Cnoüs

First Appearance and Context

Cnoüs is cited within the Hylaean hymn sung during an aut in the Mynster. In that rite, the music first depicts a state of disorder that "preceded Cnoüs," then converges to a single tone representing the Light dawning in Cnoüs’s mind. The hymn also names Hylaea as "our mother" who brings forth the Light of her father.

Within the Hylaean Way’s Rotunda, a central white‑marble sculpture (double life size) depicts Cnoüs beneath a riverside tree at the moment of his vision: he sprawls back against the roots, one hand raised as if to shield his eyes, the other gripping a stylus. A ruler, a compass, and a tablet graven with carefully constructed circles and polygons lie at his feet. Companion sculptures portray his daughters; an oculus cut as an isosceles triangle admits a beam of sunlight into the space.

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

• Legend holds that Cnoüs was a master stonemason, working at a king’s command to build a temple. While working out a difficult geometrical problem, he paused under a tree by a river and experienced the vision that later traditions treat as a turning point.
• Two accounts are attributed to his daughters: one presents a vision of a hidden, perfect realm and a turning away from idols; the other describes an upsight into pure theorical objects—exemplified by an isosceles triangle—and cautions against confusing drawn figures with the objects of theorics.
• Sources add that Cnoüs soon offended his king and was exiled, where he died; regardless of details, the divergence that followed is presented as a forking between the Deolaters and early theor‑followers sometimes called physiologers. A later center at Orithena is remembered for organizing inquiry into the theoric world said to have been glimpsed in his moment of insight.

Relationships

• Parent of Hylaea and Deat, often described (in the sculptural tradition) as fraternal twins. Their diverging teachings shape later communities and practices.

Descriptions/Characteristics

• Iconography: The Rotunda statue shows Cnoüs as aged but muscular, with long wavy hair and beard, posed mid‑upsight beneath a tree. Measuring tools and a scored tablet emphasize his craft and the geometric focus of the scene.
• Figurative associations: Among avout, phrases such as the Light of Cnous evoke awe and enlightenment connected with Cnoüs and sauntly bearing.

Current Status/Location

Cnoüs functions as a mythic‑philosophical figure active in liturgy and teaching. A renowned ancient statue depicting his moment of insight is displayed in the Rotunda within the Hylaean Way.

Iconographies and Sæcular Perceptions

In reviews of Iconography, Cnoüs is cited in a pattern where outsiders cast avout as guardians of hidden secrets said to descend from him; this is presented as a recurring Sæcular stereotype rather than a claim about practice.