Aion (deity)
Aion (Greek: Αἰών) is a Hellenistic deity associated with time, the orb or circle encompassing the universe, and the zodiac. The "time" which Aion represents is perpetual, unbounded, ritual, and cyclic: The future is a returning version of the past, later called aevum (see Vedic Sanskrit Ṛtú). This kind of time contrasts with
Aion is thus a god of the cyclic ages, and the
Iconography and symbolism
Aion is usually identified as the nude or mostly nude young man within a circle representing the
- changes the burden of old age like a snake who sloughs off the coils of the useless old scales, rejuvenescing while washing in the swells of the laws [of time].[3]
The imagery of the twining serpent is connected to the hoop or wheel through the
In his 5th century work on
Identifications
Martianus Capella (5th century CE) identified Aion with Cronus (Latin Saturnus), whose name caused him to be theologically conflated with Chronos ("Time"), in the way that the Greek ruler of the underworld Plouton (Pluto) was conflated with Ploutos (Plutus, "Wealth"). Martianus presents Cronus-Aion as the consort of Rhea (Latin Ops) as identified with Physis.[4]: 137
In his highly speculative reconstruction of
- The figure of Time "played a considerable, though to us completely obscure, role" in Mithraic ritual and theology.[7]: 128
Aion is identified with
The
The Alexandrian Aion may be a form of Osiris-Dionysus, reborn annually;
In the art of the Roman era, Aion was often conflated with the primordial sky god Uranus / Caelus.[citation needed]
Roman Empire
This syncretic Aion became a symbol and guarantor of the perpetuity of Roman rule, and emperors such as Antoninus Pius issued coins with the legend Aion,[10]: 314 whose (female) Roman counterpart was Aeternitas.[15] Roman coins associate both Aion and Aeternitas with the phoenix as a symbol of rebirth and cyclical renewal.[2]: 307–308
Aion was among the virtues and divine personifications that were part of late
References
- ^ LIMC 9450 (Aion 13).
- ^ a b c d e f Levi, Doro (1944). "Aion". Hesperia. 13 (4): 274, 306–308 ff.
- ^ Nonnus. Dionysiaca. 41.180 ff. cited by Levi (1944)[2]: 306
- ^ a b c Shanzer, Danuta (1986). A Philosophical and Literary Commentary on Martianus Capella's De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii Book 1. University of California Press.
- Maurus Servius Honoratus. Note to the Aeneid. 5.85.: 154
according to the Egyptians, before the invention of the alphabet, the year was symbolized by a picture of a serpent biting its own tail, because it recurs on itself" (annus secundum Aegyptios indicabatur ante inventas litteras picto dracone caudam suam mordente, quia in se recurrit)
cited byShanzer (1986)[4] - ^ Horapollo (1940). Hieroglyphica. Sbordone. 1.1 & 1.2. cited by Shanzer (1986)[4]: 154
- ^ a b The iconography of Aion is summarized in Ezquerra, Jaime Alvar (2008). Romanising Oriental Gods: Myth, salvation, and ethics in the cults of Cybele. Brill. pp. 78 & 128.
- ^
Guthrie, W.K.C. (1979). A history of Greek philosophy: The earlier presocratics and the Pythagoreans. Cambridge University Press. p. 478. ISBN 978-0-521-29420-1.
- ^
Heracleidae. 899 ff.
- ^ a b c d e Fossum, Jarl (1999). "The Myth of the Eternal Rebirth: Critical notes on G.W. Bowersock, Hellenism in Late Antiquity". Vigiliae Christianae. 53 (3): 306–314.
- Alexander romance. I.30–33. cited by Fossum (1999).[10]: 309, note 15
- ^
On the oracle and for the passage in which Aion Plutonius is named, see
Malkin, Irad (1987). Religion and Colonization in Ancient Greece. Brill. p. 107, especially note 87. - ^ Forsythe, Gary (2012). Time in Roman Religion: One thousand years of religious history. Routledge. p. 122.
- ^ "Hermann Hesse and Gnosis". Gnostica, Judaica, Catholica: Collected Essays. Brill. 2008. p. 258.
- ^ Gradel, Ittai (2002). Emperor Worship and Roman Religion. Oxford University Press. pp. 310–311.
- ^ Fears, J.R. (1981). "The cult of virtues and Roman imperial ideology". Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt. II.17.2, page 939.
Further reading
- le Glay, Marcel, "Aion", in ISBN 3-7608-8751-1.
- Kákosy, László (1964). "Osiris-Aion". Oriens Antiquus. 3.[full citation needed]
- Nock, Arthur Darby (January 1934). "A vision of Mandulis-Aion". The Harvard Theological Review. 27 (1).[page needed]
- Zuntz, Günther (1989). Aion, Gott des Römerreichs (in German). Heidelberg, DE: Carl Winter Universitatsverlag. ISBN 3533041700.
- Zuntz, Günther (1992). AIΩN in der Literatur der Kaiserzeit (in German). ISBN 3700119666.
External links
- "entries naming Aion". Suda On Line. Archived from the original on 5 July 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2020 – via archive.today.
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: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - "Images of the Aion mosaic at Munich Glyptothek". pbase.com.
- The Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (images of Aion)