आलाप Profile picture
Feb 28, 2021 12 tweets 5 min read Read on X
A quick gloss on Gold in Vedic & Hellenic poetry:
Gold is likened to virile seed in both's mythos. In ŚB 12.7.1.1 retasa evāsya rūpam asravat tat suvarṇaṃ hiraṇyaṃ abhavat (from his *Indra* seed his form flowed, & became gold) while in Pindar's Pythian Ode 12.17 υἱὸς Δανάας Image
τὸν ἀπὸ χρυσου̂ φαμεν αὐτορύτου ἔμμεναιie (Perseus, the son of Danae, who they say was conceived in a spontaneous shower of gold). It is worth glossing that retas (sperma) is rationalized as gold as a manifestation of light, light being the common element between the two
That the divinity of Indian nobility was accepted is furthermore affirmed by the occurrence of gold in ritualistic paraphernalia such as the robe/appearance of a king, gold among his possessions of tiger skin & gems, slaughtering-knife of the aśvamedha horse made of gold. Image
That the legitimate owner of gold is entitled to divine, lawful, hereditary right to rule is affirmed also by Greek lore by Herodotus who mentions the youngest son of the first man could handle golden objects, hence he is king. Homer mentions a gold-bespangled staff in Il.1.245 Image
ὣς φάτο Πηλεΐδης ποτὶ δὲ σκῆπτρον βάλε γαίῃ χρυσείοις ἥλοισι πεπαρμένον ἕζετο Thus spoke Peleus' son & dashed to the ground the spectre studded w/golden nails. In The Odyssey, wine was poured into golden cups in Nestor's palace. A ram of golden fleece was considered kingly
power by Alcmaeon of Croton, while the Iranian/Avestan chvarěnah could represent the same. Avestan Hvar derives from Proto-Indo Iranian *súHar from which Sanskrit svar & sūrya too derive. Hvar was considered to be the visible form of Ahura Mazadā w/the same seed & light function Image
Vedic Indians & Hellenes associated divine paraphernalia being of gold composition. Homer held the gods of Zeus to assemble on a golden floor who were served wine in golden cups by Hebe. Hera harnessed her horses w/golden frontlets. Zeus clad in gold had horses of golden mane. Image
In line with ŚB 12.8.1.15 w/gold being a rūpa of the gods, Indra's vajra is said to be made of gold ṚV 1.85.9. Rudra's bow is also said to be of yellow character AVŚ 11.2.12 as is Indra's bunda. Indra's chariot too is made of gold while the garments of the Maruts consist of gold Image
The Vedic Indians bestowed unto Indra the epithet índro vajrí hiraṇyáya (Indra the Golden one bearer of the bolt) just as the Greeks honored Aphrodite with a similar epithet χρυσῆ Ἀφροδίτη (Aphrodite the Golden One). The former was glossed by Sāyaṇa as sarvābharaṇabhūṣita Image
Sometimes an evil power could also be associated w/gold such as goddess Nirṛti in the Atharvaveda Saṃhita who is described as golden-haired. The Greek God Ares was believed to be associated with bronze χάλκεος Ἄρης (brazen Ares) in the Il.5.704 but in Od.8.285 w/golden reins ImageImageImage
From an Ode of Pindar (Isthmean), Pindarus exclaims the relationship between the Mother of the Sun God, Theia, and gold w/the common factor between them being the light. Silver was likened to lunar symbolism & Homer describes Rhesus' chariot being wrought of both gold & silver. Image
Pindar in the Olympian Ode 1.1 & the Śatapata 13.2.2.17 declare gold to be the form of nobility. Pindar says χρυσὸς αἰθόμενον πυ̂ρ ἅτε διαπρέπει νυκτὶ μεγάνορος ἔξοχα πλούτου (Gold..gleams more brightly than all other lordly wealth) while the horse is kṣatram akin to gold ImageImage

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with आलाप

आलाप Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @nivrittijnandev

Feb 12, 2023
Some detailed maps of the Indian subcontinent taken from my atlases (arranged somewhat chronologically & thematically):

Roughly Prehistoric to Iron Age India
Vedic India + Spread of Classical Hinduism in India
India as known to the Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki & Mahābhārata of Vyāsaḥ
Read 23 tweets
Dec 3, 2022
That the Mahābhārata is concomitant w/the Iliad can be seen through narrative parallels. Any rapprochment need not imply a direct derivation of one from the other, but it may point to a common kernel between both. One such association can be seen between Agamemnon & Duryodhana
As aforementioned, the two warriors Agamemnon & Duryodhana share similar narrative stories within either plot including but not limited to: reprehensible behavior to the goddess' sons, abjure the advice of elders, commit malfeasances on women, offending the auguries of seers
Similar modalities of the infamous offenses committed against both Briseis & Draupadī (by Agamemnon & Duryodhana) ie., it becoming the impetus for initiating the narrative plot. In either case, divine intervention (Athena & Kṛṣṇa) save them from noblemen of the royal retinues
Read 37 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(