Cautes and Cautopates

Cautes and Cautopates (also Cautepates ) are twin brothers who act as helpers and victims torchbearer for the god Mithras in appearance in the cult of Mithras. They are shown on most of the pictures, for example, in so-called mithraea, with torches. They are another pair, as in many other mythologies, which symbolized by his opposition to dualism.

Cautes

Cautes stands for the daily rising sun, the east, the day, the hope and life. In many pictures he is depicted with a raised torch. To him, the constellation Taurus is associated with returns through the overcoming of the spring. This constellation was attributed to the summer in ancient times.

Cautopates

Cautopates symbolizes the exact opposite of Cautes. He is represented in most cases not only with a lowered torch, but also with darker skin color. It stands for the ever setting sun, the West and the night. He is associated with the constellation of Scorpio, this zodiac sign embodied in the ancient world the beginning of winter. It is therefore also associated with the negative and ugly sides of life, the suffering and the death.

Similar pairs of siblings

Cautes and Cautopates are not alone. There are, in almost all mythologies similar pairings whose associations are opposite. So there in the biblical story of Cain and Abel, in the history of the Roman naming Romulus and Remus, the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux are in Greek mythology.