There is a modern legend in the Far West (America) of a horse called
'The White Devil,' which, in revenge for some harm to its comrades,
slew men by biting and trampling them, and was itself slain after
defying many attempts at its capture; but among the many ancient
legends of demon-horses there are few which suggest anything about
that animal hostile to man. His occasional evil character is simply
derived from his association with man, and is therefore postponed. For
a similar reason the Goat also must be dealt with hereafter, and
as a symbolical animal. A few myths are met with which relate to
its unpleasant characteristics. In South Guinea the odour of goats
is accounted for by the Saga that their ancestor having had the
presumption to ask a goddess for her aromatic ointment, she angrily
rubbed him with ointment of a reverse kind. It has also been said that
it was regarded as a demon by the worshippers of Bacchus, because
it cropped the vines; and that it thus originated the Trageluphoi,
or goat-stag monsters mentioned by Plato, [93] and gave us also the
word tragedy. [94] But such traits of the Goat can have very little
to do with its important relations to Mythology and Demonology. To
the list of animals demonised by association must also be added the
Stag. No doubt the anxious mothers, wives, or sweethearts of rash
young huntsmen utilised the old fables of beautiful hinds which
in the deep forests changed to demons and devoured their pursuers,
[95] for admonition; but the fact that such stags had to transform
themselves for evil work is a sufficient certificate of character to
prevent their being included among the animal demons proper, that is,
such as have in whole or part supplied in their disposition to harm
man the basis of a demonic representation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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