Mythological Motifs in the Tauroctony Sculpture

The following article is written after my first article on the subject of astronomical hypotheses in the Roman mysteries of Mithras. In the first article, I suggested that tauroctony symbology is not a map entirely derived from astronomical theology, and perhaps non-astrological mythological symbols...

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Main Author: Hadi Valipour
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Religions and Denominations Press 2023-06-01
Series:Religious Inquiries
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ri.urd.ac.ir/article_172744_afe030cac1302ca9fdae5ab1b2a0029d.pdf
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author Hadi Valipour
author_facet Hadi Valipour
author_sort Hadi Valipour
collection DOAJ
description The following article is written after my first article on the subject of astronomical hypotheses in the Roman mysteries of Mithras. In the first article, I suggested that tauroctony symbology is not a map entirely derived from astronomical theology, and perhaps non-astrological mythological symbols and narratives are also applied. In this article, I have tried to survey the most important myths related to tauroctony in the Indo-European regions and to observe the hypotheses of modern Mithra researchers in explaining the motifs and mythological symbols of the tauroctony sculpture based on library data. In the end, I have concluded that, firstly, the Roman tauroctony’s sculpture, as was the habit of the Romans, does not only narrate one myth but compared to the previous myths, it narrates at least three tauroctony myths and borrows symbols from each of them: first the myth of the battle of Gilgamesh with the Bull of Heaven and its slaying, the second is the slaying of the Hadyusha by Saoshyanet and the third is the myth of the Gavaevodata. Also, in the part of Mithra's fight with the bull and its hunt, there are similarities with the myth of Hercules's battle with the Cretan bull.
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spelling doaj.art-6374f8be4b0847648831afad94957f842023-08-14T18:41:32ZengUniversity of Religions and Denominations PressReligious Inquiries2322-48942538-62712023-06-01121105116Mythological Motifs in the Tauroctony SculptureHadi Valipour0University of Religions and DenominationsThe following article is written after my first article on the subject of astronomical hypotheses in the Roman mysteries of Mithras. In the first article, I suggested that tauroctony symbology is not a map entirely derived from astronomical theology, and perhaps non-astrological mythological symbols and narratives are also applied. In this article, I have tried to survey the most important myths related to tauroctony in the Indo-European regions and to observe the hypotheses of modern Mithra researchers in explaining the motifs and mythological symbols of the tauroctony sculpture based on library data. In the end, I have concluded that, firstly, the Roman tauroctony’s sculpture, as was the habit of the Romans, does not only narrate one myth but compared to the previous myths, it narrates at least three tauroctony myths and borrows symbols from each of them: first the myth of the battle of Gilgamesh with the Bull of Heaven and its slaying, the second is the slaying of the Hadyusha by Saoshyanet and the third is the myth of the Gavaevodata. Also, in the part of Mithra's fight with the bull and its hunt, there are similarities with the myth of Hercules's battle with the Cretan bull.https://ri.urd.ac.ir/article_172744_afe030cac1302ca9fdae5ab1b2a0029d.pdfmithrasmithraismtauroctonytauroboliumsymbolismmyth
spellingShingle Hadi Valipour
Mythological Motifs in the Tauroctony Sculpture
Religious Inquiries
mithras
mithraism
tauroctony
taurobolium
symbolism
myth
title Mythological Motifs in the Tauroctony Sculpture
title_full Mythological Motifs in the Tauroctony Sculpture
title_fullStr Mythological Motifs in the Tauroctony Sculpture
title_full_unstemmed Mythological Motifs in the Tauroctony Sculpture
title_short Mythological Motifs in the Tauroctony Sculpture
title_sort mythological motifs in the tauroctony sculpture
topic mithras
mithraism
tauroctony
taurobolium
symbolism
myth
url https://ri.urd.ac.ir/article_172744_afe030cac1302ca9fdae5ab1b2a0029d.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT hadivalipour mythologicalmotifsinthetauroctonysculpture