98-525: Mother Nature (sometimes known as Mother Earth or the Earth Mother ) is a personification of nature that focuses on the life-giving and nurturing aspects of nature by embodying it, in the form of a mother or mother goddess . The Mycenaean Greek : Ma-ka (transliterated as ma-ga ), "Mother Gaia ", written in Linear B syllabic script (13th or 12th century BC), is the earliest known instance of
196-757: A cave in Cuzco, the siblings emerged from the waters of Lake Titicaca . Since this was a later origin myth than that of Pacaritambo it may have been created as a ploy to bring the powerful Aymara tribes into the fold of the Tawantinsuyo. In the Inca Virachocha legend, Manco Cápac was the son of Inca Viracocha of Paqariq Tampu which is 25 km (16 mi) south of Cuzco. He and his brothers (Ayar Auca, Ayar Cachi , and Ayar Uchu); and sisters ( Mama Ocllo , Mama Huaco, Mama Raua , and Mama Cura ) lived near Cusco at Paqariq Tampu, and uniting their people and
294-529: A classical model as Botticelli does, personifications in art tend to be relatively static, and found together in sets, whether of statues decorating buildings or paintings, prints or media such as porcelain figures. Sometimes one or more virtues take on and invariably conquer vices. Other paintings by Botticelli are exceptions to such simple compositions, in particular his Primavera and The Birth of Venus , in both of which several figures form complex allegories. An unusually powerful single personification figure
392-483: A detailed description of a lost painting by Apelles (4th century BC) called the Calumny of Apelles , which some Renaissance painters followed, most famously Botticelli . This included eight personifications of virtues and vices: Hope, Repentance, Perfidy, Calumny, Fraud, Rancour, Ignorance, Suspicion, as well as two other figures. Platonism , which in some manifestations proposed systems involving numbers of spirits,
490-616: A dialogue between the author and "Lady Philosophy". Fortuna and the Wheel of Fortune were prominent and memorable in this, which helped to make the latter a favourite medieval trope. Both authors were Christians, and the origins in the pagan classical religions of the standard range of personifications had been left well behind. A medieval creation was the Four Daughters of God , a shortened group of virtues consisting of: Truth, Righteousness or Justice, Mercy, and Peace. There were also
588-606: A female personification is treated at some length, and makes speeches. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the Book of Revelation can be regarded as personification figures, although the text does not specify what all personify. According to James J. Paxson in his book on the subject " all personification figures prior to the sixth century A.D. were ... female"; but major rivers have male personifications much earlier, and are more often male, which often extends to "Water" in
686-553: A llama constructed out of pure gold, an extremely valuable material for the Inca because of its religious significance as it was considered the sweat of the sun, the most worshipped deity for the Inca, Inti . The Inca had religious reverence for the cougar , commonly known as a puma in South America. The Incas believed the puma to represent power and strength, as well as patience and wisdom. The original Inca Capital Cusco took
784-459: A major role in the religious lives of the Inca, being a valuable sacrifice to the Gods and used in important religious ceremonies as offerings. Urcuchillay was a god worshipped by the Inca, in particular llama herders, Urcuchillay was believed to protect and watch over the llamas of the land. Llama artwork created by the Inca shows further reverence towards llamas, an example of this is a depiction of
882-464: A male personification for the governing assembly of free citizens, and Boule , a female one for the ruling council. These appear in art but are often hard to identify if not labelled. Personification in the Bible is mostly limited to passing phrases which can probably be regarded as literary flourishes, with the important and much-discussed exception of Wisdom in the Book of Proverbs , 1–9, where
980-497: A mix of animals and their interactions with the gods, humans, and or natural surroundings. Animals were also important in Inca astronomy, with the Milky Way symbolized as a river, with the stars within it being symbolized as animals that the Inca were familiar with in and around this river. Llamas were important to the economy of the vast Inca Empire, they could be used for wool, transportation of goods, and food. They also played
1078-551: A much more religious basis for their consumption of dog meat as in Inca mythology Paria Caca, their god, was pictured as feeding solely on dog after he defeated another god, Huallallo Carhuincho, in a skirmish. In some parts of South America the Huanca are referred to as "the dog-eating Huanca". This behaviour of eating dog was looked down upon in other parts of the empire. There also exists a city named Alqollacta, or "Dog town", which contains statues of dogs and are thought to represent
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#17327796904251176-452: A nontheistic understanding of the world that eschewed superstition. The pre- Socratic philosophers abstracted the entirety of phenomena of the world as singular: physis , and this was inherited by Aristotle . The word "nature" comes from the Latin word, " natura ", meaning birth or character [see nature (philosophy) ]. In English , its first recorded use (in the sense of the entirety of
1274-477: A nuestra madre naturaleza fueron primordiales para vivir en plena armonía como seres humanos. ("In our [Mexican] prehispanic culture, respect and faith in our Mother Nature [emphasis added] were paramount to living in full harmony as human beings.") In the Mainland Southeast Asian countries of Cambodia , Laos and Thailand , earth ( terra firma ) is personified as Phra Mae Thorani , but
1372-540: A part of the Inca Empire gained their independence from Spain, many of these nations struggled to find a suitable origin myth to support the legitimacy of their state. In the early twentieth century, there was a resurgence of interest about the indigenous heritage of these new nations. While these references to Inca mythology can be more overt, such as the presence of Inti on the Argentine flag , other references to
1470-597: A strong element of liberty, perhaps culminating in the Statue of Liberty . The long poem Liberty by the Scottish James Thomson (1734), is a lengthy monologue spoken by the " Goddess of Liberty ", describing her travels through the ancient world, and then English and British history, before the resolution of the Glorious Revolution of 1688 confirms her position there. Thomson also wrote
1568-528: A white dove. This tale could be interpreted as a Native American's plight story against the Hispanic society in which they find them in, which becomes more believable as this folklore become more prominent after the Spanish Conquest . In addition to this story, half bear half human beings called Ukuku are thought to be the only being that are able to bring ice from the top of mountains as they have
1666-719: Is believed that her role in Buddhist mythology differs considerably from that of Mother Nature. In the Malay Archipelago , that role has been filled by Dewi Sri , The Rice-mother in the East Indies . Personification Personification is the representation of a thing or abstraction as a person. It is, in other words, considered an embodiment or an incarnation. In the arts , many things are commonly personified. These include numerous types of places, especially cities, countries , and continents , elements of
1764-473: Is depicted in Melencolia I (1514) an engraving by Albrecht Dürer . Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time ( c. 1545 ) by Agnolo Bronzino has five personifications, apart from Venus and Cupid. In all these cases, the meaning of the work remains uncertain, despite intensive academic discussion, and even the identity of the figures continues to be argued over. Around 300 BC, Demetrius of Phalerum
1862-406: Is known as “the awakening of the puma” The puma is also associated with wealth and prosperity. The Huarochiri Manuscript mentions how it was a practice of the Inca to wear puma skins to display their wealth. For the Inca, the condor was believed to connect the earthly world of man, Kay Pacha , with the upper world and the gods, Hanan Pacha . Believed to be the messengers of heaven to men, and
1960-408: Is something of a mixture of styles, sometimes formal and classical, at others a woman of the streets of Paris personified. The Dutch Maiden is one of the earliest of these figures, and was mainly visual from the start, her efforts to repulse unwelcome Spanish advances shown in 16th-century popular prints . Inca mythology Inca mythology is the universe of legends and collective memory of
2058-732: Is the first writer on rhetoric to describe prosopopoeia, which was already a well-established device in rhetoric and literature, from Homer onwards. Quintilian 's lengthy Institutio Oratoria gives a comprehensive account, and a taxonomy of common personifications; no more comprehensive account was written until after the Renaissance. The main Renaissance humanists to deal with the subject at length were Erasmus in his De copia and Petrus Mosellanus in Tabulae de schematibus et tropis , who were copied by other writers throughout
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#17327796904252156-491: The Four Elements . The predominance of females is at least partly because Latin grammar gives nouns for abstractions the female gender. Pairs of winged victories decorated the spandrels of Roman triumphal arches and similar spaces, and ancient Roman coinage was an especially rich source of images, many carrying their name, which was helpful for medieval and Renaissance antiquarians. Sets of tyches representing
2254-494: The Inca civilization , which took place in the current territories of Colombia , Ecuador , Peru , Bolivia , Chile , and Argentina , incorporating in the first instance, systematically, the territories of the central highlands of Peru to the north. Inca mythology was successful due to political, commercial, and military influence, before the conquest of the territories to the south and north of Cuzco , which later gave rise to
2352-533: The Palazzo Pubblico of Siena . In the Allegory of Bad Government Tyranny is enthroned, with Avarice, Pride, and Vainglory above him. Beside him on the magistrate's bench sit Cruelty, Deceit, Fraud, Fury, Division, and War, while Justice lies tightly bound below. The so-called Mantegna Tarocchi ( c. 1465 –75) are sets of fifty educational cards depicting personifications of social classes,
2450-521: The Sapa Inka would enter the Coricancha. In the temple concave mirrors would focus the sun's rays to light a fire for the sacrifice of llamas and in certain circumstances, children to please and pay tribute to the gods. The Coricancha also functioned as an observatory for the Inca, as it aligned with the sun on important days of the year such as solstices and equinoxes , alining the heavens and
2548-625: The Spanish . In fact, Inca mythology was utilized in order to resist and challenge the authority of the Spanish colonial authorities. Many Inca myths were utilized to criticize the wanton greed of European imperialism . There was widespread killing and rape of women and children in Peru by the European soldiers. For example, there are myths among the indigenous people of the former Inca empire that tell
2646-455: The afterlife in the ear of, or on the nose of, a black dog. Additionally, some sources report that women who sleep alone at night were capable of being impregnated by ghosts which would yield a baby with dog feet. Despite there only being one bear species in South America (the spectacled bear , Tremarctus ornatus ), the story of The Bear's Wife and Children is a prominent story among the Inca. The Andean people believed that bears represented
2744-457: The seven virtues , made up of the four classical cardinal virtues of prudence , justice , temperance and courage (or fortitude), these going back to Plato 's Republic , with the three theological virtues of faith , hope and charity . The seven deadly sins were their counterparts. The major works of Middle English literature had many personification characters, and often formed what are called "personification allegories" where
2842-421: The "entire human race [would] have perished of cruel, biting hunger if Zeus had not been concerned" (Larousse 152). According to myth, Zeus forced Hades to return Persephone to her mother, but while in the underworld, Persephone had eaten pomegranate seeds, the food of the dead and thus, she must then spend part of each year with Hades in the underworld. The myth continues that Demeter's grief for her daughter in
2940-430: The 16th century. From the late 16th century theoretical writers such as Karel van Mander in his Schilder-boeck (1604) began to treat personification in terms of the visual arts . At the same time the emblem book , describing and illustrating emblematic images that were largely personifications, became enormously popular, both with intellectuals and artists and craftsmen looking for motifs. The most famous of these
3038-426: The 1870s, but now has some actual Hindu temples . Personification is found very widely in classical literature, art and drama, as well as the treatment of personifications as relatively minor deities, or the rather variable category of daemons . In classical Athens, every geographical division of the state for local government purposes had a personified deity which received some cultic attention, as well as Demos ,
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3136-432: The 18th century, and such "complaints only grow louder in the nineteenth century". According to Andrew Escobedo, there is now "an unstated scholarly consensus" that "personification is a kind of frozen or hollow version of literal characters", which "depletes the fiction". Personifications, often in sets, frequently appear in medieval art , often illustrating or following literary works. The virtues and vices were probably
3234-560: The Andean world. In creating this myth, the Incas reinforced their authority over the empire. Firstly, by associating the Hualla with plants from the jungle, the Inca's origin myth would have likely caused the listener to think that the Hualla were primitive compared to the superior Inca. Thus, the Inca's defeat of the Hualla and their supposed development of maize based agriculture , supported
3332-596: The Andes. Manco Cápac was the legendary founder of the Inca Dynasty in Peru and the Cusco Dynasty at Cusco . The legends and history surrounding him are very contradictory, especially those concerning his rule at Cuzco and his origins. In one legend, he was the son of Viracocha . In another, he was brought up from the depths of Lake Titicaca by the sun god Inti . However, commoners were not allowed to speak
3430-637: The Christian angel. Generally, personifications lack much in the way of narrative myths , although classical myth at least gave many of them parents among the major Olympian deities . The iconography of several personifications "maintained a remarkable degree of continuity from late antiquity until the 18th century". Female personifications tend to outnumber male ones, at least until modern national personifications , many of which are male. Personifications are very common elements in allegory , and historians and theorists of personification complain that
3528-549: The French Roman de la Rose (13th century). The English mystery plays and the later morality plays have many personifications as characters, alongside their biblical figures. Frau Minne , the spirit of courtly love in German medieval literature, had equivalents in other vernaculars. In Italian literature Petrach 's Triomphi , finished in 1374, is based around a procession of personifications carried on "cars", as
3626-424: The Inca Empire may have ceased to exist hundreds of years ago, its vibrant mythology continues to influence life throughout Peru today. Like other Native American cultures, the Inca society was heavily influenced by the local animal populations, both as food, textile, and transportational sources as well as religious and cultural cornerstones. Many myths and legends of the Inca include or are solely about an animal or
3724-524: The Inca Empire was known as Coricancha ("The Golden Temple" in Quechua ) which was located in the heart of Inca Cusco and according to Inca legend was built by Manco Cápac as a place of worship for the principle deity of the Inca, the sun god Inti . During the reign of Pachakutiq Inca this temple was the home of the riches of the Inca Empire, housing gold, important religious artifacts, and gilded effigies of important Inca deities. The Coricancha being in
3822-592: The Inca Empire were tied to important myths and legends amongst the Inca. For example, Lake Titicaca , an important body of water on the Altiplano , was incorporated into Inca myths, as the lake of origins from which the world began. Similarly, many of prominent Andean peaks played special roles within the mythology of the Incas. This is reflected in myths about the Paxil mountain, from which people were alleged to have been created from corn kernels that were scattered by
3920-787: The Inca mythology can be subtler. For example, in the late twentieth century the Peruvian Revolutionary government made reference to Inca myths about Pachamama , an Inca Mother Earth figure, in order to justify their land distribution programs. Additionally, modern governments continue to make reference to the former Inca Empire in order to support their claims of legitimacy, to the point that there are municipally funded observances of rituals referencing Inca mythology, especially in and around Cusco. The power of Inca mythology resonates in contemporary politics, with politicians like Alejandro Toledo making references to Inca mythology and imagery during their candidacies and tenures. While
4018-411: The Inca to support their elite position was no small feat, given that less than fifty thousand Inca were able to rule over millions of non-Inca peoples. Mythology was an important way by which the Inca were able to justify both the legitimacy of the Inca state, as well as their privileged position with the state. The strategic deployment of Inca mythology did not end after the Inca empire was colonized by
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4116-501: The Inca to their patron deity , Inti . Today, the people of the Andes still hold the condor as sacred. In some towns, the Andean ritual of the "Yawar Fiesta", or Blood Festival, is still being celebrated, in this festival condors fight bulls, with the condor representing the Inca, while the bull represents the Spaniards. The Inca bred dogs for hunting and scavenging but rarely for religious purposes. The Huanca people , however, had
4214-499: The Inca, Inti . As such, the myth of original Inca's planting of the corn crop was utilized to associate the ruling Inca elite with the gods, as well as portraying them as being the bringers of the harvest. In this way, the origin myths of the Inca were used to justify the elite position of the Inca within their vast, multiethnic empire . Within the Inca Empire, the Inca held a special status of "Inca by Blood", that granted them significant privileges over non-Inca peoples. The ability of
4312-526: The Isla Del Sol. According to this legend, Manco Cápac and his siblings were sent up to the earth by the sun god and emerged from the cave of Puma Orco at Paqariq Tampu carrying a golden staff called "tapac-yauri". They were instructed to create a Temple of the Sun in the spot where the staff sank into the earth to honor the sun god Inti, their father. During the journey, one of Manco's brothers ( Ayar Cachi )
4410-462: The Runa, as they relied on cyclical agricultural seasons, which were not only connected to annual cycles, but to a much wider cycle of time (every 800 years at a time). This way of keeping time was deployed in order to ensure the cultural transmission of key information, in spite of regime change or social catastrophes. After the Spanish conquest of Peru by Francisco Pizarro , colonial officials burned
4508-415: The action going, and when the medieval versifier went out on one fine spring morning and lay down on a grassy bank, one of these ladies rarely failed to appear to him in his sleep and to explain her own nature to him in any number of lines". Personification as an artistic device is easier to discuss when belief in the personification as an actual spiritual being has died down; this seems to have happened in
4606-456: The ancient Graeco-Roman world, probably even before Christianisation . In other cultures, especially Hinduism and Buddhism , many personification figures still retain their religious significance, which is why they are not covered here. For example, Bharat Mata was devised as a Hindu goddess figure to act as a national personification by intellectuals in the Indian independence movement from
4704-502: The artistic practice of it has greatly declined. Among a number of key works, The Allegory of Love: A Study in Medieval Tradition ( 1936 ), by C. S. Lewis was an exploration of courtly love in medieval and Renaissance literature. The classical repertoire of virtues, seasons, cities and so forth supplied the majority of subjects until the 19th century, but some new personifications became required. The 16th century saw
4802-497: The concept of earth as a mother. Demeter would take the place of her grandmother, Gaia , and her mother, Rhea , as goddess of the earth in a time when humans and gods thought the activities of the heavens more sacred than those of earth. In Greek mythology , Persephone , daughter of Demeter (goddess of the harvest), was abducted by Hades (god of the dead), and taken to the underworld as his queen. The myth goes on to describe Demeter as so distraught that no crops would grow and
4900-460: The cosmos, especially in regard to the way that the Runa observed the motions of the Milky Way and the solar system as seen from Cusco , the capital of Tawantinsuyu whose name means "rock of the owl". From this perspective, their stories depict the movements of constellations, planets, and planetary formations, which are all connected to their agricultural cycles. This was especially important for
4998-570: The cultures they integrated into their empire to keep their individual religions. Below are some of the various gods worshiped by the peoples of the Inca empire, many of which have overlapping responsibilities and domains. Unless otherwise noted, it can safely be assumed these were worshipped by different ayllus or worshipped in particular former states. Inca cosmology was ordered in three spatio-temporal levels or Pachas . These included: The environment and geography were integral part of Inca mythology as well. Many prominent natural features within
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#17327796904255096-610: The dark nebulae rather than the animal. Prior to the founding of the Inca Empire, there were several other cultures in various areas of Peru with their own beliefs, including cultures of the Chavín , Paracas , Moche , and Nazca . Additional pre-Inca beliefs can be found in the Huarochirí Manuscript , a 17th-century text that records the myths, culture, and beliefs of people in the Huarochirí Province of
5194-403: The deity Cuniraya Viracocha was angered by a fox and stated that "As for you, even when you skulk around keeping your distance, people will thoroughly despise you and say ‘That fox is a thief!’. When they kill you they'll carelessly throw you away and your skin too". In other narratives, the fox is said to have tried to steal the moon but the moon hugged the fox close which resulted in the spots on
5292-409: The earth, an important theme in the beliefs and religion of the Inca. Coricancha's use as an observatory was also useful for understanding when in the year the Inca were, and what food would be available throughout the year. Mythology served many purposes within the Inca Empire. Mythology could often be used to explain natural phenomena or to give the many denizens of the empire a way of thinking about
5390-525: The fifth and seventeenth centuries". Late antique philosophical books that made heavy use of personification and were especially influential in the Middle Ages included the Psychomachia of Prudentius (early 5th century), with an elaborate plot centered around battles between the virtues and vices, and The Consolation of Philosophy ( c. 524 ) by Boethius , which takes the form of
5488-515: The gods. Terrestrial environments were not the only type of environment that was important to mythology. The Incas often incorporated the stars into legends and myths. For example, many constellations were given names and were incorporated into stories, such as the star formations of the Great Llama and the Fox. While perhaps not relating to a single physical feature per se, environmental sound
5586-462: The heart of Cusco, which is in the heart of the Inca Empire, is the point of convergence of the 41 pathways leading out of Cusco into the rest of the empire with a system called ceque, which served a political, religious, and administrative role in the Inca Empire. The Coricancha was the site of important religious ceremonies, such as during the Inti Raymi in which after a procession through Cusco,
5684-619: The intelligence of men but the strength of bears. Ukuku clowns can be seen in the Corpus Christi celebrations of Cuzco where they undergo pilgrimage to a nearby glacier and spend the night on the ice as an initiation of manhood. The fox did not generally have a good reputation among the Inca or people of the Andes and was seen as an omen. Sacrifices to the gods included a variety of goods and animals, including humans, but were never seen to ever include foxes. Inca mythology contains references to gods being deceived by foxes. In one encounter,
5782-658: The lyrics for Rule Britannia , and the two personifications were often combined as a personified "British Liberty", to whom a large monument was erected in the 1750s on his estate at Gibside by a Whig magnate . But, sometimes alongside these formal figures, a new type of national personification has arisen, typified by John Bull (1712) and Uncle Sam ( c. 1812 ). Both began as figures in more or less satirical literature but achieved their prominence when taken into political cartoons and other visual media. The post-revolutionary Marianne in France, official since 1792,
5880-401: The major cities of the empire were used in the decorative arts . Most imaginable virtues and virtually every Roman province was personified on coins at some point, the provinces often initially seated dejected as "CAPTA" ("taken") after its conquest, and later standing, creating images such as Britannia that were often revived in the Renaissance or later. Lucian (2nd century AD) records
5978-486: The moon. Finally, the fox still plays a role in current Andean society where the howling of a fox in the month of August is perceived as a sign of good luck. The Inca had indigenous names for constellations as well as interstellar clouds ( dark nebulae ) visible from the Southern hemisphere. The fox (Atoq in quechua) is the name for one dark nebulae in the milky way, and Andean narratives, including Inca ones, may refer to
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#17327796904256076-540: The most common, and the virtues appear in many large sculptural programmes, for example the exteriors of Chartres Cathedral and Amiens Cathedral . In painting, both virtues and vices are personified along the lowest zone of the walls of the Scrovegni Chapel by Giotto ( c. 1305 ), and are the main figures in Ambrogio Lorenzetti 's Allegory of Good and Bad Government (1338–39) in
6174-479: The name of Viracocha, which is possibly an explanation for the need for three foundation legends rather than just one. There were also many myths about Manco Cápac and his coming to power. In one myth, Manco Cápac and his brother Pacha Kamaq were sons of the sun god Inti . Manco Cápac was worshiped as the fire and sun god. In another myth, Manco Cápac was sent with Mama Ocllo (others even mention numerous siblings) to Lake Titicaca where they resurfaced and settled on
6272-794: The nascent empire. The identity of the Quechua peoples in Peru and Bolivia ; and the Quichuas (Kichwa) in Ecuador ; they share this spatial and religious perception that unites them through their most significant deity: the god Inti . Inca mythology was nourished by a series of legends and myths of their own, which sustained the pantheist religion of the Inca Empire , centralized in Cusco . The Inca people worshiped their gods , as in other religions. Some names of gods were repeated or were called in
6370-411: The natural world such as the trees or four seasons , four elements , four cardinal winds , five senses , and abstractions such as virtues, especially the four cardinal virtues and seven deadly sins , the nine Muses , or death . In many polytheistic early religions, deities had a strong element of personification, suggested by descriptions such as "god of". In ancient Greek religion , and
6468-627: The new personification of the Americas and made the four continents an appealing new set, four figures being better suited to many contexts than three. The 18th-century discovery of Australia was not so quickly followed by an addition to the set, if only for reasons of geometry; Australia is not included in the continents at the corners of the Albert Memorial (1860s). This does have a set of three-figure groups representing agriculture , commerce , engineering and manufacturing , typical of
6566-414: The notion that the Inca were the rightful stewards of the land, as they were able to make the land productive and tame. These myths were reinforced in the many festivals and rites that were celebrated throughout the Inca Empire. For example, there were corn festivals that were celebrated annually during the harvest. During these festivals the Inca elite were celebrated alongside the corn and the main deity of
6664-515: The pageants of Lyons , a major printing center, along with "Typosine", a new muse of printing. A large gilt-bronze statue by Evelyn Beatrice Longman , something of a specialist in "allegorical" statues, was commissioned by AT&T for the top of their New York headquarters. Since 1916 it has been titled at different times as the Genius of Telegraphy , Genius of Electricity , and since the 1930s Spirit of Communication . Shakespeare's spirit Ariel
6762-514: The peoples of the Amazon and who were perceived to be inferior and wild. The Inca engaged in battle with the Hualla, fighting quite viciously, and eventually the Inca emerged victorious. The myth alleges these first Inca people would plant corn, a mainstay of the Inca diet , on the location where they viciously defeated the Hualla. Thus, the myth continues, the Inca came to rule over the entire Cusco Valley, before eventually going on to conquer much of
6860-595: The phenomena of the world) was in 1266. "Natura" and the personification of Mother Nature were widely popular in the Middle Ages . As a concept, seated between the properly divine and the human, it can be traced to Ancient Greece , though Earth (or " Eorthe " in the Old English period) may have been personified as a goddess. The Norse also had a goddess called Jörð ( Jord , or Erth ). Medieval Christian thinkers did not see nature as inclusive of everything, but thought that it had been created by God ; earth lay below
6958-563: The planets and heavenly bodies, and also social classes. A new pair, once common on the portals of large churches, are Ecclesia and Synagoga . Death envisaged as a skeleton, often with a scythe and hour-glass , is a late medieval innovation, that became very common after the Black Death . However, it is rarely seen in funerary art "before the Counter-Reformation ". When not illustrating literary texts, or following
7056-466: The porches of cathedrals, crowds around our public monuments, marks our coins and our banknotes, and turns up in our cartoons and our posters; these females variously attired, of course, came to life on the medieval stage, they greeted the Prince on his entry into a city, they were invoked in innumerable speeches, they quarreled or embraced in endless epics where they struggled for the soul of the hero or set
7154-441: The realm of the dead, was reflected in the barren winter months and her joy when Persephone returned was reflected in the bountiful summer months Roman Epicurean poet Lucretius opened his didactic poem De rerum natura by addressing Venus as a veritable mother of nature. Lucretius used Venus as "a personified symbol for the generative aspect of nature". This largely had to do with the nature of Lucretius' work, which presents
7252-416: The records kept by the Runa. There is currently a theory put forward by Gary Urton that the quipus could have been a binary system capable of recording phonological or logographic data . Still, to date, all that is known is based on what was recorded by priests, from the iconography on Inca pottery and architecture, and from the myths and legends that have survived among the indigenous peoples of
7350-409: The related ancient Roman religion , this was perhaps especially strong, in particular among the minor deities. Many such deities, such as the tyches or tutelary deities for major cities, survived the arrival of Christianity , now as symbolic personifications stripped of religious significance. An exception was the winged goddess of victory, Victoria / Nike , who developed into the visualisation of
7448-530: The requirements for large public schemes of the period. A rather late example is the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House in New York City (1901–07), which has large groups for the four continents by the entrance, and 12 figures personifying seafaring nations from history high on the facade. The invention of movable type printing saw Dame Imprimerie ("Lady Printing Press") introduced to
7546-645: The same way in different provinces of the Inca people. Later, all these gods were unified and formed what is called the true Inca pantheon . What was applied by the Inca cosmogony in the field of beliefs should be considered as one of the most important instruments used in the process of the formation of the empire along with the economic, social, and administrative transformations. In a general way, Inca mythology or religion includes many stories and legends that attempt to explain or symbolize Inca beliefs . Scholarly research demonstrates that Runa ( Quechua speakers) belief systems were integrated with their view of
7644-405: The sexual habits of men and women and the girls were warned of "bear-rape". This story details a bear who disguises himself as a man who subdues a girl and takes her to his cave where he feeds her and takes care of her. Soon after, she bares two half bear half human children. With the help of the children the three are able to escape the cave and return to human society. The bear children are given to
7742-506: The shape of a puma, with the massive citadel of Sacsayhuaman representing the head of the puma. The site of Qenko north of Cusco contains monoliths and astronomically aligned structures, which on certain days create light and shadow effects. At the June solstice sunrise, light passes through a carefully designed fissure aligned to illuminate first one of the gnomons and then the other, with both casting shadows that create an image. The result
7840-535: The souls of dogs that have died. The people would often save up bones and leave them at the statues so that it would give them a better standing in the afterlife. Dogs were sometimes believed to be able of moving between life and death and also see the soul of the dead. In addition, the Inca believed that unhappy dead souls could visit people in the form of black dogs. The Aymara people of Bolivia were reported to believe that dogs were associated with death and incest. They believed that those who die must cross an ocean to
7938-519: The stories of foreigners who come into the Andes and destroy valuable objects. One such myth is the tale of Atoqhuarco amongst the Quechua , which describes how an indigenous woman is destroyed in an act of rebellion against a lascivious foreigner who in turn is eventually transformed into a predatory fox. Powerful colonial institutions are also critiqued in some of these myths, with the Catholic Church being frequently lambasted. For example,
8036-472: The story of the Priest and Sexton highlights the hypocrisy and abusive nature of a Catholic Priest and his callous treatment of his indigenous parishioners. As such, these myths show that Inca mythology was strategically deployed to subvert and rebel against Spanish rule in the former Inca Empire. Inca mythology continues to be a powerful force in contemporary Andean communities. After the nations that were once
8134-680: The sun, and Ilazki , the moon. Her name meant "mother earth" or "mother land"; the 1968 Basque documentary Ama lur was a celebration of the Basque countryside. Algonquian legend says that "beneath the clouds lives the Earth-Mother from whom is derived the Water of Life, who at her bosom feeds plants, animals and human" (Larousse 428). She is otherwise known as Nokomis , the Grandmother . In Inca mythology , Mama Pacha or Pachamama
8232-512: The ten ayllu they encountered in their travels to conquer the tribes of the Cusco Valley. This legend also incorporates the golden staff, which is thought to have been given to Manco Cápac by his father. Accounts vary, but according to some versions of the legend, the young Manco jealously betrayed his older brothers, killed them, and then became Cusco. Like the Romans , the Incas permitted
8330-431: The town's priest who attempts to kill the cubs several times (by throwing them off buildings, sending them into the wild, sending them to fight officers) but is only capable of getting the younger bear-child killed. The older bear beats the trials and is sent to fight a damned soul, which he defeats and saves from damnation. The soul gives the bear his estate and wealth and the now fully grown bear man leaves human society as
8428-594: The two have been too often confused, or discussion of them dominated by allegory. Single images of personifications tend to be titled as an "allegory", arguably incorrectly. By the late 20th century personification seemed largely out of fashion, but the semi-personificatory superhero figures of many comic book series came in the 21st century to dominate popular cinema in a number of superhero film franchises. According to Ernst Gombrich , "we tend to take it for granted rather than to ask questions about this extraordinary predominantly feminine population which greets us from
8526-402: The unchanging heavens and moon . Nature lay somewhere in the center, with agents above her ( angels ), and below her ( demons and hell ). Therefore mother nature became only a personification, not a goddess. Amalur (sometimes Ama Lur or Ama Lurra ) was believed to be the goddess of the earth in the religion of the ancient Basque people . She was described as the mother of Ekhi ,
8624-470: The whole work is an allegory, largely driven by personifications. These include Piers Plowman by William Langland ( c. 1370 –90), where most of the characters are clear personifications named as their qualities, and several works by Geoffrey Chaucer , such as The House of Fame (1379–80). However, Chaucer tends to take his personifications in the direction of being more complex characters and give them different names, as when he adapts part of
8722-472: The world. For example, there is a well-known origin myth that describes how the Inca Empire began at its center in Cusco . In this origin myth, four men and women emerged from a cave near Cusco, and began to settle within the Valley of Cusco, much to the chagrin of the Hualla people who had already been inhabiting the land. The Hualla subsided by growing coca and chili peppers , which the Incas associated with
8820-521: Was naturally conducive to personification and allegory , and is an influence on the uses of it from classical times through various revivals up to the Baroque period. According to Andrew Escobedo, "literary personification marshalls inanimate things, such as passions, abstract ideas, and rivers, and makes them perform actions in the landscape of the narrative." He dates "the rise and fall of its [personification's] literary popularity" to "roughly, between
8918-748: Was a fertility goddess who presided over planting and harvesting. Pachamama is usually translated as "Mother Earth" but a more literal translation would be "Mother Universe" (in Aymara and Quechua mama = mother / pacha = world, space-time or the universe). It was believed that Pachamama and her husband, Inti , were the most benevolent deities and were worshiped in parts of the Andean mountain ranges (stretching from present day Ecuador to Chile and Argentina ). In her book Coateteleco, pueblo indígena de pescadores ("Coatetelco, indigenous fishing town", Cuernavaca, Morelos: Vettoretti, 2015), Teódula Alemán Cleto states, En nuestra cultura prehispánica el respeto y la fe
9016-589: Was adopted by the sculptor Eric Gill as a personification of broadcasting, and features in his sculptures on Broadcasting House in London (opened 1932). A number of national personifications stick to the old formulas, with a female in classical dress, carrying attributes suggesting power, wealth, or other virtues. Libertas , the Roman goddess of liberty , had been important under the Roman Republic , and
9114-524: Was becoming fashionable in courtly festivities; it was illustrated by many different artists. Dante has several personification characters, but prefers using real persons to represent most sins and virtues. In Elizabethan literature many of the characters in Edmund Spenser 's enormous epic The Faerie Queene , though given different names, are effectively personifications, especially of virtues. The Pilgrim's Progress (1678) by John Bunyan
9212-400: Was extremely important in Inca mythology. For example, in the creation myth of Viracocha the sound of the god's voice is particularly important. Additionally, myths were transmitted orally, so the acoustics and sound of a location were important for Inca mythology. These examples demonstrate the power that environment held in creating and experiencing Inca myths. The most important temple in
9310-564: Was somewhat uncomfortably co-opted by the empire; it was not seen as an innate right, but as granted to some under Roman law. She had appeared on the coins of the assassins of Julius Caesar , defenders of the Roman republic . The medieval republics, mostly in Italy, greatly valued their liberty, and often use the word, but produce very few direct personifications. With the rise of nationalism and new states, many nationalist personifications included
9408-457: Was the Iconologia of Cesare Ripa , first published unillustrated in 1593, but from 1603 published in many different illustrated editions, using different artists. This set at least the identifying attributes carried by many personifications until the 19th century. From the 20th century into the 21st, the past use of personification has received greatly increased critical attention, just as
9506-512: Was the last great personification allegory in English literature, from a strongly Protestant position (though see Thomson's Liberty below). A work like Shelley 's The Triumph of Life , unfinished at his death in 1822, which to many earlier writers would have called for personifications to be included, avoids them, as does most Romantic literature, apart from that of William Blake . Leading critics had begun to complain about personification in
9604-575: Was tricked into returning to Puma Urqu and sealed inside or alternatively was turned to ice, because his reckless and cruel behavior angered the tribes that they were attempting to rule. ( huaca ). Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa wrote that there was a hill referred to as Tambotoco, about 33 kilometers from Cuzco, where eight men and women emerged as the original Inca's. The men were Manco Capac , Ayar Auca, Ayar Cachi , and Ayar Uchu. The women were Mama Ocllo , Mama Huaco, Mama Ipacura, and Mama Raua . In another version of this legend, instead of emerging from
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