Bird Gods in Ancient Europe 



One may recall here the classic story of 

 i^lius the praetor, chief of a famous family of 

 Rome at the time of Hannibal's entrance into 

 Italy. As he sat on his chair a woodpecker 

 flew down and settled on his head. All was 

 excitement and alarm at the prodigy ! The 

 bird was caught and the augurs called in. 

 These declared that its coming meant disaster, 

 but whether to ^lius and his clan or to the 

 republic depended on circumstances. Should 

 the woodpecker be freed unharmed, great pros- 

 perity would result to ^lius and his family, 

 but disaster would come to the republic. 

 Should the bird be killed, then the republic 

 would prosper, but the ^lian family would 

 meet with ruin. 



In a dilemma of this sort the hero always 

 prefers his fatherland to his family, otherwise 

 the story would not be told, ^"lius killed the 

 living symbol of the god Picus and at the bat- 

 tle of Cannae, which occurred soon after, he lost 

 seventeen members of his clan. 



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