Sator Square Puns

I feel like this may have been said before, but I haven't seen it anywhere, so here goes.

Context first: The "Sator Square" is a two dimensional square containing a five word latin palindrome, with the earliest example dating from the ruins of Pompeii.

SATOR AREPO TENET OPERA ROTAS

In the movie's universe, the existence of the "Sator Square" means that the Tenet Organization has managed to take the Algorithm at least as far as Ancient Rome. It may have traveled even further into the past, but we can't know for certain.

If this is so, then why does the "Sator Square" exist in the film's universe? What does it really mean?

We also can't know that, but we can guess. Obviously, all five words are very central to the overall plot of the movie. Sator is the antagonist, Arepo is the painter, Tenet is the organization, Opera is the Kiev Opera Siege and Rotas is Sator's company.

Why would this exist in the past? Perhaps somebody talked, and instead of utmost secrecy, the story of what happened in the movie is being told in the past. Or maybe enemies of the Tenet Organization have planted it as a warning? But for whom? The future?

But I have another idea.

Remember "we live in a twilight world" and "there are no friends at dusk"?

Personally, I like the idea that the "Sator Square" palindrome has been passed on, through generations into the past, as sort of a code or a password, but maybe more as sort of a creed. An expression of belief in the fabrics of the world. Or... a tenet. :)

Let me know what you think in the comments below!

TL;DR - >!Nolan used the Sator Square to encode a statement about his core tenets as a filmmaker.!<

>You’re only halfway there. I’ll see you at the beginning, friend. -Neil

Tenet features forgeries of Rubens and Goya. What do these artists have in common? Each produced a work entitled: “Saturn Devouring His Child.”

https://preview.redd.it/mbgrvho847961.png?width=1022&format=png&auto=webp&s=e32ca79107551514b4b8f63809ed5c2796590934

Saturn is the Roman god of sowing or seed, adapted from the Greek Titan, Kronos. The paintings depict the myth in which Saturn feared his own children would seize power, so he consumed each of them at the moment of birth.

This brings us to the Sator Square:

The Roman scholar Marcus Terentius Varro was of the opinion that the name Saturn had its origins in the verb sero (sow/beget), which the noun sator is derived from.

In other words, Sator = Saturn.

The most common translation of the Sator Square is derived from reading it top-to-bottom or left-to-right:

SATOR AREPO TENET OPERA ROTAS
“The sower, Arepo, holds the wheels with effort.”

The problem with this translation is that the word 'arepo' appears nowhere in Latin literature.

C. W. Ceram read the square boustrophedon (in alternating directions), with tenet repeated. This has the advantage of avoiding the fake word, arepo:

SATOR OPERA TENET; TENET OPERA SATOR
'Sator holds in his hand all works; all works Sator holds in his hand.'

Note the letters of Sator form a perimeter around the square, thus "holding in" the other letters:

https://preview.redd.it/wn9yyk4f47961.png?width=560&format=png&auto=webp&s=7ce8113ff1f0eb143342735bab073c483fa304a4

Nolan indicates his support for this interpretation through the following clues:

1. The art forger’s name is Tomas Arepo, hinting that the word "arepo" should be treated as suspect.
2. The temporal structure of the film mimics the zig zag reading path:

https://preview.redd.it/9rubfsdj47961.png?width=1126&format=png&auto=webp&s=dd0945852fef3f1d115374540235a727b17b4d33

>...I asked [my brother], ‘Is this me repeating myself?’ He was like, ‘No, it’s more the apotheosis of a set of ideas.’ I said, ‘Great, that’s how I feel about it.’- The Nolan Variations (p. 760)

Several clues for solving the Saturn riddle can be found in Nolan's previous films.

Inception's Saito (Saturn) was the head of a corporation called Proclus Global. Proclus was a Greek philosopher kno

The Sator square is one of the oldest latin word squares known. Any vertical or horizontal line yields a palindrome.

S A T O R

A R E P O

T E N E T

O P E R A

R O T A S

Some definitions of these words, along with connections to themes included in Tenet, include:

Sator: (divine) progenitor, creator, sometimes thought of as time itself. [Relates to the flow of entropy in Tenet and how Andrei Sator would be a “god” by causing the world to end.]

Edit: The villain’s name is Andrei Sator.

Arepo: Egyptian cult god of the afterlife. [Relates to the Protagonist’s “death” and rebirth]

Edit: Thomas Arepo is the name of the drawing’s artist.

Tenet: A fundamental set of beliefs. [Literally the title of the movie]

Opera: [Relates to the Kiev Opera siege scene]

Rotas: something that rotates, used to described the wheels of time in ancient latin texts. [Relates to how the “wheels of time” are inverted back and forth inthe movie or the inversion irradiation chambers]

Edit: Rotas is the name of Andrei’s company.

At this point it’s obvious that Nolan had this in mind while working on the film. It was a lot of fun to put the pieces together a couple hours after seing the film and without seeing any other mention of this anywhere.

I honestly don't care if this has been posted before, it just occurred to me and blew my mind and I have no one to tell who cares so this subreddit gets my theory.

If anyone knows who LEMMiNO is on YouTube he's a documentary/facts based channel and is currently producing seriously high-end content. Anyway, I was rewatching his Top 10 Facts video where he talks about the sator square and how it turns up in places all throughout history.

Nolan evidently wanted the sator square to have some meaning so I thought the fact the villain was Sator, his company was Rotas, prologue at an Opera, guy who sold painting was Arepo and Tenet was the organisation that saves the world, was simply a nice tie reference to the sator square. However it just occurred to me that maybe Nolan intended it to mean something deeper. Bare with me:

SATOR, ROTAS, AREPO, OPERA and TENET are essential plot points that without them, the events of the movie would not have been possible. Therefore this sator square can be thought of as a historical documentation of the events that saved the universe. The exact plot points that, had they not happened (arguably not with the Opera but still), the universe would have met its demise.

It is my theory that the future understand the importance of the events that we saw in the movie and create the sator square almost as a monument. Like a brief documentation respecting the heroes and saying, in a way, this is what saved the universe. The future created the square and inverted it so that knowledge of its existence would be respected by the past. OR the sator square in our universe is simply to say that the events of Tenet have already occurred, like Neil says at the end 'they wouldn't care', and so the square was maybe created by them as a like medal of their achievement for the people who knew what happened.

This theory is backed up by the fact that the sator square's origin is unknown. Words such as arepo are untranslatable and therefore its meaning is unknown, however some suggest arepo to be a name. It turns up across history in seemingly unrelated cultures and a wide array of locations.

Its just a theory but it really impresses me if Nolan did this deliberately. I like to think so because directors are involved in every little detail, down the taking off of medical gloves (lmao), so things like this don't just happen by accident.

TL;DR ==> Nolan's implying that the sator square is a shrine of the plot points to respect the sequence of

https://preview.redd.it/v0dhrzfbpji51.jpg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=53b75b1e09d10ae1a3ef0cc7fb5a556d0aea0eb9

This is just a hint,

but I think that the next Nolan movie is based on this magic word diagram.

The Sator Square (or Rotas Square) is a word square containing a five-word Latin palindrome.

The earliest form has ROTAS as the top line, but in time the version with SATOR on the top line became dominant. It is a five-by-five square made up of five 5-letter words, thus consisting of 25 letters in total, all derived from eight Latin letters: five consonants (S, T, R, P, N) and three vowels (A, E, O).

Translations

SATOR (Also the surname of the Villain)

(nominative or vocative noun) (from serere=to sow) sower, planter, founder, progenitor (usually divine); originator; literally “seeder”.

AREPO

unknown, likely a proper name, either invented or, perhaps, of Egyptian origin, e.g. coded form of the name Harpocrates or Hor-Hap (Serapis).

TENET (Name of the movie)

(verb) (from tenere=to hold) he/she/it holds, keeps, comprehends, possesses, masters, preserves, sustains.

OPERA

(nominative, ablative or accusative noun) work, care, aid, labour, service, effort/trouble; (from opus): (nominative, accusative or vocative noun) works, deeds; (ablative) with effort.

ROTAS

(rotās, accusative plural of rota) wheels; (verb) you (singular) turn or cause to rotate.

The oldest datable representation of the Sator Square was found in the ruins of Pompeii. (Part of the movie is filmed there)

For more infos about the square check wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sator_Square

>! #1 - I love thinking about the "Arepo" artist who created the fakes in the past, to screw Sator over.

Part of the square - Arepo is Opera backwards. I'm assuming the Arepo artist could possibly be TP in the past (who we also hear that Kat could have had some sort of relationship with.) So this resolves TP's love connection with Kat where they could not be a thing in Kat's future after killing Sator.

#2 - Question. I saw all parts of the square mentioned in the film EXCEPT ROTAS.

We see SATOR, AREPO, OPERA, and TENET. Did anyone catch any listings of ROTAS??? Just curious! THANKS! !<

The theory:

I propose that the sator square's significance is that it is a guide for manifestation. The means by which to manifest is a step by step thing starting with setting intention, then doing visualization, then having sustained focus, then doing the work. After this, as long as you appreciate what you have and are willing to not expect anything and be open minded, the universe provides.

The Sator square could be significant enough for people to see that it is carved into stone because it was a guide for manifestation that was important to them enough to not be lost in history.

Some word definitions:

SATOR(nominative or vocative noun) (from serere=to sow) sower, planter, founder, progenitor (usually divine); originator; literally “seeder”.

***AREPO***unknown, likely a proper name, either invented or, perhaps, of Egyptian origin, e.g. coded form of the name Harpocrates or Hor-Hap (Serapis).

TENET(verb) (from tenere=to hold) he/she/it holds, keeps, comprehends, possesses, masters, preserves, sustains.

OPERA(nominative, ablative or accusative noun) work, care, aid, labour, service, effort/trouble; (from opus): (nominative, accusative or vocative noun) works, deeds; (ablative) with effort.

ROTAS(rotās, accusative plural of rota) wheels; (verb) you (singular) turn or cause to rotate.

My proposed interpretation:

Sator stands for "Lay the seed" (the intention)

Arepo stands for "Give it a name" (the visualization)

Tenet stands for "Hold the intention and the name" (the sustained focus)

Opera stands for "Put in the labour/effort" (the work)

Rotas stands for "Repeat" (could also be a metaphor for "the world will keep turning, so don't expect anything and be open minded?"

Source of wikipedia text/image:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sator_Square