Cautes and Cautopates
Encyclopedia
Cautes and Cautopates are torch-bearers depicted attending the god Mithras in the icons of ancient Roman cult of Mithraism
. Cautes holds his torch raised up, and Cautopates holds his torch downward.
or Sol Invictus
(Latin: the invincible sun) with whom Mithras dines. So attendants Cautes and Cautopates are supposed to either represent the stations of sunrise
and sunset
respectively, or perhaps the spring and autumn equinox
es.
style garments, notably a Phrygian cap
, to emphasize the supposed oriental origins of the cult.
Cautes holds a burning torch pointed up, whereas Cautopates holds a burning torch pointed down. Cautopates is usually depicted on the left, but not always.
The two torch-bearers are often interpreted as symbols of light, one for the rising, the other for the setting sun. Cautopates could also represent death, while Cautes might represent new life.
An alternate interpretation advanced by David Ulansey is that Cautes represents the spring equinox
and Cautopates the autumn equinox
. Thus, represented on the left and right of the Tauroctony, they become a realistic cadre of the celestial equator and the constellations included between the two equinoxes during the Age of Taurus.
Mithraism
The Mithraic Mysteries were a mystery religion practised in the Roman Empire from about the 1st to 4th centuries AD. The name of the Persian god Mithra, adapted into Greek as Mithras, was linked to a new and distinctive imagery...
. Cautes holds his torch raised up, and Cautopates holds his torch downward.
Interpretation
In Mithraic images Mithras either represents the sun, or is a close friend of the sun god HeliosHelios
Helios was the personification of the Sun in Greek mythology. Homer often calls him simply Titan or Hyperion, while Hesiod and the Homeric Hymn separate him as a son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia or Euryphaessa and brother of the goddesses Selene, the moon, and Eos, the dawn...
or Sol Invictus
Sol Invictus
Sol Invictus was the official sun god of the later Roman empire. In 274 Aurelian made it an official cult alongside the traditional Roman cults. Scholars disagree whether the new deity was a refoundation of the ancient Latin cult of Sol, a revival of the cult of Elagabalus or completely new...
(Latin: the invincible sun) with whom Mithras dines. So attendants Cautes and Cautopates are supposed to either represent the stations of sunrise
Sunrise
Sunrise is the instant at which the upper edge of the Sun appears above the horizon in the east. Sunrise should not be confused with dawn, which is the point at which the sky begins to lighten, some time before the sun itself appears, ending twilight...
and sunset
Sunset
Sunset or sundown is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon in the west as a result of Earth's rotation.The time of sunset is defined in astronomy as the moment the trailing edge of the Sun's disk disappears below the horizon in the west...
respectively, or perhaps the spring and autumn equinox
Equinox
An equinox occurs twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun, the center of the Sun being in the same plane as the Earth's equator...
es.
Depictions
Both are depicted as smaller than Mithras to emphasize his significance, and both wear PersianIran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
style garments, notably a Phrygian cap
Phrygian cap
The Phrygian cap is a soft conical cap with the top pulled forward, associated in antiquity with the inhabitants of Phrygia, a region of central Anatolia. In the western provinces of the Roman Empire it came to signify freedom and the pursuit of liberty, perhaps through a confusion with the pileus,...
, to emphasize the supposed oriental origins of the cult.
Cautes holds a burning torch pointed up, whereas Cautopates holds a burning torch pointed down. Cautopates is usually depicted on the left, but not always.
The two torch-bearers are often interpreted as symbols of light, one for the rising, the other for the setting sun. Cautopates could also represent death, while Cautes might represent new life.
An alternate interpretation advanced by David Ulansey is that Cautes represents the spring equinox
Equinox
An equinox occurs twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun, the center of the Sun being in the same plane as the Earth's equator...
and Cautopates the autumn equinox
Equinox
An equinox occurs twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun, the center of the Sun being in the same plane as the Earth's equator...
. Thus, represented on the left and right of the Tauroctony, they become a realistic cadre of the celestial equator and the constellations included between the two equinoxes during the Age of Taurus.