When I saw the Word of the Day – tarantism–I knew that tarantulas has to be involved. The definition:
| \TAR-uhn-tiz-uhm\ |
| noun 1. a mania characterized by an uncontrollable impulse to dance, especially as prevalent in southern Italy from the 15th to the 17th century, popularly attributed to the bite of the tarantula |
So what happened to the tarantulas in southern Italy after the 17th century? Curious. And why don’t people in Arizona show tarantism? The definition creates more questions than answers.
I read more and learned that tarantism was a cure for a tarantula bite in southern Italy — a self-induced state. I also learned that I will never go to a certain region in Southern Italy. The city and region of Taranto is full of the giant spiders. In fact, the spider is named for that town. Taranto will not go on my Bucket list. For more reasons to avoid Taranto, check out this blog post.
.
