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<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>From: Yitzhak Grossman <A
href="mailto:celejar@gmail.com">celejar@gmail.com</A><BR><BR>>>I once
noted in a speech that this type of bed also appears in Greek<BR>mythology, in
the story of the bandit
Procrustes:<BR><BR>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procrustes<BR><BR>Serendipitously,
only several days later I heard R. Breitowitz of<BR>Silver Spring speak, and he
also noted the parallel between the<BR>Talmudic account and the Greek one.
There are at least three<BR>possibilities:... <<</FONT></DIV><FONT
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<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>You are hardly the first to notice the close similarity between the
Procrustean bed and the Sodom bed. The chance that this story arose twice,
independently, is nil. The odds that the Greeks took it from us are
slight, but it is possible. Far more likely IMO is the third possibility
you mentioned, that Chazal took a commonly known Greek story floating around in
the air of their time and used it to illustrate the kind of thing that went on
in Sodom.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>There are many stories and ideas in Chazal that have close parallels in
Greek and Roman mythology and the odds are that all or most of them
were taken from the Greeks and Romans and re-purposed by Chazal.
However the intellectual and cultural traffic between the Jews and the
surrounding cultures always went both ways and some ideas could well have come
from us first.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>With a bit of research I could find a lot of examples of parallel
stories in Jewish and non-Jewish ancient sources, but it's late and
I'm tired so I will just mention a few that pop into my head, and the erudite
talmidei chachamim (and secular historians) who people these august pages will
surely be able to cite chapter and verse and correct my mistakes if I have
messed up some details.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>A. Romulus and Remus, twins suckled by she-wolf -- founders of
Rome</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>B. Phoenix -- bird that dies in fire and is reborn from the
ashes</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>C. Salamander that is immune to fire</DIV>
<DIV>D. Adonis or Narcissus -- handsome man who sees his reflection in
water and falls in love with his own image</DIV>
<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>E. All twelve signs of the Zodiac</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><B>--Toby
Katz<BR>==========<BR><BR><BR><BR>_____________________</B></FONT></DIV></DIV></FONT></FONT><DIV CLASS="aol_ad_footer" ID="4713447398f61723b6f1306b9121311d"><br/><font style="color:black;font:normal 10pt arial,san-serif;"> <hr style="margin-top:10px"/>Download the <a href="http://toolbar.aol.com/aolclassifieds/download.html?ncid=emlcntusdown00000004">AOL Classifieds Toolbar</a> for local deals at your fingertips.</font></DIV></BODY></HTML>