The narrative of caesarean birth appears on several occasions in Greek mythology: in the birth of Dionysus is the God of the grape harvest and winemaking and wine; in the birth of Asclepius the God of medicine and healing; and in the birth of Adonis the God of beauty and desire. It is possible, however not obligatory, that it was not solely a fantasy but also reflected a contemporary medical pr...

"Felix Mitchell is the biggest drug dealer ever here. He made history in Oakland, Calif.," Owen said. "He's a hero..." He is accused of masterminding the distribution of millions of dollars in heroin and ordering the deaths of five rivals during Oakland's 1980 drug war. But to Owen and scores of kids growing up, as Mitchell did, in East Oakland's bleak 69th Avenue housing projects, Felix Mitche...

If the ancients’ identification of Nergal with the planet Mars has a rational basis, it will provide us with an invaluable foundation upon which to launch a comparative analysis of ancient mythology. Nearly every ancient culture of which we have sufficient record has preserved traditions of a great war-god whose primary functions included leading the battle-charge and defending the kingdom agai...

The global economic crisis that began in 2008 with the failure of American financial institutions has appeared in Europe as a crisis of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) which poses the most profound challenges the European Union (EU) has faced since its founding in 1958. People are asking: how did the EU get itself into this situation and why it is having so much trouble getting out of it? Alt...

This paper argues that our sociological explanations of the historical advent of gender stratification in the Occident has given too much attention to techno-economic causes and too little attention to religious, cultural and ideological causes. Evidence for this claim is taken from archeology, mythology and anthropology for the relevant historical period (4500 and 3000 BC) in Eurasia. I assert...

An emotive consciousness of the issues surrounding incest frequently calls forth revulsion, outrage, fear, concern, and competition. Such responses often legitimate a range of actions that include the protection of children, the blaming of mothers, and the punishment of fathers. This article explores a "systemic" dis-position in conversations on father-daughter incest. The notion of a "Fifth Pr...

In Greek mythology, Sisyphos, king of Corinth, was punished in Hades for his trickery against Thanatos, the God of death. When his time had come and Thanatos came to fetch him, Sisyphos had him chained up so that no one on earth died until Ares, the God of War, came to free Thanatos. Before Sisyphos was taken to the underworld with the help of Ares, he asked his wife to leave his body unburied....