THE GATES OF HORN AND IVORY: A GEOGRAPHICAL MYTH
Journal Title: Studia Litterarum - Year 2016, Vol 1, Issue 3
Abstract
The articles proposes a new interpretation of the Homeric myth of the gates of horn and ivory that occurs in Book 19 of the Odyssey. It frst argues that horn (the material of the southern gate in neoplatonic commentaries) can be found in the sign of Capricornus. More complex is the argument that also ivory (the material of the northern gate in neoplatonic commentaries) is derived from astronomical myths: the myths discussed are the myth of Adonis (beginning with the story about the ivory statue carved by Pygmalion), the myths of the Erymanthian, the Calydonian, and the Ephesian boars, the myth of Orion, and the myth of the constellation ursa major. An enquiry into the occurance of ivory in Greek mythology leads to the hypothesis that the constellation ursa major was identifed with a boar (with ivory tusks). The hypothesis implies that the gates of horn and ivory were already at the times of Homer understood as an astronomical myth that described the northernmost and southernmost points of the sky.
Authors and Affiliations
Jörg Schulte
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP26105
- DOI 10.22455/2500-4247-2016-1-3-4-82-91
- Views 381
- Downloads 16
LITERARY PROCESS IN GERMANY AT THE TURN OF THE 19th and 20th CENTURIES: INTERACTION OF LITERARY TRENDS
The article discusses dynamic interaction among artistic communities (trends, movements, etc.) exploring the specificity of literary space in Germany at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. This is a comparative st...
Rahel Vaenhagen and the Culture of Her Time
This essay examines the personality of Rahel Varnhagen, one of the brightest representatives of the German cultural milieu, owner of a literary salon that brought together prominent authors, artists, philosophers, noble...
RUSSIAN FOLKLORE AS A REFLECTION OF NATIONAL CHARACTER IN THE WORK OF BORIS VYSHESLAVTZEV
The essay is focused on the spiritual crisis of Russian culture at the beginning of the 20th Century and on the search of philosophical alternatives to overcome the crisis within the framework of Russian philosophical...
LERMONTOV’S ROMANTICISM AND JENA SCHOOL
This article examines the understudied subjects of Lermontov life and work: his stay at the Moscow noble boarding school and his direct engagement in Cepheus, a literary annual run by the literary circle of Raich, where...
The Spirit of Laws and the Debate about Russian Despotism
The fate of The Spirit of Laws by Ch.-L. Montesquieu in Russia in the second half of the 18th century is an example of ambiguous reception that the French enlightener and his ideas received at that time prompting both...