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

The Mountain as the Throne of Zeus 135

by her, and so gained his desires. The scene of this idyll was
Mount Kokkygion, or the ' Cuckoo' Mount, near Hermione, on
the top of which there was a sanctuary of Zeus, while on the top
of the neighbouring Mount Pron was a corresponding sanctuary
of Hera. Now the older name of Mount Kokkygion was ThSrnax
or Thronax, which means the ' Throne1.' It seems, therefore, highly
probable that this mountain was regarded by the Greeks as the
throne of Zeus. Indeed, it is possible that an actual throne,
reputed to be that of Zeus, was visible on the mountain. When
Pythagoras made a pilgrimage to Crete, he entered the cave near
the top of Mount Ide wearing black wool, stayed there according

Fig. 101.

to custom thrice nine days and, among other ritual acts, inspected
the throne which was strewn for Zeus once a year2. It is notice-
able, too, that Pergamon, whose altar to Zeus we have already
considered, is described in The Revelation of S. John the divine as
the place 'where Satan's throne is3.'

It is not, then, to be wondered at, if the Greeks brought into
connexion with their Zeus a remarkable series of cult-monuments
scattered up and down the mainland of Asia Minor, the islands of
the Archipelago, and even Greece itself. Throughout these districts
the tops of mountains and hills have been by some unknown people

1 Append. B Argolis. 2 lb. Crete. 3 lb. Mysia.