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These Cautes and Cautopates are the alter egos of Mithras. Their names
are absent in the corrupted versions of the codices, but the conjecture of
the Arethusa edition reconstructed the names, which have been well-known
from the epigraphic material of the Mithras sanctuaries but otherwise unknown
in literary texts. Cautes and Cautopates, these two little gods or daimons, share
a common appearance, but they are always smaller than Mithras. They are often
represented in Mithraic sanctuaries in the form of little torchbearers, Cautes’
torch points upward, Cautopates’ downward. These alter egos or doppelgdngers
are why Mithras is sometimes called “threefold Mithras” in sources.
On the basis of Porphyry, we can sketch a scheme now:
Mithras: stands in the points of the Equinox;
Cautes is associated with the left, south, hot, torch upward=birth?
Cautopates is associated with the right, north, cold, torch downward=death?
We cannot decide if Mithras stands at the point of the spring or the autumn
equinox, but he watches the events from the east. The following interpretation
seems simple and logical: Cautes ignites his torch, he belongs to the south
and the hotness, and consequently he might be a symbol of birth. Cautopates
is the opposite: north and cold and perhaps even death.
Nevertheless, this picture is still incomplete. If the place of Mithras is one or
both of the two equinoctial points on the Ecliptic, then we would expect Cautes
and Cautopates to have their place on the same line, the Zodiac. They must have
it there if they are associated with the journey of the souls, because Porphyry
explicitly says that the gates of the heavens lie on the Ecliptic. But as soon as we
add the place of the gates to our scheme, it becomes surprisingly paradoxical:
13 “The equinoctial region they assigned to Mithras as an appropriate seat. And for this reason
he bears the sword of Aries, the sign of Mars; he also rides on a bull, Taurus being assigned
to Venus. As a creator and lord of genesis, Mithras is placed in the region of the celestial
equator with the north to his right and the south to his left; to the south, because of its heat,
they assigned Cautes and to the north <Cautopates> because of the coldness of the north
wind. With good reason they assigned winds to souls proceeding to genesis and departing
from it because they as well drag spirit along with them, as some have supposed, and possess
a like essence. But the north wind is the proper wind for souls proceeding to genesis. It is
for this reason that for those about to die the breath of the north wind ‘blowing upon them
revives the soul from its grievous swoon,’ while the breath of the south wind dissolves it.”
(Duffy, Porphyrius)
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