chemistry

Petrifaction in mythology and fiction

Petrifaction in mythology and fiction is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Petrifaction in mythology and fiction rather than just read about it. In short: Petrifaction, or petrification, defined as turning people into solid stone, is a common theme in folklore and mythology, as well as in some works of modern literature. Amos Brown noted that "Fossils are to be found all over the world, a clear evidence to human beings from earliest times that living beings can indeed turn into stone (...) Previous to the modern scientific accounts of how fossils are formed, the idea…

Key takeaways

Petrifaction in mythology and fiction belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Petrifaction in mythology and fiction to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Petrifaction in mythology and fiction from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Petrifaction, or petrification, defined as turning people into solid stone, is a common theme in folklore and mythology, as well as in some works of modern literature. Amos Brown noted that "Fossils are to be found all over the world, a clear evidence to human beings from earliest times that living beings can indeed turn into stone (...) Previous to the modern scientific accounts of how fossils are formed, the idea of magicians or gods turning living creatures into stone seemed completely plausible in terms of these cultures".

Historical Petrifaction is associated with the legends of Medusa and the Svartálfar among others. In fairy tales, characters who fail in a quest may be turned to stone until they are rescued by the successful hero, as in the tales such as The Giant Who Had No Heart in His Body, The Water of Life and The Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Speaking Bird, as well as many troll tales. In Cornish folklore, petrifaction stories are used to explain the origin of prehistoric megalithic monuments such as stone circles and monoliths, including The Merry Maidens stone circle, The Nine Maidens of Boskednan, the Tregeseal Dancing Stones, and The Hurlers. The supposedly petrified Cardiff Giant was one of the most famous hoaxes in United States history.

Europe

Ancient Europe

Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa were Gorgons, three monstrous sisters with living venomous snakes for hair and the power to petrify anyone who met their gazes. Of the three Gorgon sisters, Medusa was mortal. Perseus killed Medusa by beheading her, and afterwards used her severed head as a weapon to petrify various enemies. In Homer's Odyssey, it is recounted that the god Poseidon turned a ship of the Phaeacians into stone, in punishment for their having helped his foe Odysseus: "With one blow from the flat of his hand, he turned her [the ship] into stone and rooted her to the sea bottom". In Classical times, the small island of Pontikonisi, off Corcyra (Corfu) was identified as this petrified ship. According to some authors, Heracles, when fighting the Nemean lion was helped in this labour by an Earth-born serpent, which followed him to Thebes and settled down in Aulis. It was later identified as the water snake which devoured the sparrows and was turned into stone in the prophecy about the Trojan War. Iodame was the daughter of Itonus and granddaughter of Amphictyon. She was a priestess at the temple of Athena Itonia built by her father. One night, Athena appeared in front of her; at the sight of Medusa's head which was worked in the goddess' garment, Iodame turned into stone. Since then, a priestess lit the fire on the altar every day, repeating thrice: "Iodame lives and demands fire". Lethaea is a mythological character briefly mentioned in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Due to her vanity, she was turned into stone at Ida by the gods. Her lover Olenus wished to share in the blame, and so shared her fate. Battus was a figure in Greek mythology who witnessed Hermes stealing Apollo's cattle. He agreed to keep the affair secret, but when Hermes returned in disguise to test him, he broke his word and was punished by being turned into stone. Metamorphoses by Ovid tell the story of Minerva and Aglauros. When Mercury comes to seduce mortal virgin Herse, her sister Aglauros is driven by her greed to help him. Minerva discovers this and is furious with Aglauros. She seeks the assistance of Envy, who fills Aglauros with so much envy for the good fortune of others that she turns to stone. Mercury fails to seduce Herse. The magical Teumessian fox, sent by the gods to punish the Greeks, could not be caught; Amphitryon set on the fox the magical dog Laelaps, who was destined to catch everything it chased. Zeus, faced with an inevitable contradiction due to the paradoxical nature of their mutually excluding abilities, turned the two beasts into stone. The pair were cast into the stars and remain as Canis Major (Laelaps) and Canis Minor (Teumessian Fox).

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Petrifaction in mythology and fiction

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Petrifaction in mythology and fiction claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Petrifaction in mythology and fiction before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Petrifaction in mythology and fiction ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Petrifaction in mythology and fiction

In research: Petrifaction in mythology and fiction appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Petrifaction in mythology and fiction in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Petrifaction in mythology and fiction is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Fantasy tropes, Mythology, Recurring elements in folklore, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Petrifaction in mythology and fiction outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Petrifaction in mythology and fiction in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Petrifaction in mythology and fiction means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Petrifaction in mythology and fiction out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Petrifaction in mythology and fiction in simple terms?

Why does Petrifaction in mythology and fiction matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Petrifaction in mythology and fiction?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Petrifaction in mythology and fiction.