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

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https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14695#0483

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The Golden or Purple Lamb of Atreus 405

to the tree-stems near the big plane-tree will—I suspect—prove
to be a doublet of Iason finding the fleece of gold hung on an
oak-tree in the prove of Ares1. •

iv. The Golden or Purple Lamb of Atreus.

Analogous beliefs in Greece appear to connect the purple or
golden ram not only with the prosperity of the ruler but also with
the sun. A Greek commentator on the Iliad tells the following
tale :

'Atreus, son of Pelops and king of the Peloponnese, once vowed that he
would sacrifice to Artemis the fairest offspring of his flocks. But, when a golden
lamb was born to him, he repented of his vow and kept the lamb shut up in a
chest. Proud of his treasure he used boastful language in the market-place.
Thyestes, vexed at this, made love to Aerope and induced her to give him the
treasure. Having secured it he told his brother that he had no right to boast
in that way, and asserted in the hearing of the multitude that the man who had
the golden lamb ought to have the kingdom. When Atreus had agreed to this,
Zeus sent Hermes and bade him make a compact about the kingdom, informing
him that he was about to cause the sun to travel backwards. Atreus made the
compact, and the sun set in the east. Wherefore, inasmuch as heaven had
borne witness to the avarice of Thyestes, Atreus received the kingdom and
drove Thyestes into banishment2.'

This tale was celebrated in antiquity. It can be traced back to
the Alkmaionis*} an Argive epic probably written in the sixth
century B.C. And Euripides, who took a special interest in primi-
tive religious ideas, has repeated allusions to it4. The myth has
come down to us with the usual number of slight variations5,

1 Apollod. 1. 9. 6.

2 Schol. //. 2. 106 (codd. A. D.), cp. schol. Eur. Or. 812 (codd. A. C. Fl. 33).

3 Alcmaeon. frag. 6 Kinkel ap. schol. Eur. Or. 997 : see T. Voigt De Atr. et Thyest.
fab. p. 26 ff.

4 Eur. /. T. 811 ff., Or. 995 ff., El. 700ff.

5 The lamb was brought to Argos by Ant[ops?] {Alcmaeon. frag. 6) or Hermes (Eur.
Or. 995 ff.) or Pan (Eur. El. 700 ff.); or was found in the flocks of Atreus through the
wrath of Hermes, who wished to avenge the murder of his son Myrtilos (schol. Eur. Or.
812 Gu. I., ib. 990 A. B. I. C, lb. 995 A. B. M. I., lb. 998 A. B. M. I., Tzetz. chll. 1.
433 ff.), or through the wrath of Artemis (Pherekydes ap. schol. Eur. Or. 997 A. B. I.);
or was simply born in the flocks of Atreus (schol. Eur. Or. 812 Fl. 33. A, schol. //. 2.
106 A. D.). The sun and the Pleiads reversed their usual course for a single day (schol.
Eur. Or. 812 Gu. I., lb. 998 A. B. M. I., Tzetz. chil. 1. 444 ff.) or permanently (Plat.
politic. 268 e—269 a). The myth is sometimes combined with that of Thyestes' feast
(Eur. Or. 1007 f., schol. Eur. Or. 812 Gu. I., Tzetz. chil. 1. 447 ff.), sometimes not (Eur.
/. T. 811 ff., El. 700ff, schol. Eur. Or. 812 Fl. 33, ib. 990, 995, 997, 998, schol. //. 2.
106). One account makes Atreus strangle the golden lamb that' appeared and then keep
it in a box (Apollod. epit. 2. 10 f., Apollonios ap. Tzetz. chil. 1. 436 ff.) ; another
makes him sacrifice to Artemis the flesh of the golden lamb born in his flocks, but save
its fleece (schol. Eur. Or. 812 C.; cp. ib. Fl. 33).
 
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