Cook, Arthur B.: Zeus: a study in ancient religion (Band 1): Zeus god of the bright sky (Cambridge, 1914)

The Precinct of Zeus Lykaios 81

Arkadia1, naturally attached itself to the rite of eating human flesh2.
And lycanthropy often involved metamorphosis for a given term of
years, after which the were-wolf returned to human shape3. But
nowhere else, so far as I am aware, did this superstition stand in
any special relation to the cult of Zeus. I conclude, therefore, that
Zeus Lykaios was not essentially, but only as it were by accident, a
' Wolf '-god. His original character was that of a 'Light'-god
controlling the sunshine, the rain, and the crops.

(d) The Precinct of Zeus Lykaios.

In 1903 Mr K. Kourouniotes trenched the altar and laid bare
the precinct of Zeus Lykaios. I will here summarise the results of
the excavation4.

The top of Mount Lykaion (fig. 50)5 has three crests—Stephdni,
the highest point (about 4615 ft above sea-level); Ae Lids, some-
what lower (about 4550 ft); and Diaphdrti, on which is a ruined
tower, probably Turkish in origin. It is with Ae Lids that we are
concerned. This summit takes its name from Saint Elias6, whose
little chapel stands on the south-east edge of a small level space
adjoining the crest on its south side. The level is known locally
as Taberna from a shop, which was once established here to supply
necessaries for the saint's festival.

London 1865, W. Hertz Der Werwolf Stuttgart 1862, W. Fischer Ddmonische Wesen,
Vampir u. Werwolf, in Geschichte tend Sage {Aberglaube alter Zeiten iii) Stuttgart
1906. See also R. Leubuscher Dissertatio de Lycanthropia Medio aevo Berlin 1850,
F. G. Welcker ' Lykanthropie ein Aberglaube und eine Krankheit' in his Kleine
Schriften Bonn 1850 iii. 157—184, W. H. Roscher 'Das von der " Kynanthropie "
handelnde Fragment des Marcellus von Side' in the Abh. d. sacks. Gesellsch. d. Wiss.
Phil.-hist. Classe 1897 xvii. 3. 1—92.

1 J. C. Lawson Modern Greek Folklore and Ancient Greek Religion Cambridge 1910
p. 240. On the were-wolf in modern Greece generally consult N. G. Polites irepl
AvKOKCLvQapuv in the journal Havddjpa 1866 xvi. 453 f., MeX^n? iirl tou j3iov t&v Newrtpiov
"EWrjvwv Athens 1871 i. 67 ff., and Hapadoaeis Athens 1904 ii. 12406"., where a full
bibliography is given.

2 Hertz op. cit. p. 39 (quoted by Gruppe Gr. Myth. Ret. p. 920 n. 3) adduces Indian
and German examples of men transformed into beasts after tasting human flesh.

3 E.g. S. Baring-Gould op. cit. pp. 58 (Ireland: seven years), 59 ('Ossyrian' sic:
seven years), P. Sebillot Le Folk-lore de France Paris 1906 iii. 55 (Normandy: seven
years, sometimes three).

4 K. Kourouniotes in the 'E0. 'Ap%. 1904 pp. 153—214. See also F. H. Marshall in
the Class. Rev. 1905 xix. 280 f. Kourouniotes has further excavated the hippodrome
etc. on Mt Lykaion (UpaKT. dpx- it. 1909 pp. 185—200 with figs., cp. Am. fount.
Arch. 1911 xv. 417).

5 From a photograph kindly sent to me by Mr Kourouniotes, through whose
generosity I am enabled also to make use of the unpublished photograph (pi. viii) and
the illustrations in the 'E0. 'Apx- loc. cit.

6 "A77 Aias="Ayios 'HXtas.

c. 6