Goat: Any of a genus of horned, bearded mammals widely domesticated for wool, milk, and meat.
This blog is about the actual, literal goat, not the anagram GOAT. A post about the creature as it appears in fables, folklore, mythology, and ritual.
Greek Mythology: Many are familiar with the creature the Satyr, who appears in the form of the Greek God Pan, and in other creatures. Edith Hamilton writes in her work Mythology of the figure known as Marsyas;
"The flute was invented by Athena, but she threw it away because in order to play it she had to puff out her cheeks and disfigure her face. Marsyas, a satyr, found it and played so enchantingly upon it that he dared to challenge Apollo to a contest. The god won, of course, and punished Marsyas by flaying him."
Hamilton writes of Pan and the Satyrs;
"Pan was the chief. He was Hermes' son; a noisy, merry god, the Homeric Hymn in his honor calls him; but he was part animal too, with a goat's horns, and goat's hoofs instead of feet. He was the goatherd's god and the shepherd's god, and also the gay companion of the woodland nymphs when they danced. All wild places were his home, thickets and forests and mountains, but best of all he loved Arcady, where he was born. He was a wonderful musician. Upon his pipes of reed he played melodies as sweet as the nightingale's song. He was always in love with one nymph or another, but always rejected because of his ugliness. Sounds herd in a wilderness at night by the trembling traveler were supposed to be made by him, so that it is easy to see how the expression "panic" fear arose."
"The Satyrs like Pan, were goat-men, and like him they had their home in the wild places of the earth."
Egyptian Mythology: The creature of the ram, a male sheep or goat, had a special place of veneration. Lewis Spence in his work Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends, writes of the worship of the Ram of Mendes;
"This obtained chiefly in the Deltaic cities, such as Hermopolis, Lycopolis, and Mendes, the last named being the most famous shrine. The origin of this worship was merely that of a local and tribal animal god, but, persisting through the changing civilization, it became of more than local influence as the city grew in wealth and importance, while the priesthood were among the most wealthy and powerful in Egypt, and the animal god was identified 'first with the indigenous god Osiris, secondly with the sun-god Ra, and thirdly with the great Ram-god of the South and Elephantine, i.e. Khnemu."
Lewis continues with animal worship as it had relevance to the Greeks;
"Greek writers furnish us with much graphic material concerning these animal cults, as in some instances they were eye-witnesses of the ritual connected with them. Herodotus states that the god Pan and another goat-like deity were worshipped with a wealth of symbolic display and gorgeous rite as gods of generation and fecundity. As in many countries where animal worship obtained the beast chosen for adoration was picked from a number because of certain distinguishing marks upon its hide, was enthroned in much pomp and received an imposing public funeral on its decease."
Lewis writes of the ram as an adornment in the rebuilding of a temple;
"On the stele of Mendes deciphered by Mariette, was found an inscription stating that Ptolemy II Philadelphus rebuilt the temple of Mendes and assisted in person at the enthronement of two Rams, and in a relief on the upper portion of this stele are to be seen the figures of two royal Ptolemies and an Arsinoe making offerings to the Ram and his female counterpart Hetmehit."
In the work by James Frazer, The Golden Bough, he writes of the sacrifice of the ram;
"The Thebans and all other Egyptians who worshipped the Theban god Ammon held rams to be sacred, and would not sacrifice them. But once a year, at the festival of Ammon, they killed a ram, skinned it, and clothed the image of the god in the skin. Then they mourned over the ram and buried it in a sacred tomb. The custom was explained by a story that Zeus had once exhibited himself to Hercules, clad in the fleece, and wearing the head of a ram. Of course, the ram in this case was simply the beast-god of Thebes, as the wolf was the beast-god of Mendes. In other words, the ram was Ammon himself. On the monuments, it is true Ammon appears in semi-human form with the body of a man and the head of a ram. But this only shews that he was in the usual chrysalis state through which beast-gods regularly pass before they emerge a full-blown anthropomorphic gods. The ram, therefore, was killed, not as a sacrifice to Ammon, but as the god himself, whose identity with the beast is plainly shewn by the custom of clothing his image in the skin of the slain ram. The reason for thus killing the ram-god annually may have been that which I have assigned for the general custom of killing a god and for the special Californian custom of killing the divine buzzard. As applied to Egypt, this explanation is supported by the analogy of the bull-god Apis, who was not suffered to outlive a certain term of years. The intention of thus putting a limit to the life of the human god was, as I have argued, to secure him from the weakness and frailty of age. The same reasoning would explain the custom-probably an older one-of putting the best-god to death annually, as was done with the ram of Thebes."
Agriculture: Frazer writes of the goat as the corn-spirit, a widespread belief where the spectre takes on the form of an animal embodiment and is present in the corn, and was intended to be caught or killed in the last sheaf. Frazer writes;
"In some parts of Prussia, when the corn blends before the wind, they say, 'The Goats are chasing each other.' 'The wind is driving the Goats through the corn', 'The Goats are browsing there', and they expect a very good harvest. Again they say, 'The Oats-goat is sitting in the oats-field', 'The Corn-Goat is sitting in the rye-field.' Children are warned not to go into the corn-fields to pluck the blue-corn flowers, or amongst the beans to pluck pods, because the Rye-goat, the Corn-goat, the Oats-goat, or the Bean-goat is sitting or lying there, and will carry them away or kill them'. When a harvester is taken sick or lags behind his fellows at their work, they call out, 'The Harvest-goat has pushed him', 'He has been pushed by the Corn-goat.' In the neighbourhood of Braunsberg (East Prussia) at binding the oats every harvester makes haste, 'lest the Corn-goat push him'."
Aesop's Fables: In the fables of Aesop, the goat was a creature that was repeatedly killed or taken advantage of, and it seemed to be an acceptable practice to treat the creature that way. From the Signet version edited by Jack Zipes;
The Fox and the Goat
A fox had fallen into a well and could not find any means to escape. Eventually, a thirsty goat appeared, and upon noticing the fox, he asked him whether the water was good and plentiful.
Pretending that his situation was not precarious, the fox replied, "Come down, my friend. The water is so good that I can't drink enough of it. Besides, there's such an abundant supply that it can't be exhausted."
When he heard this, the goat did not waste any time and promptly leapt down into the well. After he quenched his thirst, the fox informed them of their predicament and suggested a scheme for their common escape.
"If you will place your forefeet upon the wall and bend your head, I'll run up your back Then I'll help you out."
The goat readily agreed to this proposal, and the fox took advantage of his friend's back and horns and nimbly propelled himself out of the well. Following his escape, he made off as fast as he could, while the goat yelled and reproached him for breaking their bargain. But the fox turned around and coolly remarked to the poor deluded goat, "If you had half as much brains as you have beard, you would never have gone down the well before making sure there was a way up. I'm sorry that I can't stay with you any longer, but I have some business that needs my attention."
The Goatherd and the Goats
It was a stormy day, and the snow was falling fast when a goatherd drove his goats, all covered with white flakes, into a deserted cave for shelter. There he discovered that a herd of wild goats, more numerous and larger than his own, had already taken refuge. The goatherd was so struck by the size and looks of these goats, much more beautiful than his own, that he decided to keep them as well and left his own goats to look after themselves. In fact, he took the branches that he had brought for his own goats, and gave them to the wild ones to browse on. When the weather cleared up, however, he found that his own goats had perished from hunger, while the wild goats had run off into the hills and woods. So the goatherd returned to his village, where his neighbours, mocked him for having failed to capture the wild goats and for having lost his own in the bargain.
Whoever neglects old friends for the sake of new ones deserves what he gets if he loses both.
The Vine and the Goat
There was once a vine teeming with ripe fruit and tender shoots and looking forward to the day when it would provide a bountiful vintage. Suddenly a wanton goat appeared ang gnawed its bark and nibbled its young leaves.
"You have no right to harm me like this," said the vine. "But I would not have to wait long for my just revenge. Even if you crop my leaves and cut me down to my root, I shall provide the wine to pour over you when you're brought as a sacrifice to the altar."
Though it may be late, retribution arrives in the end.
Russian Fables: From the written work, Tales from Russian Folklore, by Alexander Afanasyev;
The Tale of the Fleeced Goat
Listen, do listen, to the tale of a miserable half-fleeced goat. Once upon a time, there was a peasant. He had a hare. The
peasant went to the field and saw, lying on the ground, a goat fleeced on one side but not on the other. The peasant took
pity on it. He brought it home and put it under the shed. Having dined and rested a little, he went out to the garden with
the hare. The goat emerged from under the shed, slipped into the hut and put the hook on the door.
Now the hare grew hungry, He ran up to the door of the hut and struck it with his paw- the door was locked!
"Who is in there?" asked the hare.
The goat replied:
"I the miserable, half-fleeced goat. If I come out I shall give you a thrashing."
The hare went away sadly. He walked along the street crying, and met a wolf.
"Why are you crying?" asked the wolf.
"Someone is in our hut," the hare said tearfully.
"Come with me," replied the wolf. "I shall drive him out!"
They went to the door.
"Who is in there?" asked the wolf.
The goat began to stamp his feet and said:
"I, the miserable, half-fleeced goat. If I come out I shall give you a thrashing."
So they moved away from the door. The hare began to cry again. He went out to the street, and the wolf ran off to the forest.
A cockerel came to meet the hare:
"Why are you crying?"
The hare told him, and the cock said:
"Come with me. I shall drive him away!"
As they approached the door, the hare cried out to frighten the goat:
"A cock comes strutting, with a sabre on its shoulders. It comes to kill, to chop off the goat's head."
They came to the door and the cockerel asked:
"Who is in there?"
As before the goat said:
"I, the miserable, half-fleeced goat. If I come out I shall give you a thrashing."
The hare again ran into the street crying. A bee blew up to him, buzzed around and asked:
"What is the matter with you? Why are you crying?"
The hare told her. The bee flew into the hut and asked:
"Who is in there?"
The goat replied as before. The bee grew angry and began flying around the walls. She buzzed and buzzed, and found a little hole. She
crawled inside and stung the bare side of the goat, making it swell painfully. The goat lept out the door and disappeared in a flash.
Now the hare ran into the hut, ate and drank his fill and fell into a deep sleep. When the hare wakes up, the tale will continue.