Talk:Phalaris

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Baal worship? WTF? Bacchiad 04:43, 21 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Presumably a popular theory among some scholars - my 1970 OCD carefully says the brazen bull practice "need not be ascribed to a Phoenician origin". It would be nice if there were a recent paper to cite; I'd be loath to contradict the giants of the 1911 Britannica without a modern authority in my corner. Stan 05:43, 21 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Ah, okay. The OCD doesn't usually comment on outmoded theories unless they're particularly persistent, offensive and unsupported. "need not be" is OCD code for "hokum". Bacchiad 17:32, 21 Jul 2004 (UTC)

 :-) The similarities are so striking that it's hard to ignore. I don't have many relevant refs, but I notice Fraser mentions the possibility of a Phoenician connection. Stan 18:11, 21 Jul 2004 (UTC)

I trimmed (maybe even a bit too much) and NPOV'ed the Baal section. Perhaps if we find a relevant Frazer passage we can expand with attribution. Bacchiad 21:55, 21 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Turns out our very own article on The Golden Bough conveniently links to an online copy; search for "Phalaris" at [1]. (Too bad the unabridged is not online.) Interestingly, Googling around turned up a debate at phoenicia.org about whether child sacrifices were a part of the culture in the first place. Stan 22:19, 21 Jul 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Telemachus link

The Telemachus referenced here is not the Telemachus (mythological son of Odysseus) to whom this article is linked. Therefore, I'm removing the link.