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

142 The Mountain as the Throne of Zeus

Hekate1. In Rhodes itself, not far from Lartos, there is a rock-
cut throne some nine or ten feet above the road-way: over against
this throne, on the opposite side of the road, is an inscription carved
on the face of a steep rock, eighteen feet or so above the ground,
in letters not later than the third century B.C. ; the inscription is a
votive couplet dedicating a tablet (now lost) to Hekate2. Again it
must be considered doubtful whether Zeus and Hekate were the
original occupants of these thrones.

That doubt hardly arises in connexion with a remarkable series
of rock-cuttings accompanied by inscriptions found at Thera in
1896s. At the south-eastern end of the ridge on which the town
of Thera stood, and fully 1000 feet above sea-level, are the ruins of
a very ancient building in polygonal masonry, possibly a herdion of
the eponym Theras4. Below the floor of this building, and there-
fore older yet, is a group of inscriptions graved on the underlying
rock5. Three of them give the name Zetis*, two Koure's1, one both
Zeds and Koures%, the rest Apollon*, Boreaios10 i.e. Zeus Boreaios, Deti-
teros11, Didskouroi1*, Khiron™, Lokhaia Damia^, Hdidas or Potidds15,
Peldrios16 and Po/ieus17 i.e. Zeus (?) Pelorios and Zeus Polieus. Out-

1 Inscr. Gr. ins. i no. 958 Atos. 'E/cdr^fs].

2 Inscr. Gr. ins. i no. 914 JZv^&fAevos iepa Sojretpa Tovbe ap[edr)ica] \ rbfx irLvaKa Ei5[^]k(^
<bwa<pbpy 'Evvodlia]. Wilamowitz cj. 'Evvodios.

3 F. Hiller von Gaertringen Die Insel Thera Berlin 1899—1904 i. 283 ff., iii. 62 ff.
with figs, and pis.

4 Id. ib. i. 284.

5 Inscr. Gr. ins. iii nos. 350—363, ib. iii Suppl. nos. 1307—1309, Collitz-Bechtel
Gr. Dial.-Inschr. iii. 2. 167 ff. nos. 4407—4720.

6 Inscr. Gr. ins. iii nos. 351 Zetfs, 352 Zeu[s], 353 Zeu[s] = Collitz-Bechtel ib.
nos. 4708—4710.

7 Inscr. Gr. ins. iii nos. 354 9opes, 355 Qopes = Collitz-Bechtel ib. nos. 471: f.

8 Inscr. Gr. ins. iii no. 350 Zei>s ros /xe- near the figure of a small ladder and 'topes by the
rock-cutting = Collitz-Bechtel ib. nos. 4707 a (where it is suggested that roafxe.. probably
belongs to a different inscription), 4707 b. Possibly we should read Zei)s rod ~2fj.e(p)[8iov']
or the like.

9 Inscr. Gr. ins. iii no. 356 'A.irb\wv = Collitz-Bechtel ib. no. 4713.

10 Inscr. Gr. ins. iii no. 357 ~Bopeaios (sc. ave/xos) — Collitz-Bechtel ib. no. 4714
(sc. |3aj/i6s). I prefer to supply Zetis, since Zeus Bopecos occurs in Kilikia (Denkschr.
d. Akad. Wien 1896 vi Abh. p. 102 n. 182).

11 Inscr. Gr. ins. iii no. 358 and Suppl. AeCrepos (by mistake for Aetirepos) — Collitz-
Bechtel ib. no. 4715. On the significance of this name see infra p. 144 n. 9.

12 Inscr. Gr. ins. no. 359 A.LocrQopoL = Collitz-Bechtel ib. no. 4716,

13 Inscr. Gr. ins. iii no. 360 KMpiav = Collitz-Bechtel ib. no. 4717.

14 Inscr. Gr. ins. iii no. 361 Ao/cata Aetata = Collitz-Bechtel ib. no. 4718.

13 Inscr. Gr. ins. iii no. 362 - - das (perhaps [Hcu]5as or [ITori]5as) = Collitz-Bechtel ib.
no. 4719.

16 Inscr. Gr. ins. iii no. 366 and Suppl. no. 1309 (II)e(A)a>(/o)ios=: Collitz-Bechtel ib,
no. 4724.

17 Inscr. Gr. ins. iii no. 363 and Suppl. Ho\i(e)t;s (the first three letters alone certain)
= Collitz-Bechtel ib. no. 4720.