Hokuto no Atlas
By: Charz
Tags: Afghanistan, Alessandro Cardinal Farnese, Atlas, Hadda, Herakles, Hokuto no Atlas, Hokuto no Ken, Italy, Kenshiro, Mythology, Raseiden, Titanomachy, Zeus
Category: Codex, Hokuto no Ken
Kenshiro at Raseiden – Hokuto no Ken 2 ~ep34
In Greek mythology, Atlas ( Ἄτλας) was the primordial Titan who supported the heavens. Atlas was the son of the Titan Iapetus and the Oceanid Clymene.
Atlas, along with his brother Menoetius, sided with the Titans in their war against the Olympians, the Titanomachy. His brothers Prometheus and Epimetheus weighed the odds and betrayed the other Titans by forming an alliance with the Olympians. When the Titans were defeated, many of them were confined to Tartarus, but Zeus condemned Atlas to stand at the western edge of Gaia, the Earth and hold up Ouranos, the Sky on his shoulders, to prevent the two from resuming their primordial embrace.
The Farnese Atlas
The Farnese Atlas is a 2nd-century Roman marble copy of a Hellenistic sculpture of Atlas kneeling with a globe weighing heavily on his shoulders. It is the oldest extant statue of the Titan of Greek mythology, who is represented in earlier vase-painting, and more importantly the oldest known representation of the celestial sphere. The sculpture is at the National Archaeological Museumin Naples, Italy.
Greco-Buddhist Atlas, Hadda, Afghanistan
Deities from the Greek mythological pantheon tend to be incorporated in Buddhist representations, displaying a strong syncretism. In particular, Herakles (of the type of the Demetrius coins, with club resting on the arm) has been used abundantly as the representation of Vajrapani, the protector of the Buddha. Other Greek deities abundantly used in Greco-Buddhist art are representation of Atlas, and the Greek wind god. Atlas in particular tends to be involved as a sustaining elements in Buddhist architectural elements. The Greek wind god Boreas became the Japanese wind god Fujin through the Greco-Buddhist Wardo. The mother deity Hariti was inspired by Tyche.
In Hadda, Afghanistan, Hellenistic deities, such as Atlas are found. Wind gods are depicted, which will affect the representation of wind deities as far as Japan. Dyonisiac scenes represent people in Classical style drinking wine from amphoras and playing instruments.
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