Tauroctony
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A depiction (typically in relief or sculpture) of Mithras killing a bull; associated with the practice of Mithraism (as a cult) in the Roman Empire. historical
"In any event, if, as I am arguing, the tauroctony represents the astronomical situation which obtained during the epoch in which the spring equinox was in Taurus, the fact that the summer solstice was in Leo during that epoch provides a convincing explanation for the occasional presence of the figure of a lion in the tauroctony."
Example
More examples"In any event, if, as I am arguing, the tauroctony represents the astronomical situation which obtained during the epoch in which the spring equinox was in Taurus, the fact that the summer solstice was in Leo during that epoch provides a convincing explanation for the occasional presence of the figure of a lion in the tauroctony."
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ταυροκτόνος (tauroktónos), from ταῦρος (taûros, “bull”) + κτόνος (któnos, “killing”).