The myth of the cosmic egg in indic and orphic traditions and its reception in the latin west

Abstract

This thesis aims to examine the myth of the Cosmic Egg in the writings attributed to Orpheus and in the sacred texts of India. In both textual traditions the motif of the Cosmic Egg represents the primordial totality and the First Being that comes out of this Egg is sexually undifferentiated Divinity. Creation happens only through fragmentation. Greek texts on India in antiquity do not acknowledge the myth of the Cosmic Egg as a part of the Indian cosmogony. The myth of the Cosmic Egg was transmitted through Latin literature, especially the Clementine Recognitions, as an alternative cosmogony. In the twelfth century the motif of the Cosmic Egg appealed to the imaginations of Abelard, Hildegard of Bingen, and the poet Milo. They employ this motif in depicting the creation and nature of the Christian universe through their own mythopoeic imaginations. Yet, this important Egg-Cosmogony has not been studied in its textual complexities in a comparative manner.