T-T-T-Tetramorph!

[NAveryW]

Alright, I was browsing information about different mythological creatures, and found information about the Tetramorph, a Biblical creature described by Ezekiel.

Compare the image there:


to this:


They both have wings at very similar angles, and they both have eyes all over them. Plus both have big circles in the center.

Yeah, so... I think it's pretty evident that picture from the OP was patterned after the Tetramorph. I find it kind of odd the Tetramorph has never been mentioned on this forum.

Or was there another similar Biblical image that looks even more like that from the OP?



EDIT: Apparently the old commentary mentions a Biblical seraphim that is described similarly to the Tetramorph, but states that the comparison is "tenuous at best". I think this picture, though, makes it much less tenuous.

[V]

no that has 6 pairs of wings

I think it's supposed to evoke a Seraph

[NAveryW]

no that has 6 pairs of wings

I think it's supposed to evoke a Seraph

But the wings that do exist are in the exact same positions.

I'm pretty sure the Tetramorph is a particular seraph.

[chee]

Huh. Interesting find.

[Sachi]

ya, but not surprising. Eva has to get its Religious symbols somehwere

[EvaCub]

Im thinking Seraph

[CitizenGeek]

Cool find. If it is a tetramorph, is there any relevance to the series, though?

[Reichu]

I did a quick search to find out what the Tetramorph actually is, and it turns out to be essentially the same thing as the signs of the Four Evangelists (the image might look familiar...), albeit combined into a single form (implied by the term "tetramorph"). Good find, NAveryW -- this solves the long-standing mystery of what the Sammael image was modeled after.

The Four Evangelists are not angels themselves (so neither would be the Tetramorph), although they're depicted with related imagery (wings, etc.).

[Mr. Tines]

First seen in Ezekiel 1:4-9

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%201:4-9;&version=9;

[Alaska Slim]

I thought it was Satan... you know, before he was "cast down", and that it had all to do with "humanity's free will", because in order to survive, they had to "sin"... well that will teach me from listening to a [URL=http://stephsthoughts.brainage.org/downloads/eva-interpretation.pdf]Eva-Kabbalism essay[/URL] that I didn't fully trust in the first place... or did I hear that on the Trivial Being boards? Hmm... 8)

[Reichu]

I thought it was Satan...

It is.

[Hexon.Arq]

When combined, do they have a rocket punch or a super wave cannon?

[Dr. Nick]

a Biblical creature described by Ezekiel.

Now this is a blast from the past. Here's another interpretation of Ezekiel's vision:



Progenitor aliens, everywhere!

[NAveryW]

That image can't be right. I don't see heads of any animals on that alien craft!

EDIT: Oh, and thanks, Reichu. Does this mean that we're still going to call it Sammael, though? I've always thought it was kind of a jump to decide that it's Sammael simply because of the number of wings. But that kind of attention to detail does often exist, so I wouldn't say it's too much of a jump in any case.

[Dr. Nick]

That image can't be right. I don't see heads of any animals on that alien craft!

Yeah, those confused the hell out of Blumrich, too. All he could come up with, IIRC, was a some sort of custom paint job people sometimes put on their flying machines. If I wanted to play along, I might suggest a sensor array as an alternate explanation. Lenses, antennas, eyes, horns, what's the difference?

By the way, that picture doesn't show the craft's funky wheels (I guess they're housed inside the rotor legs), or its mechanical reactor maintenance arm for that matter.

[Barinax]

That image can't be right. I don't see heads of any animals on that alien craft!

Well the top sort of looks like a penguin...

[UrsusArctos]

Well the top sort of looks like a penguin...

Are you saying that cute little Pen-Pen is an Angel?????? :shock:

In any case, "Sammael" is way cooler than "Satan" or "Lucifer". Sammael, Poison of God, the Angel with control over Death...ooooooo...now that is one Angel nobody messes with! (Yui becomes Sammael, she's taken over the Lance, instant death-dealer to any ADO)

[NAveryW]

Lucifer actually technically isn't even the devil.

[ObsessiveMathsFreak]

The image is certainly similar enough to the "Angel Logo" image that we can say that something like it inspired the logo. Whether the creature known as the Tetramorph itself was the actual base image is I think a matter needed further confirmation.

It certainly looks likely that early christian imagery was the original source of the logo image. Am I mistaken, or is this Greek Orthodox imagery?

[Shin-seiki]

Does anyone have that pic of Sammael from a church ceiling in eastern Europe that Zuggy (IIRC) posted a while back?