Classical Mythology Article Review

19 April 2013

Article Review

In class, we had to write a short review of a scholarly article that treats some aspect of mythology. I chose to review the article “The Mercurial Significance of Raiding”: Baby Hermes and the Animal Theft in Contemporary Crete, by Adele Haft. In this article, Haft suggests that the practices and events, like animal thievery, embedded in Homeric Hymn to Hermes reflect on actual social events that exist in past and post society (Haft 29). Haft compared and contrasts the ideology in the Hymn to justify the Glendiots action of stealing animals from neighbors, in which she made some very valid and interesting points. In the article, there were two excuses/justification for why the Glendiots would steal animals: to rid themselves of hunger and to make friends.

Glendiots excused their raids by complaining about the “hunger” they endured under the Turks and later the Germans (Haft 30). This is one of the main points that Haft pointing out in her article that I thought she executed very well. Haft researched and concluded that “hunger” implies “dissatisfaction” because of the neglect or oppression by the politically powerful imposed on the Glendiot community (Haft 30). By stealing neighboring animals and eating it, this would satisfy their hunger. In a way, stealing is an act of rebellion against the government or the higher political power. In the beginning of the article, Haft said that, some people stole neighboring animals to “assert their masculinity” (Haft 27). In a way, the Glendiot steals to rebel against the higher power, show them how tough they are, and satisfy their hunger. Haft justifies the Glendiot’s actions with examples from the Hymn. In the Hymn, Hermes experienced a desire for meat, this part in the poem would parallel with the glendiot’s claim that they steal because they are hungry. As the article continues, Haft explains how Hermes hunger drives him to steal Apollo’s cattle (Haft 30) and she even defend the...