DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14696#0065
i8
The altars of Zeus Kataibdtes
memorates Zeus Kabdtas, a pre-Doric1 form of Katabdtas, and adds
some details as to his ritual (fig. g)2. The lettering is that of the early-
fifth century B.C., and the dedicator, a certain Gaisylos3, prescribes
that once in four years an offering of meal (?)4 be made to the god.
The period of this private sacrifice was probably regulated by the
great publicpentaeteris of Zeus Olympios^. The meal(?) may imply
the chthonian6 nature of a deity, who with his fructifying stroke
penetrated the dark womb of earth.
1 So F. Solmsen ' Vordorisches in Lakonien ' in the Rhein. Mus. 1907 lxii. 329—338,
comparing Alkm. frag. 38. 2 Bergk4 (56. 2 Miller—Crusius) Kafiaivuv, Hesych. s.V.
KapaffL- KCLrd^di. Ad/cwees, and the like.
2 Petrides in Wavowpa 1868 xviii. 338, E. S. Forster in the Ann. Brit. Sch. Ath.
1903—1904 x. 171 {., Inscr. Gr. Arc. Lac. Mess, i no. 1316 pi. 1. Cp. Nilsson Gr. Feste
p. 473 and in the Rhein. Mus. 1908 lxiii. 313—316, F. Solmsen ib. 1907 lxii. 329—338.
I figure the inscription as published by E. S. Forster loc. cit., amending lines 4 and 5 and
completing line 6 by the help of the facsimile in Inscr. Gr. Arc. Lac. Mess, i pi. 1.
Forster subsequently informed Nilsson (Gr. Feste p. 473) that the r of 7r^u7rran in line 2
was not missing, but inserted on a smaller scale. W. Kolbe, however, states (Inscr. Gr.
Arc. Lac. Mess. i. 245): ' Neque vero ullum vestigium in ectypo claro agnosci potest.'
On this showing the text runs: Aids Ka/3dra. j tt^/xtt <t> ojl \ Fkru \ dvrjv J [d]\rj/uou. \
TaihvXco.
3 The reading TaihuXio is that of W. Kolbe, who cp. Plout. v. Dion. 49 PcucuXy t<£
~S.TrapTLa.Tri. F. S. Forster in a letter to M. P. Nilsson (Gr. Feste p. 473) had conjectured
rcu(86\o[(] as a second epithet of Zeus : but this, as F. Solmsen (Rhein. Mus. 1907 lxii.
330) remarks, would at least have been TaiafioXoi. R. Meister in the Ber. sdchs. Gesellsch.
d. Wiss. Phil.-hist. Classe 1905 p. 281 n. 1 suggested Taiafoxoi on the strength of Roehl
Inscr. Gr. ant. no. 79, 9= Roberts Gk. Epigr. i. 262 ff. no. 264, 9 = Collitz—Pechtel Gr.
Dial.-Inschr. iii. 2. 10 f. no. 4416, 9 = Michel Recueil a"Inscr. gr. no. 946, 9 = M. N. Tod
and A. J. B. Wace A Catalogue of the Sparta Museum Oxford 1906 p. 64 f. no. 440, 9 ev
Taiafoxw- M. P. Nilsson in the Rhein. Mus. 1908 lxiii. 314 abandons the search for a
cult-title and proposes yaiaxolv], ' der Ackerbesitzer' (cp. Roehl Inscr. Gr. ant. no. 79, 3
lloXidxot), which, as W. Kolbe points out, suits neither the space nor the letters on the
stone.
4 M. P. Nilsson's [aJXrj/uov, cp. Hesych. aXrjcriov ■ irav to aXrjXeaixivov (Rhein. Mus.
1908 lxiii. 314 f.), is much better than E. S. Forster's [i~\\r)hiov for *iXr)ffLoi', 'a propitiatory
offering' (?) (Ann. Brit. Sch. Ath. 1903—1904 x. 172), which would necessarily appear
as \_hi\Xr)/uov, cp. Olympia v. 367 ft". no. 252 = Collitz—Bechtel Gr. Dial.-Inschr. iii. 2. 5ft
no. 4405 = Roberts Gk. Epigr. i. 261 f. no. 261 hiXrjlwls] (F. Solmsen in the Rhein. Mus.
1907 lxii. 330).
3 M. P. Nilsson in the Rhein. Mus. 1908 lxiii. 315.
6 P. Stengel Opferbrauche der Griechen Leipzig and Berlin 1910 pp. 13—16 (' OvXai'),
17—33 ('Opferblut und Opfergerste') shows that the Homeric custom of strewing baiiey-
grains (ov\al, ov\6xvTai) on the ground before sacrifice originated in an offering to Ge as
producer of vegetable life and in post-Homeric times acquired a cathartic meaning (cp.
P. Stengel ' Oi^Acu' in Hermes 1894 xxix. 627—629, H. von Fritze 'Oi^Xat' ib. 1897
xxxii. 235—250, H. von Prott in the Jahresbericht iiber die Eortschritte der classischen
Altertumswissenschaft 1900 cii. 82 f., L. Ziehen ' OvXoxvTai' in Hermes 1902 xxxvii.
391—400).
The use of ground barley-grains or meal was presumably of later origin (so Theophr.
ap. Porph. de abst. 2. 6, cp. Plout. quaeslt. Gr. 6, schol. //. 2. 410, Eustath. in II. p. 132,
22 ff., Souid. s.v. ovXodvTeLv—cited by P. Stengel), but of similar significance. Odysseus
is bidden by Kirke to dig a hole in the earth and to pour drink-offerings for the dead e7rt
The altars of Zeus Kataibdtes
memorates Zeus Kabdtas, a pre-Doric1 form of Katabdtas, and adds
some details as to his ritual (fig. g)2. The lettering is that of the early-
fifth century B.C., and the dedicator, a certain Gaisylos3, prescribes
that once in four years an offering of meal (?)4 be made to the god.
The period of this private sacrifice was probably regulated by the
great publicpentaeteris of Zeus Olympios^. The meal(?) may imply
the chthonian6 nature of a deity, who with his fructifying stroke
penetrated the dark womb of earth.
1 So F. Solmsen ' Vordorisches in Lakonien ' in the Rhein. Mus. 1907 lxii. 329—338,
comparing Alkm. frag. 38. 2 Bergk4 (56. 2 Miller—Crusius) Kafiaivuv, Hesych. s.V.
KapaffL- KCLrd^di. Ad/cwees, and the like.
2 Petrides in Wavowpa 1868 xviii. 338, E. S. Forster in the Ann. Brit. Sch. Ath.
1903—1904 x. 171 {., Inscr. Gr. Arc. Lac. Mess, i no. 1316 pi. 1. Cp. Nilsson Gr. Feste
p. 473 and in the Rhein. Mus. 1908 lxiii. 313—316, F. Solmsen ib. 1907 lxii. 329—338.
I figure the inscription as published by E. S. Forster loc. cit., amending lines 4 and 5 and
completing line 6 by the help of the facsimile in Inscr. Gr. Arc. Lac. Mess, i pi. 1.
Forster subsequently informed Nilsson (Gr. Feste p. 473) that the r of 7r^u7rran in line 2
was not missing, but inserted on a smaller scale. W. Kolbe, however, states (Inscr. Gr.
Arc. Lac. Mess. i. 245): ' Neque vero ullum vestigium in ectypo claro agnosci potest.'
On this showing the text runs: Aids Ka/3dra. j tt^/xtt <t> ojl \ Fkru \ dvrjv J [d]\rj/uou. \
TaihvXco.
3 The reading TaihuXio is that of W. Kolbe, who cp. Plout. v. Dion. 49 PcucuXy t<£
~S.TrapTLa.Tri. F. S. Forster in a letter to M. P. Nilsson (Gr. Feste p. 473) had conjectured
rcu(86\o[(] as a second epithet of Zeus : but this, as F. Solmsen (Rhein. Mus. 1907 lxii.
330) remarks, would at least have been TaiafioXoi. R. Meister in the Ber. sdchs. Gesellsch.
d. Wiss. Phil.-hist. Classe 1905 p. 281 n. 1 suggested Taiafoxoi on the strength of Roehl
Inscr. Gr. ant. no. 79, 9= Roberts Gk. Epigr. i. 262 ff. no. 264, 9 = Collitz—Pechtel Gr.
Dial.-Inschr. iii. 2. 10 f. no. 4416, 9 = Michel Recueil a"Inscr. gr. no. 946, 9 = M. N. Tod
and A. J. B. Wace A Catalogue of the Sparta Museum Oxford 1906 p. 64 f. no. 440, 9 ev
Taiafoxw- M. P. Nilsson in the Rhein. Mus. 1908 lxiii. 314 abandons the search for a
cult-title and proposes yaiaxolv], ' der Ackerbesitzer' (cp. Roehl Inscr. Gr. ant. no. 79, 3
lloXidxot), which, as W. Kolbe points out, suits neither the space nor the letters on the
stone.
4 M. P. Nilsson's [aJXrj/uov, cp. Hesych. aXrjcriov ■ irav to aXrjXeaixivov (Rhein. Mus.
1908 lxiii. 314 f.), is much better than E. S. Forster's [i~\\r)hiov for *iXr)ffLoi', 'a propitiatory
offering' (?) (Ann. Brit. Sch. Ath. 1903—1904 x. 172), which would necessarily appear
as \_hi\Xr)/uov, cp. Olympia v. 367 ft". no. 252 = Collitz—Bechtel Gr. Dial.-Inschr. iii. 2. 5ft
no. 4405 = Roberts Gk. Epigr. i. 261 f. no. 261 hiXrjlwls] (F. Solmsen in the Rhein. Mus.
1907 lxii. 330).
3 M. P. Nilsson in the Rhein. Mus. 1908 lxiii. 315.
6 P. Stengel Opferbrauche der Griechen Leipzig and Berlin 1910 pp. 13—16 (' OvXai'),
17—33 ('Opferblut und Opfergerste') shows that the Homeric custom of strewing baiiey-
grains (ov\al, ov\6xvTai) on the ground before sacrifice originated in an offering to Ge as
producer of vegetable life and in post-Homeric times acquired a cathartic meaning (cp.
P. Stengel ' Oi^Acu' in Hermes 1894 xxix. 627—629, H. von Fritze 'Oi^Xat' ib. 1897
xxxii. 235—250, H. von Prott in the Jahresbericht iiber die Eortschritte der classischen
Altertumswissenschaft 1900 cii. 82 f., L. Ziehen ' OvXoxvTai' in Hermes 1902 xxxvii.
391—400).
The use of ground barley-grains or meal was presumably of later origin (so Theophr.
ap. Porph. de abst. 2. 6, cp. Plout. quaeslt. Gr. 6, schol. //. 2. 410, Eustath. in II. p. 132,
22 ff., Souid. s.v. ovXodvTeLv—cited by P. Stengel), but of similar significance. Odysseus
is bidden by Kirke to dig a hole in the earth and to pour drink-offerings for the dead e7rt