Phanes (mythology)

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Phanes ( Greek  Φάνης Phánēs "the appearing, the shining one") is a god in Greek mythology .

The veneration of Phanes was apparently limited to the Orphics , in whose theory of the origins of the world he played a central role. Therefore, today's knowledge about him comes primarily from the preserved fragments of Orphic literature.

myth

The Orphics assumed a primordial deity that emerged from the world egg . This deity had different names or appeared in different forms; different variants of the myths concerning them have been passed down.

Since the primordial god was the first living being born, he was called Prōtogónos (Πρωτογόνος "firstborn"). First and foremost he was seen as a bearer of light; therefore he was given the name Phanes, which is derived from the verb phaínein (φαίνειν "come out, appear, shine, shine, shine"). In ancient times this name was often associated with pháos ( phōs ) "fire"; in fact there is an etymological connection between phaínein and pháos . Another name was Antauges ("the counter-luminous one"). Because of his luminosity he was identified with the sun god Helios . Other gods with whom he was equated are Dionysus , Mithras and Zeus ; the latter equation resulted from the fact that his admirers regarded him as world ruler and father of gods .

For the Orphics, Phanes was the creator god; he is said to have created the human race. As the creator of life, he was equated with the fertility god Priapus . Above all, he was identified with Eros ; the oldest surviving source, the comedy The Birds of Aristophanes , only mentions him as Eros. In this early period the figure of eros was not primarily associated with love and sexuality, but with the idea of ​​world-creating and light-giving activity. Apparently, Eros received the name Phanes later. In sources that do not name it by name or use another name, the characteristic that enables its identification is its origin from the original egg. The name Phanes is only clearly attested by Diodorus in the 1st century BC. BC, but it is assumed that he was already on a papyrus fragment from the 3rd century BC. Is to be supplemented. In any case, it can be assumed that the veneration began under the name Phanes in the age of Hellenism and that the Orphic poetry praising Phanes was created at that time.

Phanes was androgynous . He had four eyes or four faces. He was imagined as Eros with golden wings.

According to a version of the myth handed down by the Christian Athenagoras of Athens , Phanes created the snake-shaped monster Echidna out of himself . The night goddess Nyx was considered by the Orphics as his daughter, who took over the world after him.

iconography

The visual arts contribute little information about Phanes, as he can only be clearly identified on a single illustration. It is a stone relief in the Museo Civico Archeologico of Modena from the first half of the 2nd century. You can see the goat-footed Phanes rising from the two halves of the cosmic egg. His naked body is wrapped in the snake. He holds a torch in his right hand and a scepter in his left. He wears a lion mask on his chest.

Source collection

  • Alberto Bernabé (Ed.): Poetae epici Graeci. Testimonia et fragmenta . Part 2: Orphicorum et Orphicis similium testimonia et fragmenta . 3 volumes, Saur, Munich 2004–2007 (authoritative critical edition)

literature

Web links

  • Phanes on Theoi.com (English)

Remarks

  1. ↑ Aristophanes, The Birds 690–702.
  2. ↑ Diodorus 1,11,3.
  3. ↑ Alberto Bernabé (Ed.): Poetae epici Graeci. Testimonia et fragmenta , part 2/2, Munich / Leipzig 2005, p. 154 (fragment 578, line 23a).
  4. ^ Robert Turcan: Phanes . In: Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae , Vol. 7/1, Zurich / Munich 1994, p. 363 f., Here: 363.
  5. ^ Athenagoras, Legatio pro Christianis 20.
  6. ↑ Illustration: Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae , Vol. 1/2, Zurich / Munich 1981, p. 314 (Aion 17).