Trident
A trident (
The trident is the tool of
Etymology
The word "trident" comes from the
The
Latin fuscina also means "trident".[3]
The Sanskrit name for the trident, trishula, is a compound of tri त्रि for "three" and śūla शूल for "thorn", calling the trident's three prongs "thorns" rather than "teeth" or dant in Sanskrit, making the word "Tridant" for trident.[citation needed]
Mythology and art
Poseidon
The trident is associated with the sea god Poseidon. This divine instrument is said to have been forged by the cyclopes.[4]
Poseidon struck a rock with his trident, causing a sea (or a saltwater spring, called the
Poseidon, as well as being the god of the sea, was also known as the "Earth Shaker",
In the Renaissance artist
Other sea divinities
In later Greek and Roman art and literature, other sea deities and their attendants have been depicted holding the trident.
Poseidon's consort Amphitrite is often identified by some marine attribute other than a trident, which she never carries according to some scholars, though other commentators have disagreed.[12][14]
Turning to the retinue or a train of beings which follow the sea deities (the
Oceanus normally should not carry a trident, allowing him to be clearly distinguished from Poseidon. However, there is conflation of the deities in Romano-British iconography, and examples exist where the crab-claw headed Oceanus also bears a trident.[17][18] Oceanus holding a trident has been found on Romano-British coinage as well.[b][19]
Some amorini have been depicted carrying tiny tridents.[c][20]
The trident is even seen suspended like a pendant on a dolphin in Roman mosaic art.[d][21]
Hindu Religion
In Hindu legends and stories
A weapon of South-East Asian (particularly Thai) depiction of Hanuman, a character of Ramayana.[citation needed]
Miscellaneous
In religious Taoism, the trident represents the Taoist Trinity, the Three Pure Ones. In Taoist rituals, a trident bell is used to invite the presence of deities and summon spirits, as the trident signifies the highest authority of Heaven.[citation needed]
A fork Jewish priests (Kohanim) used to take their portions of offerings.[23]
In
The trident held up by an arm is depicted on some
Use
Fishing
In Ancient Greece, the trident was employed as a harpoon for spearing large fish, especially tuna fishing.[28]
Tridents used in modern
Agriculture
It has been used by farmers as a decorticator to remove leaves, seeds and buds from the stalks of plants such as flax and hemp.[citation needed] A form of trident is used by the gardians in the Camargue of southern France for herding cattle.[citation needed]
Combat
In
Tridents were also used in medieval heraldry.
The trident, known as dangpa, is used as a weapon in the 17th- to 18th-century systems of Korean martial arts.[citation needed]
Modern symbolism
This section needs additional citations for verification. (February 2021) |
The glyph or sigil of the planet Neptune (♆), which alludes to the trident, is used in astronomy and astrology.
Political
- The Tryzub in the Volodymyr the Great, but may likely depicted a Algiz (also Elhaz) Viking rune that was introduced by Olga of Kyiv).
- The national and presidential flags of Barbados.
- The "forks of the people's anger", adopted by the Russian anti-Soviet revolutionary organization, National Alliance of Russian Solidarists (NTS).
- Britannia, the personification of Great Britain usually depicted to hold a trident.
Civilian use
- The symbol for Washington and Lee University.
- King Triton, the mascot of the UCSD’s athletic gear.
- The symbol (since June 2008) for the athletic teams (Tritons) at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.
- Sparky the Sun Devil, the mascot of Arizona State University, holds a trident. (ASU recently[when?] redesigned its trident as a stand-alone symbol.)
- The trident was used as the original cap insignia and original logo for the Seattle Mariners. Although the Mariners changed their cap insignia & logo away from a trident theme in 1993, the club allows players to use a trident as a prop after hitting home runs during games. The trident prop used by the team is a replica from the 2018 film Aquaman.[32]
- An element on the flag of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
- The Maserati logo.
- Club Méditerranée.
- The Hawker Siddeley Trident, a 1960s British three-engine jet airliner.
- The Tirreno–Adriatico cycle race trophy.
- The exterior of the World Trade Center used three-pronged decorative and structural elements at its base, commonly referred to as "tridents".
Military insignia
- The emblem of the Hellenic Navy
- The emblem of the Cyprus Navy
- The insignia of Nepal Army
- With Poseidon in the 31st Brigade.
- The symbol of the Swedish Coastal Rangers, Kustjägarna.
- The trident is a recurring element in the colours of certain units of the Finnish navy.
- The US Navy SEALs, and containing a trident representing the three aspects (Sea, Air, and Land) of SEAL special operations.
- Part of the golden-colored crest of the United States Naval Academy, which depicts a trident running vertically in its background.
- The ship's crests of 13 of the 18 Trident D-5missiles.
- The rating badge of the United States Coast Guard Marine Science Technician.
- The Tug Bannerused by Mongolian Honor guards.
- The insignia of the German Kampfschwimmer.
- The rating badge of the United States Navy Ocean Systems Technician (OT)
Botanical nomenclature
A number of structures in the biological world are described as trident in appearance. Since at least the late 19th century the trident shape was applied to certain botanical shapes; for example, certain
Gallery
-
A statue of Hindu God Shiva, holding a trishula, near Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi
-
Two guardian deities of an ancient Chinese tomb, both holding tridents
-
18th-century trident from Thailand
-
Tridents (trishula) brought as offerings toDharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India[35]
-
Camargue tridentin France
See also
- Bident
- Eighteen Arms of Wushu
- Leister
- Military fork
- Pitchfork
- Sai
- Trishula
- Symbols of the Rurikids
- Trident (UK nuclear programme)
- Tug (banner)
Explanatory notes
- ^ Mackay catalogs instances in classical literature where Poseidon is connected with the earthquake, but does not cite use of the trident in any, only mentioning its use in creating the horse.[9]
- ^ The reverse side on the denarius of Carausius, acquired by the British Museum in 1998.
- ^ Porta Capena mosaics, Rome. In the center is a square with geometric design (star inscribed in circle), and there are four diagonal spokes from it in the shape of a trident.
- ^ Villa della Pisanella, Boscoreale, Italy.
- ^ Burke assigns trident to Neptune and Eve to Triton. Eve states the Triton is "sometimes called Neptune", while Burke cross-references "merman" to "Neptune".
- ^ Thomas Moule, among others write "triton, or merman" implying interchangeability of these terms.
References
- Citations
- ^ "Trident" at the Online Etymology Dictionary. Accessed on 23 March 2024.
- ^ Walters, H. B. (1892–1893), "Poseidon's Trident", The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 13 (37): 454, 459, 45
- Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles, eds. (1879), "fuscina", A Latin Dictionary, Clarendon Press
- Perseus Project.
- Perseus Project.
- ISBN 978-0-521-41786-0.
- ^ Virgil, Georgics 1.12ff, apud Frazer tr. (1921), 2:79 and note 2
- ^ Hesiod, Theogony 930.
- ^ JSTOR 267107
- Bury, John Bagnell (1940). "XXII.vi Zeus, Hera, Poseidon". The Cambridge Ancient History. University Press. p. 631.
Poseidon,..the earth-shaker, whose trident roused the earthquake, and the god of horses.
- JSTOR 30222585
- ^ Collignon, Maxime (1890). Manual of Mythology: In Relation to Greek Art. Translated by Jane E. Harrison. H. Grevel & Co. pp. 197–199.
- ^ Montfaucon, Bernard de (1724). Les Dieux Des Grecs Et Des Romains: Suppl. Delaulne. p. 70.; Pl. XXV
- ^ The helmeted goddess bearing a trident has been identified as Amphitrite by Montfaucon in a carved carnelian in the collection of Maréchal d'Estrées.[13]
- ^ a b c Mylonopoulos (2009), pp. 188–189.
- ^ "The Oceanus Mosaic". The British Museum.
- ^ Oceanus Mosaic from Withington;[16] The "pavement from Ashcroft Villas, Cirencester" is also mentioned.
- JSTOR 30030523
- JSTOR 42668508
- ^ Blake (1936), p. 149.
- ^ Blake (1936), p. 139.
- ^ Powerful Kali Mantra for Protection - In Sanskrit, English with Meaning
- ^ "1 Samuel 2 / Hebrew Bible in English / Mechon-Mamre". mechon-mamre.org. Archived from the original on 2020-10-03. Retrieved 2012-11-22.
- ^ Burke, Bernard (1864). merman, Neptune, trident (2nd ed.). Harrison & sons. pp. xlii, xlvi.
{{cite book}}
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ignored (help) - Eve, George W. (1907). "Heraldic birds and other figures". Heraldry as Art: An Account of Its Development and Practice, Chiefly in England. Batsford. p. 95.
- ^ Moule, Thomas (1842). Heraldry of Fish: Notices of the Principal Families Bearing Fish in Their Arms. J. Van Voorst. p. 218.
- ^ Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1985). The Art of Heraldry: An Encyclopaedia of Armory. T.C. & E.C. Jack., p. 195 and Fig. 488, p. 396 Fig. 778 (p. 285)
- ISBN 978-0-674-36281-9.
- ^ Turner, Andy. "Fish Gigging: An Ozark Tradition". Missouri Department of Conservation. Archived from the original on 2019-08-11. Retrieved 2015-02-12.
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. London: John Murray.
- ISBN 0-415-10452-1.
- ^ Kramer, Daniel (April 25, 2023). "Mariners embrace Aquaman trident as home run prop". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
- ^ John Lindley and Thomas Moore (1964) The Treasury of Botany: A Popular Dictionary of the Vegetable Kingdom with which is Incorporated a Glossary of Botanical Terms, Published by Longmans Green, pt.1
- ^ C. Michael Hogan (2008) Douglas-fir: Pseudotsuga menziesii, globalTwitcher.com, ed. Nicklas Strõmberg Archived 2009-06-04 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Iron-willed 'hero' images". nypost.com. 9 April 2010.
- Bibliography
- JSTOR 4238589
- ISBN 9780674991354.; Vol. 2
- Mylonopoulos, Joannis (2009). Odysseus with a trident? The Use of Attributes in Ancient Greek Imagery. BRILL. pp. 171–204. )