Canine Connections

[sdi]

𓃧
woof woof

I've mentioned before that the second-greatest Cynic [κυνικός, "doglike"] philosopher was Crates, who was nicknamed "the opener of doors" for his habit of barging into people's houses and lecturing them on philosophy (and somehow getting away with it).

While pondering over the Isis and Osiris myth today, I remembered that there is an Egyptian deity called Upuat, whose name translates to "the opener of ways." He is also doglike—depicted as a jackal or wolf—and, just like philosophy itself, he opens the way into Duat (the intermediate world between heaven and earth). I am curious if there's a connection or joke there, but alas, I suspect it's not possible to know.

(Fun fact, Upuat's cult center was Lycopolis [Λυκόπολις, "wolf-city"], which is where Plotinus was born. He was also an "opener of ways," wasn't he?)

Comments

[k_a_nitz]

And there is also Cerberus allowing the souls of the dead to enter the underworld

[sdi]

And to not let them back out!

[jprussell]

Definitely had him in mind when I mentioned Indo-European myth! One very interesting take on this "very old" hypothesis is Tom Rowsell's shortish documentary "The World's Oldest Myth? World Tree and Reincarnation Documentary": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exlcT_iL9-U

He doesn't touch on the Egyptian connection at all, and he presents some of his claims as more definite than I think they warrant, but it's certainly fascinating.