the sun, the moon and other celestial bodies

What do you understand when someone says "x is the sun"? What kinds of associations do we make between the sun and a human being? How does cultural background reflect on this? And how does the moon come into the picture, if ever? I came to think about this when I was reading a paper on metaphor the other day for the reading group I mentioned on Wednesday. The main problem from the linguistic point of view is whether metaphorical meanings are to be considered part of 'what is said' or 'what is implicated', but, lucky for you, I won't go into that :) The example discussed in the paper is the following (presumably said by Romeo):

• Juliet is the sun

Now look at the range of associated meanings that have been mentioned to be communicated by this metaphor and tell me if you don't think some of them are really weird (I listed them in an ascending order of weirdness):

1. Juliet is the warmth of Romeo's world.
2. Juliet is the brightest thing Romeo knows.
3. Romeo's day begins with Juliet.
4. Juliet is without peer.
5. Juliet is the object around which Romeo's world revolves.
6. Only in Juliet's nourishment can Romeo grow.
7. Everything else is lit by Juliet's presence.
8. The moon, which other lovers use as an emblem of love, is merely Juliet's reflected light and dead in comparison.
9. Romeo is inevitably drawn to her although he knows this to be dangerous.

I don't know about you, but when I think of the sun metaphor I primarily think of it in romantic terms and, as you can see, the more scientific elements that have to do with astrology or physics get in the way, the farther this meaning is from my mind. And what brings the moon into all this? I don't think I ever think of the moon when someone describes a lady as the sun, certainly not in the negative way in (8). More generally, I think that in Eastern cultures, the meanings associated with describing someone (whether you can say that about a man as about a woman is another cultural issue too I guess) as the sun won't go beyond number (4).

How about this metaphor:

• Juliet is the moon.

I wouldn't be surprised if the first meaning that comes to mind from describing Juliet as the moon (which is to say that she is beautiful) turns out not to be as universal as I would've thought. How about "Juliet is a star"? This certainly does not get us thinking that Juliet is a self-luminous source of energy, just like the sun, but it's much farther away.

Mai