Cultural references to pigs

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Pigs are a frequent source of reference in many aspects of culture at large.
Pigs are a frequent source of reference in many aspects of culture at large.

Pigs have inspired many idioms, and are frequently referenced in culture.

Contents

[edit] Pigs in mythology and religion

In Judaism and Islam, pigs are the unclean and inedible animals par excellence, the animal that is central to the concepts of treif and haram. In De Specialibus Legibus, Philo of Alexandria, a first century Jewish writer, relates that pigs were lazy scavengers, the embodiment of vice. Philo also argued that since pigs will eat the flesh of human corpses, that men should abstain from eating them so as not to be contaminated.[1]

Pork eating cultures have had a more benign view of pigs. The sign of the Pig is one of the Earthly Branches, or zodiac signs, in Chinese astrology. In Greek mythology, Demeter was the goddess of pigs.[2] The ancient Romans practiced a sacrifice called the suovetaurilia, in which a pig, a ram, and a bull were sacrificed, as one of the most solemn acts of the Roman religion.

The Celts also had a god of swine called Moccus, who under Roman occupation was identified with Mercury. In Celtic mythology, a cauldron overflowing with cooked pork was one of the attributes of The Dagda. In the tale of Culhwch and Olwen from the Welsh Mabinogion, the Twrch Trwyth was a prince whom God turned into a boar on account of his wickedness.

Magical transformation of humans into pigs has been used as a key plot device in fantasy storytelling - for example the Ancient Greek epic The Odyssey, in which the hero's ship's crew is turned into pigs by Circe. Val Kilmer's character Madmartigan in Ron Howard's Willow is transformed into a pig along with other men.

During both the Spanish Inquisition and Portuguese Inquisition, the inquisitors sometimes referred to the targets (often Jews) as "marranos", which literally means "pigs." This was doubly insulting to these Jews due to the fact that pigs are not a kosher animal in the Jewish religious tradition and are forbidden to eat (see also: History of the Marranos in England).

[edit] Pigs in folklore

In European folklore, there is a widespread belief that pigs are intensely frightened by mirrors.[citation needed] In many countries, a feast has formed around slaughtering a pig.

[edit] Pigs and people

  • Pigs are often used to comment on the human condition. Winston Churchill said that "Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals."
  • A number of schools (elementary, middle, and high schools) and universities have adopted pig or pig-related mascots. The most notable in the USA is the University of Arkansas Razorbacks, whose mascot, the razorback (Sus scrofa) makes them the only university or major sports team in the United States with a porcine mascot.
  • Zhu Bajie is a part human, part pig, literary character from the Chinese novel Journey to the West.
  • Harley Davidson motorcycles are sometimes referred to as "hogs".

[edit] Pig-related idioms

  • The idiomatic phrase "when pigs fly" (or 'pigs might fly') refers to something that is unlikely to ever happen. Though its origins are much older, its popularity is reinforced by such popular references as in the Lewis Carroll poem The Walrus and the Carpenter and Pink Floyd's album Animals.
  • The English language abounds with unflattering references and idioms involving pigs. Pigs are commonly associated with greed ("as greedy as a pig") and obesity, gluttony ("to pig out"). Likewise, a hog is someone or something that monopolizes time, resources, or processes, e.g. a road hog or server hog. Pigs are also associated with dirtiness ("this room is a pigsty"); the latter probably comes from their habit of wallowing in mud. The perennially soot-covered character in the Peanuts comic strip is named Pig-Pen.
  • "In a pig's eye" is a rhyming slang expression meaning, "That's not true." ("Pig's eye" rhymes with "lie".) There are also variants to this saying, such as "In a pig's bottom."
  • "Sweating like a Pig" to denote sweating profusely. Strictly this is illogical, as pigs have ineffective sweat glands.
  • "Eating like a Hog" refers to the subject having poor tablemanners.
  • The Missouri folklorist Max Hunter collected a number of pig-related idioms:
"It's plain as a pig on a sofa"
"Clumsy as a hog on ice"
"Content as a dead pig in the sunshine"
"Wild as a peach-orchard hog"
  • Another pig-related idiom from England is "buying a pig in a poke" (buying a piglet in a sack) which means committing yourself to something without carefully inspecting it first (in order to verify that it actually is what it was described as being).
  • Thrifty (if not fussy) sausage-makers were said to use "everything but the squeal".
  • The term "slicker than a greased pig" refers an event that went well without any set backs. The term "greased pig" can also refer to something that is difficult to obtain.
  • The phrase "pig's ear" means a useless object. To make a (total) pig's ear of something means to (totally) mess it up. To attempt to "make a silk purse out of a sow's ear" means to try in vain to make something good out of something worthless or inherently bad.
  • The expression "pig's arse" is an Australian coloqualism, signifying disbelief. It was popularized by the TV show Rubbery Figures.
  • "As happy as a pig in mud" is used to signify someone is very happy.
  • A Bosnian expression for being uncomfortable in a situation is "Feeling like a pig in Teheran."
  • "Pig iron" is the intermediate product of smelting iron ore with coke and resin.
  • "Bleed like a stuck pig" is a phrase used to describe bleeding, originating from a hog slaughtering technique whereby the pig is stabbed in a main artery, usually with an anticoagulant on the device used for stabbing, and dies by bleeding profusely. "Squealing like a stuck pig" is a phrase used to describe squealing, a variation of the "bleed like a.." phrase which is technically inaccurate because pigs must be unconscious during slaughter in order to avoid cruelty and because the stress will cause glycogen depletion in the muscles, damaging some or all of the meat.

[edit] Pigs in literature and film

  • In the Saw films, the symbolism of pigs was used as a motif of an implicit theme relating to the dark side of human nature.
  • Charlottes Web - Wilbur
  • Babe is a film about a pig who wants to be a sheep-dog, based on the novel by Dick King-Smith.

[edit] Music and art

  • Pigs Is Pigs, is the title of a 1937 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon. This noted cartoon tells a story rooted in the synonymy of pigs with gluttony.
  • Some metal bands use a method of singing called inward vocals, also known as pig squeals.
  • The movie Razorback is about a killer hog/razorback.
  • The fictional character Wizpig is the main villain in Diddy Kong Racing.
  • In the 1994 film The Lion King, a warthog named Pumbaa is a major member of the supporting cast. He is prominently featured in nearly all media spin-offs of this movie, including books, sequels, video games, and television series.
  • Porco Rosso is a porcine fighter pilot in the comic book of the same name.
  • In the Guy Ritchie movie Snatch the character Brick Top claims that Pigs can be used as a means for disposing dead bodies, and that is the origin of the term "As greedy as a pig"
  • In the book and film Lord of the Flies, Piggy is a central character, picked on due to his obesity and asthma.
  • The children's fairy tale of The Three Little Pigs was first published in 1843 in England by James Halliwell.
  • There is a children's nursery rhyme which designates the toes as pigs; the first line of which is "This little piggie went to market...."
  • The video game Beyond Good and Evil features an anthropomorphic pig named Pey'j as one of the main characters.
  • The video game Hogs of War is based upon World War I but instead features anthropomorphic pigs with human characteristics than actual people.
  • The movie Layer Cake features a scene in which pigs are devouring remains of a human corpse to dispose of any possible evidnce of murder
  • In the Legend of Zelda series, the main antagonist, Ganon, has the ability to transform into a pig or boar-like deity, a metaphor for his thirst for power and greed.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Philo of Alexandria, De specialibus legibus, lib. 4, ch. 17-18
  2. ^ See Sir James Frazer, The Golden Bough, ch. 49, "Ancient Deities of Vegetation as Animals"