Boston University - HUB Yearbook (Boston, MA)

Page 21 text:

KEY T0 ANCIENT c'osMoLoGY.' 19 X A , l I 1 X i I f I I n I i I I u I 553 C I I 2 I - I Cf 'Y 3 . z X an Ap A4 pI 5 e I 6 6 D I I I I I I I 7 1 1 7'7I o Q, B. denions. To locate these in -right mutual relations, one must begin by representing to himself the earth as it sphere or sphcroid, and as situated within, and concentric with, the sturry sphere, each having its axis perpc11dif:ulr1r, and ils north pole at the topi The pole-star is thus in the true zenith, and the heavenly heights centringpnhont it are the abode of the supreme god or gods. According to the same conception, the upper or northern hemisphere of the earth is the proper home of living mcug the under or southern hemisphere of the earth, the abode of disem- bodied spirits and rulers of the deadg and, finally, the

Page 20 text:

18 BOSTON UNIVERSITY YEAR BOOK. That all writers upon Greek mythology, including even the latcst,1 should proceed upon the same assumptions as the professed Homeric interpreters and geographers, building upon their foundations, is only natural. And that the current conceptions of the cosmology of the ancient Greeks should profoundly aifect current interpre- tations of the cosmological and geographical data of other ancient peoples, is also precisely what the history and inner relationships of modern archaeological studies would lead one to expect. It is not surprising, therefore, that the earth of the ancient Hebrews, Egyptians, Indo-Aryans, and other ancient peoples, has been assumed to correspond to the supposed flat earth of the Greeks? A protracted study of the subject has convinced the present writer that this modern assumption, as to the form of the Homeric earth, is entirely baseless and misleading. He has, furthermore, satisfied himself that the Egyptians, Akkadians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Phoenicians, l-lebrews, Greeks, Iranians, Indo-Aryans, Chinese, Japanese, -in fine, all the most ancient historic peoples,- possessed in their earliest traceable periods a cosmology essentially identical, and one of a far more advanced type than has been attrib- uted to them. The purpose of this paper is to set forth and illustrate this oldest known conception of the uni- verse and of its parts. In ancient thought the grand divisions of the World are fourg to wit, The abode of the gods, the abode of living men, the abode of the dead, and, finally, the abode of 1 Sec. for example, Sir George W. Cox: An Introduction to thc Science of Compmwliuc Mythology and I oIl.'lore. London and New York, 1881: p. 244. Deehnrmc, Mytlmlngie cle Ia Greco Antique. Paris, 1879: p, ll. 9 It is true that Heinrich Zimmer remarks, Die Ansehanung die sich bei Grieehen und Nordgermunen flndet, dass die Erde eine Scheibe sei, uni die sich alas Meer sehlingt, begegnet in den vedischen Samhita nir- gcnds. Allhulischcs Leben. Bcrlin,1S79: p. 350. But even he does not advance from this negative assertion to an exposition of the true Vedic cosmology. Compare M. Foutane: Lcur eosuiogrnphie est enihryouuire. La ierrc est pour l'A1-ya ronde ct plate comme un disquc. Le firinmnent vedtque, concave, vien se souder A la terre, circulairuient, it l'horizon. Inde Vddique. Paris, 1881: p. 94. Q

Page 22 text:

20 BOSTON UNIVERSITY YEAR BOOK. undermost region of all, that centring around the south- ern pole of the heavens, the lowest hell. The two hemis- pheres of the earth were furthermore conceived of as separated from each other by an equatorial ocean or oceanic current. To illustrate this conception of the world, let the two circles of the diagram upon the preceding page represent respectively the earth-sphere and the outermost of the revolving starry spheres. A is the north pole of the heavens, so placed as to be in the zenith. B is the south pole of the heavens in the nadir. The line A B is the axis of the apparent revolution of the starry heavens in a per- pendicular position. C is the north pole of the earth 3 D, its south poleg the line C D, the axis of the earth in perpendicular position, and coincident with the correspond- ing portion of the axis of the starry heavens. The space 1111 is the abode of the supreme god or gods, 2, Eu- rope, 3, Asia, 4, Libya, or the known portion of Africa g 5 5 5, the. ocean, or f' ocean stream 5 6 6 6, the abode of disembodied spirits and rulers of the dead, 7 7 7 7, the lowest hell.1 N ow, to make this key a graphic illustration of Homeric cosmology, it is only necessary to write in place of 1 1 1 1 ff LoF1'Y OLYMPOS 5 in place of 5 5 5, ff THE OCEAN STREAM 3 in place of 6 6 6, ff HOUSE or Ainms QHadesDg and in place of 7 7 7 7, f' GLOOMY TAR'rAnos. Imagine, then, the light as fallingefrom the upper heavens-the lower terrestrial hemisphere, therefore, as forever in the shadeg imagine the Tartarean abyss as filled with Stygian gloom and blackness-fit dungeon-house for dethroned gods and powers of evil, imagine the ff men-illuminating sun, the ff well-tressed moon, the ff splendid stars, silent- ly wheeling round the central upright axis of the lighted hemispheres, -and suddenly the confusions and supposed contradictions of classic cosmology disappear. We are in 1 The True Key to Ancient Cosmology and Mythical Geography. By Wil- liam F. Warren. The Independent, New York, Aug. 25, 1881, p. 3.