# Greek heros killing wild hogs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 15, 2012, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-heros-killing-wild-hogs/618895 "2012-04-15T23:06:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-heros-killing-wild-hogs/618895/21 "2012-04-17T07:31:01Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Sure, killing a hog is hard work, and takes bravery and prowess for an ordinary schmuck. But it still seems out of place for the great Greek heroes. I mean, compare that boar to a lion or the Hydra, and suddenly it seems heavily outclassed. Only to someone who has never seen a seriously pissed farm hog - and those are the “domesticated” kind. They’re like fighter bulls, only shorter and with the horns in the mouth. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-heros-killing-wild-hogs/618895/22 "2012-04-17T07:41:34Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > The what? The mountain of dogs trying to keep the hog down. Think of those pile-ups in rugby. The hog is a very big, very nasty ball, the dogs are doing its best to keep it down without getting gored. Not only did Hercules and Co. hunt the hogs in question alone in terms of “no human help”, but also without the pack of dogs that’s standard in hog-hunting. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-heros-killing-wild-hogs/618895/23 "2012-04-17T07:53:22Z")
Funny that in fictional settings where people find themselves stranded on an island (_Lost_, _Lord of the Flies_) they talk about hunting wild hogs on the island like it’s something a gang of preteens and/or one bald guy with a knife can do. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-heros-killing-wild-hogs/618895/24 "2012-04-17T09:46:33Z")
It wasn’t just the Greeks, either. Boars and boar hunting were important mythological creatures in early cultures from Ireland to India. Every early agricultural group that shared a territory with boars considered them badasses. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-heros-killing-wild-hogs/618895/25 "2012-04-17T09:55:25Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > Funny that in fictional settings where people find themselves stranded on an island (_Lost_, _Lord of the Flies_) they talk about hunting wild hogs on the island like it’s something a gang of preteens and/or one bald guy with a knife can do. Yeah but usually they’re talking something which is piglet-sized and whose best defense is a good dash; sometimes you run into a writer who simply has no idea what a boar is. Not that much more unrealistic than those lab techs with tons of makeup, high heels, plunging necklines and the ability to run a DNA test in less time than the soda machine takes to pop out a can of Cokesup[/sup], often found in the set of forensics series but never sighted near actual forensics labs. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-heros-killing-wild-hogs/618895/26 "2012-04-17T18:04:52Z")
> [@](#): > > We’re talking magic pigs. Yes, but we’re also talking magic lions. ---
**Author:** ![Christopher\_Robin\_Davies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8dc957/32.png) [@Christopher\_Robin\_Davies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Christopher_Robin_Davies)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-heros-killing-wild-hogs/618895/27 "2012-04-17T18:48:56Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Yes, but we’re also talking magic lions. I do not believe that Hercules could have accomplished any of the other labours without killing the Nemean lion first. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-heros-killing-wild-hogs/618895/28 "2012-04-17T19:15:12Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Sure, killing a hog is hard work, and takes bravery and prowess for an ordinary schmuck. But it still seems out of place for the great Greek heroes. I mean, compare that boar to a lion or the Hydra, and suddenly it seems heavily outclassed. Big words from someone who swallowed his own children. (And couldn’t even distinguish Zeus from a rock.) ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-heros-killing-wild-hogs/618895/29 "2012-04-17T19:48:51Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Yeah but usually they’re talking something which is piglet-sized and whose best defense is a good dash; sometimes you run into a writer who simply has no idea what a boar is. Not that much more unrealistic than those lab techs with tons of makeup, high heels, plunging necklines and the ability to run a DNA test in less time than the soda machine takes to pop out a can of Cokesup[/sup], often found in the set of forensics series but never sighted near actual forensics labs. According to wikipedia: > [@](#): > > Generally speaking, native Eurasian boars follow Bergmann’s rule, with smaller boars nearer the tropics and larger, smaller-eared boars in the North of their range. Mature sows from Southeast Asia and southern India may weigh as little as 44 kg (97 lb).[ So tropical island boars may be smaller. Also term boar may be misapplied to wild pigs. In any case, the largest recorded boar the wikipedia mentions is 661lbs (and there are unconfirmed reports of Russian boars weighing 720lbs). Looking at the wikipedia article on lions, the heaviest male was 550lbs. ---
**Author:** ![limegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@limegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/limegreen)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-heros-killing-wild-hogs/618895/30 "2012-04-17T20:43:53Z")
And lions don’t push pointy sticks further into themselves because by God they’re going to take you with them! Most wild animals are just trying to get away, not kill you come hell or high water. (It’s been a long day here…can you tell?) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-heros-killing-wild-hogs/618895.md?page=1)