Chryspippus on the Hierogamy of Zeus and Hera

Abstrakt

<p style="text-align: justify;">The purpose of this article is to briey discuss the philosophical premises of Chrysippus' allegorical interpretation of the hierogamy of Zeus and Hera. The present paper suggests that this infamous piece of allegoresis draws on certain basic ideas of Stoic cosmogony and embryogony. Thus, Chrysippus' allegorical interpretation of the sexual union of Zeus and Hera is shown to have a macrocosmic dimension and a microcosmic one: at the macrocosmic level the cooling down of re by air symbolizes the generation of the whole universe, whereas at the microcosmic level the cooling down of re by air symbolizes the generation of an individual soul. While in both cases the hot Zeus is cooled down by the cold Hera, Chrysippus' allegoresis is, thereby, suggested to bring out the latent sense of the Samos or Argos mural with a view to illustrating certain well-known ideas of Stoic physics.</p>