Preview
  • Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws

  • And Other Classical Myths, Historical Oddities, and Scientific Curiosities
  • By: Adrienne Mayor
  • Narrated by: Nancy Crane, Adrienne Mayor
  • Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (16 ratings)

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Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws

By: Adrienne Mayor
Narrated by: Nancy Crane, Adrienne Mayor
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Publisher's summary

Adrienne Mayor and Nancy Crane narrate this treasury of astonishing mythic marvels

Adrienne Mayor is renowned for exploring the borders of history, science, archaeology, anthropology, and popular knowledge to find historical realities and scientific insights—glimmering, long-buried nuggets of truth—embedded in myth, legends, and folklore. Combing through ancient texts and obscure sources, she has spent decades prospecting for intriguing wonders and marvels, historical mysteries, diverting anecdotes, and hidden gems from antiquity, medieval, and modern times. Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws is a treasury of fifty of her most amazing and amusing discoveries.

The book explores such subjects as how mirages inspired legends of cities in the sky, the true identity of winged serpents in ancient Egypt, how ghost ships led to the discovery of the Gulf Stream, and the beauty secrets of ancient Amazons. Other pieces examine Arthur Conan Doyle’s sea serpent and Geronimo’s dragon, Flaubert’s obsession with ancient Carthage, ancient tattooing practices, and the strange relationship between wine goblets and women’s breasts since the times of Helen of Troy and Marie Antoinette. And there’s much, much more.

Showcasing Mayor’s trademark passion not to demythologize myths, but to uncover the fascinating truths buried beneath them, Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws is a wonder cabinet of delightful curiosities.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Adrienne Mayor (P)2022 Princeton University Press
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History
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Critic reviews

“If it were up to me, I’d replace the whole internet and two-thirds of telephony with Adrienne Mayor books.” - Ian Dreiblatt, Literary Hub

What listeners say about Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws

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fun collection

I am a big fan of all her work... and this just adds to her scholarship in my eyes... I highly recommend...

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  • Overall
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A Cabinet of Curiosity

This is a fun, quirky miscellany of information, mythology, and folklore based in the classic world. I will certainly look forward to reading / listening to more of Ms. Mayor’s thoughtful and delightful work.

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