DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14696#0299
Dionysos at Delphoi 237
J. Loth in the Revue celtique 1904 xxv. 113 ff., M. P. Nilsson 'Die alteste griechische
Zeitrechnung, Apollo und der Orient' in the Archivf. Rel. 1911 xiv. 423 ff., id. Primitive
Time-reckoning Lund 1920 p. 329 ff., F. Boll in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. vii. 2547—■
2578, S. Eitrem ib. vii. 2579. Infra § 3 (a) vi (A).
The principal delta concerning Apollon are as follows. Like Dionysos (Loukian. dial,
deor. 9. 2, Cornut. theol. 2 cod. G p. xiv Lang, cp. Arnob. adv. nat. 3. 10), he passed
as being a seven-months' child (schol. Pind. Pyth. argum. 1, schol. Kallim. h. Del. 251,
cp. Arnob. adv. nat. 3. 10). At Sparta on the first and seventh days of every month the
kings sacrificed to Apollon (Hdt. 6. 57, cp. Roscher Die Hebdomadenlehren etc. p. 211 f.).
At Athens the first and seventh days of every month were sacred to Apollon (schol.
Aristoph. Plout. 1126). At Miletos the guild of singers (p.o\ivo'i), who worshipped Apollon
AeXcpivios, had a festival called 'E/35o/mta in the month Boedromion (?) or Pyanepsion (?)
(A. Rehm in Milet iii. 235, 277 ff. inscr. no. 133, 6, 21 ff., U. von Wilamowitz-Moellen-
dorff in the Sitzungsber. d. Akad. d. Wiss. Berlin 1904 pp. 622, 626, F. Bechtel in Collitz—
Bechtel Gr. Dial.-Inschr. iii. 2. 627 ff. no. 5495, Nilsson Gr. Feste p. 170 f., S. Eitrem in
Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. vii. 2579) : Boedromion 7 would correspond with the date of
the Apolline Boedromia (Mommsen Feste d. Stadt Athen p. 176 f., E. Saglio in Darem-
berg—Saglio Diet. Ant. i. 713 f., P. Stengel in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. iii. 594f.),
Pyanepsion 7 with that of the Apolline Pyanopsia or Pyanepsia at Athens (Mommsen
Feste d. Stadt Athen p. 278 ff., E. Cahen in Daremberg—Saglio Diet. Ant. iv. 781). It
is probable too that sacrifices were offered to Apollon on the seventh day of the month at
Kroton (Timaios ap. Athen. 522c with Roscher Die Hebdomadenlehren etc. p. 24 n. 31).
In Boiotia (?) the seventh day of the month was sacred, for on it Leto had borne Apollon
(Hes. 0. d. 770 f., cp. Aristoboulos ap. Clem. Al. strom. 5. 14 p. 397, 20 ft". Stahlin and
ap. Euseb. praep. ev. 13. 12. 13, Prokl. in Plat. Tim. ii. 197, 28ft". Diehl). At Delphoi
Apollon's birthday was Bysios 7 (Plout. quaestt. Gr. 9), in Delos Thargelion 7 (Diog.
Laert. 3. 2). At Athens the Apolline festival of the Thargelia was held on Thargelion 7
(Mommsen Feste d. Stadt Athen p. 469), and Platon, whose birthday fell on that day
(Plout. symp. 8. 1. if.), was regarded as the son of Apollon (Mommsen op. cit. p. 469
n. 3 even says ' einen inkarnierten Apoll'); at least it was said that Ariston, warned by a
vision of Apollon, had abstained from his wife Periktione till on Thargelion 7 she gave
birth to Platon (Plout. symp. 8. 1.2; Speusippos, Klearchos frag. 43 (Frag. hist. Gr. ii.
316 Muller), and Anaxilaides (E. Schwartz in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. i. 2083
suggests Anaxilaos of Larissa) ap. Diog. Laert. 3. 2 and ap. Hieron. c. Iovinian. 1. 42 (xxiii.
273 A—B Migne)). Similarly at Kyrene Karneades was born during the Apolline Karneia
on the seventh day of the month (Plout. symp. 8. 1. 2). Apollon himself was entitled
'E/350|u,a7ei'T7s (Plout. symp. 8. 1. 2 Kalrbv debv ws ravrri yevb^ievov ii/xeh, elwev,oi npcxprjTai
teal ol lepers'Eftbo/jLayevrjv (J. J. Reiske ex edd. Aid. et Bas. efibo^ayivy) corr. ef35ouayei>7j)
KdXerre) and 'E/35o/xe?os (Corp. inscr. Att. ii. 3 no. 1653 an inscription of s. iv (?) from
Keratia in Attike [ijepdi' | ['AJttoXXwcos | 'E/SSo^eto ] <pparpLa<s j 'AxviaSuiv — Michel Recueil
cTTnscr. gr. no. 749 = Dittenberger Syll. inscr. Gr.'1 no. 441). On the seventh day of
some month he had at Athens a sacrifice called e^So/xaiov (E. Ziebarth in the Ath. Mitth.
1898 xxiii. 24ft". no. 1 = J. v. Prott and L. Ziehen Leges Graecorum sacrae ii no. 16a, 7ff.
\_e]j3S6firii laraixevo j es ef38o/j.aiov \ ols \enro\yvLbiMov j llvdacar[a]?s Bv\uv.ais - - ). His
name e[38o/j.ay^TT]s (Aisch. s. c. Th. 800 f. with schol. ad loc, Prokl. in Plat. Tim. ii. 197,
30 f. Diehl) may be compared with his other appellatives 'ApxvyeT-qs, Kw-qyer^s, Motpa-
y^TTjs, Movff7]yeT7js, 'Nvp.<pr)yeT7]s, l\p07]yiT-r)%t (Gruppe Gr. Myth. Rel. p. 1703 f.) : doubtless
we have here, as A. W. Verrall ad loc. observed, 'an example of that curious verbal
ingenuity which plays so marked a part in the religious and prophetic mysteries of
Aeschylus'; but the poet is, I fancy, giving a new meaning to an old cult-title, for the
Muses were sometimes conceived as being seven in number (Epicharm. frag. 41 Kaibel
ap. Tzetz. in Hes. 0. d. 6, Cramer anecd. Oxon. iv. 425, 3 ff., Myrsilos frag. 4 (Frag. hist.
Gr. iv. 457 f.) ap. Clem. Al.protr. 2. 31. 1—4 p. 23, 8 ff. Stahlin and ap. Arnob. adv.
nat. 3. 37 cp. 4. 24, Cornut. theol. 14 p. r5, 2, 8 f. Lang: see also Roscher Die Sieben-
und Neunzahl etc. pp. 19, 35 f.) so that e^boixayiTrjs may denote 'leader of the sevenfold
J. Loth in the Revue celtique 1904 xxv. 113 ff., M. P. Nilsson 'Die alteste griechische
Zeitrechnung, Apollo und der Orient' in the Archivf. Rel. 1911 xiv. 423 ff., id. Primitive
Time-reckoning Lund 1920 p. 329 ff., F. Boll in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. vii. 2547—■
2578, S. Eitrem ib. vii. 2579. Infra § 3 (a) vi (A).
The principal delta concerning Apollon are as follows. Like Dionysos (Loukian. dial,
deor. 9. 2, Cornut. theol. 2 cod. G p. xiv Lang, cp. Arnob. adv. nat. 3. 10), he passed
as being a seven-months' child (schol. Pind. Pyth. argum. 1, schol. Kallim. h. Del. 251,
cp. Arnob. adv. nat. 3. 10). At Sparta on the first and seventh days of every month the
kings sacrificed to Apollon (Hdt. 6. 57, cp. Roscher Die Hebdomadenlehren etc. p. 211 f.).
At Athens the first and seventh days of every month were sacred to Apollon (schol.
Aristoph. Plout. 1126). At Miletos the guild of singers (p.o\ivo'i), who worshipped Apollon
AeXcpivios, had a festival called 'E/35o/mta in the month Boedromion (?) or Pyanepsion (?)
(A. Rehm in Milet iii. 235, 277 ff. inscr. no. 133, 6, 21 ff., U. von Wilamowitz-Moellen-
dorff in the Sitzungsber. d. Akad. d. Wiss. Berlin 1904 pp. 622, 626, F. Bechtel in Collitz—
Bechtel Gr. Dial.-Inschr. iii. 2. 627 ff. no. 5495, Nilsson Gr. Feste p. 170 f., S. Eitrem in
Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. vii. 2579) : Boedromion 7 would correspond with the date of
the Apolline Boedromia (Mommsen Feste d. Stadt Athen p. 176 f., E. Saglio in Darem-
berg—Saglio Diet. Ant. i. 713 f., P. Stengel in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. iii. 594f.),
Pyanepsion 7 with that of the Apolline Pyanopsia or Pyanepsia at Athens (Mommsen
Feste d. Stadt Athen p. 278 ff., E. Cahen in Daremberg—Saglio Diet. Ant. iv. 781). It
is probable too that sacrifices were offered to Apollon on the seventh day of the month at
Kroton (Timaios ap. Athen. 522c with Roscher Die Hebdomadenlehren etc. p. 24 n. 31).
In Boiotia (?) the seventh day of the month was sacred, for on it Leto had borne Apollon
(Hes. 0. d. 770 f., cp. Aristoboulos ap. Clem. Al. strom. 5. 14 p. 397, 20 ft". Stahlin and
ap. Euseb. praep. ev. 13. 12. 13, Prokl. in Plat. Tim. ii. 197, 28ft". Diehl). At Delphoi
Apollon's birthday was Bysios 7 (Plout. quaestt. Gr. 9), in Delos Thargelion 7 (Diog.
Laert. 3. 2). At Athens the Apolline festival of the Thargelia was held on Thargelion 7
(Mommsen Feste d. Stadt Athen p. 469), and Platon, whose birthday fell on that day
(Plout. symp. 8. 1. if.), was regarded as the son of Apollon (Mommsen op. cit. p. 469
n. 3 even says ' einen inkarnierten Apoll'); at least it was said that Ariston, warned by a
vision of Apollon, had abstained from his wife Periktione till on Thargelion 7 she gave
birth to Platon (Plout. symp. 8. 1.2; Speusippos, Klearchos frag. 43 (Frag. hist. Gr. ii.
316 Muller), and Anaxilaides (E. Schwartz in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. i. 2083
suggests Anaxilaos of Larissa) ap. Diog. Laert. 3. 2 and ap. Hieron. c. Iovinian. 1. 42 (xxiii.
273 A—B Migne)). Similarly at Kyrene Karneades was born during the Apolline Karneia
on the seventh day of the month (Plout. symp. 8. 1. 2). Apollon himself was entitled
'E/350|u,a7ei'T7s (Plout. symp. 8. 1. 2 Kalrbv debv ws ravrri yevb^ievov ii/xeh, elwev,oi npcxprjTai
teal ol lepers'Eftbo/jLayevrjv (J. J. Reiske ex edd. Aid. et Bas. efibo^ayivy) corr. ef35ouayei>7j)
KdXerre) and 'E/35o/xe?os (Corp. inscr. Att. ii. 3 no. 1653 an inscription of s. iv (?) from
Keratia in Attike [ijepdi' | ['AJttoXXwcos | 'E/SSo^eto ] <pparpLa<s j 'AxviaSuiv — Michel Recueil
cTTnscr. gr. no. 749 = Dittenberger Syll. inscr. Gr.'1 no. 441). On the seventh day of
some month he had at Athens a sacrifice called e^So/xaiov (E. Ziebarth in the Ath. Mitth.
1898 xxiii. 24ft". no. 1 = J. v. Prott and L. Ziehen Leges Graecorum sacrae ii no. 16a, 7ff.
\_e]j3S6firii laraixevo j es ef38o/j.aiov \ ols \enro\yvLbiMov j llvdacar[a]?s Bv\uv.ais - - ). His
name e[38o/j.ay^TT]s (Aisch. s. c. Th. 800 f. with schol. ad loc, Prokl. in Plat. Tim. ii. 197,
30 f. Diehl) may be compared with his other appellatives 'ApxvyeT-qs, Kw-qyer^s, Motpa-
y^TTjs, Movff7]yeT7js, 'Nvp.<pr)yeT7]s, l\p07]yiT-r)%t (Gruppe Gr. Myth. Rel. p. 1703 f.) : doubtless
we have here, as A. W. Verrall ad loc. observed, 'an example of that curious verbal
ingenuity which plays so marked a part in the religious and prophetic mysteries of
Aeschylus'; but the poet is, I fancy, giving a new meaning to an old cult-title, for the
Muses were sometimes conceived as being seven in number (Epicharm. frag. 41 Kaibel
ap. Tzetz. in Hes. 0. d. 6, Cramer anecd. Oxon. iv. 425, 3 ff., Myrsilos frag. 4 (Frag. hist.
Gr. iv. 457 f.) ap. Clem. Al.protr. 2. 31. 1—4 p. 23, 8 ff. Stahlin and ap. Arnob. adv.
nat. 3. 37 cp. 4. 24, Cornut. theol. 14 p. r5, 2, 8 f. Lang: see also Roscher Die Sieben-
und Neunzahl etc. pp. 19, 35 f.) so that e^boixayiTrjs may denote 'leader of the sevenfold