(F)or it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree (Galations 3:13)
In the standard version of Greek mythology, the hide of the Golden Ram is hung on an oak tree near the shore of the Black Sea, guarded by a snake-like dragon.
The Golden Ram, fathered by Sea-God Poseidon, is considered at the time to be the guardian of the proper order in the world.
The Ram requests to be sacrificed to the gods because it acted too late. The order, later on called the Great Chain of Being, falls apart during the Golden Ram’s watch.
The winged Ram saves the boy Phrixus when asked to do so by his natural mother. But the heir to the throne becomes a prisoner in the place he was flown to.
King Athamas had married Princess Nepele and she gives birth to a boy child; nevertheless, the monarch leaves his first wife, and marries Princess Ino.
The step-mother comes up with various schemes to get rid of her husband’s son as he’s likely to be first in line for the throne if King Athamas dies~ for example, she causes a shortage of food and claims the sacrifice of Phrixis is needed to appease the gods.
Years pass, and Prince Jason ĺoses his royal rights when his father King Aeson has his throne taken from him by his half-brother Pelias ~ the throne that rightfully belongs to Jason when his father dies.
Confronted by Jason, Pelias assures him that he’ll have his royal rights restored when he sails off, finds, and brings the hide of Golden Ram back home to Greece.
Pelias is sure that Jason will be killed by the guardian dragon even if he makes it all the way to the foot of the oak tree.
Thanks to Cupid, the son of Aphrodite, the sorceress Medea falls in love with Jason, and protects the Argonaut in his struggles to sail to and seize the Golden Fleece.
Wnen Jason and his Argo crew are on their way home with the Ram’s hide, the bronze creature called Talus throws boulders at them.
Medea calls upon female “death spirits” to unpin the vein of Talus – no more boulders, no more rocks, not even stones fly in Jason’s direction.
Meanwhile, later on in the future, Elijah sets up a challenge with a bunch of priests who worship Baal – the God of Fertility, Rain and Thunder.
Tells them to summon Baal to light an altar so a bull can be sacrificed.
Elijah calls upon his Hebrew God to do the same.
Both religions focus on the search for a lost Eden down on Earth.
Elijah wins the contest when fire roars out of the heavens on his request – more than enough fire to put Zeus, the God of Thunder, to shame.
Baal is represented on earth by an image of a golden bull which is featured in the following song:
With a time-rusted compass blade Aladdin and his lamp Sit with Utopian monks Sidesaddle on the Golden Calf And on their promises of paradise You will not hear a laugh (Bob Dylan: Gates Of Eden)
We sit here stranded though we're all doing our best to deny it And Louise holds a handful of rain tempting you to defy it ......... But she just makes it all too concise and too clear That Johanna's not here (Bob Dylan: Visions Of Johanna)
Could be said that Louise represents the amoral nature of the Baalist God.
And that Johanna represents the gracious nature of the Judeo-Christian God.