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Greek city of
Katane
in
Sicily
Bronze 10mm (0.58 grams) Struck 413-404 B.C.
Reference: Sear 1067; Gabrici (La monetazione del bronzo nella Sicilia antica),
pl. 2,7
AMENANOΣ, Horned head of young river-god Amenanos left.
Winged thunderbolt dividing small K – A.
Following the capture by Hieron of Syracuse, in 476 B.C., the name of this city
was changed to Aitna; but on the expulsion of the the new colonists, fifteen
years later, the place reverted to its original name of Katane. It was captured
in 404 B.C. by Dionysios of Syracuse who sold the population into slavery.
Katane submitted to Rome during the First Punic War.
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A thunderbolt is a symbolic
representation of incidents of observed
lightning
when accompanied by a loud
thunderclap
. In its original usage the word may
also have been a description of meteors, or, as
Plato
suggested in
Timaeus
,of the consequences of a close
approach between two planetary cosmic bodies, though this is not currently the
case. As a divine manifestation the thunderbolt has been a powerful symbol
throughout history, and has appeared in many
mythologies
. Drawing from this powerful
association, the thunderbolt is often found in military symbolism and
semiotic
representations of electricity.
In mythology
Neo-Attic
bas-relief sculpture of
Jupiter
, holding a thunderbolt in
his right hand; detail from the Moncloa
Puteal
(Roman, 2nd century),
National Archaeological Museum, Madrid
Lightning plays a role in many mythologies, often as the weapon of a
sky god
and
weather god
. As such, it is an unsurpassed
method of dramatic instantaneous retributive destruction: thunderbolts as divine
weapons can be found in many mythologies.
- in the
Hebrew Bible
, the word for “arrow”,
khets חֵץ, is used for the “arrows” of
YHWH
/Elohim,
which are represented as lightnings in
Habakuk
3:11, but also as general
calamities inflicted on men as divine punishment in
Deuteronomy
32:42,
Psalm 64
:7,
Job
6:4, etc.
-
Indo-European traditions
- In Hittite
(and
Hurrian
) mythology, a triple
thunderbolt was one symbol of
Teshub
(Tarhunt).
-
Vedic religion
(and later
Hindu mythology
) the god
Indra
is the god of lightning. His main
weapon is the thunderbolt (Vajra).
- In
Greek mythology
, the thunderbolt is a
weapon given to Zeus
by the
Cyclops
. Based on this, in
Roman mythology
, the thunderbolt is a
weapon given to
Jupiter
by the Cyclops, and is thus one
of the emblems of Jupiter, often depicted on Greek and Roman coins and
elsewhere as an eagle holding in its claws a thunderbolt which resembles
in form a bundle of crossed sticks.
- In
Celtic mythology
,
Taranis
is the god of thunder, in
Irish
,
Tuireann
.
- In
Germanic mythology
,
Thor
is specifically the god of thunder
and lightning, wielding
Mjolnir
.
- In
Turkish mythology
,
Bayülgen
creates the thuderbolts.
- In
Maya mythology
,
Huracan
is sometimes represented as three
thunderbolts.
- In Cherokee
mythology, the
Ani Hyuntikwalaski
(“thunder beings”) cause
lightning fire in a hollow
sycamore
tree.
- In
Ojibway
mythology, thunder is created by
the
Thunderbirds
(Nimkiig or Binesiiwag), which
can be both benevolent and malevolent to human beings.
- In Igbo mythology
, the thunderbolt is the
weapon of Amadioha
/Amadiora.
- In
Yoruba mythology
, the thunderbolt is the
weapon of Shango
.
In Christianity
The thunderbolt is a weapon and symbol associated with the
Antichrist
, in some Christian texts.
Thunderstones
The name “thunderbolt” or “thunderstone” has also been traditionally applied
to the fossilised
rostra
of
belemnoids
. The origin of these bullet-shaped
stones was not understood, and thus a mythological explanation of stones created
where a lightning struck has arisen.
In the modern world
The thunderbolt or lightning bolt continues into the modern world as a
prominent symbol; it has entered modern
heraldry
and military iconography.
- In iconography
- The thunderbolt is used as an electrical symbol.
- A thunderbolt is used in the logo of the Australian hard rock band
AC/DC
.
- In fiction
- The thunderbolt is the symbol seen on the chest of the costumes worn by
the DC Comics
characters
Captain Marvel
, the
Flash
, and
Static
.
- In the
Harry Potter
franchise, the scar on
Harry’s forehead is in the shape of a thunderbolt.
- In the novel
The Godfather
, “being hit with the
thunderbolt” is a Sicilian expression referring to a man being spellbound at
the sight of a beautiful woman. The novel’s emerging main character is
affected in this fashion and eventually marries a woman whose appearance
initially affects him in this way.
Katane in Sicily
Foundation
All ancient authors agree in representing Catania as a
Greek colony
named
Κατάνη (‘Katánē—see also
List of traditional Greek place names
) of
Chalcidic
origin, but founded immediately from
the neighboring city of
Naxos
, under the guidance of a leader named
Euarchos (Euarchus).
The exact date of its foundation is not recorded, but it appears from
Thucydides
to have followed shortly after that
of Leontini (modern
Lentini
), which he places in the fifth year
after
Syracuse
, or
730 BC
.
Greek
Sicily
The only event of its early history that has been transmitted to us is the
legislation of
Charondas
, and even of this the date is wholly
uncertain.
But from the fact that his legislation was extended to the other Chalcidic
cities, not only of Sicily, but of
Magna Graecia
also, as well as to his own
country, it is evident that Catania continued in intimate relations with these
kindred cities.
It seems to have retained its independence till the time of
Hieron of Syracuse
, but that despot, in
476 BC
, expelled all the original inhabitants,
whom he established at Leontini, while he repeopled the city with a new body of
colonists, amounting, it is said, to not less than 10,000 in number, and
consisting partly of
Syracusans
, partly of
Peloponnesians
.
He at the same time changed the city’s name to
Αἴτνη (Aítnē, Aetna or Ætna,
after the nearby
Mount Etna
, an active
volcano
), and caused himself to be proclaimed
the
Oekist
or founder of the new city. As such he
was celebrated by Pindar
, and after his death obtained heroic
honors from the citizens of his new colony.
But this state of things was of brief duration, and a few years after the
death of Hieron and the expulsion of
Thrasybulus
, the Syracusans combined with
Ducetius
, king of the
Siculi
, to expel the newly settled inhabitants
of Catania, who were compelled to retire to the fortress of
Inessa
(to which they gave the name of Aetna),
while the old Chalcidic citizens were reinstated in the possession of Catania,
461 BC
.
The period that followed the settlement of affairs at this epoch appears to
have been one of great prosperity for Catania, as well as for the Sicilian
cities in general: however, no details of its history are known till the great
Athenian
expedition to Sicily
(part of the larger
Peloponnesian War
).
On that occasion the Catanaeans, notwithstanding their Chalcidic connections,
at first refused to receive the Athenians into their city: but the latter having
effected an entrance, they found themselves compelled to espouse the alliance of
the invaders, and Catania became in consequence the headquarters of the Athenian
armament throughout the first year of the expedition, and the base of their
subsequent operations against Syracuse.
There is no information as to the fate of Catania after the close of this
expedition: it is next mentioned in
403 BC
, when it fell into the power of
Dionysius I of Syracuse
, who sold the
inhabitants as slaves, and gave up the city to plunder; after which he
established there a body of
Campanian
mercenaries.
These, however, quit it again in
396 BC
, and retired to
Aetna
, on the approach of the great
Carthaginian
armament under
Himilco
and
Mago
. The great sea-fight in which the latter
defeated
Leptines
, the brother of Dionysius, was fought
immediately off Catania, and the city apparently[ wordsweasel]
fell, in consequence, into the hands of the Carthaginians.
Callippus
, the assassin of Dion of Syracuse,
when he was expelled from Syracuse, for a time held possession of Catania (Plut.
Dion. 58); and when
Timoleon
landed in Sicily Catania was subject
to a despot named
Mamercus
, who at first joined the
Corinthian
leader but afterwards abandoned his
alliance for that of the Carthaginians, and was in consequence attacked and
expelled by Timoleon.
Catania was now restored to liberty, and appears to have continued to retain
its independence; during the wars of
Agathocles
with the Carthaginians, it sided at
one time with the former, at others with the latter; and when
Pyrrhus
landed in Sicily, Catania was the first
to open its gates to him, and received him with the greatest magnificence.
Catania was the birth-place of the philosopher and legislator Charondas; it
was also the place of residence of the poet
Stesichorus
, who died there, and was buried in
a magnificent sepulchre outside one of the gates, which derived from thence the
name of Porta Stesichoreia. (Suda,
under Στησίχορος.)
Xenophanes
, the philosopher of
Elea
, also spent the latter years of his life
there, so that it was evidently, at an early period, a place of cultivation and
refinement.
The first introduction of dancing to accompany the flute, was also ascribed
to
Andron
, a citizen of Catania
In ancient times Catania was associated with the legend of
Amphinomus and Anapias
, who, on occasion of a
great eruption of Etna, abandoned all their property, and carried off their aged
parents on their shoulders, the stream of lava itself was said to have parted,
and flowed aside so as not to harm them. Statues were erected to their honor,
and the place of their burial was known as the Campus Piorum; the
Catanaeans even introduced the figures of the youths on their coins, and the
legend became a favorite subject of allusion and declamation among the
Latin poets
, of whom the younger
Lucilius
and
Claudian
have dwelt upon it at considerable
length.
The occurrence is referred by
Hyginus
to the first eruption of Etna that took
place after the settlement of Catania.
Roman
rule
In the
First Punic War
, Catania was one of the first
among the cities of Sicily, which made their submission to the
Roman Republic
, after the first successes of
their arms in 263 BC. The expression of
Pliny
(vii. 60) who represents it as having
been taken by
Valerius Messalla
, is certainly a mistake.
It appears to have continued afterwards steadily to maintain its friendly
relations with Rome, and though it did not enjoy the advantages of a confederate
city (foederata civitas), like its neighbors Tauromenium (modern
Taormina
) and Messana (modern
Messina
), it rose to a position of great
prosperity under the Roman rule.
Cicero
repeatedly mentions it as, in his time,
a wealthy and flourishing city; it retained its ancient municipal institutions,
its
chief magistrate
bearing the title of
Proagorus; and appears to have been one of the principal ports of Sicily for
the export of corn.
It subsequently suffered severely from the ravages of
Sextus Pompeius
, and was in consequence one of
the cities to which a
colony
was sent by
Augustus
; a measure that appears to have in a
great degree restored its prosperity, so that in
Strabo
‘s time it was one of the few cities in
the island that was in a flourishing condition.
It retained its colonial rank, as well as its prosperity, throughout the
period of the
Roman Empire
; so that in the 4th century
Ausonius
in his
Ordo Nobilium Urbium
, notices Catania and
Syracuse alone among the cities of Sicily.
One of the most serious
eruptions
of
Mount Etna
happened in
121 BC
, when great part of Catania was
overwhelmed by streams of lava, and the hot ashes fell in such quantities in the
city itself, as to break in the roofs of the houses.
Catania was in consequence exempted, for 10 years, from its usual
contributions to the Roman state The greater part of the broad tract of plain to
the southwest of Catania (now called the Piana di Catania, a district of
great fertility), appears to have belonged, in
ancient times
, to Leontini or Centuripa (modern
Centuripe
), but that portion of it between
Catana itself and the mouth of the Symaethus, was annexed to the territory of
the latter city, and must have furnished abundant supplies of grain.
The port of Catania also, which was in great part filled up by the eruption
of
1669 AD
, appears to have been in ancient times
much frequented, and was the chief place of export for the corn of the rich
neighboring plains. The little river Amenanus, or Amenas, which flowed through
the city, was a very small stream, and could never have been navigable.
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