'Cyclops' myth revealed?

artman @_@artman @_@
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Screw President Bush, Lawyers and Dictators...I wanna see a one-eyed elephant.



"IRAKLIO, Greece (AP) -- Researchers on the southern Greek island of Crete have unearthed the fossilized tusk, teeth and bones of a Deinotherium Gigantisimum, a fearsome elephant-like creature that might have given rise to ancient legends of one-eyed cyclops monsters."







:eek: Wow. That is very cool. Makes you wonder what other freaky beasts were roaming around millions of years ago. And how our ancestors tried to rationally explain their existence to themselves...



<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/01/29/elephant.ancestors.ap/index.html"; target="_blank">CNN story...</a>

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    giantgiant Posts: 6,041member
    When I saw it on CNN I was trying to figure out why this was news. Maybe because the skull was found in Greece? Are there really people out there that don't know about the elephant skull/cyclops myth theory?
  • Reply 2 of 11
    thttht Posts: 5,444member
    <strong>Originally posted by Artman @_@:

    Screw President Bush, Lawyers and Dictators... I wanna see a one-eyed elephant.

    ...

    :eek: Wow. That is very cool. Makes you wonder what other freaky beasts were roaming around millions of years ago. And how our ancestors tried to rationally explain their existence to themselves...</strong>



    Err... the elephant had two eyes The CNN newsbit was just speculating that the nasal cavity (for the trunk) seen in fossils were construed as an ocular cavity.



    And you're right, this stuff is much much more interesting than GWB, Iraq, and lawyers. The most interesting about the SOTU address was the rumor about Bush announcing Project Prometheus! But it apparently never came to be.



    There is also a theory about the source of the Amazons being in a horse culture (whose name escapes me) in the Russian steppes and central Asia. They had mounted female warriors with bows and arrows and all.



    [ 01-29-2003: Message edited by: THT ]</p>
  • Reply 3 of 11
    artman @_@artman @_@ Posts: 2,546member
    Uh. Hehe...just realized...my bad. <img src="embarrassed.gif" border="0">



    Still, interesting that the natives who found the skulls thought that the hole was maybe where an eye would be...therefore the "Must be the evil Cyclops monster!" explanation...
  • Reply 4 of 11
    artman @_@artman @_@ Posts: 2,546member
    [quote]Originally posted by THT:

    <strong>There is also a theory about the source of the Amazons being in a horse culture (whose name escapes me) in the Russian steppes and central Asia. They had mounted female warriors with bows and arrows and all.

    </strong><hr></blockquote>





    You mean these chicks? Sorry, didn't know where to go to find a related image...but I rmembered this album cover...







    Mongolian women? Think they were on horseback too.
  • Reply 5 of 11
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    The Cossacks are the definitive steppe-based warrior culture, though I don't think they were around early enough to justify Amazon myths. The Scythians, however, were the inhabitants of Ukraine during the time of the ancient Greeks. Perhaps it is them. They rode horses as well, and invented pants. (because pants are much better when it comes to riding horses in cold climates).
  • Reply 6 of 11
    thttht Posts: 5,444member
    The <a href="http://www.exn.ca/mummies/Siberia.cfm"; target="_blank">Pazyraks</a>.



    The Pazyryks were a tribe related to the Scythians, an ancient horse-riding race of nomads who ruled the steppes of Central Asia between the 8th century BC until they disappeared around the 4th century BC, possibly victims of conquest and intermarriage. During their reign over regions ranging from Southern Russia and the Ukraine through Northern India to Northwestern China, these fierce warriors ruled by terror. They dominated trade routes towards the Black Sea, and practiced trade themselves, especially in horses for which they were renowned.



    Much of what we know about the Scythians, who had no written language, has come to us through the Greek historian Herodotus. He devoted half a volume to them, stressing their ferocious and war-like nature. He claimed, for example, that young women had no chance to marry until they had killed their first enemy in battle. Graves of men and women showed that both genders were buried with their own weapons, indicating that women may indeed have been warriors in their culture.



    Watched it on Nova several years ago.
  • Reply 7 of 11
    artman @_@artman @_@ Posts: 2,546member
    [quote]Originally posted by THT:

    <strong>The <a href="http://www.exn.ca/mummies/Siberia.cfm"; target="_blank">Pazyraks</a>.

    Watched it on Nova several years ago.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Yeah, I saw it just last year! I love the tattoo works. It would be cool if there was a good artist's representation (a la National Geographic) of what the queen and her subjects may have looked instead of seeing a shrivelled up corpse...I know the clothing was in fantastic condition. And on her skin...the tattoos.
  • Reply 8 of 11
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    Scythians were also quite good at metallurgy, especially in the case of gold.



    It's interesting how the Ukrainians were basically a bunch of psychos on horseback until the 20th century. Makes me proud to be of Ukrainian descent.
  • Reply 9 of 11
    groveratgroverat Posts: 10,872member
    What the hell is a steppe?
  • Reply 10 of 11
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    [quote]Originally posted by groverat:

    <strong>What the hell is a steppe?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    It's a piece of land that's smells better than Texas.
  • Reply 11 of 11
    gardenofearthlydelightsgardenofearthlydelights Posts: 963member
    [quote]Originally posted by giant:

    <strong>When I saw it on CNN I was trying to figure out why this was news. Maybe because the skull was found in Greece? Are there really people out there that don't know about the elephant skull/cyclops myth theory?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I think it was found in Crete, which raised the speculation that they swam there. Or hitched a ride with Odysseus.
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