October

October 04: World Animal Day

"Hippos And Rhinos"

Let’s talk Greekish animals. How about the rhinoceros, hippopotamos, hyena, chameleon and leopard? A rhinoceros translates as “nose horn”, and that’s what it’s called in German and in Dutch. Hippopotamos litterally means “river horse”, the river being the Nile. It’s the great explorer Herodotos, who came up with the name. But from his description, the animal having manes like a horse, and neighing like a horse, it’s obvious he never actually saw one. The hyena, the leopard and the chameleon have kept their original designation in lots of languages. With good reason, because a chameleon would be a “dwarf lion”, a hyena a “lady pig”, and the leopard a “lion-panther”. Because of this denotation, it’s been suggested that maybe the ancient Greeks thought that lions only mated with panthers, and had leopards as their offspring. With consequences for the Atalante myth. Her and her partner’s transformation into lions would then be a punishment, not being able to express their love. That doesn’t suit me at all.​