Ancient Teacher, Modern Heroes

Reading obituaries in the local weekly paper, I came upon an organization called the Equus Effect in Sharon, Connecticut. The Equus Effect is an organization whose mission is “To help returning veterans build healthy, authentic relationships at home, work and school through meaningful engagement with horses.” Equus is Latin for “horse” and gives English the words equine meaning “like a horse” and equitation meaning “horseback riding.”  

The logo at the top of the organization’s website is a sketch of Chiron, the wise centaur who was the teacher of ancient Greek heroes like Jason and Achilles. Chiron is also the constellation Sagittarius, the archer, from the Latin sagitta meaning “arrow.” From where did Chiron obtain his wisdom? Taught by Greek goddess of the hunt Artemis (Roman Diana) and god of the sun, music, and prophecy Apollo, Chiron in turn taught his students the arts of hunting, medicine, music, and prophecy, among others. Chiron is a fitting representative for the Equus Effect, and he is still helping heroes.

Venus and Artemis

The January 2012 cover of The Field magazine from England featured a young woman dressed in a short tweed skirt carrying a walking stick and flanked by two dogs. The article on the inside of the magazine was called “Ladies Picking Up,” or ladies using dogs trained to retrieve birds shot by a hunter.  The image called to mind the description by Vergil in Aeneid, Book 1, of his mother, the goddess Venus, disguised as a huntress:

318            namque umerīs dē mōre habilem suspenderat arcum

319            vēnātrīx dederatque comam diffundere ventīs,

320            nūda genū nōdōque sinūs collēcta fluentīs.

[For down from her shoulders according to custom she had hung a handy bow,

and the huntress had given her hair to pour out in the winds,

bare as to her knee and having been gathered as to her flowing folds.]

On the back cover of the magazine was an advertisement for a new model of a Rizzini shot gun called...”Artemis, a perfect combination of elegance and excellence.”  Artemis is the Greek name of the huntress goddess known in Latin as Diana. The classical tradition continues in words and pictures in The Field magazine.