Mithraism and Precession: The Tauroctony and the Celestial Equator

Is the Tauroctony a Star Map? The obvious answer to this question is no. The Romans of the period of the Mithras cult [1st to 4th century AD] knew how to produce quite accurate constellation maps and star catalogs, a small number of which still survive. [See for example the Mainzer Globus.] Rather the tauroctony is a depiction of an event. All the characters are obviously performing an action in this event: in a standard tauroctony the dog and snake are usually leaping for the blood coming from the sword cut whereas the scorpion seems to be attacking the bull's genitals, actions far from those of the constellation depictions.

Prof. Ulansey however considers that the characters of the Tauroctony represent constellations. In this scheme, the scorpion is the constellation Scorpius, the snake the constellation of Hydra, and the dog the constellation of Canis Minor. The Bull is Taurus. Mithras himself is then associated with the constellation of Perseus.

If the characters in the scene are meant to depict constellations then they are very oddly drawn. No constellation drawing from that time - to this - features a whole Taurean bull, only the front half [again, see the Mainzer Globus.] Canis Minor is depicted on no known star map from the classical period. Perseus is never seen with a straight sword as depicted in the tauroctony, but rather the hooked sword used to kill Medusa.

If the scene is really connected with the legend of Perseus then again this seems odd as in no legends is Perseus connected with a bull, a snake, or a serpent and never possesses a dog. [Instead his constellation in the heavens is actually shown in conjunction with the standard characters in his legend: Medusa, Andromeda, Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Cetus and Pegasus.]

From available star maps of the period, if the figures of the tauroctony are constellations, then the Mithras figure seems more likely to be connected to the straight-sworded Orion, who in legend is hunting the bull, Taurus, and then the dog would be Canis Major the faithful companion of Orion. [Alternatively, in legend, Orion is supposed to have been born from the buried hide of a dead bull, after the gods Zeus, Poseidon and Hermes urinated on it.] Perhaps the scorpion would then be the Scorpius sent in legend by the Earth Goddess to kill Orion.

[See the Kugel Globe [c 300 - 100 BC] for an early Greek example of an Orion figure wearing a Phrygian cap and holding a straight sword, very similar to the tauroctony depiction.]

A Mithraic Tauroctony, 'Bull Slaying,' Scene [Vatican Museum, Rome, Italy]. Mithras is above the bull plunging his sword into its neck, with his face turned away. Beneath the bull are three standard creatures of the scene: directly below the Bull's groin a scorpion; looking upwards at the point where the sword enters the Bull's body a snake and a dog.

A Drawing of Part of the Mainz Globe [c 150 - 220 AD] In green are shown the normal depiction of Taurus as the front half of the bull. To the right of and facing Taurus is Orion, the Hunter. To the right of Orion is Canis Major, the Greater Dog. As was normal for the period, Canis Minor, the Lesser Dog, is not shown - on modern star maps Canis Minor is depicted where the legs of Gemini, the Twins, can be seen on the Mainz Globe to the left of Orion. [Perseus, the Hero, is above Taurus with his body oriented left to right - his hooked sword can just be seen; Medusa's head dangles from his hand. Scorpius, the Scorpion, is much further around the Celestial Sphere and can't be seen on this drawing.]

Are the Constellations Depicted in the Tauroctony as they Appeared in the Sky in the Age of Taurus? Prof Ulansey argues that the characters are constellations and that the constellations shown are those which lay on the Celestial Equator during the period between about 2000 BC and 4000 BC - his dates for the Age of Taurus. This, he argues, is how the tauroctony is able to depict a particular moment in time: owing to the Precession of the Equinoxes, the constellations which lie along the Celestial Equator change slowly with time, so a particular constellation list indicates a particular time period.

The constellation of Hydra is huge and whilst it intersected the Celestial Equator in 4000 BC it still does so today. But it's certainly correct that that [modern] Scorpius lay astride the Celestial Equator from earlier than 4000 BC to approximately 2300 BC and the constellation of Canis Minor between approximately 3700 and 3250 BC, both Age of Taurus dates.

Professor Ulansey also points out that in some tauroctonies other characters appear. These are often a bird, a cup and a lion. The bird he depicts as the constellation Corvus and the cup the constellation Crater. The lion then becomes Leo. He notes that Corvus and Crater both lay on the Celestial Equator in the Age of Taurus. This is correct, though, as with Hydra, both did so in much of the Age of Aries as well . [Corvus lay on the Celestial Equator between 3500 BC and 900 BC and Crater from before 4000 BC to 200 AD.]

However, the Lion as Leo presents greater problems. It has never been a Celestial Equator constellation at any date between 4000 BC and the present day. To solve this problem Prof Ulansey suggests that Leo may stand for the Summer Solstice in the Age of Taurus and the cup would then be Aquarius, the Winter Solstice in the Age of Taurus. This seems to have moved a very long way away from the tauroctony as a star map of the Celestial Equator at a particular point in time, and frankly is not supported by any evidence: there are no known representations of Aquarius, the Water Carrier, as only a cup in the classical world.

The presence of Leo actually begins to cast doubt on what otherwise might have seemed a plausible scheme. The problem of Canis Minor [as discussed above] also gives cause for concern. However, the greatest problem with the analysis is that it is based on modern star charts of the skies, not on the constellation sky maps as seen by the Romans.

The evidence of the Roman Mainz Globe [c 150 to 220 AD] - shown right - indicates [as does the earlier Farnese Atlas sculpture] that Corvus, Hydra and Crater [and in the Mainz Globe even Scorpius] were all thought of as lying on the Celestial Equator at the time of the Mithras cult. [Whereas Canis Minor was not even depicted.]

This makes their use to depict the Celestial Equator during the specific time period of the Age of Taurus extremely unlikely.

Finally, the other question which arises is - even for a skilled astrologer - would it have been possible at the time to calculate which constellations would have been on the Celestial Equator during the Age of Taurus? To say the least this would have been an impressive feat! We have no indication that this was possible, nor any indication that any astrologer of the time ever attempted or achieved such a task.

A Mithraic Tauroctony, 'Bull Slaying,' Scene. Here the standard characters are joined by a bird, perched on Mithra's cape in this case, and below the bull are a cup and a lion. The snake's position has now also moved so that it, like the scorpion, is attacking the bulls testicles. [Above the tauroctony is a Zodiac. Zodiacs, and depictions which are probably planetary gods, occur quite frequently in tauroctonies, demonstrating the cult's links with the astrology of the time.]

A Drawing of Part of the Mainz Globe [c 150 - 220 AD] The Celestial Equator is the thick blue line. In blue are shown Leo, the Lion, Hydra, the Water Snake, Crater, the Cup, Corvus, the Raven, and the extended claws of Scorpius, the Scorpion. In red are the hindquarters of Canis Major, the Greater Dog, not Canis Minor, which is not depicted.

It's very clear from this, a Celestial Sphere of c 150 - 220 AD, that Hydra, Corvus and Crater were considered to lie on the Celestial Equator at the time of the flourishing of the Mithras cult itself.

[Scorpius also lies on the Celestial Equator as this sphere follows the old astrological tradition of there being no sign of Libra, the Scales, if Libra was present Scorpius would not lie on the Celestial Equator.]

Is the Bull Slaying a Depiction of the End of the Age of Taurus? For this to be possible then the Romans would have to have had a concept of an Age of Taurus. There is no evidence at all that they did. In fact, the first time we hear of an Age of Taurus concept is in the 20th century. [Though the Romans - following the Greeks - were interested in long time spans such as Plato's Perfect Year and Complete Year, and in world ages such as the Five Ages of Men.]

Owing to the work of Hipparchos, some astrologers of the Roman period would have understood that the phenomenon of the Movement of the Vernal Equinox Point [which we now call the Precession of the Equinoxes] existed, but there is a very large gap between this and having the concept of an Astrological Age - a concept defined by Carl Gustav Jung. The Age of Taurus argument appears to be attempting to apply a modern concept to the Romans which we have no evidence that they ever possessed.

In conclusion whilst the argument that the Mithraic tauroctony depicts the end of an Astrological Age is an intriguing one, the evidence from the Roman period simply doesn't support the idea.

A Mithraic Tauroctony, 'Bull Slaying,' Scene [Museo Nazionale Romana, Rome, Italy]. Again, Mithras is above the bull plunging his sword into its neck, with his face turned away. Beneath the bull are three standard creatures of the scene. To the left of Mithras right leg is a small bird. Left and right of the scene are two figures holding torches, the one to the left upright, the one to the right turned down. From surviving inscriptions these two figures are known to be called Cautes and Cautopates. The two figures in the chariots are not such standard parts of a tauroctony: they are likely to depict the Sun God and Moon Goddess. Their close positioning with the torch bearers may indicate that Cautes and Cautopates signify sunrise and sunset.