Discussion of the Konstellations

[Koen G]

I've been looking some more into the order of the planets. If we ignore sun and moon, Plato had:
Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Venus

I have also found the Mercury, Venus order in Cicero, but other authors have them the other way around.
Mars is always in the middle of these five.
Most authors agree that Saturn is the furthest planet, but Hyginus has Saturn and Jupiter switched.

The position of the sun is usually between Mars and Mercury/Venus. Because of their position, Ptolemy called Mercury and Venus the inferior (lower) planets. Note how, indeed, two figures are specifically placed lower than the others.



The iconography for Sol is an obvious reference to someone standing on a chariot, Sol's quadriga.



I'm not sure about the other figures yet. Planet iconography is not always very clear, especially if we assume this was based on older sources. I would be inclined to read the figure on the right as Venus and the one left of it as Mercurius (Hermes) wearing the messenger's cloak, which would imply that the illustration follows the Platonic order.

If these are the planets, then the figure left of Sol is certainly Mars (Ares). One of his attributes was a warrior's cape, which may be what is portrayed by the nymph's arms.

The next one is relatively easy. She represents a woman on the myth level, but a man (likely Jupiter/Zeus) on the constellation level. One might object that this figure is clearly and unambiguously a woman, but I disagree. It is intentionally androgynous. Look at the face, and specifically the chin/cheek region:



Either that's a horrible disease, or... the Great Thunderer's beard.

I have no idea about the last figure, who should the, be Saturn/Kronos or, small chance, Jupiter. If the system is consistent then the arms tell us something about the figure, which they seem to do, but I don't know how to interpret it. Any ideas?