This is a bedside, fireside, outside, and anywhere companion for cat owners and cat lovers. Here are scores of stories, myths, legends, anecdotes, and fun tidbits. Covering more than 25 breeds, this volume is the first of its kind to reveal the archetypal cat, the cat from all four continents, who came aboard the Ark and traveled upon the Titanic. Indestructible, inviolable, mystical, the cat is shown as goddess, priestess, midwife, doctor, lawyer, journalist, politician, and, most of all, our feline friend. The Mythology of Cats takes us on a literary and historical survey of catdom. Award-winning folklorist Gerald Hausman and his wife, Loretta have been collecting cat creation stories for over two decades. Here are more than fifty unusual tales--intriguing, hilarious, heartbreaking, and all about the quirky tendencies of each major breed. The book includes such ancient legends as the cat who actually named the country of Scotland, the cat who was snorted into being by a lion aboard the Ark, and the cats who, after being driven out of Ireland by Saint Patrick, returned to their Egyptian homeland. It also includes more modern tales such as the story of the saintly cat who kept Jack Kerouac safe and sound, and the cats who wrote their own tableau of feline history, according to Syvia Townsend Warner. Literary figures abound, from Rainer Maria Rilke to Colette, from Tennessee Williams to Lewis Carroll. Historical references show the cat's role in the prayers of Muhammad and the death of Buddha, as well as the role of the cat as a benign witch, a saint of the harvest festival, and a necromancer in medieval and modern times.--Adapted from dust jacket.