of the Ægean countries to believe for a moment that many Greek legends (as distinct from myths) are connected with the movements of the sun, moon, and stars. But the Hon. Miss Plunket finds an astronomical explanation for all legends as well as myths. She confuses the two; for her Achilles or, Agamemnon are as unreal as Aphrodite and Hera, and all four are but symbols, so to speak, of some aspect of the heavenly bodies at some time or other.
The Judgment of Paris, and some other Legends Astronomically Considered.
By the Hon. Emmeline M. Plunket. Pp. iv + 199; illustrated. (London: J. Murray, 1908.) Price 7s. 6d. net.
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HALL, H. The Judgment of Paris, and some other Legends Astronomically Considered . Nature 79, 335 (1909). https://doi.org/10.1038/079335a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/079335a0