10-18-2010, 03:57 PM
"Lex/law is Etruscan language. It comes from the root leo as leon and K-sor do. And so, he is also depicted with the head of a lion and wings."
I would have to say that this sounds like supposition to me and I cannot see any real connection between the law and chimeras. In any case, the creatures depicted on the breastplate clearly have beaks and crest feathers, meaning that they are griffins rather than chimeras so any tenuous connection with law is invalid.
"No feathers. It is a wig of serpents."
No - you are confusing the crest feathers of a griffin with the serpents which formed the hair of the three gorgons, including Medusa. To the best of my knowledge no other creatures are referred to in ancient sources as having serpents on their heads. Therefore, if the creature is not a gorgon, the things on its head cannot be snakes.
"I concede that it is hard to see any wings in the surviving XX Legion symbols in the marranos. Perhaps the most is a crest …they could be wings."
No - the Twentieth Legion boars definitely do not have wings. I have seen literally hundreds of their tile stamps myself which show the charging boar and none show wings. The raised crest you see is the raised hair along the boar's spine. If you observe real wild boars which are frightened or angry you can still observe this effect.
"Cobras, used in Egypt, are not as elegant as the poisons of the Romans; a Roman/Judeo view of Paradise."
I have to say here that I cannot see how this is in any way relevant to the subject at hand.
"You are referring to the caduceus… Oath “do no harm”."
No I wasn't, and again, it is not relevant here.
"Perhaps you mean wisdom and knowledge… Chinese like the Qi or the ourobouros of Alexandria... competing with the Brahman of the Stoics."
No, I didn't. I was simply pointing out the royal associations of griffins. I did not offer any real interpretation as to their purpose. I think you are reading too much into what I am saying.
Incidentally the last picture you posted up *could* probably be counted as a chimera, but it is a figure closely associated with the worship of Mithras, and is therefore rather too late to be relevant to a study of the decoration of Germanicus' breastplate.
I would refer you again to my earlier suggestions of interpretation of the symbolism on the breastplate, with the additional suggestion that the Medusa head is probably present as a symbolic defence against enemies.
Crispvs
I would have to say that this sounds like supposition to me and I cannot see any real connection between the law and chimeras. In any case, the creatures depicted on the breastplate clearly have beaks and crest feathers, meaning that they are griffins rather than chimeras so any tenuous connection with law is invalid.
"No feathers. It is a wig of serpents."
No - you are confusing the crest feathers of a griffin with the serpents which formed the hair of the three gorgons, including Medusa. To the best of my knowledge no other creatures are referred to in ancient sources as having serpents on their heads. Therefore, if the creature is not a gorgon, the things on its head cannot be snakes.
"I concede that it is hard to see any wings in the surviving XX Legion symbols in the marranos. Perhaps the most is a crest …they could be wings."
No - the Twentieth Legion boars definitely do not have wings. I have seen literally hundreds of their tile stamps myself which show the charging boar and none show wings. The raised crest you see is the raised hair along the boar's spine. If you observe real wild boars which are frightened or angry you can still observe this effect.
"Cobras, used in Egypt, are not as elegant as the poisons of the Romans; a Roman/Judeo view of Paradise."
I have to say here that I cannot see how this is in any way relevant to the subject at hand.
"You are referring to the caduceus… Oath “do no harm”."
No I wasn't, and again, it is not relevant here.
"Perhaps you mean wisdom and knowledge… Chinese like the Qi or the ourobouros of Alexandria... competing with the Brahman of the Stoics."
No, I didn't. I was simply pointing out the royal associations of griffins. I did not offer any real interpretation as to their purpose. I think you are reading too much into what I am saying.
Incidentally the last picture you posted up *could* probably be counted as a chimera, but it is a figure closely associated with the worship of Mithras, and is therefore rather too late to be relevant to a study of the decoration of Germanicus' breastplate.
I would refer you again to my earlier suggestions of interpretation of the symbolism on the breastplate, with the additional suggestion that the Medusa head is probably present as a symbolic defence against enemies.
Crispvs
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