ANTONYM
COMPARE
MOVING AXIS
BUILDING BLOCK
QUOTES
In Hesiod the Cyclopes were storm genii, as their names indicate: Brontes, thunder; Steropes, lightning; Arges, thunderbolt. As for the Hecatoncheires or Centimanes-the ‘hundred-handed’-their names are sufficient to characterise them. They, too, were three in number: Cottus, the Furious; Briareus, the Vigorous; Gyges, the Big-limbed. Titans, Cyclopes and Hecatoncheires symbolised the tumultuous forces of nature.
(Guirand et al., 1987, p.89-90)
The concept of the cyclopes as one-eyed giants, always coming in three, uncivilized and wild, builders of wall’s and of the thunderbolt of Zeus, orientated in the Semantic Colour Space.
I. Michiels, red.
The heroic aspect of clannumen among the Baltic slaves got its plastic representation in the colossal dimensions of certain statues. Vyncke (1969) cites some gods identified as war god or warrior god, such as Gerovit, Pripegala, Sventovit, Tjarnaglofi and Rugevit. The latter is said to have stood 3 metres tall. But Sventovit took the crown with more than 7 metres in height.
A connection between the heroic quality of the god and the giant size in his representation is established here. Hero and giant are classified in the Semantic Colour Space under the same code white-on-blue or Yellow-6 (bright yellow). Keywords attached to this meaning within the same code include: angel, crown, excellence, holy, knight, star, supernatural, white horse. Because of his great size, the deity is granted supernatural powers that enable him to defeat the enemy.
Looking at the dimensional meaning of big, colossal can refer to powers and forces in the height dimension of semantic space. That which is higher than humans is perceived as dominating. It is then a compelling force operating from above (psychologically on top).
I. Michiels, red.