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#41664 09/13/01 05:09 PM
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Questions bubbling up from the events on all of our minds:

How did the olive branch become a symbol of peace?

Is it such a symbol in cultures other than western civilization?



#41665 09/13/01 05:18 PM
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It's what the dove carried back to the Ark to let Noah know that the waters of The Flood were receeding. I guess the olive branch got its peacefulness from being linked with the bird -- metaphor by association, I guess. But why is the dove a symbol of peace?...


#41666 09/14/01 01:06 AM
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The olive branch was delivered by the dove to the ark as a symbol of God's promise to not destroy the Earth through flooding again. Peace.


#41667 09/14/01 01:58 AM
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But is the Bible the sole or original source? I ask that because the olive branch was apparently also a peace symbol within the separate tradition of classical Greek mythology.
http://www.bartleby.com/81/12416.html


#41668 09/14/01 04:04 AM
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But is the Bible the sole or original source? I ask that because the olive branch was apparently also a peace symbol within the separate tradition of classical Greek mythology.

Carl Jung and his followers have noted that mankind shares common symbols (see Jung's book, Man and His Symbols). After taking a course in children's literature some years ago, I realized that fairy tales tell essentially the same stories, despite their having been told in parts of the world with no contact with one another. We have a common human experience. So, now that I've laid bare my limited knowledge, would somebody pass me a fig leaf?


#41669 09/14/01 02:25 PM
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Militis in galea nidum fecere columbae

Does anyone have the rest of this poem? It's by Petronius Arbiter. Roughly "the doves have made their nest in the soldier's helmet, see how Venus loves Mars."


#41670 09/16/01 01:34 AM
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would somebody pass me a fig leaf?

Now, Geoff, that is way too much information for this forum...unless I am mistaken, aren't fig leaves rather small...and you need just one??



#41671 09/16/01 01:53 AM
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bel, you must be precise: he wants just one.
BTW: how does one attach a fig leaf?


#41672 09/16/01 02:05 AM
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Now, see, that's the beauty of language...in one fell swoop and by emphasizing just one word - "wants" - poor Geoff has gone from being sadly unendowed to being somewhat of an exhibitionist.

um, aren’t figs rather sticky. Does wonders for leaf-sticking I would think. But one would have to ask an expert...yoo-hoo, oh Geoff



#41673 09/16/01 02:16 AM
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a mechanism akin to velcro?


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