Snails in Greek Mythology

Good day dear community, first of all I hope that you had a weekend that has brought some experiences into your life and I would also like to wish you a good start to the weekend! In this post, I would like to go into mythology a little and hope you can expand your knowledge.

Not too long ago, I had a good opportunity to take pictures of this snnail and would like to specifically address Greek mythology where these animals had an important meaning and appear in numerous old writings. There was a legend among farmers that when snails should climb up the stem, this should be a sign of the harvest and was also considered a sign of fertility and the research of this animal has also fascinated some scholars. A good example is the medical effect and so Hippocrates, who is also often regarded as the father of medicine, saw the mucus of snails as a method to give the skin more moisture and he also recommend it against various forms of diseases that had affected the skin and there were also some approaches in which it was used against other diseases. Snails were also used for the production of dyes, which were made from the secretion and the color of the pigment depends on the type of used snail and it quickly developed into a kind of status object and this pigment was particularly popular in noble circles and there are numerous records that document the use and it is suspected that a large market has emerged. Snails were also used as general food and also in mythology snails have a fixed place and it occurs in connection with transformations into a snail and a well-known legend is associated with the goddess Aphrodite who had fallen in love with the sea deity Nerites and she loved him so much that she gave him wings so that he could leave the sea to come with her, however, he preferred to stay in the sea and out of revenge, Nerites was transformed into a snail by her. There are different variations about this legend and in each one it is about a transformation into a snail and snails are also associated with the god of the seas Poseidon and his son Triton, who is also considered a mixed creature.

Thank you very much for stopping by and I hope you could learn something new about mythology! I captured these pictures with my Camera Sony Alpha 6000 plus 55-210 mm lens.