183-189

• Colona, Paolo

For almost two centuries mythologists, cultural historians and philologists tried to decipher the Greek myth of Ixion and to determine the nature of his fiery wheel. All those efforts led to many diverse conclusions, most of which fall into two main categories: solar symbolism and weather phenomena. In this work we show how the wheel of Ixion can be identified with the 22° solar halo. The arguments that best support our hypothesis are: a) the deep connection between Ixion and rainmaking magic: the 22° halo is a sign of an upcoming worsening of the weather; b) Hermes ties Ixion to the wheel: the planet Mercury, associated with Hermes, orbits the Sun with the same apparent amplitude of the halo; c) the halo (that could well be described in mythical terms as a “fiery wheel”), is quite bright and easy to see but no Greek myth is known to be mention it: Ixion could fill the gap; d) the wheel is imposed to Ixion after his conjunction with Nephele, a cloud, and the halo can only occur in presence of clouds; e) the previous interpretations, both solar and atmospheric, are now congruous since the halo appears around the Sun and anticipates stormy weather. The etymology of Ixion, its Sanskrit parallel Aksha and its meaning are also discussed.

• History and Archaeology

• Αρχαιολογία

Archaeoastronomy, aetiological myths, Greek mythology, ancient meteorology, Mercury, Olympian gods, 22 degrees halo, Sanskrit etymology

Περιέχει 4 εικόνες

1. Bréal, M. (1877), Mélanges de mythologie et de linguistique, Hachette, Paris.Burnand, F. C. (1863), Ixion or the Man on the Wheel, Thomas Hailes Lacy, London.Cooley, J. E. (1846), The Spawn of Ixion, Or The 'Biter Bit', An Allegory, Forge of Vulcan.Diel P. (1952), Le symbolisme dans la mitologie grecque, Petite Bibliothèque Payot, Paris.Disraeli, B. (1859), Ixion In Heaven, Routledge, Warnes, and Routledge, London.Fowler, R. L. (1993), The myth of Kephalos as aition of rain-magic, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 97 (1993:29–42), Dr. Rudolf Habelt GmbH, Bonn.Kuhn, F. F. A. (1859), Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des Göttertranks,Gayley, C. Mills (1911), The Classic Myths in English Literature and in Art, Boston. Ginn & Co., Boston.Graves, R. (1963), I Miti Greci, Longanesi, Milano.Griffith, R. (translator) (1870), The Rámáyan of Válmíki.Gustafson, R. (1969), Ixion's Wheel : Poems By Ralph Gustafson. McClelland and Stewart, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Hubbard, H. (1852), Ixion And Other Poems, Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, Boston.Hewitt, J. (1894), The Ruling Races of Prehistoric Times In India, South-Western Asia and Southern Europe, Archibald Constable And Company, London.Hewitt, J. (1901), History and chronology of the myth-making age, James Parker & Co., London.Jung, C. G., et al. (1956), Symbols of Transformation, Routledge, London.Kerenyi, K. (1963), Gli dei e gli eroi della Grecia. Il racconto del mito, la nascita delle civiltà, il Saggiatore, Milano.Kuhn, A. (1859), Die herabkunft des feuers und des göttertranks, F. Dümmler, Berlin.Mannhardt, W. (1866), Wald- Und Feldkulte, Gebrüder Borntraeger, Berlin.Müller, M. (1897), Contributions to the Science of Mythology, Longmans, Green, and co., London.O'Neill J. (2003), in Night of the Gods, Part 2, B. Quaritch, 1897, ed Kessinger Publishing, Londra.Smith, W. (1880), A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, J. Murray, London.Thompson, R. Campbell (1900), The reports of the magicians and astrologers of Nineveh and Babylon in the British Museum. Vol. VII. Luzac, London.Vozella, L. Cassola F (2011), Nuvole nel folklore - proverbi meteorologici: gli aloni, Rivista Ligure di Meteorologia, Numero 41, anno XI, Genova.