Cautes and Cautopates

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Tauroctonia relief from Heidelberg-Neuenheim. Left Cautopates, right, somewhat raised, Cautes

In the Mithras cult, Cautes and Cautopates (also Cautepates) are two figures carrying torches who appear as companions for the god (or hero) Mithras . They always appear in pairs and are represented almost identically, with Cautes holding the torch up, while Cautopates holds the torch down.

presentation

Mithras kills the bull. On the sides are Cautes (left) and Cautopates (right). Fresco from the Mithraeum in Marino , approx. 200 AD

In almost all tauroctony representations, the cultic bull-killing pictures in Mithraea , Cautes and Cautopates, holding their torches up and down, stand on the sides of the picture, usually with their legs crossed. Both are shown generally smaller than Mithras. In the majority of cases, Cautopates is on the left and Cautes on the right. But there are also about fifty reliefs on which Cautes are placed on the left and Cautopates on the right. In very few cases both can be found together on one side, behind the bull. Occasionally one of the two is also depicted in an elevated position, mostly Cautes, as in the relief from Heidelberg-Neuenheim .

In addition to their almost obligatory appearance in the pictures of the bull killing, Cautes and Cautopates were often dedicated to individual representations on smaller altars, which were usually erected in pairs in mithraea.

  • Individual representation of the Cautopates from the Mithraeum in Stockstadt

  • Individual representation of the Cautes from Stockstadt

Occasionally, as can be seen on the individual reliefs from Stockstadt, Cautes and Cautopates also carry key-like objects in their free hands in addition to their torches. The exact meaning is not clear. Sometimes the object in question is also interpreted as a shepherd's staff, or as a gnomon or spit.

Both torchbearers are usually dressed in tunics and Phrygian caps , as is Mithras himself. On colored representations (frescoes or reliefs with traces of color) it can be seen that the color of their clothing is often different - while Cautes, the Bringer of Light, is warm, bright Wearing colors (such as red or yellow), there is Cautopates, with the dying out, lowered torch, dressed in cool, dark colors (such as gray or dark blue).

Interpretations

In Persian mythology ( Mihr yašt ) Mithra is accompanied on his way across the sky by Rašnu and Sraoša , the gods of justice . They change their positions during the day and night. Possibly, this type of connection a precedent for all companion of Mithra (or even Mitra ) or Mithras is, even though the exact relationship has not yet been resolved between the Persian and the Roman Mithra- Mithraism.

The raised and lowered torches in the Roman Mithras cult could symbolize the sun, which rises in the east in the morning and sets in the west in the evening. According to this interpretation, Cautes stands for the rising sun, the east, the day, the light, the hope and the life. He is assigned the Aldebaran , a star in the constellation of Taurus , through which spring returns. This constellation was assigned to summer in ancient times. Cautopates, on the other hand, then symbolizes the setting sun, the west, the night, suffering and death. It is associated with Antares in the constellation of Scorpio , which in ancient times marked the beginning of winter.

Merkelbach turn associated in its scheme of consecration degrees Cautopates with the fifth grade (the Perses , German "Persians"), with the moon goddess Luna and the evening star ( Hesperus ), and Cautes with the sixth consecration degrees (the Heliodromus , German "Sunstriders "), the sun god Sol and the morning star ( Lucifer ).

According to the interpretation of the Mithras researcher David Ulansey , Cautes and Cautopates symbolize the equals day and night in the course of the year. Cautes with the raised torch represents the equinox of spring and equinox, Cautopates with the lowered torch represents the equinox of autumn and equinox. Your crossed leg position symbolizes the intersection of the celestial equator with the ecliptic at the point of spring and autumn.

The origin and meaning of the names "Cautes" and "Cautopates" is not clearly understood. It is also unclear whether they are independent deities or torchbearers, sacrificial helpers or servants of Mithras. Vermaseren suggests, among other things because of their similar clothing and a relief from Dieburg , which shows three figures with Phrygian hats, who are apparently born together from a treetop, as is often the case with Mithras alone, they could also represent different aspects of the same god, i.e. Form a kind of Trinitas together with Mithras .

Similar couples

In many other mythologies, too, there are couples, often siblings or even twins, who symbolize dualism through their opposition . So there are Cain and Abel in the biblical story , Romulus and Remus in the history of Roman naming , or the dioscuri Castor and Polydeukes in Greek mythology .

Web links

Commons : Cautes  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Cautopates  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mithras exhibition at the Saalburg 2011 with the spelling “Cautepates”, taunus-zeitung.de; accessed on October 12, 2018.
  2. ^ Manfred Clauss: Mithras. Cult and mysteries . CH Beck, Munich 1990, Theiss, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-406-34325-2 , p. 104.
  3. ^ Manfred Clauss: Mithras. Cult and mysteries . CH Beck, Munich 1990, Theiss, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-406-34325-2 , p. 154.
  4. ↑ Maarten J. Vermaseren: Mithras. History of a cult , p. 57. W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1965,
  5. ↑ Helmut Prückner: Devices and vessels in the Mithras cult . In: Thesaurus Cultus Et Rituum Antiquorum (ThesCRA) V - Personnel of Cult, Cult Instruments , ed. v. Jean Charles Balty, p. 419. Fondation pour le Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae / The J. Paul Getty Museum, Basel / Los Angeles 2005, ISBN 0-89236-792-X .
  6. ↑ a b c Ehsan Yarshater: Cautes and Cautopates. In: Encyclopædia Iranica , Volume 5, Carpets - Coffee . Routledge & Kegan Paul, London 1992, ISBN 0-939214-79-2 , pp. 95/96.
  7. ↑ a b The work of art of the month - Cautes and Cautopates on landeskunde-online.de, accessed on September 4, 2014.
  8. ↑ Reinhold Merkelbach: Mithras. A Persian-Roman mystery cult , p. 85. Beltz Athenaeum Verlag, Weinheim 1984 (2nd edition 1994), ISBN 3-89547-045-7 .
  9. ↑ David Ulansey: The Origins of the Mithraic Cult. Cosmology and Redemption in Antiquity . Theiss, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-8062-1310-0 .
  10. ↑ Cautes and Cautopates at museen-mainlimes.de, accessed on September 4, 2014.
  11. ↑ Maarten J. Vermaseren: Mithras. Story of a cult . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1965, p. 58 f.