Jupiter

Meaning

Jupiter has several local offices. In the poets’ division of the world he receives heaven; alternative accounts of primogeniture are mentioned and set aside as irrelevant. In the golden-bough passage his justice or favour governs access. In another interpretation his name refers to the world soul, while the prince’s visit elsewhere is compared to Jupiter visiting Philemon.

The Mercury genealogy must be quoted without truncation: “la pure & invisible semence de Jupiter, qui est l’air.” The supplied English takes air as the pure invisible seed, not as an unqualified definition of Jupiter himself. This does not license a fixed Jupiter-equals-air equation, especially beside the distinct world-soul reading. The god is an interpreted poetic figure whose role changes with the argument, not a stable modern material label.