Katana VentraIP

Pillars of Hercules

The Pillars of Hercules[a] are the promontories that flank the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. The northern Pillar, Calpe Mons, is the Rock of Gibraltar. A corresponding North African peak not being predominant, the identity of the southern Pillar, Abila Mons, has been disputed throughout history,[1] with the two most likely candidates being Monte Hacho in Ceuta and Jebel Musa in Morocco. The term was applied in antiquity: Pliny the Elder included the Pillars of Hercules in his Naturalis historia (Book III:3).

For the Paul Theroux book, see The Pillars of Hercules (book). For the London pub, see Pillars of Hercules, Soho.

In art[edit]

Dante's Inferno[edit]

In Inferno XXVI Dante Alighieri mentions Ulysses in the pit of the Fraudulent Counsellors and his voyage past the Pillars of Hercules. Ulysses justifies endangering his sailors by the fact that his goal is to gain knowledge of the unknown. After five months of navigation in the ocean, Ulysses sights the mountain of Purgatory but encounters a whirlwind from it that sinks his ship and all on it for their daring to approach Purgatory while alive, by their strength and wits alone.

The columns as depicted in the Spanish coat of arms.

The columns as depicted in the Spanish coat of arms.

Seal of San Diego, California.

Coat of arms of Veracruz, Mexico.

Coat of arms of Veracruz, Mexico.

Coat of arms of Tabasco, Mexico.

Coat of arms of Tabasco, Mexico.

Coat of arms of Trujillo, Peru.

Coat of arms of Trujillo, Peru.

Coat of arms of Potosí, Bolivia.

Coat of arms of Potosí, Bolivia.

Coat of arms of Cádiz.

Coat of arms of Cádiz.

Coat of arms of Tumbes, Peru.

Coat of arms of Tumbes, Peru.

The Pillars appear as supporters of the coat of arms of Spain, originating in the impresa of Spain's sixteenth century king Charles I, who was also the Holy Roman Emperor as Charles V. It was an idea of the Italian humanist Luigi Marliano.[16] It bears the motto Plus Ultra, Latin for further beyond, implying that the pillars were a gateway. This was modified from the phrase Nec plus ultra, Nothing more beyond after the discovery of the Americas, which laid to rest the idea of the Pillars of Hercules as the westernmost extremity of the inhabitable world which had prevailed since Antiquity.

Modern conjectural depiction of the lost western section of the Tabula Peutingeriana, showing a representation of the Pillars of Hercules (Columne Ercole).

Modern conjectural depiction of the lost western section of the Tabula Peutingeriana, showing a representation of the Pillars of Hercules (Columne Ercole).

Device of Charles V in Seville's city hall

Device of Charles V in Seville's city hall

Limoges enamel depicting Hercules carrying the two columns, by Couly Nouailher, mid-16th century (Walters Art Museum).

Limoges enamel depicting Hercules carrying the two columns, by Couly Nouailher, mid-16th century (Walters Art Museum).

Leone Leoni. The Pillars of Hercules [reverse]. Bronze, 1553. 4.2 cm. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Gift of Lisa and Leonard Baskin.

The reverse of a bronze medal from 1553 by the sculptor Leone Leoni, 4.2 centimeters from top to bottom, showing the two fluted columns connected with a banderole ribbon, in a sea of waves. Around the circumference, in capital letters, reads: PLVS.OUTRE (that is, in English, "And beyond]

Caves of Hercules

Dollar sign

Media related to Pillars of Hercules at Wikimedia Commons