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Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—C

Columns of Hercules

Two large pyramidal columns set up by the Phoenicians as lighthouses and landmarks, dedicated, one to Hercules (the sun), and the other to Astarte (the moon).

By the Greeks and Romans the two pyramidal mountains at the Straits of Gibraltar (Calpe and Abyla), the former in Europe and the latter in Africa, were termed the Pillars of Hercules.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
Coma Berenices
Column at Boulogne
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More on Columns of Hercules from Infoplease:

  • Columns of Hercules - Columns of Hercules Two large pyramidal columns set up by the Phoenicians as lighthouses and ...
  • Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: C - Definitions, origins, and illustrative excerpts for words, phases, and literary allusions starting with "C"

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