Dear friends of ancient mythology! We have already encountered the genius cucullatus in the article "Some reflections on the boy between asklepios and Hygieia". Deultum, Diadumenian, Yuriukova 86 (Telesphoros) Here I have found something which puts him in a greater context and suggests connections to St. Christopher. The Egyptian God of Death was the dog-headed Anubis. He accompanied the deads to the realm of the dead and therefore was equated by the Greeks to Hermes Psychopomos, the attendant of the souls and syncretizied in Hellenism with Anubis to Hermanubis. About AD 450 in Chalcedon/Asia minor began the worshipping of an otherwise unknown martyr named Christophorus. Christophorus is Greek and means 'Bearer of Christus' (BTW There are other Christus bearers too: the pregnant Maria, Maria with Jesus in her arms, Joseph of Arimathea or Simeon). The eastern legend reports that he originally was a man-eating Kynekephalos (= dog-headed), who got his human shape and his voice not before his baptism. Then he became a Christian missionary and has preached on Samos and in Lycia. God has confirmed him by growing leaves and fruits from his walking-staff. He had to suffer many tortures and died finally by decapitation. The eastern church until today knows depictions of Christophorus as dog-headed saint. The western church mitigated his beastlike appearance to a giant shape and reinterprets the term canineus (= dog-like) as cananeus (= from the city of Kana, where Goliath is originated too), and let him tender his services to the mightiest ruler of the world. On the quest for this ruler he met a boy who asked him for bearing him over the river. But the boy on top of the giant's shoulders became heavier and heavier, until he nearly breaks down, and then unveiled himself as Christus, the mightiest ruler of the world. Hence his name Christophorus. From this time on he served Christus. Dierick Bouts the Younger (1448-1491) "St.Christopher" (1467-1468), Flemish painter. Fom the triptych "The Pearl of Brabant", today in the "Alte Pinakothek", Munich He is the most often depicted of all saints in the Christian Church. Very early a small manikin in the shape of a monk and wearing a hood appeared on pictures of Christophoros, sometimes a small dog too (which could be in the western church a silent reminiscence to the dog-headed ancestral saint). He is seen as the holy Cucuphates (or Cucufas, Cucufat, Cugat and so on). He came about AD 300 together with St.Felix from Gerona in North-Africa to Barcelona, was according to the legend under Diocletian first untouched burnt, then drown and died finally by decapitation. AD 845 abbot Fulrad took his head to St.Denis in Paris. AD 1079 his bones were detected in San Cugat del Valles near Barcelona. A pic of Cucuphatus (with unknown origin) Now already at the Phoenicians was known the depiction of a hooded manikin holding a light (candle, lamp or lantern), who is described without a name as archetyp by the great psychiatrist C.G.Jung. In the same way he is found on Greek depictions in the ambit of Asklepios. The Romans called him 'Genius cucullus' (from cucullus = hood). His function has seemed to be to lead deceased with his light to the netherworld in the case that the healing powers of Asklepios have failed. Relief of the Genii Cucullati, found in a shrine in the vicus, early 3rd century AD, Housesteads Roman Fort (Vercovicium) In the 6th century occured a sound shift: a 'L' between two vocals became a 'F' (like 'coiffeur', which belongs to 'colerare', and who was originally a hair dyer). So 'Genius Cucullatus' became Cucufatus/Cucuphatus, and was mixed with the weak reminiscence of the martyr from Barcelona. On the other side the same syncretizing scholars must have still a distinct idea of the old function of the Anubic dog-headed soul attendant of the Christus bearer and of the hooded Phoenico-Greek soul guide of the ambit of Asklepios, so that they conclude from the guide and bearer function on one hand, and from the similarities of their martyrdoms on the other hand, the togetherness of these two figures. So they motivated - in unknown text interpretation - artists to depict Christophorus and Cucuphatus together. Because according to the 'Legenda aurea' Christophorus is symbolizing life and baptism and thus the bright features of the water, on the other hand Cucuphatus the gloomy and sad aspects of life and death, guiding the deceased by his lamp, he is often depicted together with other water figures, mermaids for example. From such different ancient threads the character of these saints is composed. So it is understandable that pope Paul VI reforming the calendar of saints has discarded Christophorus from the list. Not understandable is on the other hand that Cucuphatus who has in no way a more reliable existence was left on the official list! I want to add that Cucuphatus as well as cuculla belongs to an enigmatic indo-european ancient root to which the Irish heroe Cuchullain must be put too. The ancient root "cel-" seems to have the meaning 'dark, hidden' (related to the German 'ver-hehlen', 'Hel', 'Hölle'), which suggested for the otherwise not interpretable Cuchullain the origin from a cave, and so the connection to chthonic deities (BTW Cuchullain is derived from Irish 'cuchul' = hood, and: the words derived from "cel-" are meaning in Irish 'being hidden' and 'being dead' too!) Sources: (1) Legenda aurea Literature: (1) Hanswilhelm Haefs, Handbuch des nutzlosen Wissens, Band 2 (2) Gabriele Haefs, Christophorus und Cucuphatus - Zwei sonderbare Heilige (so far unpublished) Online Sources: (1) http://www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienC/Christophorus.htm (2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooded_Spirits Best regards Jochen
@Jochen, an enjoyable & educational post as always - you give us something to think about with this connection between the Genii Cucullati and the mysterious Telesphoros! I have no relevant coins....thank you and best wishes, S
