DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14695#0018
this ubiquitous deity—now thirty or forty questions scratched on
slips of lead and addressed to his oracle at Dodona, now a contract
for the building of his temple at Lebadeia, now again a list of his
priests at Korykos, odd details of his rites at Iasos, a hymn sung in
his service at Palaikastro, and votive offerings to him from half the
towns of Greece. Such information, fresh and relevant, accumulates
apace. Moreover, those who can neither dig nor travel carry on
the quest at home. Year in, year out, the universities of Europe
and America pour forth a never-ending flood of dissertations and
programmes, pamphlets and articles, devoted to the solution of
particular problems in ancient religion ; and a large proportion of
these is more or less intimately concerned with Zeus.
To cope with an output so vast and so varied would be beyond
the strength of any man, were it not for the fact that intensive
study follows hard upon the heels of discovery. On many aspects
of what K. Schenkl called die Zeusreligion standard books have
long since been penned by well-qualified hands. And more than
one admirable summary of results is already before the public.
Greek and Latin literature has been ransacked by writers galore,
who have sketched the conceptions of Zeus to be found more
especially in the poets and the philosophers: it would be tedious to
enumerate names. Others again have dealt with the worship of
Zeus as it affected a particular area : recent examples are Maybaum
Der Zeuskult in Boeotien (Doberan 1901) and E. Neustadt De Jove
Cretico (Berlin 1906). Yet others have written on some specialised
form of Zeus : C. J. Schmitthenner De Jove Hammone (Weilburg
1840), H. D. Miiller Ueber den Zeus Lykaios (Gottingen 1851), and
A. H. Kan De Iovis Dolicheni cultu (Groningen 1901) will serve as
specimens of the class. Notable attempts have been made to cover
parts of the subject on more general lines. Inscriptions about Zeus
are grouped together by W. Dittenberger Sylloge inscriptidnum
Graecarum (ed. 2 Leipzig 1898, 1900, 1901), C. Michel Recueil
d'inscriptions greeques (Paris 1900, 1912), and H.Dessau luscriptiones
Latinae selectae (Berlin 1892, 1902, 1906, 1914). Descriptions of Zeus
in Greek and Latin poetry are analysed by C. F. H. Bruchmann
Epitheta deorum quae apud poetas Graecos leguntur (Leipzig 1893)
and J. B. Carter Epitheta deorum quae apud poetas Latinos leguntur
(Leipzig 1902). The festivals of Zeus in Athens and elsewhere are
discussed by A. Mommsen Feste der Stadt A then (Leipzig 1898)
and, with greater circumspection, by M. P. Nilsson Griechische Feste
von religioser Bedeutung mit Ausschluss der attischen (Leipzig 1906).
slips of lead and addressed to his oracle at Dodona, now a contract
for the building of his temple at Lebadeia, now again a list of his
priests at Korykos, odd details of his rites at Iasos, a hymn sung in
his service at Palaikastro, and votive offerings to him from half the
towns of Greece. Such information, fresh and relevant, accumulates
apace. Moreover, those who can neither dig nor travel carry on
the quest at home. Year in, year out, the universities of Europe
and America pour forth a never-ending flood of dissertations and
programmes, pamphlets and articles, devoted to the solution of
particular problems in ancient religion ; and a large proportion of
these is more or less intimately concerned with Zeus.
To cope with an output so vast and so varied would be beyond
the strength of any man, were it not for the fact that intensive
study follows hard upon the heels of discovery. On many aspects
of what K. Schenkl called die Zeusreligion standard books have
long since been penned by well-qualified hands. And more than
one admirable summary of results is already before the public.
Greek and Latin literature has been ransacked by writers galore,
who have sketched the conceptions of Zeus to be found more
especially in the poets and the philosophers: it would be tedious to
enumerate names. Others again have dealt with the worship of
Zeus as it affected a particular area : recent examples are Maybaum
Der Zeuskult in Boeotien (Doberan 1901) and E. Neustadt De Jove
Cretico (Berlin 1906). Yet others have written on some specialised
form of Zeus : C. J. Schmitthenner De Jove Hammone (Weilburg
1840), H. D. Miiller Ueber den Zeus Lykaios (Gottingen 1851), and
A. H. Kan De Iovis Dolicheni cultu (Groningen 1901) will serve as
specimens of the class. Notable attempts have been made to cover
parts of the subject on more general lines. Inscriptions about Zeus
are grouped together by W. Dittenberger Sylloge inscriptidnum
Graecarum (ed. 2 Leipzig 1898, 1900, 1901), C. Michel Recueil
d'inscriptions greeques (Paris 1900, 1912), and H.Dessau luscriptiones
Latinae selectae (Berlin 1892, 1902, 1906, 1914). Descriptions of Zeus
in Greek and Latin poetry are analysed by C. F. H. Bruchmann
Epitheta deorum quae apud poetas Graecos leguntur (Leipzig 1893)
and J. B. Carter Epitheta deorum quae apud poetas Latinos leguntur
(Leipzig 1902). The festivals of Zeus in Athens and elsewhere are
discussed by A. Mommsen Feste der Stadt A then (Leipzig 1898)
and, with greater circumspection, by M. P. Nilsson Griechische Feste
von religioser Bedeutung mit Ausschluss der attischen (Leipzig 1906).