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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#0848

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758 Zeus in Astronomy and Astrology

Centuries later Ioannes Tzetzes speaks of ' Zeus the astrologer-
king1' or even of 'Zeus the star-gazer2,' assuming in his Euhemer-
istic way that the sky-god must have been not only a king3 but
also a diviner of repute. It is curious to reflect that, just as Zeus
at his first beginning appeared in the guise of a human magician4,
so Zeus at his latter end relapsed to the level of a human astrologer.
Old age for him, as for us, meant second infancy.

For astrological purposes the planets were classified as good
(Iupiter, Venus) or bad (Saturn, Mars) or both (Mercury). We
hear also of stars that are diurnal (the Sun, Saturn, Iupiter) or
nocturnal (the Moon, Mars, Venus) or both (Mercury). There was
a distinction, too, between stars that are masculine (the Sun, Saturn,
Iupiter, Mars) or feminine (the Moon, Venus) or both (Mercury).
But these and other such subtleties5—though for long ages they
were regarded as matters of moment by a public that believed in
horoscopes, and though in some cases they have left a permanent
trace upon the language of modern almanacs—we need pursue
no further. They belong to the history of sidereal divination in
general rather than to that of a particular divinity6. I shall there-
fore content myself with quoting Bouche-Leclercq's summary7 of

1 Tzetz. chil. 2. 159 (Herakles the reputed son of Amphitryon) rfj 8' dX-qdeia rod
Aids, avaKTOs, darpoXoyov (cp. ib. 168 6 fxdyos ftaai.Xevs eKeiuos do-rpoXoyos), 2. 696 ff. tov
HoXvdevKovs 8' 6 Tarijp 6 Zeus 6 darpoXoyos \ rots acrrpois KaTTjcrrepicre rovs iraidas redvr)-
kotcls I Kai tovs AiSufiovs K€kXt]K€v Kdaropa, HoXv8evKr)v, alleg. II. 18. 1691". 77 darpoXoycp
rep Ait eKeLvis} (tt€(prj(p6pii> ] od Kai'() p(pe6s ttov fMefxvrfrai, 18. 179 Ad rip darpoXbyip Se Kai
(SaaiXe? /xot cpiXov, 18. 400 ft". ou<5' 'UpaKXrjs 6 <piXos yap Ad rip darpoXoycp | 77 rip ijXiip vvv
Ad if) Kai Ttp ovpavip 8e \ (£pya icXeipd yap Kai Xafxirpd £G>v 'UpaKXrjs ereXet, | Kai ovpavip
Se <pLXos rjf <hs darpoXbyos olos) | tt]v Krjpa Kai tov Bavarov e^edpafie rfj rexvy, 19. 56
(Herakles the reputed son of Amphitryon) 2py<p Aibs 8e dvaKros ovtos Kai darpoXdyov,
19. 62 6 Zeus iKeivos fiaaiXevs 6 [Aeyas darpoXoyos, alleg. Od. 11. 140 f. Zr]v6s...[3acri-
A^ws, I Kai darpoXoyov p.dvretos, fxdyov, uocpov rots irdai (cited by Bruchmann Epith. deor.
p. 126).

2 Tzetz. alleg. Od. 1. 156 w ZeO '0X^/.t7rte, cro0e d<TTepoo-Kbwe (cited by Bruchmann
Epith. deor. p. 135).

3 See the Class. Rev. 1903 xvii. 409 and Folk-Lore 1904 xv. 303 f.

4 Supra pp. 11—14.

5 E. Riess in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. ii. 1802 ff.

6 The clearest outlook over the whole subject is still that given by A. Bouche-
Leclercq Hisloire de la divination dans Vantiquite" Paris 1879 x- 2°5—257> hvDarem-
berg—Saglio Diet. Ant. ii. 302—305, and especially id. Vastrologie grecque Paris 1899
passim. A great mass of fresh material is listed and in part published in the Catalogus
codicum astrologicorum Graecorum Brussels 1898— by D. Bassi, F. Boll, F. Cumont,
W. Kroll, E. Martini, and A. Olivieri. This is turned to good account by F. Boll
Sphaera (Neue griechische Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Sternbilder)
Leipzig 1903, id. Die Lebensalter (extr. from the Neue Jahrb.f. klass. Altert., Gesch. u.
deutsch. Lit. xxxi) Leipzig and Berlin 1913. On recent astrological research in general
see the well-informed survey of Gruppe Myth. Lit. 1908 pp. 206—215.

7 A Bouche-Leclercq L'aslrologie grecque Paris 1899 p. 97 f.
 
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