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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Dear Kerry, You wrote: > My candidate for the origin of the term and mythology. Plny's > Natural History. Are you seriously sugesting that Pliny originated the Greek term _basiliskos_? Or that the mythology surrounding this creature has its origin in his _Natural History_? In view of the multiplicity of references to the basilisk in surviving ancient Greek and Latin writing, why should one believe either of these propositions? You also say: > See more: > http://webhome.idirect.com/~donlong/monsters/Html/Basilisk.htm It > seems pretty well documented and I could not find an earlier > citation. I read that recently as well and came away with the impression that it was largely reasonable but insufficiently reliable in matters of detail. To say that Pliny's _Natural History_ was written in 77 confounds that encyclopedia's likely date of dedication with its presumably much longer time of composition. To say that Lucan's _Pharsalia_ was written "c. 65 AD" when Lucan died in 65 is obviously inaccurate, as it allows for composition by the author after his death. To refer to Ammianus Marcellinus as a "Latin author" while passing over in silence his Greek parentage and culture or the fact that Latin was for him an acquired language may be thought misleading in an account that routinely tags ancients as either Latins or Greeks. To place the composition of Heliodorus' _Aethiopica_ in Greece is to engage in fiction: H. came from Emesa in Syria and we don't know where the work was written (though one candidate, not surprisingly, is Emesa). To credit someone capable of such blunders with accuracy in other matters that one has not verified on one's own is dangerous. Best, John Dillon ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html