Nuove riflessioni sulla stella dei Magi tra fonti canoniche e apocrife

The present contribution analyses the actual meaning to be attributed to the expression ἐν τῇ ἀνατολῇ, twice used in the Gospel of Matthew (2, 1-2, and 9), but variously attested in the Apocrypha of the New Testament. After a careful analysis of many data of philological, symbolical, astral and religious nature, it is clear that this syntagm cannot be interpreted as a simple reference to a vision of the star of Jesus «in the Orient», but as a direct reference to its rising (if heliacal or not, it is impossible to state, as it would be also impossible to state that the rising star was at the so called ‘horoscopos’ or ‘ascendant’ point). This article deals also with the description of the star in a number of Christian canonical and non-canonical sources, particularly with regard to its brightness and shape, but also considering the association of it with an angel.