DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14696#0054
The Diosemta or c Zeus-sign'
7
or thunder-clap1.' Gossiping history is full of such inhibitions. An
example or two will suffice. Stabrobates, the Indian king opposed
to Semiramis, is said to have been immobilised ' when Zeus-signs
befell him, intimating—so the seers declared—that he must not
cross the river2.' Agis and his army actually gave up the invasion
of Attike in 426 B.C. because of a series of earthquakes3 and that of
Elis in 399 for a like reason4. In 388 or 387 Agesipolis marched
against Argos, when another earthquake happened and his soldiers,
recalling the action of Agis in 399, were for retiring. Agesipolis
made excuses and pushed on ; but, when further a thunderbolt fell
in his camp, even he had enough of it and beat a retreat5. Galba
on quitting his house, early in 69 A.D., to nominate Piso Licinianus
as his successor encountered, according to Plutarch, ' great Zeus-
signs': his speech in the camp was accompanied by incessant
thunder and lightning, rain and darkness ; obviously heaven did
not approve of his choice6.
Finally, a word may be added about the interpretation of Zeus-
signs. The instances quoted above show that assemblies, law-courts,
and armies viewed such signs with alarm and on their occurrence
were apt to drop the business in hand. This after all was natural
enough. In civil or military crises, when a superstitious public would
be on the look out for omens, a sudden deluge of rain might well
act as a deterrent, and a growl of thunder be taken to portend
something sinister. What seems really remarkable is that side by
side with this common-sense, or at least common-place, attitude an
earlier view of a very different sort held its ground, a view which
1 Hesych. s.v. ixeaa.iJ.ia' ore depovs ovtos xj/aKa^ei r) j3povrrj (so cod.: M. Musurus
i//6Kaj"£t r) PpovrrjffT], H. Stephanus \peKao~r], rj fipovTr)ari, J. Alberti i/'e/cdfei, rj fipovTi)crei,
M. Schmidt ■ftaK&l'rj, rj (3povTr)ar]. I would rather retain the reading ore Oepovs ovtos
•^a/idfei, rj j3povTf). In any case cp. Aristoph. >iub. 579 f. rjv yap 77 tis e^oSos | /xr/devl j-iig
Vip, t6t' rj fipovTwp.ev rj \paKa^op.ei>).
'Exeaa/j-ia appears to be a Doric and perhaps Pythagorean (?) term, formed on the
false analogy of e/cexe'P'a: cp. ex€7^CJTT'a> e'x^ufli'a, £XePPrHxoa]Jvri—three words for
'silence,' of which the first (Loukian. Lexiph. 9) possibly, the second (Plout. de curios. 9,
Iambi, v. Pyth. 32, 68, 104, 188, 226, cp. 94) and third (Iambi, v. Pyth. 246) certainly,
were current in the school of Pythagoras (cp. O. Casel De philosopliorum Graecomm
silentio mystico Giessen 1919 pp. 30 ff., 52 ff.). That philosopher is expressly said to have
discussed Aioo-r]p.iai (Porph. v. Pyth. 25, Iambi, v. Pyth. 62). Hesych. Aioar\p.eLov
repdo-Tiou ar\p.u.ov is restored by M. Schmidt as the Doric (Aioaafxla)- Aids arj/xetov.
repauTLov o~7)[xelov to suit the or do verborum.
2 Diod. 2. 19. Philostr. v. A poll. 2. 33 p. 75 Kayser states that, when the Egyptian
Herakles and Dionysos invaded India, the sages (Brachmanes) dwelling between the
Hyphasis and the Ganges ALoarj/j-iais re nal aK-qivToh fidWovTts airoxpovovTai o~(pas iepoi ical
deotptXeis oVres... eVet 5' avroi ttpoayeaav, TrprjaTr)pei avrovs d-rrewaavTO Kal f3povrai kcltm
arpe<pbp.tvai /cat ip.ir'nrTOvaai tols OTrXots, k.t.\.
3 Thouk. 3. 89, cp. id. 87. 4 Xen. Hell. 3. 2. 24.
5 Xen. Hell. 4. 7. 4 ff., cp. Pans. 3. 5. 8. 6 Plout. v. Galb. 23, cp. Tac. hist. r. 18.
7
or thunder-clap1.' Gossiping history is full of such inhibitions. An
example or two will suffice. Stabrobates, the Indian king opposed
to Semiramis, is said to have been immobilised ' when Zeus-signs
befell him, intimating—so the seers declared—that he must not
cross the river2.' Agis and his army actually gave up the invasion
of Attike in 426 B.C. because of a series of earthquakes3 and that of
Elis in 399 for a like reason4. In 388 or 387 Agesipolis marched
against Argos, when another earthquake happened and his soldiers,
recalling the action of Agis in 399, were for retiring. Agesipolis
made excuses and pushed on ; but, when further a thunderbolt fell
in his camp, even he had enough of it and beat a retreat5. Galba
on quitting his house, early in 69 A.D., to nominate Piso Licinianus
as his successor encountered, according to Plutarch, ' great Zeus-
signs': his speech in the camp was accompanied by incessant
thunder and lightning, rain and darkness ; obviously heaven did
not approve of his choice6.
Finally, a word may be added about the interpretation of Zeus-
signs. The instances quoted above show that assemblies, law-courts,
and armies viewed such signs with alarm and on their occurrence
were apt to drop the business in hand. This after all was natural
enough. In civil or military crises, when a superstitious public would
be on the look out for omens, a sudden deluge of rain might well
act as a deterrent, and a growl of thunder be taken to portend
something sinister. What seems really remarkable is that side by
side with this common-sense, or at least common-place, attitude an
earlier view of a very different sort held its ground, a view which
1 Hesych. s.v. ixeaa.iJ.ia' ore depovs ovtos xj/aKa^ei r) j3povrrj (so cod.: M. Musurus
i//6Kaj"£t r) PpovrrjffT], H. Stephanus \peKao~r], rj fipovTr)ari, J. Alberti i/'e/cdfei, rj fipovTi)crei,
M. Schmidt ■ftaK&l'rj, rj (3povTr)ar]. I would rather retain the reading ore Oepovs ovtos
•^a/idfei, rj j3povTf). In any case cp. Aristoph. >iub. 579 f. rjv yap 77 tis e^oSos | /xr/devl j-iig
Vip, t6t' rj fipovTwp.ev rj \paKa^op.ei>).
'Exeaa/j-ia appears to be a Doric and perhaps Pythagorean (?) term, formed on the
false analogy of e/cexe'P'a: cp. ex€7^CJTT'a> e'x^ufli'a, £XePPrHxoa]Jvri—three words for
'silence,' of which the first (Loukian. Lexiph. 9) possibly, the second (Plout. de curios. 9,
Iambi, v. Pyth. 32, 68, 104, 188, 226, cp. 94) and third (Iambi, v. Pyth. 246) certainly,
were current in the school of Pythagoras (cp. O. Casel De philosopliorum Graecomm
silentio mystico Giessen 1919 pp. 30 ff., 52 ff.). That philosopher is expressly said to have
discussed Aioo-r]p.iai (Porph. v. Pyth. 25, Iambi, v. Pyth. 62). Hesych. Aioar\p.eLov
repdo-Tiou ar\p.u.ov is restored by M. Schmidt as the Doric (Aioaafxla)- Aids arj/xetov.
repauTLov o~7)[xelov to suit the or do verborum.
2 Diod. 2. 19. Philostr. v. A poll. 2. 33 p. 75 Kayser states that, when the Egyptian
Herakles and Dionysos invaded India, the sages (Brachmanes) dwelling between the
Hyphasis and the Ganges ALoarj/j-iais re nal aK-qivToh fidWovTts airoxpovovTai o~(pas iepoi ical
deotptXeis oVres... eVet 5' avroi ttpoayeaav, TrprjaTr)pei avrovs d-rrewaavTO Kal f3povrai kcltm
arpe<pbp.tvai /cat ip.ir'nrTOvaai tols OTrXots, k.t.\.
3 Thouk. 3. 89, cp. id. 87. 4 Xen. Hell. 3. 2. 24.
5 Xen. Hell. 4. 7. 4 ff., cp. Pans. 3. 5. 8. 6 Plout. v. Galb. 23, cp. Tac. hist. r. 18.