So what led me to read about the Phrygian cap, y’know, the floppy Smurf headgear which is the symbol of liberty and revolution?
I’m SO glad you asked!
Elsewhere, someone made a comment about the “feminization of Christianity” so I was reading about that and wondered whether any other religion ever viewed the faithful as “brides “ of the deity? It’s complicated but the piece I read says ALL believers, not just the Church personified, have at various times been considered “brides of Christ”. (Come to think of it, I have never heard the soul referred to except as female.) So, “feminization” of Christianity began with medieval “bridal mysticism”. I’m not going to write about that here, but I was thinkin’, the Greek gods used to ravish human women alll the time, right? Did they ever rape (kidnap) a man?
Yuh! Ganymede, a “Semitic” boy, the most beautiful human EVER (move over, Narcissus) was abducted by a giant eagle, which may have been Zeus in metamorphosis, and carried off to Olympus to be cupbearer to the gods, a thing of beauty and a joy forever. In Latin his name is Catamittus, giving us our word catamite. But…originally, it wasn’t clear Zeus was in love with the lad in any sense, though later when NAMBLA became a big part of Greek culture it was believed the relationship was sexual. Anyway I found a picture of a sculpture of Ganymede, and —he’s wearing a Phrygian cap!
So of course that led me to wonder why is this headgear associated with overthrow of tyranny?
Welp,there’s a guy on YouTube yclept the Hat Historian. He said the Romans used to give such a cap to manumitted slaves as a symbol of their release from bondage.
In the old days the cap wasn’t red, just probably unbleached wool or whatever. In a crowd, it wouldn’t have been distinguishable from a lot of people’s hair.
But, always in red, in the 18th century, it became a symbol of revolution. I associated it primarily with the French Revolution. In Strasbourg I heard that the people there saved their cathedral from destruction by the fierce partisans of laicité by making a red Phrygian cap out of tin and perching it on the spire.
Marianne, the personification of Republican France, is always drawn wearing one.
But guess what? WE had it first, in our revolution, and in fact it’s still part of many states’ crests today. The colonists used to erect “Liberty poles” with Red Phrygian caps at the top.
Now let’s take the MAGA cap. The baseball cap is a plebe fashion item. It’s red. And it’s a symbol of our defiance, to the point where many pearl-clutching leftists have complained that the very sight of one—or of ANY red baseball cap—is “triggering” to them . That it scares their children!
The MAGA cap is a worthy, particularly American successor to the red Phrygian cap. Wear it in good health!!
