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 331
- Downloads 16
ROMANTIC SELF IN SEARCH OF GOD: PHILOSOPHICAL AND RELIGIOUS IDEAS OF S. T. COLERIDGE
The article deals with spiritual progress of S.T. Coleridge from his youthful interest in the followers of Locke (his direct predecessors in English intellectual tradition) to his fascination with pantheism, to his stud...
М. Gorky as a Theoretician of Literature
The essay focuses on the theoretical problem of M. Gorky’s artistic method claiming that Gorky’s work combines elements of realism, Romanticism, and modernism. Already at the beginning of his career, he realized that c...
Musical Outlook in Alexey Losev’s Novel The Woman-Thinker
This article discusses the role of music in the context of A.F. Losev’s philosophical prose of the 1930’s and 1940’s. Describing the key ideas of Losev’s philosophy of music, the essay presents Losev as both the writer...
Round Table “Istoriography of Russian Civil War in Literature, Ego-Documents and Criticism”
No Abstract
Russian Folk Culture in the 20 th Century: Oral Evidence of the Villagers (On the Materials of Folklore Expeditions)
Folk culture is capable of developing certain adaptation mechanisms that help it promptly react to the changing conditions of natural, socio-political, and economic environment. This is evidenced by the stories of the v...