Editing Fly (section)

===Symbolism===
[[File:Christus carthusian.jpg|thumb|left|upright |[[Petrus Christus]]'s 1446 painting ''Portrait of a Carthusian'' has a ''musca depicta'' (painted fly) on a ''[[trompe-l'œil]]'' frame.]]

Flies play a variety of symbolic roles in different cultures. These include both positive and negative roles in religion. In the traditional [[Navajo]] religion, Big Fly is an important spirit being.<ref>{{cite book |title=Handbook of North American Indians |chapter-url=http://www.users.humboldt.edu/jwpowell/LelandWymanHONAI-NavajoCeremonialSystem,reduced.pdf |page=539 |chapter=Navajo Ceremonial System |last=Wyman |first=Leland Clifton |year=1983 |quote=Nearly every element in the universe may be thus personalized, and even the least of these such as tiny Chipmunk and those little insect helpers and mentors of deity and man in the myths, Big Fly (''Dǫ’soh'') and Ripener (Corn Beetle) Girl (''’Anilt’ánii ’At’ééd'') (Wyman and Bailey 1964:29–30, 51, 137–144), are as necessary for the harmonious balance of the universe as is the great Sun. |access-date=30 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305073542/http://www.users.humboldt.edu/jwpowell/LelandWymanHONAI-NavajoCeremonialSystem,reduced.pdf |archive-date=5 March 2016 |url-status=dead|df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Wyman |first1=Leland Clifton |last2=Bailey  |first2=Flora L. |title=Navaho Indian Ethnoentomology|series=Anthropology Series |issue=12–13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tHl1AAAAMAAJ&q=Big+Fly |date=1964 |publisher=University of New Mexico Press |isbn=9780826301109 |lccn=64024356}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.native-languages.org/legends-fly.htm |title=Native American Fly Mythology |publisher=Native Languages of the Americas website}}</ref> In [[Christian demonology]], [[Beelzebub]] is a demonic fly, the "Lord of the Flies", and a god of the [[Philistine]]s.<ref>"Βεελζεβούλ, ὁ indecl. (v.l. Βεελζεβούβ and Βεεζεβούλ W-S. §5, 31, cp. 27 n. 56) Beelzebul, orig. a Philistine deity; the name בַּעַל זְבוּב means Baal (lord) of the flies (4 Km 1:2, 6; Sym. transcribes βεελζεβούβ; Vulgate Beelzebub; TestSol freq. Βεελζεβούλ,-βουέλ).", Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed.) (173). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.</ref><ref>"1. According to 2 Kgs 1:2–6 the name of the Philistine god of Ekron was Lord of the Flies (Heb. ba‘al zeaûḇ), from whom Israel’s King Ahaziah requested an oracle.", Balz, H. R., & Schneider, G. (1990–). Vol. 1: Exegetical dictionary of the New Testament (211). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans.</ref><ref>"For etymological reasons, Baal Zebub must be considered a Semitic god; he is taken over by the Philistine Ekronites and incorporated into their local cult.", Herrmann, "Baal Zebub", in Toorn, K., Becking, B., & Horst, P. W. (1999). Dictionary of deities and demons in the Bible DDD (2nd extensively rev. ed.) (154). Leiden; Boston; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Brill; Eerdmans.</ref>

Flies have appeared in literature since ancient [[Sumer]].<ref name="BlackGreen1992">{{cite book |last1=Black |first1=Jeremy |first2=Anthony |last2=Green |title=Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=05LXAAAAMAAJ&q=Inana |publisher=[[The British Museum Press]] |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-7141-1705-8 |pages=84–85}}</ref> In a Sumerian poem, a fly helps the goddess [[Inanna]] when her husband [[Dumuzid]] is being chased by ''[[Gallu|galla]]'' demons.<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> In the Mesopotamian versions of the [[flood myth]], the dead corpses floating on the waters are compared to flies.<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> Later, the gods are said to swarm "like flies" around the hero [[Utnapishtim]]'s offering.<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> Flies appear on [[Babylonia|Old Babylonian]] seals as symbols of [[Nergal]], the god of death.<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/> Fly-shaped [[lapis lazuli]] beads were often worn in ancient Mesopotamia, along with other kinds of fly-jewellery.<ref name="BlackGreen1992"/>

In Ancient Egypt, flies appear in amulets and as a military award for bravery and tenacity, due to the fact that they always come back when swatted at. It is thought that flies may have also been associated with the departing spirit of the dead, as they are often found near dead bodies. In modern Egypt, a similar belief persists in some areas to not swat at shiny green flies, as they may be carrying the soul of a recently deceased person.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haynes |first=Dawn |url=https://scholar.sun.ac.za/bitstream/10019.1/79920/1/haynes_symbolism_2013.pdf |title=The Symbolism and Significance of the Butterfly in Ancient Egypt}}</ref>

In a little-known [[Greek myth]], a very chatty and talkative maiden named [[Myia (mythology)|Myia]] (meaning "fly") enraged the moon-goddess [[Selene]] by attempting to seduce her lover, the sleeping [[Endymion (mythology)|Endymion]], and was thus turned by the angry goddess into a fly, who now always deprives people of their sleep in memory of her past life.<ref>{{cite book | title = Metamorphosis in Greek Myths | first = Paul M. C. | last = Forbes Irving | publisher = [[Clarendon Press]] | date = 1990 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=URvXAAAAMAAJ | isbn = 0-19-814730-9 | location = Oxford | page = 315}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=oNWFDk5mOvQC&pg=PA5 5] | title = Lucian: Selected Dialogues | author1 = Lucian | author2 = C. D. N. Costa | author-link1 = Lucian | location = Oxford, New York | date = 2005 | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=oNWFDk5mOvQC | isbn = 978-0-19-925867-3}}</ref> In ''[[Prometheus Bound]]'', which is attributed to the Athenian tragic playwright [[Aeschylus]], a [[horse-fly|gadfly]] sent by [[Zeus]]'s wife [[Hera]] pursues and torments his mistress [[Io (mythology)|Io]], who has been transformed into a cow and is watched constantly by the hundred eyes of the herdsman [[Argus Panoptes|Argus]]:<ref>{{cite book |last1=Belfiore |first1=Elizabeth S. |title=Murder among Friends: Violation of Philia in Greek Tragedy |date=2000 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford, England |isbn=978-0-19-513149-9 |page=47 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zhqCDBBEXSkC&q=Prometheus+Bound+Io+gadfly&pg=PA47}}</ref><ref name="Stagman2010">{{cite book |last=Stagman |first=Myron |title=Shakespeare's Greek Drama Secret |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=encnBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA207 |date=11 August 2010 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-2466-8 |pages=205–208}}</ref> "Io: Ah! Hah! Again the prick, the stab of gadfly-sting! O earth, earth, hide, the hollow shape—Argus—that evil thing—the hundred-eyed."<ref name="Stagman2010"/> [[William Shakespeare]], inspired by Aeschylus, has [[Tom o'Bedlam]] in ''[[King Lear]]'', "Whom the foul fiend hath led through fire and through flame, through ford and whirlpool, o'er bog and quagmire", driven mad by the constant pursuit.<ref name="Stagman2010"/> In ''[[Antony and Cleopatra]]'', Shakespeare similarly likens Cleopatra's hasty departure from the [[Battle of Actium|Actium battlefield]] to that of a cow chased by a gadfly.<ref name="Walker2002">{{cite book |last=Walker |first=John Lewis |title=Shakespeare and the Classical Tradition: An Annotated Bibliography, 1961–1991 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q3Voi0Dk_HwC&pg=PA363 |year=2002 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-8240-6697-0 |page=363}}</ref> More recently, in 1962 the biologist Vincent Dethier wrote ''To Know a Fly'', introducing the general reader to the behaviour and physiology of the fly.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dethier |first1=Vincent G. |title=To Know a Fly |url=https://archive.org/details/toknowfly00deth |url-access=registration |date=1962 |publisher=Holden-Day |location=San Francisco}}</ref>

''[[Musca depicta]]'' ("painted fly" in Latin) is a depiction of a fly as an inconspicuous element of various paintings. This feature was widespread in 15th and 16th centuries paintings and its presence may be explained by various reasons.<ref name=eoi>''Encyclopedia of Insects'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=Jk0Hym1yF0cC&dq=%22musca+depicta%22&pg=PA242 p. 242]</ref>

Flies appear in popular culture in concepts such as [[fly-on-the-wall]] [[documentary]]-making in [[filmmaking|film]] and [[television production]]. The [[metaphor]]ic name suggests that events are seen [[Candid photography|candidly]], as a fly might see them.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/698785/ |publisher=British Film Institute |title=Fly on the Wall |access-date=21 July 2016}}</ref> Flies have inspired the design of miniature flying robots.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ma |first1=Kevin Y. |last2=Chirarattananon |first2=Pakpong |last3=Fuller |first3=Sawyer B. |last4=Wood |first4=Robert J. |date=2013-05-03 |title=Controlled flight of a biologically inspired, insect-scale robot |journal=Science |volume=340 |issue=6132 |pages=603–607 |doi=10.1126/science.1231806 |pmid=23641114|bibcode=2013Sci...340..603M |s2cid=21912409 }}</ref> [[Steven Spielberg]]'s 1993 film ''[[Jurassic Park]]'' relied on the idea that [[DNA]] could be preserved in the stomach contents of a blood-sucking fly [[fossil]]ised in [[amber]], though the mechanism has been discounted by scientists.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gray |first1=Richard |title=Jurassic Park ruled out – dinosaur DNA could not survive in amber |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/dinosaurs/10303795/Jurassic-Park-ruled-out-dinosaur-DNA-could-not-survive-in-amber.html |access-date=21 July 2016 |agency=Daily Telegraph |date=12 September 2013}}</ref>