I know, if we put things into compartments this is what we ought not to do.
But when one reads the Odyssey about the killing of the cattle of the Sun
God, and the punishment to Odysseus' men in consequence, one is very close
to the Golden Calf story. Moses' brazen serpent on the pole heals the
Israelites afflicted with snake bite in the desert. There is almost a
generic Mediterranean culture, yoking Africa, Asia, Europe. Perhaps it is
wrong of me to see things this way, but my dissertation director, Phillip
Damon, spent years working on the Semitic elements in Homer, and there are
plenty. and then there are wonderful things in early Christian art, where
Odysseus tied to the ship mast is a type of Christ on the Cross, etc. Which
is also in one of the Vatican Mythographers? I'm still hoping for
information on the Edmundsbury ivroy cross was it?
At 09.02 25/11/97 -0500, you wrote:
>Moses throws his staff on the ground and it turns into a snake, but turns
>back into a staff when he picks it up again. For the caduceus carried by
>Mercury, two snakes (not one) are wrapped around a cross.
>
>Two distinctly different images. But sufficiently similar that an artist
>might conflate them.
>
>pat sloane
>
>=====================================
>
>In a message dated 97-11-25 06:45:59 EST, you write:
>
>> I know, I was saying that in the light of Kerenyi, etc., and the connection
>> between Egypt and Greece in the realm of medicine. If you look at the
>> sculpture you'll see it is shown as a caduceus. What was the story on the
>> lovely ivory cross at the Cloisters, was it fake or is it genuine, which
>> also uses this motif, in the crucifix itself?
>>
>> At 08.47 25/11/97 +0100, you wrote:
>> >At 06:45 24/11/97 +0100, you wrote:
>> >>There's an especially fine one from St Mary's Abbey, York, I think now
>in
>> >>the York Museum where he is not only horned but carries the caduceus,
>the
>> >>rod twined with serpents.
>> >>
>> >>__
>> >>Julia Bolton Holloway, [log in to unmask]
>> >
>> >
>> > Dear Julia:
>> >
>> > It is not the caduceus -which would be a very odd motif for
>Moses-
>> >but an allusion to the brazen serpent, interpreted as a symbol of
>Christ's
>> >passion.
>> >
>> > Carlos
>> >
>>
>
>
>
____
Julia Bolton Holloway, [log in to unmask]
Hermit of the Holy Family
via del Partigiano 16, Montebeni, 50014 FIESOLE, ITALY
http://members.aol.com/juliansite/Juliansite.htm
He said not, 'Thou shalt not be tempested, thou shalt not be travailed, thou
shalt not be diseased.' But he said, 'Thou shalt not be overcome'.
Julian of Norwich
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|