A Note on the

Chariot of Zeus

I W Cleeve 

But the first of The Twelve Leaders (i.e. The Liberated Gods)^C, is said by Socrates to drive
a Winged Chariot (pthnp n a r ma)^C in The Heavens. How therefore, can he who is
connected with The Kosmos , and who approximates to The Gods in The Heavens, be
considered as the same with him (i.e. The Demiurgos)^C who is exempt from all [Kosmic
 Natures,]^T and who abides, as Timæus says, in his own accustomed manner?

(Proclos, Theol. Plat. VI, Ch. 19 tr. Taylor)

The CHARIOT (a rma) of LIBERATED ZEUS

o me n mhgaV hgemwn en ouranw ZeuV , elaunwn pthnon arma, prwtoV poreuetai,
diakosmwn panta kai epimeloumenoV · (Phaedr . 246e)

"Now The Great Leader in Heaven, Zeus, driving a Winged Chariot, goes first, arranging
all things and caring for all things." (Fowler, Loeb 36)

arma does not merely mean a chariot, but a complete equipage, including the horses (LSJ⁹
[1996] s.v., as an organised and disciplined unity — in fact, arma is a Pythagorean word
for 'Unity' (ibid . s.v. III).

It especially signifies a war-chariot, but is also used for a racing-chariot, and even just for
the team of horses yoked to either. (ibid. s.v. I., I.3)

It should be noted that Liberated Zeus leads an army of Gods and Daimons, an organised
group united to a single purpose and way of Life, and so rides in a war-chariot.

The Contrast between The Divine CHARIOT (arma) of ZEUS
and The IRRATIONAL VEHICLE (ochma-pneuma) of Human SOULS

arma is opposite to ochma (LSJ⁹ [1996], s.v. I), which is the term used for the Irrational
Vehicle or Pneuma (Ochma-Pneuma) of the Human Sou in the Timaeus (41E). In the myth
of the Phaedrus, it is 'heated' by the Inspiration of Intelligible Beauty, and so is energised to
grow its Wings.

(See EROS-3.REF, Ann. 6:  "The HEAT of INTELLECTUAL FIRE and
The WINGS of The Dry SOUL".)

In exoteric terms ochma signifies a vehicle drawn by mules (ibid.). What a powerful image
this creates: on the one hand there is the sleek, light, rapid war-chariot (arma) of Zeus;
on the other a mule-cart (ochma ) dragged by an ill-matched and inharmonious pair of
mules — each of them born of ill-matched parents — as the Vehicle of a Human Soul.

arma is also opposite to armamaxa (ibid.), a covered carriage, generally luxuriously
appointed, and used by women and Persian notables, e.g. the Persian ambassadors to
Susa. (ibid. s.v. armamaxa ); for, esoterically, the arma is not a vehicle of the Senses,
but of the vaulting purpose of Reason and Intellect.

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