The Twin Horse Gods

The Dioskouroi in Mythologies of the Ancient World

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Reference, Comparative Religion, History
Cover of the book The Twin Horse Gods by Henry John Walker, Bloomsbury Publishing
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Author: Henry John Walker ISBN: 9780857738080
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Publication: June 15, 2015
Imprint: I.B. Tauris Language: English
Author: Henry John Walker
ISBN: 9780857738080
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication: June 15, 2015
Imprint: I.B. Tauris
Language: English

The twin deities known by the ancient Greeks as the Dioskouroi, and by the Romans as the Gemini, were popular figures in the classical world. They were especially connected with youth, low status and service, and were embraced by the common people in a way that eluded those gods associated with regal magnificence or the ruling classes. Despite their popularity, no dedicated study has been published on the horse gods for over a hundred years. Henry John Walker here addresses this neglect. His comparative study traces the origins, meanings and applications of the twin divinities to social and ritual settings in Greece, Vedic India (where the brothers named Castor and Pollux were revered as Indo-European gods called the Asvins), Etruria and classical Rome. He demonstrates, for example, that since the Dioskouroi were regarded as being halfway between gods and men, so young Spartans – undergoing a fierce and rigorous military training – saw themselves as standing midway between animal and human. Such creative interpretations of the myth thus played a central role in the culture and society of antiquity.

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The twin deities known by the ancient Greeks as the Dioskouroi, and by the Romans as the Gemini, were popular figures in the classical world. They were especially connected with youth, low status and service, and were embraced by the common people in a way that eluded those gods associated with regal magnificence or the ruling classes. Despite their popularity, no dedicated study has been published on the horse gods for over a hundred years. Henry John Walker here addresses this neglect. His comparative study traces the origins, meanings and applications of the twin divinities to social and ritual settings in Greece, Vedic India (where the brothers named Castor and Pollux were revered as Indo-European gods called the Asvins), Etruria and classical Rome. He demonstrates, for example, that since the Dioskouroi were regarded as being halfway between gods and men, so young Spartans – undergoing a fierce and rigorous military training – saw themselves as standing midway between animal and human. Such creative interpretations of the myth thus played a central role in the culture and society of antiquity.

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