LampetiaandPhaethusa were the two nymph-daughters of the sun-god Helios, who pastured the sacred herds of their father on the mythical island of Thrinakie. Lampetia shepherded seven flocks of fifty sheep with a silver crock, while Phaethousa tended seven herds of fifty cattle with a copper staff.
Odysseus and his crew arrived at Thrinakie after passing Scylla and Charybdis. When his crew begged to be allowed to land to prepare supper, Odysseus grudgingly agrees on condition that the they swear that if they come upon a herd of cattle or a great flock of sheep, no one will kill any of them. Eurylochus though convinces the crew to drive off the best of the cattle of Helios and sacrifice them to the gods. Lampetia tells Helios that Odysseus’ men have slain his cattle. In turn, Helios orders the gods to take vengeance on Odysseus’ men. After they set sail again, Zeus kept his word and the ship is destroyed by lightning during a storm and all of his men die. Odysseus escapes by swimming to Calypso’s island.
Hippos vs. Cows This semester at uni I got to work on a topic completely new to me and so exciting - hippos! Who would have thought that hippos are actually quite the ecosystem engineers? The amount of organic matter these herbivores transport to rives and lakes is quite impressive, and the fact that their population is in danger is really not good news for the aquatic food chain and everybody who depends on it. The simultaneous explosion of cattle herds in Africa is another factor that complicates the matter - considering only the cows’ methane emissions really misses a large part of the picture! I think its so fascinating to see how the theoretical science you study as a student finally gets applied and produces meaningful data in the field - in this case people used C and N isotopic data to trace hippo/cow input into and along the food chain.
