Cultural References To Pigs - in Folklore and Mythology

In Folklore and Mythology

• In the Ancient Greek epic The Odyssey, Circe magically transforms the hero's ship's crew into pigs. Val Kilmer's character Madmartigan in Ron Howard's film Willow is also transformed into a pig, along with other men.
• In European folklore, there is a widespread belief that pigs are intensely frightened by mirrors.
• In many European countries, a feast has formed around slaughtering a pig.
• In Germany, pigs are known as a symbol for good luck. Marzipan pigs are a popular confectionery, especially as a gift on New Year's Eve.
• In 1880's New York, a tradition developed of sharing a peppermint-flavored, hard candy pig with one's family after Christmas Dinner, with the hope that it would bring health and prosperity throughout the next year.
• Superstitious sailors consider pigs to be unlucky because they have cloven hooves like the Devil and are terrified of water. Pigs would not be carried on boats. Fishermen often regarded pigs as harbingers of bad luck: a fisherman seeing a pig on his way to work would rather turn round and go home. This even extended to a prohibition of the word "pig" on board a vessel. This is why the animals were referred to, across North East England, as "gissies".
• There is a village named Swineford in England, and the name of Schweinfurt means the same in German.