One of our previous readings by the 18th century French writer François-Marie Voltaire makes a shocking allusion to Greek mythology. In a quote from the text he describes the mythological creature called a satyr, a half-man half-goat character. He states, “I do not see why their (satyrs) existence should be impossible: monsters brought forth from women are still stifled in Calabria.” In Greek mythology, satyrs were characterized as ugly, drunken, lustful nuisances. Voltaire uses the symbol of the satyr to compare mixed race human offspring with the configuration of the man-goat satyr, and also to attribute bad characteristics to mixed race individuals. He calls mixed children a “bastard race” and makes another animal comparison of a mule created when a horse and donkey procreate. It was shocking to read a “scientific” writing and see references to mythology. In the modern age, scientists would never search for evidence of their research in mythological texts because we know today that mythology was formed on oral tradition and the need of ancient societies to make sense of natural occurrences they could not explain with their limited knowledge of the world around them.