Goose

Anser

Geese in fiction and myth

When Aphrodite first came ashore she was welcomed by the Charites (Roman "Graces"), whose chariot was drawn by geese.

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There are Mother Goose tales, such as a farmwife might have told; there is the proverbial goose that laid the golden eggs, warning about the perils of greed. And there is the goose as a veiled reference to the penis in the verses

Related Topics:
Mother Goose - Penis

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:Goosy Goosy Gander, where dost thou wander?

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:Upstairs, downstairs, in my lady's chamber.

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The geese in the temple of Juno on the Capitoline Hill were said by Livy to have saved Rome from the Gauls around 390 BC when they were disturbed in a night attack. The story may be an attempt to explain the origin of the sacred flock of geese at Rome.

Related Topics:
Capitoline Hill - Livy - Rome - Gaul - 390 BC

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There is a tale of Trickster and the geese in the North American Trickster cycle http://hotcakencyclopedia.com/ho.Trickster&Geese.html.

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Liliane Bodson and Daniel Marcolungo, L'oie de bon aloi: Aspects de l'histoire ancienne de l'oie domestique . Vise (Musée Regional d'Archeologie et d'Histoire de Vise), 1994, discusses the image and lore of domestic geese in classical antiquity, with a separate chapter on the goose in folklore.

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There is a Christian reference (Father Augustine) to the goose that relates to the coming of the winter solstice or as it is called "The Great Freezing". One of the reasons for harsh winter seasons was to scare or cull the goose population (a creation of the devil). This cyclical process is supposed to be symbolic of the struggle between evil (Satan) and God. Evil may never be completely put down, but God shall always triumph.

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One of Aesop's Fables relates the story of The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs, the phrase itself passing into the language.

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