Greek Name:
Transliteration:
Latin Spelling:
Egyptian Name: |
`ArpokrateV
Harpokrates
Harpocrates
Harpa-khruti
(Horus the Child)
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HARPOKRATES was the god of silence.
He was a Greek derivative of the Egyptian god Harpa-Khruti (Horus the Child) who was portrayed as a small boy with a finger held to his lips - an Egyptian gesture, symbolising childhood, which the Greeks mistook for a hush of silence.
| PARENTS |
| IO-ISIS (Hyginus Fabulae 277) |
"Isis first invented sails, for while seeking her son Harpocrates, she sailed on a ship." - Hyginus, Fabulae 277
"She saw before her bed, or seemed to see as in a dream, great Isis with her train of holy deities. Upon her brow there stood the crescent moon-horns, garlanded with glittering heads of golden grain, and grace of royal dignity; and at her side ... [Harpokrates] the god who holds his finger to his lips for silence’s sake." - Ovid, Metamorphoses 9.688
"Upon her [Isis’] brow stood the crescent moon-horns, garlanded with glittering heads of golden grain, and grace of royal dignity; and at her side the baying dog Anubis, dappled Apis, sacred Bubastis and the god [Harpokrates] who holds his finger to his lips for silence sake." - Ovid, Metamorphoses 9.692
Sources:
- Hyginus, Fabulae - Latin Mythography C2nd AD
- Ovid, Metamorphoses - Latin Epic C1st BC - C1st AD
Other references not currently quoted here: Augustine City of God 18.5; Varro On the Latin Language 5.57; Catullus 102; Erasmus Adages 4.1.52
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