I ran across this funny story in a discussion about the end of the world. This 'happened' in ancient Egypt:
The god Ra sent out his eye in the form of Hathor, and she was supposed to destroy all those who did not worship him. Hathor got a little exuberant and started killing indiscriminately. To stop her, Ra tempted her with a flood of beer dyed red to resemble blood. Apparently she was literally bloodthirsty, and she drank until she was inebriated. That inebriation caused her to forget all about her thirst for mankinds blood, thus sparing the world from her deadly rampage.
Beer. Problem solved.