Religious and mythological references in Battlestar Galactica
Encyclopedia
In both the original
and reimagined
versions of Battlestar Galactica
various references are made to existing mythologies.
beliefs of their creator, Glen A. Larson
. For example, in both series the planet Kobol
is the ancient and distant homeworld of the human race. According to Jana Riess
, author of What Would Buffy Do?, Kobol as an anagram of Kolob
is only one of many plot points borrowed from Mormonism by Larson. In Mormonism
, Kolob is the star or planet nearest to the throne of God. It has also been suggested that the basic plot is a retelling of Virgil
's Aeneid
, a Roman
epic poem describing how Aeneas
, after the Fall of Troy
, leads the survivors on a journey and eventually founds Rome.
The "Lords of Kobol" are sacred figures in both series. They are treated as elders or patriarchs in the original series, while in the new series they are versions of the Twelve Olympians
. In both series, Humankind is polytheistic, believing in multiple gods similar to those in Greek mythology
. Humans are the descendants of the gods called the Lords of Kobol. The twelve colonies are named after the astrological sign
s of the Greek zodiac
; for example, Scorpia
(Scorpio
), Caprica (Capricorn), and Aquaria (Aquarius). Several of the characters in the series have names or call signs corresponding to significant characters in Greek mythology, including Apollo
, Athena
, and Cassiopeia
.
The Quorum of Twelve is analogous to the similarly named Quorum in Mormonism.
" as with the Christian theological concept. While on Kobol, Adama speaks in a monologue about the various cities, and mentions that "Eden was the first to fall".
The Cylons have no religion.
from the 12 colonies, and subsequent search for the mythical planet Earth (the thirteenth colony), the human survivors find out that the holy scriptures are true and that Kobol is a cursed planet where, due to the humans leaving blood will be shed, due in part to the practice of human sacrifice
by the gods for the humans. Time is perceived in classical Indian and Greek fashion of cycles (in contrast to the Jewish and Christian concepts of linear time); the major running theme is All of this has happened before and all of this will happen again or Eternal recurrence. The presence of religious figures known as oracles, distinct in role from priests, calls up the image of ancient Greek oracles, such as the famous oracle of Pythia. In the reimagined series, a part of the Sacred Scrolls is named the Book of Pythia
, named after the priestess presiding over the Oracle
of Apollo
at Delphi
. Overall, the religion of the humans resembles most closely that of Greek Stoicism
.
There is a parallel between the Twelve Colonies (named after the signs of the Zodiac
) and the Twelve Tribes of Israel in the search for the promised land
. The diaspora is as much a trial of faith for President Laura Roslin
as was Moses
's 40-year journey for him while it is a mere four year journey for Roslin. Roslin finds herself a reluctant prophetic figure whose visions help uncover the path to Earth and who will subsequently die as a result of her part in the diaspora, much like Moses.
The Wikipedia article on the Zodiac
has this to say about the Twelve Tribes of Israel:
These signs of the four quarters of the zodiac are also used in Christian symbolism
to represent the four authors of the Christian Gospels.
At the end of the Miniseries 2, during the memorial ceremony for the dead, the priestess recites the Hindu mantra "Asato mā sad gamaya" Mantra#Lead me from ignorance to truth, taken from the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad}} 1.3.28. The words are
Meaning
The opening theme song for seasons two, three, and four (1-4 in the UK) includes a famous Hindu mantra, the Gayatri Mantra
, taken from the Rig Veda. The words are
which may be translated in various ways but may mean:
Another translation is:
. However, this god is not the creator
. The Cylons look upon themselves as the children of mankind and see their human creators as intrinsically flawed and want to destroy them; thus the genocide at the beginning of the 2003 miniseries. This resembles the Gnostic or dualistic belief that material creation and its creator (the Demiurge
) are evil and that true salvation
comes from knowledge (Greek: gnosis) of a timeless God beyond creation. According to Gnostic Christian belief, the true God is manifest on earth through Christ. Gnostics hold that their views are consistent with their own reading of canonical
scriptures; however true knowledge of God can only be perceived by a chosen few through special insight or secret instruction outside of canonical scripture.
Also the Gnostic idea that the true God is irremediably concealed from much of humanity resembles the Cylon view of the worthlessness of humanity as well as the low worth of the metallic centurion Cylon models whom most of the android Cylons treat as second-class citizens. (Indeed, this is one of the issues that causes a rift, late in the series, among the android Cylons, some of whom believe that the centurions should be recognized as equals.) Some Cylons (Six, for example) also seem to think that some humans (Gaius Baltar, primarily) can be saved; although the analogy breaks down at this point because Six expects Gaius to accept the one true God on the basis of faith rather than through special knowledge.
In some ways the Cylons share a few similarities with pre-diaspora Judaism. (Not to mention that the Cylon Basestar
resembles the Star of David
, when seen from above.) Models number one, four and five differ ideologically from models two, three, six and eight. In the episode The Ties That Bind
, Cavil (an incarnation of model number one) states that "there is no afterlife" - a view held by the Sadducees
. Finally, models one, four, and five follow their precepts literally in the same way that the Sadducees took the scriptures literally. The rival Cylon faction (made up of model numbers two, three, six and eight share a different set of views. These Cylons believed that people have free will but that God also has foreknowledge of human destiny, a view of Pharisaical Judaism
. The Cylons also took seriously the words of their hybrid, whom they saw as a prophet and looked to the child of Sharon & Karl Agathon as a Messianic figure
in the same ways that the Pharisees heeded the words of their Prophets and looked for the coming of a Messiah. The Sadducees, however, only followed the strict writings of the Torah
and paid little heed to the Prophets.
Another parallel with antiquity is that the Cylon hybrids and their utterances bear many resemblances to the Twelve Sibyls of the Ancient World and the Sibylline oracles
. Mediæval Christians believed that these oracles prophesied the coming of the Messiah and Christianity.
or Buddhist belief of ending the cycle of the material birth and rebirth.
, Republic of Macedonia
, Bulgaria
, Serbia
and European Turkey (and perhaps Romania
). In Greek mythology this region provided a number of Greek kings (including Lycurgus
, Phineas
and Orpheus
's father) and was known for its mercenaries. Colonial Warriors (Galactica's Viper pilots) wear a patch on the right shoulder of their flight jackets somewhat similar to the Sri Chakra
, a yantra
. Her nickname, Starbuck, is a character of Moby-Dick
(see Sharon Valerii).
Saul Tigh (originally called Paul prior to production, but changed due to legal issues) persecuted the Cylons, then, after he lost an eye, later discovered that he was himself a Cylon. Similarly, Saul of Tarsus (later called Paul), persecuted the Christians. Then, when Jesus Christ appeared to him on the road to Damascus he became temporarily blinded, and decided to become a follower of Christ.
Dr. Gaius Baltar (Count Baltar in the original series) shares his first name with of one of the disciples of Paul of Tarsus, mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles
. The Book of Acts also mentions an "Apollo" (the callsign for Lee Adama) as another disciple of Paul. Gaius was also the praenomen of Gaius Julius Caesar. In Episode Daybreak part 1 his father is named Julius.
Sharon Valerii (an incarnation of Cylon model Number Eight) shares her last name with an ancient Roman Family, the Valerii (plural of Valerius
), many of whose members are buried under St. Peter's Basilica
. Her nickname, Boomer, is a character of Moby-Dick
(see Kara Thrace).
Karl & Sharon Agathon share their last name with a tragic poet from ancient Greece
. Furthermore, in Ancient Greek ἀγαθός (agathos) means someone who is good, virtuous and honest.
Laura Roslin shares her last name with a village in Scotland
where there is a chapel reputed to be the secret location of the Holy Grail
.
Galen Tyrol shares his first name with the prominent Roman physician and philosopher of Greek origin, Galen
of Pergamum, whose theories dominated western medical science for more than a millennium.
Anastasia Dualla shares her first name with an early Christian martyr, St. Anastasia.
The word helo (Karl Agathon's callsign) is the Greek word for thorn.
The Commanding Officer of Battlestar Galactica, William Adama, gets his last name from Adam, the first man created in the Bible. "Adama" is also the Hebrew word for Earth, as well as Diamond, Ground, Dirt, or Indestructible (Adamant, Diamant, Diamond).
The original pitch for the show (in the late 1960s) was called "Adam's Ark", which was subsequently renamed "Battlestar Galactica". Larson's first concept was to retell various biblical stories in a futuristic, space-faring setting.
is used at the end of prayers in many faiths. Amen has been used in the show as well, though on rare occasion.
In the episode Kobol's Last Gleaming the humans stranded on Kobol recite a prayer containing the phrase "vale of tears", which is a line taken from one of the Catholic Marian antiphons, the Salve Regina
. The phrase is often rendered in modern English as "valley of tears".
In the episode A Measure of Salvation
, Lee Adama mentions that the Cylons were saying a prayer to the Cloud of Unknowing--a reference to a popular Medieval English religious book
.
When Kara Thrace first interrogates Leoben on Galactica, Leoben's quote is, "What is the most basic Article of Faith?" Articles of Faith
are statements of belief by various religions.
Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction television series, created by Glen A. Larson. It starred Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict and ran for one season in 1978–79. After cancellation, its story was continued in 1980 as Galactica 1980 with Adama, Lieutenant Boomer and...
and reimagined
Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)
Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...
versions of Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the Battlestar Galactica TV series in 1978, and was followed by a brief sequel TV series in 1980, a line of book adaptations, original novels, comic books, a board game, and video games...
various references are made to existing mythologies.
Common to both
Some of the elements of the two Battlestar Galactica science-fiction television series seem obviously derived from the MormonMormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
beliefs of their creator, Glen A. Larson
Glen A. Larson
Glen Albert Larson is an American television producer and writer best known as the creator of Battlestar Galactica, The Fall Guy, Magnum, P.I. and Knight Rider.-Career:...
. For example, in both series the planet Kobol
Kobol
Kobol is the name of a planet in the fictional Battlestar Galactica universe.Within the context of both Battlestar Galactica stories, Kobol is the birthplace and original home of humanity, from which the civilization departed and formed the Twelve Colonies on other worlds...
is the ancient and distant homeworld of the human race. According to Jana Riess
Jana Riess
Jana Kathryn Riess is an American writer and editor.Reiss' writings have focused on American religions, usually on organized movements such as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and The Church of Christ, Scientist.-Background:Reiss was born in the US midwest, one of two children...
, author of What Would Buffy Do?, Kobol as an anagram of Kolob
Kolob
Kolob is a star or planet described in Mormon scripture. Reference to Kolob is found in the Book of Abraham, a work published by Latter Day Saint prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. According to this work, Kolob is the heavenly body nearest to the throne or residence of God...
is only one of many plot points borrowed from Mormonism by Larson. In Mormonism
Mormonism
Mormonism is the religion practiced by Mormons, and is the predominant religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement. This movement was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. beginning in the 1820s as a form of Christian primitivism. During the 1830s and 1840s, Mormonism gradually distinguished itself...
, Kolob is the star or planet nearest to the throne of God. It has also been suggested that the basic plot is a retelling of Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
's Aeneid
Aeneid
The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter...
, a Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
epic poem describing how Aeneas
Aeneas
Aeneas , in Greco-Roman mythology, was a Trojan hero, the son of the prince Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite. His father was the second cousin of King Priam of Troy, making Aeneas Priam's second cousin, once removed. The journey of Aeneas from Troy , which led to the founding a hamlet south of...
, after the Fall of Troy
Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
, leads the survivors on a journey and eventually founds Rome.
The "Lords of Kobol" are sacred figures in both series. They are treated as elders or patriarchs in the original series, while in the new series they are versions of the Twelve Olympians
Twelve Olympians
The Twelve Olympians, also known as the Dodekatheon , in Greek mythology, were the principal deities of the Greek pantheon, residing atop Mount Olympus. Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia, and Hades were siblings. Ares, Hermes, Hephaestus, Athena, Apollo, and Artemis were children of Zeus...
. In both series, Humankind is polytheistic, believing in multiple gods similar to those in Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
. Humans are the descendants of the gods called the Lords of Kobol. The twelve colonies are named after the astrological sign
Astrological sign
Astrological signs represent twelve equal segments or divisions of the zodiac. According to astrology, celestial phenomena reflect or govern human activity on the principle of "as above, so below", so that the twelve signs are held to represent twelve basic personality types or characteristic modes...
s of the Greek zodiac
Zodiac
In astronomy, the zodiac is a circle of twelve 30° divisions of celestial longitude which are centred upon the ecliptic: the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year...
; for example, Scorpia
Twelve Colonies
The Twelve Colonies of Man are fictional locations that constitute the principal human civilization in the original Battlestar Galactica television series, the "reimagined" series of the same name in 2004, and in the prequel series, Caprica...
(Scorpio
Scorpio (astrology)
|Infobox align="right" style="border:3px solid white;"||style="text-align: center;"|Scorpio is the eighth astrological sign in the Zodiac, which spans the zodiac between the 210th and 239th degree of celestial longitude. Generally, the Sun transits this area of the zodiac between 24 October and...
), Caprica (Capricorn), and Aquaria (Aquarius). Several of the characters in the series have names or call signs corresponding to significant characters in Greek mythology, including Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
, Athena
Athena
In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
, and Cassiopeia
Cassiopeia (mythology)
Cassiopeia is the name of several figures in Greek mythology.-Wife of Cepheus:The Queen Cassiopeia, wife of king Cepheus of Æthiopia, was beautiful but also arrogant and vain; these latter two characteristics led to her downfall....
.
The Quorum of Twelve is analogous to the similarly named Quorum in Mormonism.
Original series
Referring to marriage as "sealing" is another Mormon element used in the original series. There is also a common book of worship known as "The Book of the Word". In Season 1 Ep. 7 "The Long Patrol" Starbuck is imprisoned in a jail consisting of inmates born and raised within it held accountable for and named for the crimes of their ancestors. These ancestors are referred to as "Original Sinners" deriving their family names from this "original sinOriginal sin
Original sin is, according to a Christian theological doctrine, humanity's state of sin resulting from the Fall of Man. This condition has been characterized in many ways, ranging from something as insignificant as a slight deficiency, or a tendency toward sin yet without collective guilt, referred...
" as with the Christian theological concept. While on Kobol, Adama speaks in a monologue about the various cities, and mentions that "Eden was the first to fall".
The Cylons have no religion.
Humans
During the diasporaDiaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
from the 12 colonies, and subsequent search for the mythical planet Earth (the thirteenth colony), the human survivors find out that the holy scriptures are true and that Kobol is a cursed planet where, due to the humans leaving blood will be shed, due in part to the practice of human sacrifice
Human sacrifice
Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more human beings as part of a religious ritual . Its typology closely parallels the various practices of ritual slaughter of animals and of religious sacrifice in general. Human sacrifice has been practised in various cultures throughout history...
by the gods for the humans. Time is perceived in classical Indian and Greek fashion of cycles (in contrast to the Jewish and Christian concepts of linear time); the major running theme is All of this has happened before and all of this will happen again or Eternal recurrence. The presence of religious figures known as oracles, distinct in role from priests, calls up the image of ancient Greek oracles, such as the famous oracle of Pythia. In the reimagined series, a part of the Sacred Scrolls is named the Book of Pythia
Pythia
The Pythia , commonly known as the Oracle of Delphi, was the priestess at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, located on the slopes of Mount Parnassus. The Pythia was widely credited for her prophecies inspired by Apollo. The Delphic oracle was established in the 8th century BC...
, named after the priestess presiding over the Oracle
Oracle
In Classical Antiquity, an oracle was a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic predictions or precognition of the future, inspired by the gods. As such it is a form of divination....
of Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
at Delphi
Delphi
Delphi is both an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis.In Greek mythology, Delphi was the site of the Delphic oracle, the most important oracle in the classical Greek world, and a major site for the worship of the god...
. Overall, the religion of the humans resembles most closely that of Greek Stoicism
Stoicism
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium in the early . The Stoics taught that destructive emotions resulted from errors in judgment, and that a sage, or person of "moral and intellectual perfection," would not suffer such emotions.Stoics were concerned...
.
There is a parallel between the Twelve Colonies (named after the signs of the Zodiac
Zodiac
In astronomy, the zodiac is a circle of twelve 30° divisions of celestial longitude which are centred upon the ecliptic: the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year...
) and the Twelve Tribes of Israel in the search for the promised land
Promised land
The Promised Land is a term used to describe the land promised or given by God, according to the Hebrew Bible, to the Israelites, the descendants of Jacob. The promise is firstly made to Abraham and then renewed to his son Isaac, and to Isaac's son Jacob , Abraham's grandson...
. The diaspora is as much a trial of faith for President Laura Roslin
Laura Roslin
Her first actions include organizing all FTL-capable ships together and convincing Commander William Adama to abandon a retaliatory attack on the Cylons. President Roslin and Billy Keikeya, her aide/press secretary/chief of staff, establish a working office space aboard her transport, renamed...
as was Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
's 40-year journey for him while it is a mere four year journey for Roslin. Roslin finds herself a reluctant prophetic figure whose visions help uncover the path to Earth and who will subsequently die as a result of her part in the diaspora, much like Moses.
The Wikipedia article on the Zodiac
Zodiac
In astronomy, the zodiac is a circle of twelve 30° divisions of celestial longitude which are centred upon the ecliptic: the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year...
has this to say about the Twelve Tribes of Israel:
"The Babylonian zodiac also finds reflection in the Hebrew BibleHebrew BibleThe Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
. The name of the twelve signs are equivalent to the names in use today, except that the name of the Eagle seems to have been usually substituted for Scorpio. The arrangement of the twelve tribes of Israel around the TabernacleTabernacleThe Tabernacle , according to the Hebrew Torah/Old Testament, was the portable dwelling place for the divine presence from the time of the Exodus from Egypt through the conquering of the land of Canaan. Built to specifications revealed by God to Moses at Mount Sinai, it accompanied the Israelites...
(Book of NumbersBook of NumbersThe Book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch....
, Chapter 2) corresponded to the order of the Zodiac; and four of the tribes represented the middle signs of each quarter: Judah was the Lion, ReubenReuben (Bible)According to the Book of Genesis, Reuben or Re'uven was the first and eldest son of Jacob with Leah. He was the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Reuben.-Etymology:...
the Man, EphraimEphraimEphraim ; was, according to the Book of Genesis, the second son of Joseph and Asenath. Asenath was an Egyptian woman whom Pharaoh gave to Joseph as wife, and the daughter of Potipherah, a priest of On. Ephraim was born in Egypt before the arrival of the children of Israel from Canaan...
the Bull, and Dan the Eagle. Thomas MannThomas MannThomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
in Joseph and His BrothersJoseph and His BrothersJoseph and His Brothers is a four-part novel by Thomas Mann, written over the course of 16 years. Mann retells the familiar stories of Genesis, from Jacob to Joseph , setting it in the historical context of the Amarna Period...
takes the Blessing of Jacob as attributing characteristics of a sign of the zodiac to each tribe. The faces of the cherubim, in both EzekielBook of EzekielThe Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah and preceding the Book of the Twelve....
and RevelationBook of RevelationThe Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
, are the middle signs of the four quarters of the Zodiac: the Lion is LeoLeo (astrology)Leo is the fifth astrological sign of the Zodiac, originating from the constellation of Leo. In astrology, Leo is considered to be a "masculine", positive sign. It is also considered a fire sign and is one of four fixed signs ruled by the Sun.Individuals born when the Sun is in this sign are...
; the Bull is TaurusTaurus (astrology)Taurus is the second astrological sign in the Zodiac, which spans the zodiac between the 30th and 59th degree of celestial longitude. Generally, the Sun transits this area of the zodiac between April 21 to May 21 each year...
; the Man is Aquarius; and the Eagle is ScorpioScorpio (astrology)|Infobox align="right" style="border:3px solid white;"||style="text-align: center;"|Scorpio is the eighth astrological sign in the Zodiac, which spans the zodiac between the 210th and 239th degree of celestial longitude. Generally, the Sun transits this area of the zodiac between 24 October and...
."
These signs of the four quarters of the zodiac are also used in Christian symbolism
Christian symbolism
Christian symbolism invests objects or actions with an inner meaning expressing Christian ideas. Christianity has borrowed from the common stock of significant symbols known to most periods and to all regions of the world. Religious symbolism is effective when it appeals to both the intellect and...
to represent the four authors of the Christian Gospels.
At the end of the Miniseries 2, during the memorial ceremony for the dead, the priestess recites the Hindu mantra "Asato mā sad gamaya" Mantra#Lead me from ignorance to truth, taken from the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad}} 1.3.28. The words are
- ( 1.3.28)
Meaning
- From ignorance, lead me to truth;
- From darkness, lead me to light;
- From death, lead me to immortality
- AumAumOm or Aum Om or Aum Om or Aum (also , written in Devanāgari as and as , in Sanskrit known as (lit. "to sound out loudly"), ', or ' (also as ') (lit. "Auṃ form/syllable"), is a sacred/mystical syllable in the Dharmic or Indian religions, i.e...
peace, peace, peace
The opening theme song for seasons two, three, and four (1-4 in the UK) includes a famous Hindu mantra, the Gayatri Mantra
Gayatri Mantra
The Gāyatrī Mantra is a highly revered mantra, based on a Vedic Sanskrit verse from a hymn of the Rigveda , attributed to the rishi . The mantra is named for its vedic gāyatrī metre. As the verse can be interpreted to invoke the deva Savitr, it is often called Sāvitrī...
, taken from the Rig Veda. The words are
OM
bhûr bhuvah svah
tat savitur varenyam
bhargô devasya dhîmahi
dhiyô yô nah pracôdayât
which may be translated in various ways but may mean:
Earth, air, heaven
We meditate upon the excellence
Of the radiant Sun
May it bring light to our paths."
Another translation is:
O earth, atmosphere, heaven:
May we attain that excellent glory of SavitrSavitrSavitr IAST: savitrIn Vedic religion, Savitr , Savitā is a solar deity and one of the Adityas i.e. off-spring of Vedic deity Aditi. His name in Vedic Sanskrit connotes "impeller, rouser, vivifier"...
the God:
So may he stimulate our prayers."
Cylon
In the re-imagined series, the Cylons are monotheistic in believing in one god, resembling a caricature of the Neo-Platonic OneAbsolute (philosophy)
The Absolute is the concept of an unconditional reality which transcends limited, conditional, everyday existence. It is sometimes used as an alternate term for "God" or "the Divine", especially, but by no means exclusively, by those who feel that the term "God" lends itself too easily to...
. However, this god is not the creator
Creator deity
A creator deity is a deity responsible for the creation of the world . In monotheism, the single God is often also the creator deity, while polytheistic traditions may or may not have creator deities...
. The Cylons look upon themselves as the children of mankind and see their human creators as intrinsically flawed and want to destroy them; thus the genocide at the beginning of the 2003 miniseries. This resembles the Gnostic or dualistic belief that material creation and its creator (the Demiurge
Demiurge
The demiurge is a concept from the Platonic, Neopythagorean, Middle Platonic, and Neoplatonic schools of philosophy for an artisan-like figure responsible for the fashioning and maintenance of the physical universe. The term was subsequently adopted by the Gnostics...
) are evil and that true salvation
Salvation
Within religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
comes from knowledge (Greek: gnosis) of a timeless God beyond creation. According to Gnostic Christian belief, the true God is manifest on earth through Christ. Gnostics hold that their views are consistent with their own reading of canonical
Biblical canon
A biblical canon, or canon of scripture, is a list of books considered to be authoritative as scripture by a particular religious community. The term itself was first coined by Christians, but the idea is found in Jewish sources. The internal wording of the text can also be specified, for example...
scriptures; however true knowledge of God can only be perceived by a chosen few through special insight or secret instruction outside of canonical scripture.
Also the Gnostic idea that the true God is irremediably concealed from much of humanity resembles the Cylon view of the worthlessness of humanity as well as the low worth of the metallic centurion Cylon models whom most of the android Cylons treat as second-class citizens. (Indeed, this is one of the issues that causes a rift, late in the series, among the android Cylons, some of whom believe that the centurions should be recognized as equals.) Some Cylons (Six, for example) also seem to think that some humans (Gaius Baltar, primarily) can be saved; although the analogy breaks down at this point because Six expects Gaius to accept the one true God on the basis of faith rather than through special knowledge.
In some ways the Cylons share a few similarities with pre-diaspora Judaism. (Not to mention that the Cylon Basestar
Cylon Basestar
The Basestar is the capital ship of the Cylons in the 1978 science fiction television series and movie Battlestar Galactica along with its re-imagining in the 2003 miniseries and 2004 television series.- Battlestar Galactica :...
resembles the Star of David
Star of David
The Star of David, known in Hebrew as the Shield of David or Magen David is a generally recognized symbol of Jewish identity and Judaism.Its shape is that of a hexagram, the compound of two equilateral triangles...
, when seen from above.) Models number one, four and five differ ideologically from models two, three, six and eight. In the episode The Ties That Bind
The Ties That Bind (Battlestar Galactica)
"The Ties That Bind" is the fifth episode in the fourth season of the reimagined science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica. The episode originally aired on SCI FI and Space in the United States and Canada respectively on April 18, 2008, and on Sky1 in the United Kingdom on April 22...
, Cavil (an incarnation of model number one) states that "there is no afterlife" - a view held by the Sadducees
Sadducees
The Sadducees were a sect or group of Jews that were active in Ancient Israel during the Second Temple period, starting from the second century BC through the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. The sect was identified by Josephus with the upper social and economic echelon of Judean society...
. Finally, models one, four, and five follow their precepts literally in the same way that the Sadducees took the scriptures literally. The rival Cylon faction (made up of model numbers two, three, six and eight share a different set of views. These Cylons believed that people have free will but that God also has foreknowledge of human destiny, a view of Pharisaical Judaism
Pharisees
The Pharisees were at various times a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews during the Second Temple period beginning under the Hasmonean dynasty in the wake of...
. The Cylons also took seriously the words of their hybrid, whom they saw as a prophet and looked to the child of Sharon & Karl Agathon as a Messianic figure
Jewish Messiah
Messiah, ; mashiah, moshiah, mashiach, or moshiach, is a term used in the Hebrew Bible to describe priests and kings, who were traditionally anointed with holy anointing oil as described in Exodus 30:22-25...
in the same ways that the Pharisees heeded the words of their Prophets and looked for the coming of a Messiah. The Sadducees, however, only followed the strict writings of the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
and paid little heed to the Prophets.
Another parallel with antiquity is that the Cylon hybrids and their utterances bear many resemblances to the Twelve Sibyls of the Ancient World and the Sibylline oracles
Sibylline oracles
The Sibylline Oracles are a collection of oracular utterances written in Greek hexameters ascribed to the Sibyls, prophetesses who uttered divine revelations in a frenzied state. Fourteen books and eight fragments of Sibylline Oracles survive...
. Mediæval Christians believed that these oracles prophesied the coming of the Messiah and Christianity.
Life and Death
In the re-imagined series, the Cylons don't have a childhood or die - they reincarnate with their mind born into a new adult body, joining the collective culture where there is no room for individuality. But the few Cylons who have experienced deep love or great pain develop feelings and stand out from the collective and become more integrated with their corporeal bodies. A copy of a Number 6, named Gina, was tortured and abused on the Battlestar Pegasus in the second season. She tried to escape reincarnation by ending her life permanently, similar to the HinduHindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
or Buddhist belief of ending the cycle of the material birth and rebirth.
Names
In the re-imagined series, the last name of Kara Thrace, refers to a region that includes part of GreeceGreece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
and European Turkey (and perhaps Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
). In Greek mythology this region provided a number of Greek kings (including Lycurgus
Lycurgus (Thrace)
In Greek mythology, Lycurgus was the king of the Edoni in Thrace, son of Dryas, the "oak", and father of a son whose name was also Dryas. He banned the cult of Dionysus. When Lycurgus heard that Dionysus was in his kingdom, he imprisoned Dionysus's followers, the Maenads, or drove them and...
, Phineas
Phineas
In Greek mythology, Phineas was a Phoenician King of Thrace.The name 'Phineas' or 'Phineus' may be associated with the ancient city of Phinea on the Thracian Bosphorus.-Phineas, Son of Agenor:...
and Orpheus
Orpheus
Orpheus was a legendary musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek religion and myth. The major stories about him are centered on his ability to charm all living things and even stones with his music; his attempt to retrieve his wife from the underworld; and his death at the hands of those who...
's father) and was known for its mercenaries. Colonial Warriors (Galactica's Viper pilots) wear a patch on the right shoulder of their flight jackets somewhat similar to the Sri Chakra
Sri Chakra
The Sri Chakra or Shri Yantra is a yantra formed by nine interlocking triangles that surround and radiate out from the central point, the junction point between the physical universe and its unmanifest source. It represents the goddess in her form of Shri Lalitha Or Tripura Sundari, "the beauty...
, a yantra
Yantra
Yantra is the Sanskrit word for "instrument" or "machine". Much like the word "instrument" itself, it can stand for symbols, processes, automata, machinery or anything that has structure and organization, depending on context....
. Her nickname, Starbuck, is a character of Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, was written by American author Herman Melville and first published in 1851. It is considered by some to be a Great American Novel and a treasure of world literature. The story tells the adventures of wandering sailor Ishmael, and his voyage on the whaleship Pequod,...
(see Sharon Valerii).
Saul Tigh (originally called Paul prior to production, but changed due to legal issues) persecuted the Cylons, then, after he lost an eye, later discovered that he was himself a Cylon. Similarly, Saul of Tarsus (later called Paul), persecuted the Christians. Then, when Jesus Christ appeared to him on the road to Damascus he became temporarily blinded, and decided to become a follower of Christ.
Dr. Gaius Baltar (Count Baltar in the original series) shares his first name with of one of the disciples of Paul of Tarsus, mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles
Acts of the Apostles
The Acts of the Apostles , usually referred to simply as Acts, is the fifth book of the New Testament; Acts outlines the history of the Apostolic Age...
. The Book of Acts also mentions an "Apollo" (the callsign for Lee Adama) as another disciple of Paul. Gaius was also the praenomen of Gaius Julius Caesar. In Episode Daybreak part 1 his father is named Julius.
Sharon Valerii (an incarnation of Cylon model Number Eight) shares her last name with an ancient Roman Family, the Valerii (plural of Valerius
Valerius
Valerius is the nomen of gens Valeria, one of the oldest patrician families of Rome. The name was in use throughout Roman history...
), many of whose members are buried under St. Peter's Basilica
St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian as ' and commonly known as Saint Peter's Basilica, is a Late Renaissance church located within the Vatican City. Saint Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world...
. Her nickname, Boomer, is a character of Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, was written by American author Herman Melville and first published in 1851. It is considered by some to be a Great American Novel and a treasure of world literature. The story tells the adventures of wandering sailor Ishmael, and his voyage on the whaleship Pequod,...
(see Kara Thrace).
Karl & Sharon Agathon share their last name with a tragic poet from ancient Greece
Agathon
Agathon was an Athenian tragic poet whose works, up to the present moment, have been lost. He is best known for his appearance in Plato's Symposium, which describes the banquet given to celebrate his obtaining a prize for his first tragedy at the Lenaia in . He is also a prominent character in...
. Furthermore, in Ancient Greek ἀγαθός (agathos) means someone who is good, virtuous and honest.
Laura Roslin shares her last name with a village in Scotland
Roslin, Midlothian
Roslin is a pretty village in Midlothian, Scotland, 7 miles to the south of the Scottish Capital city Edinburgh. It is situated approximately 12 miles from Edinburgh Airport.-The name:...
where there is a chapel reputed to be the secret location of the Holy Grail
Holy Grail
The Holy Grail is a sacred object figuring in literature and certain Christian traditions, most often identified with the dish, plate, or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper and said to possess miraculous powers...
.
Galen Tyrol shares his first name with the prominent Roman physician and philosopher of Greek origin, Galen
Galen
Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus , better known as Galen of Pergamon , was a prominent Roman physician, surgeon and philosopher...
of Pergamum, whose theories dominated western medical science for more than a millennium.
Anastasia Dualla shares her first name with an early Christian martyr, St. Anastasia.
The word helo (Karl Agathon's callsign) is the Greek word for thorn.
The Commanding Officer of Battlestar Galactica, William Adama, gets his last name from Adam, the first man created in the Bible. "Adama" is also the Hebrew word for Earth, as well as Diamond, Ground, Dirt, or Indestructible (Adamant, Diamant, Diamond).
The original pitch for the show (in the late 1960s) was called "Adam's Ark", which was subsequently renamed "Battlestar Galactica". Larson's first concept was to retell various biblical stories in a futuristic, space-faring setting.
Religious Terms and Expressions
"So say we all" has been used as the ending of a communal prayer in the re-imagined series, much as AmenAmen
The word amen is a declaration of affirmation found in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. Its use in Judaism dates back to its earliest texts. It has been generally adopted in Christian worship as a concluding word for prayers and hymns. In Islam, it is the standard ending to Dua and the...
is used at the end of prayers in many faiths. Amen has been used in the show as well, though on rare occasion.
In the episode Kobol's Last Gleaming the humans stranded on Kobol recite a prayer containing the phrase "vale of tears", which is a line taken from one of the Catholic Marian antiphons, the Salve Regina
Salve Regina
The "Salve Regina", also known as the Hail Holy Queen, is a Marian hymn and one of four Marian antiphons sung at different seasons within the Christian liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. The Salve Regina is traditionally sung at Compline in the time from the Saturday before Trinity...
. The phrase is often rendered in modern English as "valley of tears".
In the episode A Measure of Salvation
A Measure of Salvation
"A Measure of Salvation" is the seventh episode of the third season from the science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica.-Plot:Survivor Count: 41,420....
, Lee Adama mentions that the Cylons were saying a prayer to the Cloud of Unknowing--a reference to a popular Medieval English religious book
The Cloud of Unknowing
The Cloud of Unknowing is an anonymous work of Christian mysticism written in Middle English in the latter half of the 14th century. The text is a spiritual guide on contemplative prayer in the late Middle Ages.Manuscripts of the work are today at British Library and Cambridge University Library...
.
When Kara Thrace first interrogates Leoben on Galactica, Leoben's quote is, "What is the most basic Article of Faith?" Articles of Faith
Articles of Faith
Articles of faith are sets of beliefs usually found in creeds, sometimes numbered, and often beginning with "We believe...", which attempt to more or less define the fundamental theology of a given religion, and especially in the Christian Church....
are statements of belief by various religions.