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

126 The Mountain as the Throne of Zeus

confident of success, is seated quietly behind Hermes. She rests one
hand on a sceptre, the other on a little Eros, whose brother she has
already sent forward to whisper seductive words in the ear of the
judge. Above her we see Eutychia, the goddess of good luck, and
an attendant maiden preparing wreaths for the coming victory.
In front of Paris, but wholly disregarded by him, stands Athena—
a majestic figure closely resembling the Parthenos of Pheidias.
Hardly less majestic, and not a whit more successful in attracting
the notice of Paris, is Hera, who draws near on the left supported
by her maid Klymene. In the background appears Eris, who first
brought about the strife and now would watch its denouement. On
the right Helios drives up his four-horse chariot from behind the
mountain, recalling an analogous figure in the eastern pediment
of the Parthenon. On the left sits Zeus, leaning on the rocky slope.
He wears a laurel-wreath in his hair and a himdtion wrapped about
his knees. His right hand holds a sceptre; his left, a winged
thunderbolt Helios and Zeus give the setting of the scene in time
and place1. For Ide is the home of Zeus [daws'1. Moreover, it
was in obedience to the bidding of Zeus that Hermes brought the
goddesses before Paris3.

Equally essential is the relation of Zeus to the main design in
the case of the Poniatowski vase—a great Apulian krater with
medallion handles, which was found near Bari and is now in the
Vatican collection4. Its obverse (fig. 96) shows Triptolemos on
his winged car drawn by two serpents. He is wreathed with myrtle,
and holds in his left hand a sceptre and a bunch of corn. One of
his serpents is feeding from a phidle held by a seated goddess,
possibly one of the Horai. The other turns towards a standing
goddess, almost certainly Demeter, who holds a wheel-torch under
her left arm and is offering more corn to Triptolemos. Behind her
at a lower level stands another goddess, probably Hekate, bearing
a lighted torch. Above and beyond these figures rises a mountain,
indicated by broken dotted lines, upon which we see two goddesses
and higher up two gods. The goddesses cannot be identified with

1 Cp. the vase at St Petersburg (Stephani Vasensamml. St. Petersburg ii. 339 ff.
no. 1807) figured in the Compte-rendu St. Pet. 1861 p. 33 ff. Atlas pi. 3 f., Wien. Vorlegebl.
A pi. 11, 1.

2 Append. B Troas.

3 Kypria ap. Prokh chrestom. 1 (p. 17 Kinkelj, Loukian. dial. deor. 20. i, 7, 8,
Kolouth. rapt. Hel. 690"., Ov. her. 16. 71, Apul. met. 10. 30 and 33.

4 A. L. Millin Peintures de Vases antique* Paris 1810 ii pi. 31 f. = Reinach Vases Ant.
p. 60 ff. pi. 31 f-, Inghirami Vas.fitt. i. 22 ff. pi. 11 f., Lenormant—de Witte El. mon. cdr.
iii. 177 ff pk 63, Overbeck Gr. Kunstmyth. Demeter—Kora p. 5528". Atlas pi. 16, 15,
infra ch. i § 6 (d) i (j3).