Sarama and Her Children Read online

  To get back to China, the most famous dog lover was Empress Tzu Hsi. She came to power in 1861 and before she died, left a poem about the ‘butterfly dog’. In China and Indochina, there are several legends about a dog ancestor. And in both Tibet and China, statues of lion-dogs can be found, serving as guardians of temples. The Mongolians revered dogs, and Genghis Khan gave his four great generals (Zev, Subedei, Zelme and Khubilai) titles of ‘dogs of war’. Both Tibetans and Mongolians have stories of dog ancestors and humans being reincarnated as dogs. Often, great Buddhist sages (Kukkuripa, Kukuraja) have names with ‘dog’ (kukkura) as prefix.

  Dogs feature extensively in the sculpture and pottery of Greece. Artemis, and Diana, the Roman counterpart, had hunting dogs. Homer’s epics are full of references to dogs. There is the faithful hound Argos, the only one to recognize Odysseus (Ulysses) when he returned, described in Homer’s ‘Odyssey’. King Odysseus of Ithaca went off to the Trojan War, leaving his dog Argos behind and we must remember that Odysseus had bred and raised Argos himself. When he returned nineteen years later in disguise, Argos was the only one who recognized Ulysses and old with age, tried to raise himself. In Odysseus’ absence, Argos had been neglected and was thrown out of the house by the slaves. Having been reunited with Ulysses, Argos died in peace.

  As they were thus talking, a dog that had been lying asleep raised his head and pricked up his ears. This was Argos, whom Ulysses had bred before setting out for Troy, but he had never had any work out of him. In the old days he used to be taken out by the young men when they went hunting wild goats, or deer, or hares, but now that his master was gone he was lying neglected on the heaps of mule and cow dung that lay in front of the stable doors till the men should come and draw it away to manure the great close; and he was full of fleas. As soon as he saw Ulysses standing there, he dropped his ears and wagged his tail, but he could not get close up to his master. When Ulysses saw the dog on the other side of the yard, he dashed a tear from his eyes without Eumaeus seeing it, and said: ‘Eumaeus, what a noble hound that is over yonder on the manure heap: his build is splendid; is he as fine a fellow as he looks, or is he only one of those dogs that come begging about a table, and are kept merely for show?’ ’This hound,’ answered Eumaeus, ‘belonged to him who has died in a far country. If he were what he was when Ulysses left for Troy, he would soon show you what he could do. There was not a wild beast in the forest that could get away from him when he was once on its tracks. But now he has fallen on evil times, for his master is dead and gone, and the women take no care of him. Servants never do their work when their master’s hand is no longer over them, for Jove takes half the goodness out of a man when he makes a slave of him.’ As he spoke he went inside the buildings to the cloister where the suitors were, but Argos died as soon as he had recognized his master.8

  Homer also described dogs owned by the swineherd Eumaeus. Diodorus tells us the story of Gelon, tyrant of Syracuse. Gelon was having a nightmare and cried out in his sleep. Noticing his master’s cries, the dog kept on barking and would not stop until Gelon had awoken from his nightmare. Xanthippus was the father of Pericles. In 480 BCE, the Athenians abandoned their city and fled to Salamis Island so that they could fight the Persians at sea. Plutarch tells us, ‘Much affecting fondness was shown by the tame domestic animals, which ran along with yearning cries of distress by the side of their masters as they embarked. A story is told of one of these, the dog of Xanthippus, the father of Pericles, how he could not endure to be abandoned by his master, and so sprang into the sea, swam across the strait by the side of his master’s trireme, and staggered out on Salamis, only to faint and die straightway. They say that the spot which is pointed out to this day as ‘Dog’s Mound’ is his tomb.’9 This place is known as Cynossema, meaning dog’s grave, and is on the Hellespont. There is also a slightly different legend associated with Cynossema. Hecuba or Hekaba was the wife of Priam and mother of Hector. Her eventual fate, after the Trojans lost the war, is connected with Cynossema. In most accounts, Hecuba eventually became a dog and her grave, Cynossema, was used as a signpost by ships. Both Aristotle and Aristophanes have written about dogs.

  The Greeks extensively used watchdogs and this may have led to the idea of the underworld being guarded by Cerberus. One of these famous Greek watchdogs was named Soter or Soetr. There were fifty such watchdogs together with Soter, and Soter alone survived an attack by invaders. Soter then ran to the gates of Corinth to warn the Greeks that the invaders were coming. When the enemy was beaten back, in 4 BCE, Soter became the first dog in recorded history to have a monument dedicated to him. The village of Mollosis (Moloch) in Greece produced mastiffs that were used as fighting dogs in the army by the rulers of Assyria and Persia, as well as by Alexander the Great. These were known as Mollosian dogs, which have now disappeared. Alexander the Great may have crossed short-haired Indian dogs with Macedonian and Epirian war dogs to create the Mollosus. Alexander the Great owned a Mollosian named Peritas. In separate fighting matches, Peritas apparently killed a lion and an elephant. Alexander the Great founded a city named Peritas in his dog’s memory. In On Hunting, Xenophon gives us possible names of dogs and tells us that hounds must have short names, so that they can be easily called. In Xenophon’s Memorabilia of Socrates, a story is attributed to Socrates that is Aesopian in flavour.

  ‘And do you not tell them,’ said Socrates, ‘the fable of the dog? For they say that when beasts had the faculty of speech, the sheep said to her master, “You act strangely, in granting nothing to us who supply you with wool, and lambs, and cheese, except what we get from the ground; while to the dog, who brings you no such profits, you give a share of the food which you take yourself.” The dog, hearing these remarks, said, “Yes, by Jove, for I am he that protects even yourselves, so that you are neither stolen by men, nor carried off by wolves; while, if I were not to guard you, you would be unable even to feed, for fear lest you should be destroyed.” In consequence it is said that the sheep agreed that the dog should have superior honour.’10

  In both Greece and Rome, there were special healing dogs known as cynotherapists. They were kept in temples and they licked the wounds of the sick and the dying, especially in the temple of Asklepios at Epidaurus. Evidently, there were miraculous recoveries. The god of cynotherapists was Hermanubis, which is Hermes plus Anubis combined. From classical Greece, we have the cults of Asklepios (the healer) and Eileithyia (the goddess of childbirth). With Asklepios, we have the practice of dogs curing illnesses by licking the afflicted area. Aelian tells us a story about a temple of Asklepios in Athens. A thief came to the temple in the night to steal some offerings. 11 A guard dog gave chase and kept on barking, despite being tempted by the thief with choice food. In fact, the dog followed the thief to his house and the thief was caught. As a token of appreciation, the dog was rewarded. Dogs were sacrificed to Eileithyia to ease childbirth pains. Dogs were even used for diagnosis. The dog was placed in contact with the diseased person and was thought to take on the disease. The dog could then be killed and examined for diagnosis. Pliny recommended such treatment (using a puppy) for stomach ailments. In Sparta, dogs were used to cure wounds inflicted by weapons. Mesopotamia and Anatolia were no different. Gula was the Mesopotamian goddess of healing and dogs were her sacred creatures. In some recent research, it has been confirmed that dogs have advance warning of various types of disease, especially cancer.

  And there was Cerberus, who was the goddess Hecate’s dog, Hecate herself sometimes depicted as dog-headed. The twelfth labour of Hercules (or Heracles) involved bringing the three-headed Cerberus, guardian of the lower world, temporarily to earth. He could not do this alone of course, but needed Athena’s help. Most descriptions of Cerberus speak of him as having had three heads, but there are vases that show him with two heads. And Hesiod’s Theogony tells us that Cerberus was brass voiced and had fifty heads. The identification of dogs with the afterworld is not unusual. For instance, in ancient Persia, dogs were the preferred means o
f disposing dead bodies. There may also have been a scavenging function in battlegrounds. However, it was not only the scavenging role that rendered them supposedly unclean. In addition, dead bodies are associated with evil spirits and there was that angle as well. Cerberus, the three-headed black dog, guarded the gates of hell or Hades. Rather interestingly, Cerberus loved music, because he was lulled to sleep by Orpheus’ music. Cerberus’ brother was the two-headed Orthrus. Garm was the guardian of Niefheim in Germanic myths and of Hel in Norse myths. In Welsh mythology, white hounds with red ears lived in Annwn, the afterworld ruled by Arawn, lord of death.

  This association with the afterworld or dead souls did not prevent dogs from being elevated to divinity. Anubis springs to mind. In Mexican (Mayan) tradition, there is the lion-coloured dog or god Nahua Xolotl or Pek, who heralded the coming of death. Xolotl went along with the sun god on his journey to the underworld and dogs from the Xoloitzcuntli breed were sacrificed at funerals. Sometimes, the dead person’s dog was sacrificed, so that the dog would be available to guard his master in the afterworld. The Aztecs also raised small dogs, the ancestors of the Chihuahua, to feed carnivores in royal zoos. Dogs were prized throughout native and indigenous America and Africa. There are stories about dog ancestors. From the Aztec civilization, we have the remains of pull-along toys and these have dogs on wheels. In many witch trials, even more recent ones, there are references to dogs as familiars.

  In the 23rd Book of the Iliad, Achilles’ friend Patrolokus died and his funeral pyre was being arranged. Patrolokus had nine dogs. Two of these were killed by Achilles and placed on the funeral pyre. Among Parsis in India, the custom of placing a dog before a dying person is followed, so that the person dying can look at a dog before dying. While not quite cynotherapy, there also seems to be a tradition of bringing a dog near a diseased person. If the dog does not howl, the diseased person is likely to recover. But if the dog does howl, death is certain. In the Zoroastrian tradition, the dog is the guardian of the Bridge of Judgement or Chinvat. Dead people are judged before this bridge and the righteous are accompanied across the bridge by the dog on to paradise. Some Sudanese tribes and the Iroquois of North America believe that sacrificed dogs can carry messages to the dead. Even now, in Guatemala, figures of dogs are placed around tombs. In the Hittite civilization (second millennium BCE), puppies rather than adult dogs were sacrificed. Isaiah 66.2–3 states, ‘The one slaughtering the bull is as one striking down a man. The one sacrificing the sheep is as one breaking the neck of a dog.’ These are forbidden practices listed in the Bible. However, if the breaking of the neck of a dog was not known and common, why mention it? But as we said earlier, the association with death does not automatically imply a negative connotation for dogs, even if there is no association with divinity. Other than Anubis, even Artemis-Diana was a bit of a bitch goddess and led the Scythian alani or hunting dogs. Then there was the Roman cult of the goddess Lupa, a wolf bitch.

  When a civilization or economy does well, perhaps the status of dogs also gets elevated. Stray dogs are impossible to find in developed countries. Strays have metaporphosed into pets. But stray dogs are everywhere in developing countries. Therefore, as in Greece, dogs obtained a good deal in Rome also. Legend has it that Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome, were raised and suckled by a she-wolf, which may indeed have been some kind of hybrid between a wolf and a dog. Mowgli is the Indian version of this. Mowgli is fiction. But many years ago, in 1920, in Midnapore, we had Kamala and Amala as wolf-children or feral children.12 The Romans were the first true dog-breeders and there were guard dogs, messenger dogs, fighting dogs that fought slaves, gladiators and wild animals, and dogs of war (the Mollosians), not to forget dogs used in sacrifices and eaten in dog stew. At the time of the annual festival of Robigalia, a dog was sacrificed at the fifth milestone on the Via Claudia. Pompeii was destroyed by Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. In Pompeii’s excavations, the remains of a dog lying across a child have been found, apparently trying to protect the child. This dog was named ‘Delta’ and we know this from the silver collar Delta wore. The collar also tells us that Delta belonged to Severinus, and that he had saved Severinus from a wolf. Mosaics have been found in Pompeii. These have Mollossians depicted on them, with the sign cave canem, meaning ‘beware of the dog’, as in contemporary signs before houses.

  The Romans also imported dogs from other parts of the world. In 391 CE, the Consul Quintus Aurelius Symmachus wrote a letter to his brother, thanking him for the seven Irish hounds he had sent, which all Rome viewed with wonder. British hounds and mastiffs were apparently prized as fighting dogs. These were known as pugnaces or war dogs. The first dog-breeding literature is also of Roman origin. Almost two thousand years ago, Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (1 CE) wrote a book titled De Re Rustica. This was about agriculture, animal husbandry and farm management and also had sections on dog breeding. Columella probably became popular because of Pliny the Elder’s (23–79 CE) book Naturalis Historia, a bit like an encyclopaedia. Pliny the Elder quoted Columella extensively. Such as the statement that madness in dogs is dangerous for human beings when Sirius (the dog star) is shining and that at such times, it is a good idea to mix dung with fowl meat in the dog’s diet as a precaution against rabies. However, if the dog has already caught rabies, one can try hellebore. Columella also suggested that lopping off dog’s tails, forty days after whelping, reduces the probability of rabies. This belief has clearly taken deep root. Columella thought white dogs were indicated as sheepdogs, because there was less probability of mistaking the dogs for wild animals. Conversely, black dogs were indicated as domestic watchdogs, because black dogs looked scarier to thieves, especially during the day. In On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (1859), Charles Darwin (1809–82) referred to Columella. ‘Shepherd dogs in Italy must anciently have closely resembled wolves, for Columella (vii. 12) advises that white dogs be kept, adding, “pastor album probat, ne pro lupo canem feriat”. Several accounts have been given of dogs and wolves crossing naturally; and Pliny asserts that the Gauls tied their female dogs in the woods that they might cross with wolves.’13

  There was also a Roman poet named Grattius, at the time of Augustus Caesar. He wrote a poem on hunting, “Cynegetica”, only a part of which survives. In this, he argued that dogs were similar to the people of the country the dogs originated from. Umbrian dogs, from the northern parts of Italy, ran away from their enemies. Tartar dogs had terrible temperaments. Arcadian dogs were tractable and Celtic dogs needed no training to fight. And so on. The answer, according to Grattius, was cross-breeding. There is indeed a continued belief that dogs not only resemble their owners in temperament, but also in appearance.

  Not just in the Pompeii example, but in Greece and Rome generally, the dog has been identified with loyalty and trustworthiness. Fables about dogs occur in many cultures and in many of these, the theme of loyalty and trustworthiness recurs. For instance, the theme that a dog saves a child from a snake by biting the snake to death.14 The child’s parent sees the bloody mouth of the dog and thinks the dog has harmed the child. The dog is killed and the truth discovered later. The Welsh prince Llewllyn’s hound was named Gelert. Gelert was left at home with Llewylln’s son Owain. Llewylln returned to find Gelert with blood on his face and Owain missing. Thinking that Gelert had killed Owain, Llewylln slew Gelert and then discovered a slain wolf and Owain safe next to the dead body. Realizing what had happened, Llewylln erected a statute in Gelert’s memory. In Ireland, the hero Cuchulainn (whose name means hound of Chulainn) killed the watchdog of Chulainn the Smith at the young age of seven, and as compensation, took upon himself the duty of guarding the kingdom of Ulster. He was forbidden from eating dog meat and breaking of this taboo led to his death. The Norse saga of Olaf Triggvasion describes the faithfulness of dogs. King Arthur of England had a hunting dog named Cavall, although the word actually means horse. In the eighth century, the historian Nennius wrot
e Historia Britonnum, from which we derive our stories about King Arthur. Cavall is mentioned in the story “Geraint and Enid” as Arthur’s favourite hound, and Cavall turned a hart towards Arthur. Arthur then chased the hart and beheaded it. In the story of “Culhwch and Olwen”, Cavall killed the ‘Chief Boar Ysgthryrwyn’ and was with Bedwyr (Arthur) when the boar ‘Twrch Trwyth’ was hunted. There is also a mention of the dog’s footprint. ‘There is another wonder in the country called Builth. There is a heap of stones there, and one of the stones placed on top of the pile has the footprint of a dog on it. When he hunted Trwch Trwyth Cafal, the warrior Arthur’s hound, impressed his footprint on the stone, and Arthur later brought together the pile of stones, under the stone in which was his dog’s footprint, and it is called Carn Cafal. Men come and take the stone in their hands for the space of a day and a night, and on the morrow it is found upon the stone pile.’15 William the Conqueror used dogs to guard his camps and track down his enemies. The borders of the Bayeux Tapestry show many breeds of dogs and one panel has King Harold surrounded by a pack of hounds.