Phosphorus (Greek Φωσφόρος Phōsphoros), a name meaning "Light-Bringer", is the Morning Star, the planet Venus in its morning appearance. Φαοσφόρος (Phaosphoros) and Φαεσφόρος (Phaesphoros) are forms of the same name in some Greek dialects.
Another Greek name for the Morning Star is Ἑωσφόρος (Heōsphoros), which means "Dawn-Bringer". The form Eosphorus is sometimes met in English, as if from Ἠωσφόρος (Ēōsphoros), which is not actually found in Greek literature,[1] but would be the form that Ἑωσφόρος would have in some dialects. The Latin name Lucifer is an exact translation of the Greek term Φωσφόρος.
In Isaiah 14:12, the Septuagint version uses the word "Ἑωσφόρος" (Heosphoros) and the Vulgate "Lucifer" to translate Hebrew "Helel" (Venus as the brilliant, bright or shining one), "son of Shahar (Dawn)"
Others have been referred to as Morning Star (for instance, Jesus in Revelation 22:16), but not as Phosphorus.
As an adjective, the Greek word is applied in the sense of "light-bringing" to, for instance, the dawn, the god Dionysos, pine torches, the day; and in the sense of "torch-bearing" as an epithet of several god and goddesses, especially Hecate but also of Artemis/Diana and Hephaestus.[2]
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In Greek mythology, Hesiod calls Phosphorus a son of Astraeus and Eos,[3] but other say of Cephalus and Eos, or of Atlas.[4]
The Latin poet Ovid, speaking of Phosphorus and Hesperus (the Evening Star,, the evening appearance of the planet Venus) as identical, makes him the father of Daedalion[5] Ovid also makes him the father of Ceyx, [6] while the Latin grammarian Servius makes him the father of the Hesperides or of Hesperis[4]
While at an early stage the Morning Star (called Phosphorus and other names) and the Evening Star (referred to by names such as Hesperus) were thought of as two celestial objects, the Greeks accepted that the two were the same, but they seem to have continued to treat the two mythological entities as distinct. Halbertal and Margalit interpret this as indicating that they did not identify the star with the god or gods of mythology "embodied" in the star.[7]
In the philosophy of language, "Hesperus is Phosphorus" is a famous sentence in relation to the semantics of proper names. Gottlob Frege used the terms "the evening star" (der Abendstern) and "the morning star" (der Morgenstern) to illustrate his distinction between sense and reference, and subsequent philosophers changed the example to "Hesperus is Phosphorus" so that it utilized proper names. Saul Kripke used the sentence to demonstrate that the knowledge of something necessary (in this case the identity of Hesperus and Phosphorus) could be discoverable rather than known a priori. On this question see Frege's Puzzle.
The Latin word corresponding to Greek "Phosphorus" is "Lucifer". It is used in its astronomical sense both in prose[8] and poetry,[9] but most poets personify the star in a mythological context.[10]
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