The hippocampus or hippocamp, also hippokampoi (plural: hippocampi or hippocamps; Greek: ????? , from ????? , "horse" and ?????? ," sea monster "), often called seahorse in English, is a mythological creature possessed by Phoenicians, Etruscan, and Greek mythologies , despite its name coming from Greece. The hippocampus is usually described as having a horse's upper body with a lower body of fish.
Video Hippocampus (mythology)
Mythology
Coins printed in Tire around the 4th century BC show the protective god Melqart riding a winged hippocampus and accompanied by dolphins. Coins in the same period of Byblos show the hippocampus diving under the kitchen.
A golden sea horse was found in a hoard of the Lydian kingdom in a small Asia, dating to the 6th century BC.
Greek and Roman
In Iliad , Homer describes Poseidon, the god of horses, earthquakes, and the sea, drawn by horses hoofed horses above sea level, and Apollonius of Rhodes, depicting Poseidon horses emerging from the sea. and ran across the Libyan sands. This is comparable to the "two-nail" special hippocampi of Gaius Valerius Flaccus in his book Argonautica: "Orion while in control of his father lifts the sea by snorting his two-legged horses." However, in Hellenistic and Roman imagery, Poseidon (or Neptune Roman) often riding horse-drawn carriages pulled by hippocampi. So the hippocampi sport with this god both in ancient and modern depictions, as in the 18th century Trevi Fountain water in Rome surveyed by Neptune from its niche above.
The emergence of hippocampi in freshwater and saltwater is counter-intuitive for modern audiences, though not for the ancient ones. The Greek description of the natural hydrological cycle does not take into account the condensation of atmospheric water as rain to recharge the water table, but imagine sea water flowing back ashore through vast underground caves and aquifers, rising refilled and refreshing in springs.
So it's natural for a temple in Helike on the plains of Achaea to be dedicated to Poseidon Helikonios , (Poseidon Helicon), Boeotian Helikon's holy spring. When the earthquake suddenly drowned the city, Poseidon bronze temple accompanied by hippocampi continue to grab the fishing net. Similarly, the hippocampus is regarded as the proper decoration for mosaics in Roman thermae or public baths, such as the modern Aquae Sulis Bath in Britannia ( illustration, below ).
Poseidon's horse, included in the complicated gold and ivory gold bronze sculpture program, added by a Roman client to the Poseidon temple in Corinth, is likely a hippocamp; The inspired Roman Paus represents the rich ensemble of the 2nd century BC ( Greek Geography ii.1.7-.8):
In the temple, which is not very big, stands Triton bronze. In front of the front are pictures, two Poseidons, one third of Amphitrite, and Sea, which is also a bronze. The offerings in it were ordained in our day by Herod Atticus, four horses, plated except for ivory, made of ivory, and two Tritons of gold beside the horses, with parts under the ivory waist. In the car stands Amphitrite and Poseidon, and there is a Palaemon boy on a dolphin. It is also made of ivory and gold. In the center of the base where the car has been forged Sea hold young Aphrodite, and on both sides is a nymph called Nereids.
Etruscan
Hippocampi emerged with the first Oriental phase of the Etruscan civilization: they remain a theme in Etruscan wall paintings and reliefs, where they are sometimes equipped with wings, as they are in the Trevi fountain. Katharine Shepard finds in the theme of Etruscan belief in voyage to another world.
Pictish
Sea horses also appear in Pictish stone carvings in Scotland. The carved symbolism (also known as "Pictish Beast") is unknown. Though similar but not identical to the image of the Roman sea horse, it is unclear whether this description comes from images brought by the Romans, or has a place in the previous Pictish mythology.
Medieval and Renaissance, and Modern
The mythical hippocampus has been used as a heraldic charge, especially since the Renaissance, most often in the armorial bearing of people and places with maritime associations. However, in a blazon, the terms hippocamp and hippocampus now refer to the native animals called the seahorse, and the term sea horse i> and seahorse refers to a mythological creature. The above mentioned hybrid fish are seen less frequently.
Sea horses are also a common image in the Renaissance and post-renaissance art, for example, at the Trevi fountain, in 1732.
The winged hippocampus has been used as a symbol for Air France since its inception in 1933 (inherited from its predecessor Air Orient); it appears today in the nacelles of the Air France aircraft engine.
The bronze hippocampoi appeared in Dublin, Leinster, Ireland on the lamppost beside the statue of Henry Grattan and at Grattan Bridge.
Maps Hippocampus (mythology)
Closely linked to the hippocampus is the "sea goat", represented by Capricorn, a mystical creature with the goat's front and the back half of the fish. The canonical figures, most of which are not cult images, and coins of the caries goddess associated with Aphrodite as Aphrodite of Aphrodisias through interpretatio graeca show the goddess riding a sea goat horse. Brody describes it thus:
... a half-naked woman appeared on a sea goat, accompanied by dolphins and Triton. This is the goddess Aphrodite himself, shown here not in his distinctive local special but in a more traditional Hellenistic style. He is the sea aspect of Aphrodite, known to the Greeks as Aphrodite Pelagia. He rides a fantastic sea creature with the body and tail of the fish and the front of the goat. The goat moves to the right and turns his head back to see the goddess. This group also appeared on Aphrodisian coins from the 3rd century A.D.
Apart from aigikampoi , the fish-tailed goat representing Capricorn, another fish-tailed animal rarely appears in Greek art, but is more typical of Etruscans. These include leokampoi (fish lion), taurokampoi (fish oxtail) or pardalokampoi (leopard fish tail).
See also
- List of hybrid creatures in mythology
- Capricorn (astrology)
- Ignore
- Kelpie
- Water horse
References
Note
Source
- Classic reference: Homer, Iliad xlii. 24, 29; Euripides, Andromache 1012; Virgil Georgics iv. 389; Philostratus Imagine me. 8; Statius Thebaid ii. 45 and Achilleid 1.25.
- This article incorporates text from publications now in the public domain: Ã, Smith, William, ed. (1870). " article name required ". Greek and Roman Antiquities Dictionary . London: John Murray.
External links
- Theoi - Hippokampoi Project
- A golden fibula, part of the "Lydian treasure" found in the former Lydian kingdom, was made in the second half of the 6th century BC.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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