Cultural depictions of elephants

Religion, mythology and philosophy

In the version of the Chinese zodiac used in Northern Thailand, the last year in the 12-year cycle – called "Year of the Pig" in China – is known instead as "Year of the Elephant", reflecting the importance of elephants in Thai culture.

Elephants are often featured in modern artistic works, including those by artists such as Norman Rockwell,^[23] Andy Warhol^[24] and Banksy.^[25] The stork-legged elephant, found in many of Salvador Dalí's works,^[e] is one of the surrealist's best known icons, and adorn the walls of the Dalí Museum in Spain.^[26][27][28] Dali used an elephant motif in various works such as Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening, The Elephants, Swans Reflecting Elephants and in The Temptation of Saint Anthony. The Elephant and Obelisk motif also found its way to various works by this artist. Rembrandt did a series of sketches of the famous 17th century elephant, Hansken, and featured her as a symbol of chastity in his 1638 etching Adam and Eve.^[29]

Politics and secular society

The elephant is also depicted by various political groups and in secular society.

In Asia

Asian cultures admire the high intelligence and good memory of Asian elephants. As such, they symbolize wisdom

The elephant also lends its name to some landmarks in Asia. Elephanta Island (also called "Gharapuri Island") in Mumbai Harbour was given this name by 17th century Portuguese explorers who saw a monolithic basalt sculpture of an elephant near the entrance to what became known as the Elephanta Caves. The Portuguese attempted to take it home with them but ended up dropping it into the sea because their chains were not strong enough. Later, the British moved this elephant to the Victoria and Albert Museum (now Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum) in Mumbai.^[33]

In Europe

Aside from being a curiosity for Europeans, the elephant also became a symbol of military might from the experience of fighting foreign powers that fielded war elephants throughout history.^[34] In 326 BC after

In about the year 800 AD, an elephant called Abul-Abbas was brought from Baghdad to Charlemagne's residence in Aachen as a symbol of the beginning of the Abbasid–Carolingian alliance.

In 1229, the so-called Cremona elephant was presented by Sultan of Egypt Al-Kamil to the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, and the elephant was used by the Emperor in parades. The elephant is mentioned in the visit of Frederick's brother-in-law Richard of Cornwall to Cremona in 1241, in the Chronica Maiora of Matthew Paris. The presence of the animal is also recorded in 1237 in the Cremona city annals.

In 1478, the

In 1870, the killing and eating of the elephants

The city of Catania, Sicily has an immemorial connection with the elephant. The local sorcerer Heliodorus, was credited with either riding a magic elephant or transforming himself into this animal. Under medieval Arab rule Catania was known as Medinat-ul-Fil or Balad-ul-Fil (City/State of the Elephant). The symbol of the city is the Fontana dell'Elefante (Fountain of the Elephant) assembled in its present form in 1736 by Giovanni Battista Vaccarini.

In Central London, England, an area known as the "

The elephant as the symbol for the

Many African cultures revere the African Elephant as a symbol of strength and power.[43]^[44] It is also praised for its size, longevity, stamina, mental faculties, cooperative spirit, and loyalty.^[45] South Africa uses elephant tusks in their coat of arms to represent wisdom, strength, moderation and eternity.^[46] The elephant is symbolically important to the nation of Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire); the Coat of arms of Ivory Coast features an elephant head escutcheon as its focal point.

In the western African

Popular culture

The elephant has entered into popular culture through various

The phrase "Elephants never forget" refers to the belief that elephants have excellent memories. The variation "Women and elephants never forget an injury" originates from the 1904 book Reginald on Besetting Sins by British writer Saki.^[48][49]

This adage seems to have a basis in fact, as reported in Scientific American:

Remarkable recall power, researchers believe, is a big part of how elephants survive. Matriarch elephants, in particular, hold a store of social knowledge that their families can scarcely do without, according to research conducted on elephants at Amboseli National Park in Kenya.^[50]

"

The elephant is viewed in both positive and negative lights in similar fashion as humans in various forms of literature. In fact, Pliny the Elder praised the beast in his Naturalis Historia as one that is closest to a human in sensibilities.^[55] The elephant's different connotations clash in Ivo Andrić's novella The Vizier's Elephant. Here the citizens of Travnik despise the young elephant who symbolises the cruelty of the unseen Vizier. However, the elephant itself is young and innocent despite unknowingly causing havoc due to youthful play.^[56] In the Tarzan novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tantor is the generic term for "elephant" in the fictional simian Mangani language, but is associated with a particular elephant who eventually becomes Tarzan's faithful companion. Other elephant characters that are shown in a positive light include Jean de Brunhoff's Babar and Dr. Seuss' Horton. Jules Verne featured a steam-powered mechanical elephant in his 1880 novel The Steam House. In addition, the animal is depicted in its military use through the oliphaunts of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the alien invaders of Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's 1985 science fiction novel, Footfall.

Notable Elephants in Rudyard Kipling's short stories are Hathi in several Mowgli stories, Tha in "How Fear Came" which is also a Mowgli story, several elephants but chiefly Kala Nag in "Toomai of the Elephants", Two-Tails in "Her Majesty's Servants" (last chapter of The Jungle Book) and the Elephant's Child in the eponymous Just So story; an elephant also appears as Mark Twain's "The Stolen White Elephant". George Orwell wrote an allegorical essay, "Shooting an Elephant"; and in "Hills Like White Elephants", Ernest Hemingway used the allegorical white elephant, alluding to a pregnancy as an unwanted gift.^[57]

The animal is also seen in historical novels.

.

Elephants can also represent the hugeness and wildness of the imagination, as in

Winnie the Pooh stories, a heffalump physically resembles an elephant; and E. H. Shepard's illustration shows an Indian elephant. "Heffalump" has since been defined as "a child's term for an elephant."^[62]

Sports

The elephant is used as a mascot or logo for various sports groups.

Circus showman P. T. Barnum donated the stuffed hide of Jumbo the elephant to Tufts University in 1885, where Jumbo soon became the mascot for their sports teams. However, all that remains of Jumbo are some ashes stored in a peanut butter jar and a piece of his tail following a fire in 1975. "Jumbo's spirit lives on" in the peanut butter jar which is ceremoniously passed on to successive athletic directors.^[63]

The mascot for the

Stomper

.

University of Alabama's Crimson Tide mascot has been an elephant since 1930 after a sportswriter wrote of a fan yelling "Hold your horses, the elephants are coming!" as the football team rumbled onto the field.^[64] Their elephant-costumed "Big Al" officially debuted at the 1979 Sugar Bowl.

Catania, Italy uses the elephant to represent their football team

, referencing the animal that has represented their city since ancient times.

The crest of Kerala Blasters FC, an Indian association football club is designed around an elephant holding football.^[65] Elephants are the state animal of Kerala and have a main role in their culture. They are considered as symbol of unity, power, and pride. The crest of the club symbolises the heritage, culture, spirit, and passion of Kerala, and its love for football.^[66]

Music

The elephant is also represented in music such as Henry Mancini's hit song "Baby Elephant Walk", which has been described as "musical shorthand for kookiness of any stripe".^[67] The American band the White Stripes' fourth album was entitled Elephant in honour of the animal's brute strength and closeness to its relatives.^[68] The hit single "Elephant" by British recording artist Alexandra Burke is based on the expression "elephant in the room".^[69] "Nellie the Elephant" is a children's song first released in 1956 and since covered by many artists including the punk-rock band Toy Dolls;^[70] For her album, Leave Your Sleep, Natalie Merchant set to music "The Blind Men and the Elephant" poem by John Godfrey Saxe, which is based on the parable.^[71]

Film and television

The elephant is also featured in film and on television. Thailand has produced various movies about the animal, from the 1940 historical drama film

Disney animated feature of the same name. Kipling's "Toomai of the Elephants" was adapted as the 1937 British adventure film Elephant Boy. In popular modern films, Tai the elephant-actress has portrayed Bo Tat in Operation Dumbo Drop (1995), Vera in Larger than Life (1996), and Rosie in Water for Elephants (2011). Elephants have also been featured in the modern live action Disney movies Whispers: An Elephant's Tale (2000), and the 2019 remake

of Dumbo.

20th Century Fox

. In the Malayalam film industry, there are several films, depicting elephants like - Guruvayur Kesavan (1977),Gajakesariyogam (1990), Pattabhishekam (1999) and Aanachandam (2006).

On television,

puppet show and then in the '90s animated Magic Adventures of Mumfie

series.

The 2016 action-comedy film

The Brothers Grimsby gained notoriety for its crude and graphic elephant scene.^[73]

Games

Elephant depicted in the Charlemagne chessmen

Alfil represented as elephant tusks^[74]

The elephant can also be found in games. In

Chinese chess,^[q] which has an elephant piece ("Xiàng", 象) that serves as a defensive piece, being the only one that may not cross the river dividing the game board. In the Japanese shogi version, the piece was known as the "Drunken Elephant"; however, it was dropped by order of the Emperor Go-Nara and no longer appears in the version played in contemporary Japan. Even with modern Chess, the word for the bishop is still Alfil in Spanish, Alfiere in Italian, Feel in Persian, and "Elephant" (Слон) in Russian. All of these games originally simulated a kind of battlefield, thus this piece represented a war elephant. In the present-day canonical Staunton chess set, the piece's deep groove, which originally represented the elephant's tusks, is now regarded as representing a bishop's mitre.^[77]

Architecture

In the 18th-century, French architect

Charles Ribart planned to build a three-level elephant building at the Paris site where the Arc de Triomphe was eventually built. Nothing became of this, but in the early 19th-century, Napoleon conceived of an even larger elephant structure, the Elephant of the Bastille. Although the ambitious project was never completed with its intended bronze elephant, a full-sized plaster and wood-frame model stood in its place. After Napoleon's defeat, this structure eventually became a neglected eyesore, and a setting in Victor Hugo's 1862 novel, Les Misérables

.

Three multi-story elephant shaped buildings were built in America by

Elephant Tower in Thailand. This iconic elephant-inspired building reflects the influence of the elephant in Thai culture.^[78]

Gallery

• 
  Buddhist parable of the blind monks examining an elephant; illustrated by Itchō Hanabusa. (1888 Ukiyo-e woodcut)
• 
  A royal white elephant in 19th century Thai art

• 
  Fontana dell'Elefante (Fountain of the Elephant);

  Catania

  's symbol
• 
  Elephant statues at the

  Buddhist Udaygiri temple ruins in Odisha

  , India
• 
  Country Gentleman magazine. Norman Rockwell cover, 16 August 1919
• 
  African elephant mask (Ivory Coast)
• 
  Kuosi Society (Bamileke people) Elephant Mask, Brooklyn Museum

• 
  Hannibal Crossing the Alps; detail of fresco by

  Rome
• 
  Sree Poornathrayesa temple festival Thrippunithura in Kerala, south India

  .
• 
  Erawan statue in Chiang Mai

  , Thailand
• 
  Dernier projet pour la fontaine de l'Éléphant de la Bastille (1809–1810), Watercolor by Jean-Antoine Alavoine
• 
  1354 illustration depicting Panchatantra fable: Rabbit fools Elephant by showing the reflection of the moon
• 
  Shang dynasty ceramic elephant, Xinxiang Museum

See also

• Great Nat
  of Burma.
• Bholu (mascot), iconic mascot for Indian Railways
• Elephants in ancient China
• Elephants in Kerala culture
• Elephants in Thailand
• Elephant riddle
• Elephant test
• Elephant clock
• Elephant Parade, sculpture exhibit
• Execution by elephant
• Fear of mice
  article
• Faithful Elephants, story of the elephants in Tokyo's Ueno Zoo during World War II
• Gaja, elephants in ancient Hindu mythology
• Hastin, elephants in Vedic texts.
• 1962 Film
• Temple elephant
• The Sultan's Elephant, traveling show featuring a huge mechanical elephant
• War elephant
• List of fictional elephants
• List of individual elephants
• National Elephant Day (Thailand)
• Category: Metaphors referring to elephants

Notes

1. ^ Ganesha Getting Ready to Throw His Lotus  :  "In the Mudgalapurāṇa (VII, 70), in order to kill the demon of egotism (Mamāsura) who had attacked him, Gaṇeśa Vighnarāja throws his lotus at him. Unable to bear the fragrance of the divine flower, the demon surrenders to Gaṇeśa."
2. Arabic
   : سورة الفيل — English: The Elephant)
3. ^ The plural of cyclops is cyclopes ("sigh-KLO-peez")^[13]
4. Bovid herds, suggesting the development of animal domestication^[19] During this period humans began to domesticate animals, and transition to a seminomadic lifestyle as farmers and herders.^[20]
5. ^ For example, see:  Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening and The Elephants
6. ^ "The elephant is seen, not only as a beast so strong that he can carry a tower – Coventry's castle – full of armed men, but also as a symbol of Christ's redemption of the human race."^[37]
7. ^ cf: Dumbarton Civic Coat of Arms and Dumbarton Football Club crest
8. ^ Although the caption quotes the fable, Nast attributes it to —Shakespear or Bacon
9. ^ Contrary to popular belief, Nast did not originate the donkey (a derogatory reference to Andrew "Jackass" [Jackson]) as the symbol of the Democratic Party^[40][41]
10. ^ Guezo and Glele ruled from 1818 to 1858 and from 1858 to 1889, respectively
11. ^ As a product size, by 1886 (cigars); Jumbo jet attested by 1964.^[54]
12. ^ Kongo: Nzamba^[54]
13. ^ Over the years, the A's elephant mascot has appeared in various colours other than white, and was briefly replaced by a mule
14. ^ US title: The Protector, UK title: Warrior King
15. ^ The first book Mumfie Marches On, published during World War II (1942) was suggested by the British government; which culminates in the capture of Adolf Hitler by Mumfie and allies^[72]
16. ^ From Persian پيل pīl; al- is the Arabic for "the"
17. ^ Xiangqi (Chinese: 象棋, p Xiàngqí), sometimes translated as "the elephant game".^[76]

References

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Further reading

• Scigliano, Eric (2002). Love, War, and Circuses: The Age-Old Relationship Between Elephants and Humans. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
  ISBN 978-0618015832
  .
• Binney, Ruth (2006). Nature's Ways: Lore, Legend, Fact and Fiction. Newton Abbot: F+W Media.
  ISBN 978-0715333938
  .
• Ed Cray and Marilyn Eisenberg Herzog (January 1967). "The Absurd Elephant: A Recent Riddle Fad". Western Folklore. 26 (1): 27–36.
  JSTOR 1498485
  .—the evolution of the Elephant Riddle that entered U.S. folklore in California in 1963
• Druce, George C. "The Elephant in Medieval Legend and Art" Archived 19 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Journal of the Royal Archaeological Institute. (Vol. 76) London, 1919
• Robbins, Louise E. (2002). Elephant Slaves and Pampered Parrots: Exotic Animals in Eighteenth Century Paris ([Online-Ausg.] ed.). Baltimore [u.a.]: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press.
  ISBN 978-0801867538
  .
• ISBN 978-1879941410
  .
• Pichayapat Naisupap "The Emblematic Elephant: Elephants, the Dutch East India Company, and Eurasian Diplomacy in the Seventeenth Century". Master Thesis, Colonial and Global History, Leiden University, 2020.
• ed, Fowler Museum of Cultural History. Doran H. Ross (1992). Elephant: The Animal and Its Ivory in African Culture. Los Angeles: University of California.
  ISBN 978-0930741266
  .
• ISBN 978-1400838448
  .
• African Folktale as told by Humphrey Harman. "Thunder, Elephant, and Dorobo" (PDF). greatbooks.org. Great Books Foundation.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Elephants in heraldry, Elephants in art and Elephants in circus.

• "Elephants in Culture". Infoqis Publishing, Co. Archived from the original on 19 June 2012. — Elephant-World.com
• "Elephant". Myths, legends, beliefs and traditional stories from Africa. A-Gallery. Archived from the original on 28 December 2008.
• "Elephants on Parade – Medieval and Earlier Manuscripts". British Library. The British Library Board. — Depictions from illuminated manuscripts