Cindy Clendenon, a scientist of water-related geology, aims to investigate “karst hydrology”—the science of water’s interactions with rock on land and underground—“as it appears in ancient Greek texts from Homer to Pausanias.” Karstic landscapes and phenomena include mysterious sinkholes, swallowholes, spewing geysers, unpredictable springs, caves, subterranean rivers, swirling cauldrons, and rocky coasts, which are the backdrops of many myths in the Mediterranean region. In explaining “seemingly strange events” about water and caves by applying the “principles of earth science” (13, 20), Clendenon suggests, for example, that stories of the Danaids, Poseidon, and Hera represented karstified landscapes of Arcadia and the Argolid; the sudden catastrophic drainage of the Stymphalean Lake was due to a dislodged sinkhole plug; an earthquake triggered a karstic collapse that swallowed one of the heroes during the Seven against Thebes battle; extinct Lake Tritonis was a brackish coastal lagoon in Libya; the myth of Alpheus and Arethusa describes the possibility of long-distance freshwater travel in the ocean; water-deities and nymphs (“ecotheons” and “ecodaimons” representing the cycle of precipitation and evaporation) show how mythic transformations occurred in karstic landscapes; carbon monoxide (instead of methane and ethylene) may have influenced the Delphic Oracle; and the archaic Greek vision of hell was based on a roiling, karstic vortex, later superseded by the concept of a volcanic lake of fire. The most valuable sections are Parts VI–VIII, whose chapters are actually about karst-related mythology.
Hydromythology is a promising new aspect of geomythology. But Clendenon’s nuggets of genuine scientific interest are difficult to ferret out amid many reinventions of the wheel (a history of geomythology, commentary on ancient mythography, a history of archaic and bronze age Greece, the invention of writing, Delphic Oracle discoveries, Lernean Hydra as a disease metaphor, Hesiodic myths as volcanoes, etc.) and “speculative digressions” on topics outside karst hydrology (technology of dyes, an “instinctive interpretation” of the Hydra as flesh-eating bacteria [16], volcanic eruptions, hermaphrodism). The last two chapters focus on volcanoes rather than karstic hydrology; Clendenon does not cite previous authorities on these topics, e.g., W. Friedrich on Thera and Atlantis legends (2000) and M. T. Greene on Titanomachy and Typhon as perceptive Hesiodic volcanic descriptions (1992). Clendenon’s original ideas relating some fiery events in Homer’s Iliad to volcanic activity in this last chapter have merit, but are also unrelated to water or karst.
Some geomythological works relevant to Clendenon’s hypotheses are omitted, e.g., S. Wilk on Medusa (2000); Zeilinga de Boer and Sanders on volcanoes and earthquakes in antiquity (2002, 2005); A. Mayor on petrifactions, paleontology, geology, and myth (2000, 2005); and A. Nur on earthquakes and archaeology (2008). There is a “Bibliography,” but phrases in the text such as “according to modern commentators,” “interpreters suggest,” “certain scholars say,” “literary narratives of the ancient Near East describe,” and “examinations of ancient texts reveal” are unhelpful guides for how Clendenon used the secondary literature. One might at least expect source notes for each chapter, listing primary and secondary references, supporting scientific studies, and alternative theories. Clendenon’s ancient sources are also undocumented. More than twenty-four ancient authors are discussed, but no citations are given that would allow readers to locate the various passages in Homer, Plato, Herodotus, Ovid, Strabo, Pliny, Pausanias, etc. Instead, readers are advised to consult a mythology website or search online for names and words to find the ancient sources (22).
Clendenon’s intended audience includes classicists, mythologists, scientists, and university educators, students, and libraries. As an editor for a “major publisher in the library reference market” Clendenon knows how to document scientific studies, yet in this book she decided not to give “even the most salient references” because it would mean citing “thousands of webpages from hundreds of sites” that she used for research. Clendenon eschewed the “minutiae of editorial industry standards” in favor of "readability.” She acknowledges that the book would have benefited from the input of “hydrogeology consultants and science reviewers” but “scheduling constraints necessitated an independent effort” (502, 22). It is a pity the author did not propose this promising topic to a university or scientific press for peer review and editing. As it stands, many sections of Hydromythology make for interesting reading, but despite the author’s original thinking, specialized scientific knowledge, and extensive research, the lack of clear focus, organization, and documentation means that it cannot serve as a sourcebook for scientists and scholars. Hydromythology is available from the author-editor-publisher at finelinesciencepress.com.
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[Review length: 735 words • Review posted on March 23, 2009]