SEVFFARTH — PLANETARY CONFIG. ON CYPRIAN ANTIQ,. 4OI 



the Zodiac, the 9 Muses and the 3 Gratia; completing the 1 3 signs. 

 Thus it is put beyond question that the crowned virgins on the 

 Cyprian bowl represented the signs of the Zodiac. 



Besides, the fact makes no difference that in earlier times the 

 spring commenced with Gemini, the house of Venus, in conse- 

 quence of the precession of the fixed stars. Furthermore, the 

 spectator will notice that in nearly all cases a lotus-flower is in- 

 serted between two Muses, and, since this plant grows only in 

 water, it argues that the Musse belonged to the heavenly blue 

 ocean and not to terrestrial domicils. 



Finally, even the names and insignia of the Muses aver that the 

 latter have from the beginning symbolized the signs of the Zodiac. 



Referring the Muses, according to their order handed down by 

 Hesiod, to the Zodiac and its planetary wardens, we obtain the 

 following scheme : 



11^9 6. ^^5- «/0 4- SI J) 3- 55^2. n? I- 



Terpsichore. Melpomene. Thalia. Euterpe. Clio. Calliope. 



The 3 Gratise. Urania. Polyhymnia. Erato. 



I. Since Gemini, the house of Venus, constituted the primitive 

 first sign of the Zodiac, commencing with the primitive point of 

 the vernal equinox. Calliope, the first of the Muses, must of course 

 be referred to Gemini. Now Calliope, acccording to the root 

 071-, 6(pi<;, signifies the beautiful looking, and this is the univer- 

 sal appellation of Venus, the planet from which Venusitis {pul- 

 che?-) originated. 



3. Clio (from the root xAe-, xAeoc, inclytiis, to make notorious, 

 celebrate), holding a papyrus scroll, typifies the house of Mer- 

 cury, because this god invented and cultivated the same arts and 

 sciences that belonged to Clio, e.g. writing books, memorials, 

 epics, etc. 



3. Euterpe, the charming one, obviously symbolized the moon, 

 so much delighting ancient as well as modern people. 



4. Thalia, r. ddUco (procreating, verdant and blooming), is 

 the natural name of the sun, the procreating power of the vegeta. 

 ble kingdom. Hence Thalia's distinctive symbol was the shep- 

 herd's crook {pedum:), the usual designation of the sun-god in 

 Egypt ; otherwise, what had the Muse of cosmic poetry to do with 

 the emblem of shepherds .'' 



