Cook, Arthur B.: Zeus: a study in ancient religion (Band 2,1): Zeus god of the dark sky (thunder and lightning): Text and notes (Cambridge, 1925)

94 The Column of Mayence

exhibits the seasonal (?) series1 from right to left with sundry slight
modifications—Iupiter replacing Iuno as patron of the opening
year2, Mercurius being provided with a partner, possibly Maia (?)3,

1 Iuno ( = Frija) as goddess of spring, Mercurius ( = Wodan) as god of summer,
Hercules ( = Donar) as god of autumn, Minerva ( = Holda) as goddess of winter. See
supra p. 58 ff.

2 Iupiter heads the climatic series because he was ' the Author of Good Weather'
{Corp. inscr. Lat. xiii no. 6 = Orelli—Henzen Inscr. Lat. sel. no. 5615 = Dessau Inscr.
Lat. sel. no. 3060 a marble altar from Lescure (Ariege) inscribed /. 0. in. \ anctori \
bonarum \ Te/upes\tatium, \ Val. Justus between a patera carved to the left and aguttus
to the right, cp. Corp. inscr. Lat. viii no. 26oC; = Orelli Inscr. Lat. sel. no. i27i = Dessau
Inscr. Lat. scl. no. 3061 an altar found near Lambaesis lovi o. m. \ Tempestatium \
divinarum \ potenti, \ leg. Ill Aug. \ dedicante \ Q. Fabio Catullino \ leg. Aug. pr. pr.
together with a twin altar Corp. inscr. Lat. viii no. 26io = Orelli loc. cit. = Dessau loc. cit.
Ventis I bonarum \ Tempes tatium \ pctentibus | leg. Ill Aug. \ dedicante \ Q. Fabio
Catullino \ leg. Aug. pr. pr.). Similarly Zeus, the author of days and years (supra i. 16
n. 3, 1S7 n. 8), is associated with the Horai as powers of the 'year' (L. Meyer Handb.
d. gr. Etym. i. 653 f., Schrader Reallex. p. 395, Prellwitz Etym. Worterb. d. Gr. Spr.-
p. 523) throughout the whole of their long development (on which see J. H. Krause
Must 11 Grazien Horeu und ATymphen Halle 1871 pp. 109—127, P. Herrmann Dc Hora-
rum apud veteres figuris Berlin 1887, Preller—Robert Gr. Myth. i. 477—480, A. Rapp
in Roscher Lex. Myth. i. 2712—2741, J. A. Hild in Daremberg—Saglio Diet. Ant. iii.
249—256, Gruppe Gr. Myth. Rel. pp. 382 n. 1, 1063 n. 3, Jolles in Pauly—Wissowa
Real-Enc. viii. 2300—2313). Thus the Aids <2pai of Homer (Od. 24. 344 with Eustath.
in Od. p. 1964, 28, cp. Pind. 01. 4. 1 ff. eXarrip vireprare f3pov\Ta<; aKafj-avTotroSos | ZeO-
real yap T£2pai k.t.X. with scholl. ad loc.) become in Hesiod and later writers the daughters
of Zeus by Themis (Hes. theog. 901 ff., cp. 0. d. 256; Pind. frag. 30 Schroeder = J7(/>r#
p. 37 n. 1, cp. 01. 13. 6ff. ; Orph. h. Hor. 43. iff.; Apollod. 1. 3. 1 ; Hyg. fab. pr-aef.
p. 12, 6 Schmidt and fab. 183 ; Cornut. theol. 29 p. 57, 6 ff. Lang; Rutin, recognit. 10. 21 ;
Eudok. viol. 1019), or at least the daughters (Diod. 5. 72, Paus. 5. n. 7) or attendants
of Zeus (Nonn. Dion. 8. 5, 8. 33, cp. 7. 106 f.). Hence they figured as decorative details
on the throne of Zeus at Olympia (Paus. 5. 11. 7) and at Megara (Paus. 1. 40. 4).

But, apart from the general connexion of Iupiter with the Tempestates or Zeus with
the Horai, there seems to have been a special reason why this deity was chosen as the
representative of spring, viz. a May-festival of Iupiter in the Gallo-Germanic area
(E. Maass in the Jahresh. d.oest. arch. Inst. 1907 x. 108 ff. cites Eligius, bishop of Noyon
(640—648 A.D.), de rectitudine catholicae convcrsalionis (xl. 1172 Migne) Nullus diem
Iovis absque Sanctis festivitatibus nec in Maio nec in ullo tempore in otio observet).

s Mercurius, clad in chlamys, winged petasos and sandals, holds a caduceus in his left
hand and offers a purse with his right, while a cock—his frequent attribute—hovers above
it. His companion, in chiton and himdtion, holds out towards him a winged pitasos in
her left hand, a caduceus in her right. Beneath the latter is a stepped omphaloid stone,
round which a snake is coiled. R. Rorber and A. von Domaszewski suppose that this
goddess is Rosmerta, the Gallic partner of Mercurius (on whom see the excellent article
by M. Ihm in Roscher Lex. Myth. iv. 209—225). E. Maass in the Jahresh. d. oest. arch.
Inst. 1907 x. 87—90 wants to call her Emporia as goddess of the local mart : but his
arguments are unconvincing. A. Oxe in the Mainzer Zeitschrift 1912 vii. 28 ff., followed
by E. Strong in the Rev. arch. 1913 ii. 324, makes her out to be Salus, the Romanized
Hygieia, whose presence was required by the pro salute Neronis of the inscription (supra
p. 93 n. 6). J. Zingerle in the Jahresh. d. oest. arch. Inst. 1907 x. 338 n. 29, M. Ihm in
Roscher Lex. Myth. iv. 220 ff., S. Reinach in the Rev. arch. 1913 i. 25 revert to the
name Rosmerta. Reinach ib. 1913 ii. 333 f- further identifies Rosmerta with Maia as the
mother of Mercurius.