The Straight Dope 04/04/2003

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The Straight Dope -- By Cecil Adams
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THE STRAIGHT DOPE 04/04/2003

Dear Cecil:

I like to read the Straight Dope columns on religious
artifacts. You have covered the Ark of the Covenant
and a little bit about the Dead Sea scrolls, and I
would like to know about the Holy Grail. I wasn't born
into a Bible-reading family, so my knowledge of the
subject is limited. I know it was used by Christ at
the Last Supper and was used by Joseph of Arimathea
to gather the blood of the fallen Christ. I want to
know some more of the details surrounding it, and
what some theories are regarding its location today.
Also, are there still people searching for it?
--Nelson Bartlett

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Cecil replies:

Nelson, we need to get with the program here. The
Holy Grail is an invention. It turns up in works
of fiction. Some of the works in question are
classics, notably Thomas Malory's Le Morte Darthur
("The Death of Arthur," c 1470), in which the
Grail--reimagined as a symbol of mystical union
with God--is the object of the prototypical
knightly quest. The notion of a quest for a talisman
of incomparable value still fascinates romantics
(and not a few screenwriters) lo these many centuries
later. But the object of the quest, to some extent
then and certainly now, is little more than a
McGuffin, to use Hitchcock's term--a pretext that
propels the story. You might as well search for
Excalibur, or for Frodo's magic ring.

There are a few things you need to understand about 
he Holy Grail. 

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/030404.html

STAFF REPORT

Dear Straight Dope:

An eccentric friend of mine claims to have read a book
called The Seven-Per-Cent Solution about a meeting of
two monumental figures in their respective fields:
Sigmund Freud the famous psychologist, and Sherlock
Holmes the British detective. The title referred to
Holmes' alleged cocaine addiction, which he asked
Freud to help him conquer. I was highly skeptical.
Why would someone write a book mixing two
outstanding and contrasting personalities for the
sole reason of having them discuss cocaine?

My friend also claims that this encounter is
based on a true story, which I doubted as well.
I was previously led to believe that Sherlock
Holmes was a fictitious character, possibly based
on another real-life detective, but not an actual
person. Internet research turned up numerous
articles from both sides of the real/fictional
argument, as well as several articles about
clues to Holmes' coke addiction. But if I can't
count on the Straight Dope to sift through the
various arguments and emerge with the truth
(or at least a plausible facsimile), on whom can
I count? --Julia Yeung, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada

SDSTAFF Dex replies:

So, the Web seems to turn up evidence on both
sides of the real/fiction argument, eh? A fine
lesson in being careful about accepting information
because it's "on the Internet." But this isn't
the usual case of mistaking the ravings of online
lunatics for fact. You've been taken in by a 
great game.

I'm going to break your question in two parts:
(1) Who was Sherlock Holmes? and (2) What's with
his cocaine addiction? Note: For any readers
who are devoted Sherlockians, and who know that
Sherlock was real, please skip ahead to Part 2.
I wouldn't want you to be upset by any heresy
that I might utter in Part 1.

Part 1. Was Sherlock real or fictional? Why are
the websites confusing on this issue?

Sherlock Holmes is . . .

For more, see: 
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/msherlock.html


STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC - 01/01/1977

Dear Cecil: 

There's an old cliche about things that happen "once
in a blue moon." Has there ever been a blue moon,
or is this just a variation on hell freezing over?
If blue moons have happened before, when will the
next one be? --Alma N., Phoenix 

Dear Alma:

It's time we had a talk about this. 

If you want to get technical, blue moons do
happen once in a while.

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_172.html

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