Golden calf
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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According to the Hebrew Bible, the golden calf (עֵגֶּל הַזָהָב ‘ēggel hazâhâv) was an idol (a cult image) made by Aaron to satisfy the Israelites during Moses' absence, when he went up to Mount Sinai. In Hebrew, the incident is known as ḥēṭ’ ha‘ēggel (חֵטְא הַעֵגֶּל) or "The Sin of the Calf".
By extension, it refers to Money as an end in itself; mammon.
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In popular culture
- Le veau d'or est toujours debout (The Golden Calf is still standing) is a famous aria in Charles Gounod's opera Faust
- The Band's songs "To Kingdom Come" and "Forbidden Fruit" each reference the story of the golden calf.
- The Golden Calf is the award given at the Netherlands Film Festival, regarded as the Dutch counterpart to the Academy Awards.
- In 2008, Damien Hirst put his sculpture The Golden Calf up for auction at Sotheby's. The dead calf in formaldehyde, complete with gold-plated horns and hooves, sold for 10.3 million pounds.
- Prefab Sprout has a song on the album From Langley Park to Memphis called "The Golden Calf".
- Mooby the Golden Calf is a fictional character featured in Kevin Smith's films, comics and animated series—an indictment of McDonald's, Mickey Mouse and Disney overall. In Dogma, the Angel of Death Loki explicitly links Mooby with the mammon-based implications of the Golden Calf in Exodus.
- The Little Golden Calf is a famous satirical novel by Soviet authors Ilf and Petrov.
- Rhode Island band The Low Anthem recorded the track "Golden Cattle" for their 2011 album Smart Flesh.
- Moses und Aron (composed 1932-1933), a three-act, uncompleted opera by Arnold Schoenberg includes the episode "The Golden Calf and the Altar" (Act II, Scene 3).
- The Hooters' song All You Zombies references the story of the golden calf.
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See also
- Gugalanna
- Ki Tissa and Eikev, Torah parshiot dealing with the Golden Calf
- Red Heifer
- Tauroctony
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Golden calf" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Golden calf" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.