Notes & Queries Archive
QUERY1850

Horns

By L. C. (Cambridge)

1. Why is Moses represented in statues with horns? The idea is not, I think, taken from the Bible. 2. What is the reason for assigning horns to a river, as in the "Tauriformis Aufidus." 3. What is the origin of the expression "to give a man horns," for grossly dishonouring him? It is met with in late Greek.

Topics: Biblical Interpretation, Mythology, Linguistic Expressions