Arthur George’s ‘The Mythology of Wine’

A few millennia ago, back when humans first started drinking wine, it didn’t take too long to ascribe supernatural abilities to most everything associated with the grapevine, from its annual cycle of fruitful bounty to near death to its reliable knack for getting folks drunk.

“The inebriating effect of wine was thought to be divine,” explains Arthur George, a retired attorney and Solvang resident who explains these beliefs in his new book The Mythology of Wine. “In those days, they didn’t know how fermentation worked, they didn’t know what yeast was, they didn’t know what alcohol was. When this happened, they figured that the gods were involved. Once the gods were involved, they had myths and started to make offerings to the gods.”

George’s book wades through these old oenological tales, from Noah’s Ark and Mesopotamia to Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Christianity. With numerous images and excerpts of ancient texts, the book reveals a number of thematic through lines for wine, particularly its symbolism of new life, civilization, and creation itself.