dogs in the purple

j mankin on pixabay CC:0

Purple:  we grow up in the West thinking of it as a royal color, though I don't think it shows up much in any court these days.  Even so, no one need explain what they mean when they refer to someone as "born in the purple" - it speaks of status and privilege.  So how funny is it that the mythology of this color includes a dog as the major player?  In Phoenician lore, the city of Tyre had a patron god called Melqart; Melqart had a mistress named Tyros, and Tyros had a dog.  One day Tyros and her dog strolled the beach, where molluscs were strewn.  The dog chewed up some of these fishy treats and ended up with a purple face.  It's this tale that's referred to in this letter of around 520 C.E., in which a palace official has to take a textile supplier to task.