Astraea

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For other uses, see Astraea (disambiguation).
Astrea, the virgin goddess of Innocence and purity, by Salvator Rosa

Astraea, Astrea, Astria or Austräa (

Phoebe. The main belt asteroid 5 Astraea is named after her, and her name was also suggested for the planet Uranus.[4][5]

Mythology

Astraea, the celestial virgin, was the last of the immortals to live with humans during the

Justitia. In the tarot, the eighth card (or eleventh, depending on the tarot used), Justice
, depicts Justitia, thus making it related to the figure of Astraea on historical iconographic grounds.

According to myth, Astraea will one day come back to Earth, bringing with her the return of the utopian Golden Age of which she was the ambassador.[8]

In literature

Astraea's hoped-for return was referred to in a phrase from Virgil's Eclogue 4: "Iam redit et virgo, redeunt Saturnia Regna" (Astraea returns, returns old Saturn's reign).[9]

During the

Count of Villamediana and thirteen dramas by Pedro Calderón de la Barca introduce a character named Astraea to highlight the political and astrological concerns.[11] In Russian Empire, Astraea was identified first with Empress Elizabeth of Russia, then with Empress Catherine the Great
of Russia.

The English epic poet

Calderón
has a character named Rosaura (an anagram for "dawns") take on the name of Astraea at Court. This may be a laudatory political allusion to the dawn of a new Golden Age under Philip IV/Segismundo.

Astraea is also referenced in John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost, in Book IV between lines 990 and 1000. When Satan is discovered in the Garden of Eden and brought before the Angel Gabriel, the two are on the verge of war.

"[God (The Eternal)] Hung forth in Heav'n his golden Scales, yet seen
Betwixt Astrea and the Scorpion signe,
Wherein all things created first he weighd,
The pendulous round Earth with ballanc't Aire
In counterpoise, now ponders all events,
Battels and Realms:"
An 1886 bas-relief figure of Astraea in the Old Supreme Court Chamber at the Vermont State House.

The British writer Aphra Behn used "Astrea" as one of her code-names while working as a spy for King Charles II.[12] She subsequently used the name "Astrea" to identify the speaker in many of her poems, and was herself referred to as "The Incomparable Astrea".[13]

"Astræa" is also the title of a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson.[14]

See also

Notes

Look up Astrea in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Look up Astraea in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Astraea.
  1. ^ "Astraea". Zeno.org (in German). Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  2. ^ a b Aratus, Phaenomena 97–128
  3. Hyginus
    , Astronomica 2.25
  4. ISBN 978-0-8032-2220-5
    .
  5. ^ Gingerich, O. (1958). "The Naming of Uranus and Neptune, Astronomical Society of the Pacific Leaflets, Vol. 8, No. 352, p.9". articles.adsabs.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
  6. ^ Sung, HyunSook. "아스트라이아". terms.naver.com (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2021-03-21. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
  7. ISBN 978-1-59308-276-5
    .
  8. ^ De Armas, Frederick (January 1986). "The Return of Astraea: An Astral-Imperial Myth in Calderón by Frederick A. de Armas, Louisiana State University". Spanish Literature. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  9. ^ "Lewis & Short: Virgo". Perseus Latin Word Study Tool. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  10. ^ cf. Frances Yates, Astraea : The Imperial Theme in the Sixteenth Century.
  11. ^ cf. Frederick A. de Armas, The Return of Astraea: An Astral-Imperial Myth in Calderon.
  12. ^ "Aphra Behn". About Education. October 17, 2015. Archived from the original on 8 November 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  13. ^ Stiebel, Arlene. "Biography: Aphra Behn". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  14. ^ Emerson, Ralph Waldo (1847). Poems. Retrieved 24 September 2010.

References

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