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

Development in the meaning of Olympos 115

By the fourth, and even by the fifth, century before our era the
word Olympos had acquired a further significance. It meant no
longer the mere mountain, but the 'sky' above it. Thus Sophokles
in his Antigone makes Kreon, when at Thebes, swear 'by yon
Olympos1,' and Euripides in his Andromeda makes the heroine
apostrophise Night as follows :

O holy Night,

How long the course thou drivest,

Charioting the starry ridges

Of holy aither

Through dread Olympos2.

Both poets contrast Olympos in the sense of 'sky' with 'earth3.'
The same usage is found in prose. The author of the Platonic
Epinornis speaks of the visible heaven as ' the kosmos or Olympos
or sky, whichever you choose to call it4,' while the author of the
Aristotelian treatise On the Universe declares that God 'being pure
has his station above in a pure place, even that which we truly
name ourands, since it is the "boundary" (horos) of things "above"
{and), and Olympos as "wholly-shining" (Jiolo-lampes) and separate
from all such darkness and disorderly movement as arises among
us by means of storm and stress of winds5.'

The change in meaning from Olympos the ' mountain' to
Olympos the 'sky' would readily follow from the belief that the
mountain rose into the aither. And for the prevalence of this
belief there is abundant evidence15. It is even probable that in
ancient days the inhabitants of the district actually spoke of the

Ovpavov, Mcupa for Motpa. N. G. Polites MeAe-n? £ttI tou (BLov t&v Netorepojv 'EWrjvuu
Athens 1874 ii. 228 gives k r/ for /ecu i], J. C. Lawson Modern Greek Folklore and
Ancient Greek Religion Cambridge 1910 p. 128 prints the third line as ottov 17 Moipais t&v
MoipQiv. He justly draws attention to the ancient word Kopv^ov, citing variants with
Kokvixfiov (a dialect form, or else a corruption due to assonance with "0\vjJLirov) and
Kbpoifiov (for which he proposes Kopvfiov). The word Kopv/xfios is akin to Kopvcpr}, which
was used of Olympos {e.g. II. 1. 499, Aristoph. nub. 270) and gave rise to its Kopv(3avres
{supra p. 107).

1 Soph. Ant. 758, cp. At. 1389. 2 Eur. Androtneda frag. 114 Nauck'2.

3 Soph. O. C. 1653 ff., Rhizotomifrag. 492 Nauck2; Eur. Phoen. 1184.

4 Plat, epinom. 977 B.

5 Aristot. de mundo 6. 400 a 6 ff. This impossible derivation of "OXv/j-wos from
6\o-\a/j.TT7)s is given also by Plout. ap. Stob. eel. 1. 11. 2 p. 198, n f. Wachsmuth, et.
mag. p. 623, 8 f., et. Gud. p. 426, 25 f., schol. D. //. 1. iS, Eustath. in II. pp. 38, 38, 694,
51 f., in Od. p. 1389, 57 f., Io. Diak. in Bandin. anecd. p. 155 and Psell. opusc. p. 171
(both cited by Boissonade in Stephanus Thes. Gr. Ling. v. 1902 c), Serv. in Verg. Aen.
4. 268; from 6\6-\afji.iros by Eustath. in II. p. 27, 34ff., Tzetz. exeg. in II. p. 81, 26 f.
Hermann, Priscian. part. p. 507, 10 ff. Keil; from o\os \afxwpbs by interp. Serv. in
Verg. Aen. 4. 268, 10. 1. It was revived by G. Curtius Grundziige der griechischen
Etj/mologie5 Leipzig 1875 P- 266.

0 Supra p. 101 f.

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