Thunderbolt
A thunderbolt is a discharge of lightning accompanied by a loud thunderclap or its symbolic representation. In its original usage the word may also have been a description of meteors,[1] or, as Plato suggested in Timaeus,[2] of the consequences of a close approach between two planetary cosmic bodies, though this is not currently the case. As a divine manifestation the thunderbolt has been a powerful symbol throughout history, and has appeared in many mythologies. Drawing from this powerful association, the thunderbolt is often found in military symbolism and semiotic representations of electricity.
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[edit] In Mythology
Lightning plays a role in many mythologies, often as the weapon of a sky god and storm god. As such, it is an unsurpassed method of dramatic instantaneous retributive destruction: thunderbolts as divine weapons can be found in many mythologies.
- Indo-European traditions
- In Hittite (and Hurrian) mythology, a triple thunderbolt was one symbol of Teshub (Tarhunt).
- Vedic religion (and laterHindu mythology) the god Indra is the god of lightning. His main weapon is the thunderbolt (Vajra).
- In Greek mythology, the thunderbolt is a weapon given to Zeus by the Cyclops. Based on this, in Roman mythology, the thunderbolt is a weapon given to Jupiter by the Cyclops.
- In Celtic mythology, Taranis is the god of thunder, in Irish, Tuireann.
- In Germanic mythology, Thor is specifically the god of thunder and lightning, wielding Mjolnir.
- In Turkish mythology, Bayülgen creates the thuderbolts.
- In Maya mythology, Huracan is sometimes represented as three lightning bolts.
- In Cherokee mythology, the Ani Hyuntikwalaski ("thunder beings") cause lightning fire in a hollow sycamore tree.
- In Ojibway mythology, thunder is created by the Thunderbirds (Nimkiig or Binesiiwag), which can be both benevolent and malevolent to human beings.
- In Igbo mythology, the thunderbolt is the weapon of Amadioha/Amadiora.
[edit] In the Modern World
The thunderbolt or lightning bolt continues into the modern world as a prominent symbol; it has entered modern heraldry and military iconography.
- In iconography
- The lightning bolt is used as an electrical symbol[3]
- In fiction
- Symbol for DC Comics characters Captain Marvel and the Flash
- In Harry Potter, the thunderbolt (or lightning bolt) is Harry's forehead scar
- In the novel The Godfather, "being hit with the thunderbolt" is a Sicilian expression referring to a man being spellbound at the sight of a beautiful woman. The novel's emerging main character is affected in this fashion and eventually marries a woman whose appearance initially hit him like a thunderbolt.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ V. Clube and B. Napier, 1982, The Cosmic Serpent, pg.173ff,
- ^ Plato, Timaeus 22C-D
- ^ Compliance Engineering, "On Graphical Symbols", 2001, Geoffrey Peckham
