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

75°

Zeus Oromdsdes

oak-leaves. His diadem, the upper edge of his coat-of-mail, his
shoulder-clasps, all have the same design of thunderbolts. Tiara-
flaps, girdle, dagger-sheath, and shoes are embellished with oak-
leaves and acorns. Lastly the short-sleeved jerkin is covered with
stars set in a kind of network or trellis. Clearly the king wished
to be regarded as the human embodiment of Zeus Oromdsdes, ' the
Just God Made Manifest.'

Antiochos' horoscope (fig. S47)1 shows a lion with the crescent
moon beneath his neck and nineteen stars so disposed about him
as to correspond closely with the pseudo-Eratosthenes' account
of the constellation Leo2. These stars have eight rays apiece.
Distinct from them are three larger stars above the lion's back,
which are sixteen-rayed and inscribed 'the Fiery Star of Herakles,'
' the Gleaming Star of Apollon,' ' the Brilliant Star of Zeus.' The
whole slab, therefore, indicates a conjunction of the planets Mars,
Mercury, and Iupiter in the sign of the Lion. Now apart from
Kommagene, who on this site probably represents the ancient
mountain-mother3, Zeus, Apollon, and Herakles are the only deities
recognised by Antiochos. It is therefore practically certain .either
that the king's choice of gods was determined by his own horoscope
or that the king's horoscope was cast in accordance with his choice
of gods. The former hypothesis is at least as likely as the latter.
Prof. Tietjen of Berlin had elaborate calculations made by P. Leh-
mann, which pointed to July 17, 98 B.C., as the day most in accord-
ance with the astronomical data4. Since the king's birthday was
on Audnaios 16, i.e. in December or January, Puchstein concludes
that the horoscope was cast for the conception, not for the nativity
of Antiochos, whom he takes to have been a seven months' child
born at the beginning of the year 97 B.C.5 U. Wilcken suggests
that the horoscope had reference rather to the king's accession on
Lo'fos 10, which may well be equated with July 17, 98 B.C.6

1 Humann—Puchstein op. cit. pp. 329—336 pi. 40 ( = myfig. 547), Hamdy Bey—
Osgan Effendi op. cit. p. 21 f. pi. 24, Reinach Rip. Reliefs i. 196. The slab measures
i'75m in height, 2 '40™ in breadth, o"47m in thickness. It is inscribed: llvpoeis' HpaK\[eovs],
HtlK^wv 'AttoWcjpos, Qaeduv Aids (Humann—Puchstein op. cit. p. 329).

2 Pseudo-Eratosth. catast. 12 ^et 8e acrrepas eiri rrjs KecpaXrjs 7', ewi rod arrjdovs <<x,
virb to ffTTjdos > j8', eiri tou 5e£tou irodbs \ajj.irpbv a, eiri jueai]s < ttjs Koi\ias>d, virb tt\v
KOiXiav a , eiri tov io~x'i°v a> ^irL T°v ottlctBlov yovaTos a, eiri irobbs axpov Xajjarpbv a, eiri rod
rpaxv^01' /3'j e7™ TVS pdxews 7, eiri /xear/s rrjs nepKov a, eir' aKpas Xafxirpbv d, [eiri tt]S
KoiKias a']- <to\)s iravras l6' >. I follow the text of A. Olivieri (1897).

3 Supra p. 745 n. 3.

4 Humann—Puchstein op. cit. pp. 331—333. Serious difficulties have, however, been
pointed out by A. Bouche-Leclercq Uastrologie grecque Paris 1899 pp. 373, 439 fig. 41
(Reinach Rip. Reliefs i. 196). 5 Humann—Puchstein op. cit. p. 333 f.

6 U. Wilcken in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. i. 2487 f.