Conquer the world
![conquer the world conquer the world](https://cache.lovethispic.com/uploaded_images/162678-I-Can-Conquer-The-World.jpg)
This image, had it caught on, could have completely changed the course of Christian iconography, which has been dominated instead by depictions of the Good Shepherd. Matthew 23:37 contains a passage in which Jesus likens his care for the people of Jerusalem to a hen caring for her brood. In Leviticus 5:7, a guilt offering of two turtledoves or pigeons is acceptable if the sinner in question is unable to afford a lamb, but in no instance does the Lord request a chicken. The Old Testament passages concerning ritual sacrifice reveal a distinct preference on the part of Yahweh for red meat over poultry. History records that he was defeated.īut one major religious tradition-ironically, the one that gave rise to matzo-ball soup and the Sunday chicken dinner-failed to imbue chickens with much religious significance. According to the writings of Cicero, when one contingent of birds refused to eat before a sea battle in 249 B.C., an angry consul threw them overboard. Chickens accompanied Roman armies, and their behavior was carefully observed before battle a good appetite meant victory was likely. For the Romans, the chicken’s killer app was fortunetelling, especially during wartime. cock) was a universal signifier of virility-but also, in the ancient Persian faith of Zoroastrianism, a benign spirit that crowed at dawn to herald a turning point in the cosmic struggle between darkness and light. Eggs hung in Egyptian temples to ensure a bountiful river flood. The prodigious and ever-watchful hen was a worldwide symbol of nurturance and fertility. Chickens were, and still are, a sacred animal in some cultures. Nonetheless, the chicken has inspired contributions to culture, art, cuisine, science and religion over the millennia. In Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond listed chickens among the “small domestic mammals and domestic birds and insects” that have been useful to humanity but unlike the horse or the ox did little-outside of legends-to change the course of history. Until the advent of large-scale industrial production in the 20th century, the economic and nutritional contribution of chickens was modest. How did the chicken achieve such cultural and culinary dominance? It is all the more surprising in light of the belief by many archaeologists that chickens were first domesticated not for eating but for cockfighting. When author Jack Canfield was looking for a metaphor for psychological comfort, he didn’t call it “Clam Chowder for the Soul.” Long after the time when most families had a few hens running around the yard that could be grabbed and turned into dinner, chicken remains a nostalgic, evocative dish for most Americans.
![conquer the world conquer the world](https://andro-mod.com/uploads/posts/images/b6-v7GE194y1O1EbwZwG30LZFc9SFja_t6ZD2-0I-zWf5lbR2Vuh2Hsw_6ZO7ISaQm4.png)
A generation of Britons is coming of age in the belief that chicken tikka masala is the national dish, and the same thing is happening in China with Kentucky Fried Chicken. With its mild taste and uniform texture, chicken presents an intriguingly blank canvas for the flavor palette of almost any cuisine. The descendants of those roosters might well think-if they were capable of such profound thought-that their ancient forebears have a lot to answer for.Ĭhicken is the ubiquitous food of our era, crossing multiple cultural boundaries with ease. But history records that the Greeks, thus heartened, went on to repel the invaders, preserving the civilization that today honors those same creatures by breading, frying and dipping them into one’s choice of sauce. The Athenian general Themistocles, on his way to confront the invading Persian forces, stopped to watch two cocks fighting and summoned his troops, saying: “Behold, these do not fight for their household gods, for the monuments of their ancestors, for glory, for liberty or the safety of their children, but only because one will not give way to the other.” The tale does not describe what happened to the loser, nor explain why the soldiers found this display of instinctive aggression inspirational rather than pointless and depressing. The chickens that saved Western civilization were discovered, according to legend, by the side of a road in Greece in the first decade of the fifth century B.C.