De Zuilen van Hercules Gibraltar en Ceuta

The Pillars of Hercules are the

promontories A promontory is a raised mass of landform, land that projects into a Upland and lowland, lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosion, e ...

that flank the entrance to the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Europe from Africa. The two continents are separated by 7.7 nautical miles (14.2 kilometers, 8.9 miles) at its narrowest point. Fe ...

. The northern Pillar, Calpe Mons, is the

Rock of Gibraltar The Rock of Gibraltar (from the Arabic name Jabal Ṭāriq , meaning "Mountain of Tariq ibn Ziyad, Tariq") is a monolithic limestone mountain high dominating the western entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. It is situated near the end of a nar ...

. A corresponding North African peak not being predominant, the identity of the southern Pillar, Abila Mons, has been disputed throughout history, with the two most likely candidates being Monte Hacho in

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain#Autonomous cities, autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta is one of th ...

and Jebel Musa in Morocco. The term was applied in antiquity:

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

included the Pillars of Hercules in his ''

Naturalis historia The ''Natural History'' () is a Latin work by Pliny the Elder. The largest single work to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day, the ''Natural History'' compiles information gleaned from other ancient authors. Despite the work' ...

'' (Book III:3).

History

According to

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

adopted by the

Etruscans The Etruscan civilization ( ) was an ancient civilization created by the Etruscans, a people who inhabited Etruria in List of ancient peoples of Italy, ancient Italy, with a common language and culture, and formed a federation of city-states. Af ...

and Romans, when

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

had to perform

twelve labours The Labours of Hercules or Labours of Heracles (, , ) are a series of tasks carried out by Heracles, the greatest of the Greek heroes, whose name was later romanised as Hercules. They were accomplished in the service of King Eurystheus. The ep ...

, one of them (the tenth) was to fetch the Cattle of

Geryon In Greek mythology, Geryon ( ; , genitive ), also Geryone (, or ), son of Chrysaor and Callirrhoe, the grandson of Medusa and the nephew of Pegasus, was a fearsome giant who dwelt on the island Erytheia of the mythic Hesperides in the far ...

of the far West and bring them to

Eurystheus In Greek mythology, Eurystheus (; , ) was king of Tiryns, one of three Mycenaean Greece, Mycenaean strongholds in the Argolid, although other authors including Homer and Euripides cast him as ruler of Argos, Peloponnese, Argos. Family Eurysthe ...

; this marked the westward extent of his travels. A lost passage of

Pindar Pindar (; ; ; ) was an Greek lyric, Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes, Greece, Thebes. Of the Western canon, canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar i ...

quoted by

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

was the earliest traceable reference in this context: "the pillars which Pindar calls the 'gates of Gades' when he asserts that they are the farthermost limits reached by

Heracles Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...

". Since there has been a one-to-one association between Heracles and

Melqart Melqart () was the tutelary god of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre and a major deity in the Phoenician and Punic pantheons. He may have been central to the founding-myths of various Phoenician colonies throughout the Mediterranean, as well ...

since

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

, the "Pillars of Melqart" in the temple near Gades/Gádeira (modern

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

) have sometimes been considered to be the true ''Pillars of Hercules''.

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

placed the legendary island of

Atlantis Atlantis () is a fictional island mentioned in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and ''Critias'' as part of an allegory on the hubris of nations. In the story, Atlantis is described as a naval empire that ruled all Western parts of the known world ...

beyond the "Pillars of Hercules". Renaissance tradition says the pillars bore the warning ''Ne plus ultra'' (also , "nothing further beyond"), serving as a warning to sailors and navigators to go no further. According to some Roman sources, while on his way to the garden of the

Hesperides In Greek mythology, the Hesperides (; , ) are the nymphs of evening and golden light of sunsets, who were the "Daughters of the Evening" or "Nymphs of the West". They were also called the Atlantides () from their reputed father, Atlas (mytholog ...

on the island of

Erytheia Erytheia or Erythia () ("the red one"), part of Greek mythology, is one of the three Hesperides. The name was applied to the island close to the coast of southern Hispania Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. U ...

, Hercules had to cross the mountain that was once

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of world map, maps of Earth or of a continent or region of Earth. Advances in astronomy have also resulted in atlases of the celestial sphere or of other planets. Atlases have traditio ...

. Instead of climbing the great mountain, Hercules used his superhuman strength to smash through it. By doing so, he connected the Atlantic Ocean to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

and formed the

. One part of the split mountain is

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

and the other is either Monte Hacho or Jebel Musa. These two mountains taken together have since then been known as the Pillars of Hercules, though other natural features have been associated with the name.

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus or Diodorus of Sicily (; 1st century BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek historian from Sicily. He is known for writing the monumental Universal history (genre), universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty ...

, however, held that, instead of smashing through an isthmus to create the Straits of Gibraltar, Hercules "narrowed" an already existing strait to prevent monsters from the Atlantic Ocean from entering the Mediterranean Sea. In some versions, Heracles instead built the two to hold the sky away from the earth, liberating Atlas from his damnation.

Phoenician connection

Beyond Gades, several important

Mauretania Mauretania (; ) is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It extended from central present-day Algeria to the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, encompassing northern present-day Morocco, and from the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean in the ...

n colonies (in modern-day

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

) were founded by the

Phoenicia Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...

ns as the Phoenician merchant fleet pushed through the Pillars of Hercules and began constructing a series of bases along the Atlantic coast starting with Lixus in the north, then

Chellah The Chellah or Shalla ( or ; ), is a medieval fortified Muslim necropolis and ancient archeological site in Rabat, Morocco, located on the south (left) side of the Bou Regreg estuary. The earliest evidence of the site's occupation suggests that th ...

and finally

Mogador Essaouira ( ; ), known until the 1960s as Mogador (, or ), is a port city in the western Morocco, Moroccan region of Marrakesh-Safi, on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. It has 77,966 inhabitants as of 2014. The foundation of the city of Essao ...

. Near the eastern shore of the island of Gades/Gadeira (modern

, just beyond the strait)

describes the westernmost temple of Tyrian

, the god with whom Greeks associated the Phoenician and Punic

, by . Strabo notes that the two bronze pillars within the temple, each eight

cubit The cubit is an ancient unit of length based on the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. It was primarily associated with the Sumerians, Egyptians, and Israelites. The term ''cubit'' is found in the Bible regarding Noah ...

s high, were widely proclaimed to be the true Pillars of Hercules by many who had visited the place and had sacrificed to Heracles there. But Strabo believes the account to be fraudulent, in part noting that the inscriptions on those pillars mentioned nothing about Heracles, speaking only of the expenses incurred by the Phoenicians in their making. The columns of the Melqart temple at Tyre were also of religious significance.

The Pillars in Syriac geography

Syriac scholars were aware of the Pillars through their efforts to translate Greek scientific works into their language as well as into Arabic. The Syriac compendium of knowledge known as ''Ktaba d'ellat koll 'ellan'' ('' Cause of All Causes'') is unusual in asserting that there were three, not two, columns.

In art

Dante's ''Inferno''

In '' Inferno'' XXVI

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

mentions Ulysses in the pit of the Fraudulent Counsellors and his voyage past the Pillars of Hercules. Ulysses justifies endangering his sailors by the fact that his goal is to gain knowledge of the unknown. After five months of navigation in the ocean, Ulysses sights the mountain of

Purgatory In Christianity, Purgatory (, borrowed into English language, English via Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman and Old French) is a passing Intermediate state (Christianity), intermediate state after physical death for purifying or purging a soul ...

but encounters a

whirlwind A whirlwind is a phenomenon in which a vortex of wind (a vertically oriented rotating column of air) forms due to instabilities and turbulence created by heating and flow ( current) gradients. Whirlwinds can vary in size and last from a cou ...

from it that sinks his ship and all on it for their daring to approach Purgatory while alive, by their strength and wits alone.

Sir Francis Bacon's ''Novum Organum''

The Pillars appear prominently on the engraved title page of

Sir Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General for England and Wales, Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under James VI and I, King ...

's ''Instauratio Magna'' ("Great Renewal"), 1620, an unfinished work of which the second part was his influential ''

Novum Organum The ''Novum Organum'', fully ''Novum Organum, sive Indicia Vera de Interpretatione Naturae'' ("New organon, or true directions concerning the interpretation of nature") or ''Instaurationis Magnae, Pars II'' ("Part II of The Great Instauratio ...

''. The motto along the base says ''Multi pertransibunt et augebitur scientia'' ("Many will pass through and knowledge will be the greater"). The image was based on the use of the pillars in Spanish and Habsburg propaganda.

Statue of the pillars of Hercules in Ceuta

The Spanish enclave in the extreme north of the African continent, the town of

is home to a modern-day statue called "The Pillars of Hercules" (Spanish: Columnas de Hércules). The statue consists of two huge bronze pillars, which are held apart by Hercules. The statue was made by Ceuta artist Ginés Serrán-Pagán.

In architecture

On the Spanish coast at

Los Barrios Los Barrios is a small town and municipality in the south of Spain. It is part of the province of Cádiz, which in turn is part of the Andalusia region. It belongs to the Campo de Gibraltar comarca. The town's name means “the districts” or “ ...

are Torres de Hercules which are twin towers that were inspired by the ''Pillars of Hercules''. These towers were the tallest in Andalusia until Cajasol Tower was completed in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

in 2015. In the southern wall of the National Autonomous University of Mexico's Central Library, the mural ''Historical Representation of Culture'', created by the artist

Juan O'Gorman Juan O'Gorman (6 July 1905 – 17 January 1982) was a Mexican painter and architect. Early life and family Juan O'Gorman was born on 6 July 1905 in Coyoacán, then a village to the south of Mexico City and now a borough A borough is an admini ...

, portrays a depiction of the Pillars of Hercules as an allusion to the colonial past of Mexico and the house of

Charles V Charles V may refer to: Kings and Emperors * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise Others * Charles V, Duke ...

Coat of arms

The Pillars appear as supporters of the

coat of arms of Spain A coat is typically an outer clothing, garment for the upper body, worn by any gender for warmth or fashion. Coats typically have long sleeves and are open down the front, and closing by means of Button (clothing), buttons, zippers, Hook-and-loo ...

, originating in the

impresa Impresa Sociedade Gestora de Participações Sociais SA () is a Portuguese Mass media, media Conglomerate (company), conglomerate, headquartered in Paço de Arcos, in Oeiras Municipality, Portugal, Oeiras municipality. It is the owner of SIC (P ...

of Spain's sixteenth century king

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

, who was also the Holy Roman Emperor as

. It was an idea of the Italian humanist Luigi Marliano. It bears the motto ''

Plus Ultra (, , ) is a Latin phrase and the national motto of Spain. A reversal of the original phrase ''non plus ultra'' ("nothing further beyond"), said to have been inscribed as a warning on the Pillars of Hercules at the Strait of Gibraltar (whic ...

'', Latin for ''further beyond'', implying that the pillars were a gateway. This was modified from the phrase ''Nec plus ultra'', ''Nothing more beyond'' after the

discovery of the Americas The human history of the Americas is thought to begin with people migrating to these areas from Asia during the height of an ice age. These groups are generally believed to have been isolated from the people of the "Old World" until the coming o ...

, which laid to rest the idea of the Pillars of Hercules as the westernmost extremity of the inhabitable world which had prevailed since Antiquity. File:Pillars of Hercules.svg, The columns as depicted in the Spanish coat of arms. File:Escudo de España (mazonado).svg,

Coat of arms of Spain A coat is typically an outer clothing, garment for the upper body, worn by any gender for warmth or fashion. Coats typically have long sleeves and are open down the front, and closing by means of Button (clothing), buttons, zippers, Hook-and-loo ...

. File:Escudo de Andalucía (oficial2).svg,

Emblem of Andalusia The Emblem of Andalusia () is the official symbol of Andalusia, an autonomous community of Spain. It bears the Pillars of Hercules, the ancient name given to the promontories that flank the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. Although often refe ...

. File:Escudo de Extremadura.svg, Coat of arms of Extremadura. File:Coat of Arms of Melilla.svg, Coat of arms of Melilla. File:Seal of San Diego, California.png, Seal of San Diego, California. File:Coat of arms of Veracruz.svg, Coat of arms of

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

, Mexico. File:Coat of arms of Tabasco.svg, Coat of arms of

Tabasco Tabasco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Tabasco, 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa. It i ...

, Mexico. File:Coat of Arms of Trujillo of New Castille (modern design).svg, Coat of arms of

Trujillo, Peru Trujillo (; ; Mochica language, Mochica: ''Cɥimor'') is a city in coastal northwestern Peru and the capital of the Department of La Libertad. It is the third most populous city and center of the List of metropolitan areas of Peru, third most po ...

. File:Third Coat of Arms of Potosi.svg, Coat of arms of

Potosí Potosí, known as Villa Imperial de Potosí in the colonial period, is the capital city and a municipality of the Potosí Department, Department of Potosí in Bolivia. It is one of the list of highest cities in the world, highest cities in the wo ...

, Bolivia. File:Escudo de Cádiz (oval).svg, Coat of arms of

. File:Escudo de Tumbes.svg, Coat of arms of

Tumbes, Peru Tumbes is a city in northwestern Peru, on the banks of the Tumbes River. It is the capital of the Tumbes Region, as well as of Tumbes Province and Tumbes District. Located near the border with Ecuador, Tumbes has 111,595 inhabitants as of 2015. ...

Gallery

File:PillarsHerculesPeutingeriana.jpg, Modern conjectural depiction of the lost western section of the

Tabula Peutingeriana ' (Latin Language, Latin for 'The Peutinger Map'), also known as Peutinger's Tabula, Peutinger tablesJames Strong (theologian) , James Strong and John McClintock (theologian) , John McClintock (1880)"Eleutheropolis" In: ''The Cyclopedia of Bibli ...

, showing a representation of the Pillars of Hercules (''Columne Ercole''). File:Columnas Plus Ultra.png, Device of

's city hall File:Couly Nouailher - Hercules Carries the Two Columns - Walters 44265.jpg,

Limoges enamel Limoges enamel has been produced at Limoges, in south-western France, over several centuries up to the present. There are two periods when it was of European importance. From the 12th century to 1370 there was a large industry producing metal o ...

depicting Hercules carrying the two columns, by Couly Nouailher, mid-16th century (

Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum is a public art museum located in the Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. Founded and opened in 1934, it holds collections from the mid-19th century that were amassed substantially ...

). File:Leone Leoni, The Pillars of Hercules (reverse), 1553, NGA 92018.jpg, alt=The reverse of a bronze medal from 1553 by the sculptor Leone Leoni, 4.2 centimetres from top to bottom, showing the two fluted columns connected with a banderole ribbon, in a sea of waves. Around the circumference, in capital letters, reads: PLVS.OUTRE (that is, in English, "And beyond], Leone Leoni. ''The Pillars of Hercules'' everse Bronze, 1553. 4.2 cm.

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

, Washington. Gift of Lisa and Leonard Baskin.

Notes

References

External links

* {{coord, 36, 07, 46, N, 5, 20, 40, W, type:mountain_region:XZ, display=title Atlantis Atlas (mythology) History of Gibraltar Landforms of Ceuta Landforms of Gibraltar Landforms of Morocco Headlands of Spain Places in Greek mythology Strait of Gibraltar Mythology of Heracles Promontories Melqart