Dogs in mythology.

Dogs in mythology.

In many cultures dogs were considered to be saint animals and sometimes even gods. It is difficult to say why people started to make cult of them. Perhaps, dogs played a very important role in the life of people and people paid particular attention to them that is why people thought they were as smart as human.

Ancient people thought that animals were the companions of gods. And they began to identify some gods with animals.

In Rome the temple of Jupiter was guarded by dogs. The Romans sacrificed dogs to Mars when they wanted the puppies to be strong and ferocious. If the sacrifice was made before the battle they wanted to bear up the soldiers and make them courage and devoted. Sometimes the Romans told fortune by the body of the killed dog. But the most popular in Rome were the small sized breeds of dogs.

Romans coins had the image of dogs, as well as thousands of temples and halls of the palaces.

Dogs were used during wars almost in all countries of the world.

In Greece dogs were honoured. As Greece people were those who invented astronomy, one of the constellations got the title "Canis Major". And when the biggest star of this constellation rose, the New Year came to Athens.

Dogs were the guarders of many Greece temples. Dogs let to enter them only Greece people and became aggressive when they saw strangers.

According to legends dogs saved the city Corinth. 50 dogs guarded the city and when the enemy came, they fought to death until the human help came. Only one dog was saved. The others died.

A dog was especially honoured in the Ancient Egypt. When a dog died in the Egypt family, all its members went into mourning. They shaved their heads and ate nothing for a long time. There was a special ceremony for the burial of dogs. There were also a lot of special cemeteries only for dogs.

According to Greece mythology the dog with snakes on its neck was guarding the entrance to the underground kingdom. The goddess Hecate was considered to be accompanied by the group of dogs and the goddess by herself was considered to have the head of the dog or to bark or to be the incarnation of the dog. According to mythology this goddess was able to provoke horror dreams.

Some tribes of Ethiopia believed in the dog-god too. When a dog was barking they considered it to be a bad sign but if the dog was happy and was playing they thought it was he blessing of the god.

In Egypt the god of all dead people was Anubis who was considered to have the head of a dog. The images of Anubis with the head of a dog were made in temples and in halls of palaces. The centre of the cult of Anubis was the city Kinopol – the city of dogs. And if the dog of this city was killed it could be the reason to start a war.

Any way in mythology of many cultures dogs played this or that role and somehow were related with underground kingdom and death. Maybe because death required intelligence and patience.