DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14696#0413
346
Zan an older Zeus
But why must he drink from a cymbal? Nonnos states that Mystis, the Sidonian
Bacchant, who instructed Dionysos and devised the Dionysiac equipment, fastened bronze
bowls to her naked breasts (Nonn. Dion. 9. 125 f. Kal <pidXas (Count de Marcellus cj.
(pdXXovs sic) yvp.volo'i.v eVi (H. Koechly cj. yvp-voicrt irepl) crrepvoiai Kadd\pai \ %aX/ceias
(Count de Marcellus cj. xa^'e'ol's) evbrjcre), and that, when the god first came to Athens,
the women there put bowls over their mailed breasts (Nonn. Dion. 47. 9 f. (pcdXas (Count
de Marcellus cj. (pdXXovs sic) be ffibripo<pbpiov bid p.a£i2i> \ ar-qOecn ixvcttittoXolo-lv dvefavvvvTO
yvvaiKes). The custom has given rise to discussion (F. Creuzer Dionysits sive commentatio
academica de rerum Bacchicarum Orphicariunque originibus et cansis Heidelberg 1809
i. 63, K. Schwenck Sinnbilder der alien vblker Frankfurt 1851 p. 39, R. Koehler JJber
die Dionysiaka des JVouuus von Panopolis Halle 1853 p. 19 n. 2, O. Jahn in the Ber.
sacks. Gesellsch. d. IViss. Phil .-hist. Classe 1868 p. 177). E. Maass Orpheus Mitnchen
1895 p. 119 n. 167 shrewdly surmises that these bowls were the cymbals from which the
mystics drank. I would support his conjecture by pointing out that in Kypros a breast-
shaped cup was known both as fxaarbs (Athen. 487 b 'AiroWoSupos 6 Kvprjvaios
(Frag. hist. Gr. i. 469 Mullet"), ws Ild/^iXoJ <pf)cn., llacpiovs to Trorripiov outwj tcaXeiv,
Eustath. in II. p. 1258, 59 f. t'/c be tovtov i'crw? Kal p.aaddXy]S, Ki5Ai£ tls wapd rots TraXaiols.
Kai irapd UacpioLS be /nacrdbs iroT7]piov, ffvarop.ov, ibs eixos, ft; 08 e/3bdX\eT0 rpbirov Tivd cjs e/c
ixaadov to irivbfxevov) and as Kupifia (Athen. 482 e Kvfi/3a irorripiov ^ A.iroXXbbwpos (frag. 245
(Brag. hist. Gr. i. 469 Midler)) Tlacpiois, 483 A 'AiroXXbbupos 5' ev tlS irepl ervp:o\oyiu)v
(frag. 189 (Brag. hist. Gr. i. 463 Midler)) ria^ious to rcoT-qpiov KaXeiv Ki'u(3a (kv/jl(3<xp
cod. C.)). Its usage spread from the Levant to Greece, for a cup called fiaaTos is, not
only mentioned by grammarians (Poll. 6. 95 ^aaTovs, Hesych. s.v. /xacrTos' iroT-fipiov), but
also recorded among articles of silver in the temple-inventories of Delos (T. Homolle in
the Bull. Corr. Hell. 1882 vi. 1 ff. no. 15 C 44 f. = Dittenberger Syll. inscr. Gr.'2 no. 588,
44 f. /ucuttos iir' dp'xovTos TXyjaifj-evov (=216 b.c.), lepd^ovros tov ,Xo-kX^ttlov ZcoreXou,
93 fiao-Tol Al) and Oropos (B. I. Leonardos in the 'E<p. 'Apx- 1889 p. 2 ff. no. 26, 11
pLaaTbs iepbs FIE aXXos lepbs oBS aXXos (epos oA, and in lines 13, 23, 25, 26, 27, 29,
30 bis, 31, 32, 33, 45, 52, 56, 57, 62, 65, 66, 68 bis, 70, 72, cp. 14 ixaaao-Tiov (sic)
B. Keil ' Ein Silberinventar des Amphiaraos von Oropos ' in Hermes 1890 xxv. 598—623).
Sundry specimens in terra cotta have come down to us (e.g. (a) A. P. di Cesnola Salaminia
London 1882 p. 251 f. pi. 19, 11, Ohnefalsch-Richter Kypros p. 455 pi. 150, 20, Brit.
Mas. Cat. Vases i. 2. 155 no. C 801 pi. 4: (b) Brit. Mus. Cat. Vases ii. 209 f. nos.
B 375—B 377, E. Pettier in Daremberg—Saglio Diet. Ant. iii. 1625 fig. 4856 a black-
figured mastos in room E of the Louvre : (c) Brit. Mus. Cat. Vases iii. 392 f. nos. D 9
and D 10 a pair of mastoi by Sotades(?)), which appear to have been evolved from
a feeding-bottle in the shape of the mother's breast. No doubt the Greeks, like other
peoples (H. Ploss—M. Bartels Das Weib10 Leipzig 1913 i. 376 fig. 252), struck by the
similarity of breast and bowl, made such vases for purely secular purposes. But religious
significance is sometimes probable (Plin. nat. hist. 33. 81 Minervae templum habet Lindos
insulae Rhodiorum, in quo Helena sacravit calicem ex electro ; adicit historia, mammae
suae mensura. C. Blinkenberg Die lindische Tempelchronik Bonn 1915 p. 15 comments :
' Die art dieses geschenkes ist durch die auf die kleine Ilias (Schol. Aristoph. Lysistr. 155,
vgl. Ed. pr. [ = C. Blinkenberg 'La chronique du temple lindien ' in the Bulletin de
I'acadt'mie royale des sciences et des lettres de Danemark 1912 nos 5—6] s. 119) zuruck-
gehende erzahlung von der rettung Helenas bestimmt. Die notiz des Plinius stammt aus
der reisebeschreibung des C. Licinius Mucianus, der um 60 n. Chr. den Orient bereist
und auch Lindos besucht hatte (s. Ed. pr. s. 118 und 124 ft".) und von den besuchten
drtlichkeiten allerlei kuriositaten berichtete. Wolters meint (Siiddeutsche Monatshefte
1913), die stiftung des bechers sei erst nach der zeit unserer chronik erfunden ; da aber
Mucianus sich ausdriicklich auf eine literarische quelle beruft ("adicit historia"), war die
epOV MS, 15 p.aCTTL0V 'ApiCTTOKpLT^i KHS, 2 1 p.aCTTLOV
ia B diro twv e(tr)avdlTwv dyovTa. dvd I • I See further
Zan an older Zeus
But why must he drink from a cymbal? Nonnos states that Mystis, the Sidonian
Bacchant, who instructed Dionysos and devised the Dionysiac equipment, fastened bronze
bowls to her naked breasts (Nonn. Dion. 9. 125 f. Kal <pidXas (Count de Marcellus cj.
(pdXXovs sic) yvp.volo'i.v eVi (H. Koechly cj. yvp-voicrt irepl) crrepvoiai Kadd\pai \ %aX/ceias
(Count de Marcellus cj. xa^'e'ol's) evbrjcre), and that, when the god first came to Athens,
the women there put bowls over their mailed breasts (Nonn. Dion. 47. 9 f. (pcdXas (Count
de Marcellus cj. (pdXXovs sic) be ffibripo<pbpiov bid p.a£i2i> \ ar-qOecn ixvcttittoXolo-lv dvefavvvvTO
yvvaiKes). The custom has given rise to discussion (F. Creuzer Dionysits sive commentatio
academica de rerum Bacchicarum Orphicariunque originibus et cansis Heidelberg 1809
i. 63, K. Schwenck Sinnbilder der alien vblker Frankfurt 1851 p. 39, R. Koehler JJber
die Dionysiaka des JVouuus von Panopolis Halle 1853 p. 19 n. 2, O. Jahn in the Ber.
sacks. Gesellsch. d. IViss. Phil .-hist. Classe 1868 p. 177). E. Maass Orpheus Mitnchen
1895 p. 119 n. 167 shrewdly surmises that these bowls were the cymbals from which the
mystics drank. I would support his conjecture by pointing out that in Kypros a breast-
shaped cup was known both as fxaarbs (Athen. 487 b 'AiroWoSupos 6 Kvprjvaios
(Frag. hist. Gr. i. 469 Mullet"), ws Ild/^iXoJ <pf)cn., llacpiovs to Trorripiov outwj tcaXeiv,
Eustath. in II. p. 1258, 59 f. t'/c be tovtov i'crw? Kal p.aaddXy]S, Ki5Ai£ tls wapd rots TraXaiols.
Kai irapd UacpioLS be /nacrdbs iroT7]piov, ffvarop.ov, ibs eixos, ft; 08 e/3bdX\eT0 rpbirov Tivd cjs e/c
ixaadov to irivbfxevov) and as Kupifia (Athen. 482 e Kvfi/3a irorripiov ^ A.iroXXbbwpos (frag. 245
(Brag. hist. Gr. i. 469 Midler)) Tlacpiois, 483 A 'AiroXXbbupos 5' ev tlS irepl ervp:o\oyiu)v
(frag. 189 (Brag. hist. Gr. i. 463 Midler)) ria^ious to rcoT-qpiov KaXeiv Ki'u(3a (kv/jl(3<xp
cod. C.)). Its usage spread from the Levant to Greece, for a cup called fiaaTos is, not
only mentioned by grammarians (Poll. 6. 95 ^aaTovs, Hesych. s.v. /xacrTos' iroT-fipiov), but
also recorded among articles of silver in the temple-inventories of Delos (T. Homolle in
the Bull. Corr. Hell. 1882 vi. 1 ff. no. 15 C 44 f. = Dittenberger Syll. inscr. Gr.'2 no. 588,
44 f. /ucuttos iir' dp'xovTos TXyjaifj-evov (=216 b.c.), lepd^ovros tov ,Xo-kX^ttlov ZcoreXou,
93 fiao-Tol Al) and Oropos (B. I. Leonardos in the 'E<p. 'Apx- 1889 p. 2 ff. no. 26, 11
pLaaTbs iepbs FIE aXXos lepbs oBS aXXos (epos oA, and in lines 13, 23, 25, 26, 27, 29,
30 bis, 31, 32, 33, 45, 52, 56, 57, 62, 65, 66, 68 bis, 70, 72, cp. 14 ixaaao-Tiov (sic)
B. Keil ' Ein Silberinventar des Amphiaraos von Oropos ' in Hermes 1890 xxv. 598—623).
Sundry specimens in terra cotta have come down to us (e.g. (a) A. P. di Cesnola Salaminia
London 1882 p. 251 f. pi. 19, 11, Ohnefalsch-Richter Kypros p. 455 pi. 150, 20, Brit.
Mas. Cat. Vases i. 2. 155 no. C 801 pi. 4: (b) Brit. Mus. Cat. Vases ii. 209 f. nos.
B 375—B 377, E. Pettier in Daremberg—Saglio Diet. Ant. iii. 1625 fig. 4856 a black-
figured mastos in room E of the Louvre : (c) Brit. Mus. Cat. Vases iii. 392 f. nos. D 9
and D 10 a pair of mastoi by Sotades(?)), which appear to have been evolved from
a feeding-bottle in the shape of the mother's breast. No doubt the Greeks, like other
peoples (H. Ploss—M. Bartels Das Weib10 Leipzig 1913 i. 376 fig. 252), struck by the
similarity of breast and bowl, made such vases for purely secular purposes. But religious
significance is sometimes probable (Plin. nat. hist. 33. 81 Minervae templum habet Lindos
insulae Rhodiorum, in quo Helena sacravit calicem ex electro ; adicit historia, mammae
suae mensura. C. Blinkenberg Die lindische Tempelchronik Bonn 1915 p. 15 comments :
' Die art dieses geschenkes ist durch die auf die kleine Ilias (Schol. Aristoph. Lysistr. 155,
vgl. Ed. pr. [ = C. Blinkenberg 'La chronique du temple lindien ' in the Bulletin de
I'acadt'mie royale des sciences et des lettres de Danemark 1912 nos 5—6] s. 119) zuruck-
gehende erzahlung von der rettung Helenas bestimmt. Die notiz des Plinius stammt aus
der reisebeschreibung des C. Licinius Mucianus, der um 60 n. Chr. den Orient bereist
und auch Lindos besucht hatte (s. Ed. pr. s. 118 und 124 ft".) und von den besuchten
drtlichkeiten allerlei kuriositaten berichtete. Wolters meint (Siiddeutsche Monatshefte
1913), die stiftung des bechers sei erst nach der zeit unserer chronik erfunden ; da aber
Mucianus sich ausdriicklich auf eine literarische quelle beruft ("adicit historia"), war die
epOV MS, 15 p.aCTTL0V 'ApiCTTOKpLT^i KHS, 2 1 p.aCTTLOV
ia B diro twv e(tr)avdlTwv dyovTa. dvd I • I See further