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

The Dioskouroi as Stars

773

A distinction was first drawn between the Dioskouroi and Helene.
According to Sosibios (c. 250 B.C.), the epiphany of Helene was an
evil omen1—a view perhaps based on a real2 or fancied etymology
of her name3. The same thing is said by Solinus (c. 250 A.D.)4.
Pliny5 and the scholiast on Statius6 speak of the stars of Pollux
and Castor as favourable signs, but describe the star of Helena in
terms which point rather—as T. H. Martin showed7—to ball-
lightning. Pliny writes :

' On mariners' yard-arms and other parts of ships such stars settle with an
audible sound, changing their position like birds from perch to perch8. When
they come one at a time, they are dangerous, indeed they sink ships and, if they
fall to the lower parts of the hull, they set'it on fire. But twin stars are a good
sign and announce a prosperous voyage. It is said that at their approach the
dread and threatening star called Helena is put to flight: hence this exhibition
of divine power is ascribed to Pollux and Castor, and men invoke them at sea.'

The scholiast. on Statius gives much the same account of the
matter, adding that the star of Helena is known as Urania, that it
makes a hole in the mast, that it bores through the ship's bottom,
and that even bronze is melted by its heat. By degrees the Dios-
kouroi themselves took on the sinister character of their sister.
Artemidoros of Ephesos (c. 160 A.D.) reflects the transition, when
in his Oneirokritika he observes :

' The Dioskouroi are a presage of storm to men on a voyage. To men

1 Sosibios frag. 16 {Frag. hist. Gr. ii. 628 Midler) ap. schol. Eur. Or. 1637.

2 "EiXhri, as was shown by F. Solmsen Uutersuchungen zur griechischen Laut- und
Verslehre Strassburg 1901 pp. 196, 248 f., is probably to be connected with iXdur], eXevq,
'a torch' (Prellwitz Elym. Worterb. d. Gr. Spr.2 p. 135 f., Boisacq Diet. etym. de la
Langue Gr. p. 237).

3 Aisch. Ag. 687 f. 'Q\ei>ai>; eirei irpexovrws eXevas eXavdpos eXeirroXi-s k.t.X.—
Browning's ' Ship's-Hell, Man's-Hell, City's-Hell.'

4 Solin. 1. 57.

5 Plin. nat. hist. 2. 101.

6 Lact. Plac. in Stat. Theb. 7. 792. The distinction is made by Statius himself
(Theb. 7. 791 ff., silv. 3. 2. 8 ff.).

7 T. H. Martin loc. fit. p. 173.

8 Lyd. de ostent. 5 Xiyvpov tl crvpLy/xa Trpoarjxovures nal bpvewv dUrjv eis tottov e/c tottov
tt)s vew fxediardixevoL. This may explain the winged Dioskouroi of the Homeric hymn
and of Etruscan art {supra p. 763). R. Basset in Melusinc 1884—85 ii. 189 writes :
' D'apres Mas'oudi {Prairies d'or, ed. Barbier de Meynard, t. i, ch. xvi, p. 344—345), en
temps d'orage, on apercoit en haut du mat, un objet qui a la forme d'un oiseau lumineux
et qui jette une clarte si vive qu'on ne peut le fixer. Des qu'on l'apercoit, la mer se
calme, cet objet disparait sans qu'on sache ce qu'il est devenu. Le fait fut atteste a
Mas'oudi par des marchands de Basrah, de l'Oman et de Siraf. Dans la Mediterranee,
on appelait cet objet Es sari (le voyageur de nuit), dans la mer de Chine Ed douli.' In
the north-east of Scotland these electrical discharges are known as ' Corbie's aunt' (the
Rev. W. Gregor in the Folklore Journal 1883 p. 396, cp. The Folk-lore of the North-East
of Scotland London 1881 p. 137), presumably a popular distortion of the name 'corpo-
sant.'