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Rhea Silvia was a priestess who served the god Vesta. She as a vestalian
was by law forbidden to give birth to children. Her
uncle, king Amulius could because of this, sit safe at
his throne. He was a cruel and greedy ruler, who
controlled the people of Alba Longa very harshly.
Of all the gods that watched over mankind, it was the god Mars who showed
the most interest in the people of Alba Longa.He decided
to interfere and in a dream that Rhea Silvia had, she
understood that something out of the ordinary would
occur. And right she was, she gave birth to twin boys.
Rhea and the boys were brought to the king, who ordered
his guards to drown Rhea and her sons in the river
Tibern. Rhea was thrown in the river, and the boys laid
in a basket who was tossed out in the swirling rivers of
Tibern.The river took the basket with it, but finally it
reached calmer water, and got stuck in the roots of a
fig tree.
Rhea Silvia had been right when assuming that the god mars was the father
of her sons, he also made sure that they were saved. One
of the animals being hallowed to the god Mars was the
wolf.
A female wolf that lived with her cubs nearby, were going down to the
river to drink, when she heard the hungry children
scream. She carefully lifted them and carried them up to
her cave where she licked them clean and breastfed them.
Then both twins fell a sleep, full and content in the
warm fur of the wolf.
To save his sons, Mars ordered the birds to give the
children food, every day they flew to the cave with
bread and fruit to the boys. Mars understood that the
wild animals could not give his boys everything that
they needed. There for, one day a shepherd came to
observe the birds flying into the wolfs cave. One
morning he entered the cave after the wolf had left it
with her cubs, and found to his great surprise both of
the boys. He brought them home to his wife, who said
that these children are no ordinary boys; I think that
they are godly sons, sent to us to love and nurse. They
named them Romulus and Remus.
Romulus and Remus eventually came to kill the king Amulis in Alba Longa,
the man who had sent them and their mother to death.
Numitor, their grandfather was a good, wise and humble
man, then became the king of Alba Longa.
Romulus and Remus later on came to found a new city.
What place could be better suited than where they had
drifted a shore, and then being raised by a wolf and
later on by the poor shepherd. The brothers came in
conflict over whom the king of the city would be and
Romulus killed Remus in a rage of fury. Romulus becomes
the king and the city is named Rome after its founder.
Therefore is the wolf still today the sacred animal in
the city of Rome and is even illustrated in the city
arms of Rome.
The Native American Indians considered the wolf to be a
good creature who deserved to be treated with dignity.
By dressing up in wolves’ skins, the Indians thought
they would gain the hunting powers of the wolf.
Humans
did not consider the wolf as a evil creature in our part
of the world until Christianity come to our country.
In the Nordic mythology you will find ”fenrisulven”.
A gigantic wolf monster, a force son of Loke and
Angerboda.”Fenrisulven” grew up in Valhall, but
scared the gods there with his huge size and tremendous
anger.
The Intuits admire the wolf and ranks it in front of all other animals
because of its hunting skills, even though the often
competed over the same prays. They tried to hunt like the
wolf did, in order to improve their own hunting capacity.
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When Christianity marched into Scandinavia, the wolf
became the devil it self personified. The wolf
represented evil that took innocent lambs, which
were thought to represent kindness and all good.
The wolf was described as vicious and false, was
impure and not welcome.
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The myths about the wolf have always frightened mankind.
From child age we are scared and astonished when
reading stories like “Little red riding hood”.
Unfortunately this totally ungrounded fear for the
wolf still lives in a lot of people.
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I
personally cannot understand why mankind fears the wolf. A
wolf is more careful, more scared then our average dog. It
escapes rather than anything when insecure or threatened.
The wolf is a tremendously shy animal and it will run,
just by feeling the scent of a human being.
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