La conversione di <em>Bythos</em> in Giovanni di Gaza

Abstract

This article draws attention to the section of the Tabula mundi of John of Gaza including the description of Ocean with the bull and the ketos, Bythos and the Phylax (1.272-314). Specifically, it focuses on the evolution of the figure and concept of bythos, both from an iconographical and a literary point of view. Via the Chaldean Oracles, the concept assumed a double connotation among the Neoplatonic philosophers: in a negative meaning it is associated with matter; in a positive one it is linked with a noetic dimension. The paper argues that, in John’s description, this resemantization plays an important role, in the representation of Bythos ascending from matter to the divine light.