Tauroctonia

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fresco of tauroctony in the Mithraeum of Marino
Tauroctony bas-relief, 2nd or 3rd century, Louvre . In the upper corners Helios with raven and Luna.
A scorpion pinches the mithraic animal's testicles. Roman statue, 2nd century, British Museum.
Tauroctonia relief, Heidelberg-Neuenheim , 2nd century
Tauroctony Statue, Vatican Museums . Mithras' face not turned away from the bull due to a faulty reconstruction of the head.

The tauroctony ( bull-killing ) is the modern name of the representation of Mithras , of a bull kills. Executed as a painted picture , plastic relief or sculpture , the tauroctony can be found in the center of every mithraum (Mithra temple). The tauroctony is therefore considered to be the most important motif in Mithraic iconography .

The presentation followed strictly defined compositional rules and remained almost unchanged over the centuries. It was originally built around 200 BC. Developed in the sculpture school of Pergamon .

presentation

Mithras is depicted as a youth and is dressed in a Roman tunic , long trousers and a Phrygian cap . In the bull-killing scene, he kneels with his left leg on the back of the bull, which is lying on the ground. With the other leg he braces himself off, with his left hand he pulls the bull's head back and with his right hand he kills the animal with a stab in the shoulder. Mithras averts his face from the bull. (Statues in which Mithras turned his face to the bull are false reconstructions from the Renaissance period.) Mithras' cloak is often puffed up so that one can see the inside, which is decorated like a starry sky.

Ears of grain grow out of the bull's tail .

In addition to Mithras and the bull, a number of other figures are depicted on the tauroctony: a snake , a dog , a raven , a scorpion , and sometimes a lion and a chalice . The snake and the dog drink from the bull's wound, from which blood , in some depictions also grain, runs. The scorpion attacks the bull's testicles .

In the bull-killing scene, two torchbearers named Cautes and Cautopates or Cautepates are almost always shown, the former holding the torch up and the latter holding the torch down. The torchbearers are dressed like Mithras and have one leg crossed over the other while standing.

Above Mithras are the symbols for Sol ( sun ) and Luna ( moon ) in the starry sky.

Interpretations

Traditional interpretation (Cumont)

According to Mithrean mythology , Mithras pursued a bull, which he captured and carried on his shoulders into a cave, where he sacrificed it for the renewal of the world. The earth and all life regenerated from the blood and semen of the bull.

The Belgian Mithras researcher Franz Cumont (see literature) saw Mithraism as a further development of a Persian cult and interpreted the animal figures in his publications from 1896 and 1899 as figures of ancient Iranian mythology.

According to the traditional interpretation, Cautes and Cautopates symbolize the sunrise and sunset .

Astronomical Interpretation (Ulansey)

The American Mithras researcher David Ulansey interprets the tauroctony astronomically . According to this interpretation, the animal figures represent constellations . Taurus corresponds to the constellation Taurus , the snake to the constellation water snake , the dog to the constellation Little Dog , the raven to the constellation Raven and the scorpion to the constellation Scorpio . The lion corresponds to the constellation Leo and the chalice either to the constellation cup or Aquarius .

In the night sky, the Pleiades in the constellation Taurus indicate the point where the dagger of Mithras penetrates the shoulder of the animal. Mithras himself could be equated with the constellation Perseus , as it is located directly above the constellation of Taurus.

Cautes and Cautopates symbolize the day-and-night match : Cautes with his raised torch represents the Spring Day and night are equally long, Cautopates with the lowered torch the Autumn Day and night are equally long. Your crossed leg position symbolizes the intersection of the celestial equator with the ecliptic at the point of spring and autumn.

According to Ulansey, the entire bull-killing scene corresponds to the astronomical constellation associated with the celestial equator when the vernal equinox was in the constellation Taurus. The killing of the bull symbolizes the end of this age and lets Mithras appear as a god whose power even surpasses that of the stars because he has them under control by means of precession .

In scientific Mithras research, Ulansey's theory, which can only refer to the author's associations and not to ancient sources, has, however, aroused violent contradictions. In current debates, the influence of astronomical elements on tauroctony is recognized; However, Ulansey's model no longer plays a role.

Humanities interpretation (Steiner)

According to a spiritual-scientific interpretation (in the anthroposophical view of Rudolf Steiner ) the bull in tauroctony symbolizes the animal nature on which man rides as a higher being. The stars arranged around the person stand for the cosmos or the spiritual context in which the person stands. Animals like scorpions and snakes, which bite the bull, symbolize the instinctual impulses that can only be tamed by the higher nature of man. In this respect, Mithras' stab in the dagger is comparable to Michael's dragon fight , which crushes the serpent pulling people down so that real human existence can flourish.

Classification in the legend

Many depictions of tauroctony in fresco or relief form are framed by additional smaller pictures, either in individual frames or free-standing, which show other scenes from the Mithras legend. The entire chronology of the narrative order of the legend is just as unclear as the meaning of each of these sequences. In connection with the bull-killing as the climax, however, some scenes can be clearly assigned to the prehistory or the subsequent events.

The following, often presented situations, which describe the fight of Mithras with the bull, precede the bull sacrifice:

  1. The bull alone - either in a neutral environment, probably grazing in a meadow, or in a kind of building that could represent a temple, a stable or a cave.
  2. Mithras carries the bull on his shoulders. (Or alternatively, more rarely: Mithras leads the bull by the horns.)
  3. The bull flees, Mithras clings to his neck and is swept away by the animal.
  4. Mithras drags the bull away by its hind legs.

This last scene is often shown in single image works and bears the name Transitus (German: "transition"). It probably describes the moment when Mithras finally defeated the bull and now brings him to the sacrificial site, still alive. However, some researchers (such as Merkelbach ) interpret the scene as the first sequence after tauroctony: According to this, a myste, shepherd or sacrificial servant is depicted here who is taking away the slain bull.

In any case, after the bull is killed, the following two situations must occur:

  1. Mithras swings or holds a bull's thigh over the head of the kneeling Sol - perhaps a ritual similar to the taurobolium in which the adept is drizzled with the blood of the sacrificial bull. (However, the object in the hand of Mithras is sometimes interpreted differently , for example by Clauss , than a Persian cap, for example. However, since both the bull in the main motif and the object in question are always shown in white on colored depictions, the cap of Mithras is however red in most cases, the interpretation as bull's legs seems more likely.)
  2. Mithras and Sol at the cult meal, the bench on which they lie is covered with the fur, including the head, of the slain bull. Sometimes the bull's legs also serve as table feet.

The depiction of this cult or sacrificial meal can often be found on rotating altarpieces on the back of the tauroctony relief.

literature

  • Franz Cumont: Les mystères de Mithra , Bruxelles: H. Lamertin 1913.
  • Franz Cumont: Les religions orientales dans le paganisme romain , 1929.
  • David Ulansey: The Origins of the Mithraic Cult. Cosmology and Redemption in Antiquity . Theiss, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-8062-1310-0 .

See also

Remarks

  1. ↑ Other frequent motifs are Mithras' birth in the rock or Mitras together with Sol
  2. ↑ similar to Perseus killing Medusa
  3. ^ Max Ortner: Greco-Roman understanding of religion and mystery cults as building blocks of the Christian religion. Dissertation, University of Vienna, October 2009 ( [1] on othes.univie.ac.at, p. 107)
  4. ^ Eg Roger Beck: In the place of the lion: Mithras in the tauroctony , in JR Hinnells (ed.): Studies in Mithraism , Rom 1994, 29-50; Manfred Clauss, Mithras and the Precession , Klio 83, 2001, 219–225; NM Swerdlow, On the cosmical mysteries of Mithras , Classical Philology 86, 1991, 48-63.
  5. ↑ Roger Beck: The Religion of the Mithras Cult in the Roman Empire , Oxford 2006, 190-239
  6. ↑ For this a source is needed - where does this interpretation come from?
  7. ↑ about: Manfred Clauss: Mithras. Cult and Mysteries , p. 156ff. CH Beck, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-406-34325-2 , or: Maarten J. Vermaseren: Mithras. History of a cult , p. 65. W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1965.
  8. ↑ Reinhold Merkelbach: Mithras. A Persian-Roman mystery cult , p. 92. Beltz Athenaeum Verlag, Weinheim 1984 (2nd edition 1994), ISBN 3-89547-045-7 .
  9. ↑ about: Andreas Hensen: Mithras. The mystery cult on the Limes, Rhine and Danube , p. 72. Theiss, Stuttgart / Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2013, ISBN 978-3-8062-2771-0 .
  10. ^ Manfred Clauss: Mithras. Cult and Mysteries , p. 156ff. CH Beck, Munich 1990, Theiss, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-406-34325-2 .
Commons : Tauroctony  - Collection of images, videos and audio files