Momos
Momos ( Greek Μῶμος Mṓmos ) is, according to Hesiod's theogony, one of the many sons of Nyx and the personification of censure and abuse, a master of sharp-tongued criticism who did not stop at the gods. Its equivalent in Roman mythology is Querella .
According to Aesop , after Zeus created the bull, Prometheus created the house, and Athena created the house, the three of them chose Momos as referee to compete for their skills. However, he had something to complain about in all works: Why the bull does not have the horns below the eyes so that he can see better where he is going, why man does not wear the heart on the outside of the body so that one can see his possible wickedness, and why the house does not have wheels so that it is easier to get away in the event of a disgruntled neighbor. Because of so much nagging, he was eventually thrown from Olympus by Zeus .
He even reviled Aphrodite , whom he found nothing to complain about, for her clattering shoes.
iconography
In the fine arts, Momos is represented by removing a mask from his face, or with a quirk in hand. The quirk is a symbol of folly and is also known as the "fool's scepter".
reception
In the secular Bach cantata The dispute between Phoebus and Pan , Momos or Momus is one of the characters.
In Giovanni De Gamerra's opera text book Il pianeta di Giove from 1796, which was not set to music , Momos appears next to Aesop .
Under the pseudonym Momos , Walter Jens has been writing television reviews for the weekly newspaper Die Zeit almost every week since 1963 .
swell
- Hesiod : Theogony - 214
- Aesop : Fables - 253
- Philostratus
literature
- Karl Tümpel : Momos . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 2.2, Leipzig 1897, Col. 3117-3119 ( digitized version ).
- Wilhelm Kroll : Momos . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XVI, 1, Stuttgart 1933, Col. 42.
Individual evidence
- ^ Philostratus , Epist. 37.
Web links
- Momos in the Theoi Project (English)