STL - Feb 12

Ah, the month of love! Valentine's Day is upon us again - like you could miss the heart shaped candy boxes that appeared in the grocery stores almost the day after Christmas! 
For this month's word, I thought I would take a bit of a look at the figure of Cupid or at some aspect of his interesting function - "the boy with the arrows".  The word I wish to deal with in this context has had a very interesting history, and demonstrates graphically how deeply imbedded in our culture the images of mythology from the past have become.

I will not reveal the "word" right away, but first let's look at Cupid's artillery - a boy and arrow - which he allegedly can fire unerringly piercing the heart so the two people fall desperately in love - how sweet!  In past issues we have discussed how the execution of St. Valentine is connected with arrows - shudder! 

Now we will look substantially further back.  In the ancient Greek myths the most popular figure is that of Hercules (Hercules Melkarth is well worth a deep examination as to his place in the whole spectrum of the mythography of the Mediterranean cultures, but beyond the scope of this study - google it for fun!).  Most folks are familiar with the "Labors of Hercules", which included first of all to slay the Hydra - a ferocious seven-headed snake like creature who Herk's Uncle figured would do him in - now the Labors were given as a "punishment" for killing his wife and children (though he was not conscious of it at the time - the ancients still believed he had to take responsibility).  So Hercules went to work on the Hydra, but every time he chopped off one head, two grew back!  At last, in desperation, he got the idea of cauterizing the stump with fire before the two heads could appear, thus, ultimately he did the nasty thing in (the blood of this awful beast was deadly poisonous).  So thinking ahead, Hercules dipped his arrows in the blood of the Hydra, making them doubly dangerous. 

Now here it gets interesting kids; the Greek word for a "bow" is "toxon" and somehow, in that strange and ineffable flow of language and meaning, the poison on Hercules' arrows became the dominant image.  And so from the word "toxon" we have in modern English, the word "toxic" and all the related terms - toxicity, toxicology et al.    Perhaps it is from the whole aspect of Hercules' amazing history we find the term used in the social context -- "toxic relationships"! 

In any event, things that are "toxic" should be avoided, so if Cupid has fired his "toxon" and struck you in the heart, perhaps you should pray that your beloved has received a dart from the same quiver that way maybe the danger is cancelled out.  It is certainly true that to have love unreturned is an emotionally toxic situation, and such experiences often cause the love to invert to its opposite.  It is a dangerous, but wonderful thing to fall in love, and if you are beginner, I can tell you with 46 years of experience, it only gets better and better when it's real and you are not lying to the minister and congregation when you make a vow that includes "for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health".  If you really mean that, then the little arrows will have stitched you together for good so keep a sharp eye out this month - arrows dipped in chocolate are not toxic!