Tauroctony

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A Roman bas-relief of the tauroctony in the Louvre, 2nd or 3rd century conforming to the standard Mithraic depiction: in the upper corners are Helios with the raven, and Luna
A Roman bas-relief of the tauroctony in the Louvre, 2nd or 3rd century conforming to the standard Mithraic depiction: in the upper corners are Helios with the raven, and Luna
A statue, rather than the more common fresco, of the tauroctony in the Vatican Museum. Note that Mithras is looking toward the bull instead of away, which is unusual in a tauroctony.
A statue, rather than the more common fresco, of the tauroctony in the Vatican Museum. Note that Mithras is looking toward the bull instead of away, which is unusual in a tauroctony.

A tauroctony is an artistic depiction of the legendary hero and ancient religious icon Mithras ritually slaying a bull. The literal act of sacrifice is known as taurobolium.

The highly formulaic scene was developed in the school of sculptors active in Pergamum circa 200 BCE, possibly adapting the formulaic representation of Alexander (Untersteiner 1946, et al.) In the depiction, Mithras, wearing a Phrygian cap and pants, slays the bull from above while looking away. A serpent and dog seem to drink from the bull's open wound (which often spills blood but occasionally grain), and a scorpion attacks the bull's testicles. Typically, a raven or crow is also present, and sometimes also a goblet and small lion. Cautes and Cautopates, the celestial twins of light and darkness, are torch-bearers, standing on either side with their legs crossed, Cautes with his brand pointing up and Cautopates with his turned down. Above Mithras, the symbols for Sol and Luna are present in the starry night sky. See the very similar Enkidu tauroctony seal.

The scene seems to be astrological in nature. It has been proposed by David Ulansey that the tauroctony is a symbolic representation of the constellations rather than an originally Iranian animal sacrifice scene with Iranian precedents (Ulansey, 1991). The bull is Taurus, the snake Hydra, the dog Canis Major or Minor, the crow or raven Corvus, the goblet Crater, the lion Leo, and the wheat-blood the star Spica. The torch-bearers may represent the two equinoxes, although this is less clear. Mithras himself could also be associated with Perseus, whose constellation is above that of the bull.

The tauroctony and other well-known Hellenistic sculptures helped to inspire Neoclassicism. The image was adapted for a Prix de Rome sculpture of The Madness of Orestes by Raymond Bathélmy (1860); the prize-winning plaster model remains in the collection of the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, where it was included in the 2004 travelling exhibition "Dieux et Mortels" [1].

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