Talk:Cautes and Cautopates

Identification

The identification of Cautes and Cautopates with the sunrise and sunset is quite questionable. As per David Ulansey and others, they represent the Equinoxes. Their appearance in the Tauroctony, which is believed to represent an allegory of the Precession of the Equinoxes, is precisely to be the cadre where all the other constellations are represented.

I think this steps over the line between what is in fact the case (on matters so difficult to resolve) and what an encyclopedia should say (which is to describe the positions held by professional scholars and leave it at that). What we need to do is reflect (and reference!) the opinions either way. If you would add the Ulansey claim and reference it, that would be helpful. Roger Pearse (talk) 13:59, 6 December 2010 (UTC)

I've added the Ulansey reference for his understanding of these two characters -- but in fact the entire book is a reference for his hypothesis that the discovery of the precession of the equinoxes by Hipparchus in 128 BC led to the elevation of Mithras as a cosmic force and thus to his cult. RobLandau (talk) 15:42, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

Misspelled Reference

Reference (2) on this page has misspelled the author's name by omitting one s. The correct citation would be "Manfred Clauss, The Roman Cult of Mithras, tr. Richard Gordon. Edinburgh University Press (2000) p. 95" 128.239.201.207 (talk) 19:18, 11 May 2023 (UTC)