Theta

From Freepedia

Greek alphabet
Α α Alpha	Β β Beta
Γ γ Gamma	Δ δ Delta
Ε ε Epsilon	Ζ ζ Zeta
Η η Eta	Θ θ Theta
Ι ι Iota	Κ κ Kappa
Λ λ Lambda	Μ μ Mu
Ν ν Nu	Ξ ξ Xi
Ο ο Omicron	Π π Pi
Ρ ρ Rho	Σ σ Sigma
Τ τ Tau	Υ υ Upsilon
Φ φ Phi	Χ χ Chi
Ψ ψ Psi	Ω ω Omega
obsolete letters
Ϝ ϝ Digamma	Ϻ ϻ San
Ϙ ϙ Qoppa	Ϡ ϡ Sampi

This article is about theta as a Greek letter. For other uses, including quantities symbolized by the letter, see Theta (disambiguation).

Theta (upper case Θ, lower case θ) is the eighth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 9. Theta Θ represents the phonetical sound of "Th" in English, such as in the words "thick" or "thin".

In its archaic form, theta was written as:

• a cross within a circle (Image:Cross within circle.png or Image:Cross within circle 2.png)

• and later, as a line or point within a circle (Image:Line within circle.png or Image:Astrological glyph for sun.png).

According to Porphyry of Tyros, the Egyptians used an X within a circle as a symbol of the soul; having a value of nine, it was used as a symbol for Ennead. Johannes Lydus says that the Egyptians used a symbol for Kosmos in the form of theta, with a fiery circle representing the world, and a snake spanning the middle representing Agathos Daimon.

The Egyptians also used the symbol of a point within a circle (Image:Astrological glyph for sun.png) to represent the Sun god Ra, which might be a possible origin of its use as the astrological glyph for the Sun. It is worthwhile to note that theta has the same numerical value in isopsephy as Helios (ΘΗΤΑ = 318 = ΗΛΙΟΣ).

In classical Athens, as an abbreviation for the Greek word thanatos (θάνατος: "death"; see Thanatos and Thanatology) and as it vaguely resembles a human skull, theta was used as a warning symbol of death, in the same way that skull and crossbones are used in modern times. It survives on potsherds used by Athenians when voting for the death penalty. The Cyrillic letter Fita arose from Theta.

References

• The Greek Qabalah, by Kieren Barry, Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1999. ISBN 1578631106
• Jesus Christ, Sun of God, by David Fideler, Quest Books, 1993. ISBN 0835606961