3-038-096 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Dukalion and Pyrrha Throwing Stones over their Shoulders; Roman de la Rose, about 1405. In Greek mythology, Deucalion consulted an oracle about how to repopulate the earth after the great flood. He was told to "cover your head and throw the bones of your mother behind your shoulder". Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha understood that "mother" was Gaia, the mother of all living things, and that the "bones" were rocks. When they threw the rocks behind them, the stones miraculously formed people. Deucalion's became men and Pyrrha's became women - seen emerging to the left and right.