DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14696#0441
374 Ianus bifrontal in ritual
the mediaeval representations of January1, was after all a mere
duplication of the twofold type.
(77-) Ianus bifrontal in ritual.
The conception of Ianus as a double-faced deity was not without
its influence on his ritual. Ioannes the Lydian, writing in the sixth
century on the usage of his native town, says :
'Our own Philadelphia still preserves a trace of the ancient belief. On the
first day of the month (sc. January) there goes in procession no less a personage
than Ianus himself, dressed up in a two-faced mask, and people call him
Saturnus, identifying him with Kronos2.'
The confusion of Ianus with Kronos no doubt presupposes the
usual blunder A'ronos = 6~7/ronos, which from the fifth century B.C.
onwards3 queered the course of Greek theology. But the interest of
the passage lies in its record of a Ianus-mask. And of this there is
much earlier monumental evidence. A. de Gregorio in his recent
publication of prehistoric antiquities from Sicily has included a
bronze belonging to the Prince of Torrebruna at Palermo (fig. 281)4,
which represents a male dancer wearing a Janiform mask. This
grotesque little figure is clad in a close-fitting fleecy costume, pre-
sumably of sheep-skin, which reaches to elbows and knees, buttons
down the chest, and is clasped about by a girdle or girdles. He
1 Souid. s.i'. \avovapios. Koclin. irarpia, RowaravTivoinroXecos 2. 2 p. 152, 7 ft. Preger,
Favorin. lex. p. 922, 15 ft". Cp. supra p. 326, infra p. 374.
2 Lyd. de mens. 4. 2 p. 65, n ft". Wttnsch iv rrj tcad' 57/xas <J>t\a5e\0ei'a e'rt /cat vvv lx^os
t9)S dpxcuoTrjTos (TLo^eraL- iv yap rrj rjp.epa tQjv KaXevdwv wpoeiffi iaxrllJ-aTia'/J-^V0S omtos SijOey
6 'lavos iv SipLopcpip irpoaujvLp, Kal ^arovpvov aiirbv kclXovctiv oiop Kpovov.
J. Brand Popular Antiquities rev. Sir H. Ellis London 1849 *• 19 f•: 'Upon the
Circumcision, or New Year's Day, the early Christians ran about masked, in imitation
of the superstitions of the Gentiles. Against this practice Saint Maximus and Peter
Chrysologus declaimed; whence in some of the very ancient missals we find written in
the Mass for this day, " Missa ad prohibendum ab Idolis." See Maeri Hiero-Lexicon,
p. 156 [D. Magri Hierolexicon** Bononia; 1765 i. 505 ft].' The pagan rites for Jan. 1 are
denounced by Christian writers of s. iv—v : Io. Chrys. horn, in kalendas (xlviii. 953—
962 Migne), Aug. serm. ig'j ' de calendis Tanuariis, contra paganos ' and 198 ' de calendis
Januariis, ii' (xxxviii. 1021 —1026 Migne), Asterios of Amaseia horn. 4 ' adversus kalen-
darumfestum ' (xl. 215—226 Migne), Ambros. serm. 7 ' de kalendis Januariis ' (xvii. 617 f.
Migne), Prudent, c. Symm. 1. 237 ff., Petrus Chrysologus serm. 155 ' de kalendis Januarii,
quae varia gentium superstitione polluebantur' (lii. 609—611 Migne). Cp. cone. Trull.
can. 62, cone. Turon. ii can. 17, cone. Tolet. iv can. 11. On the other side read Liban.
or. 9 ei's t&? KaKavSas (i. 2. 393—398 Foerster).
s M. Mayer in Roscher Lex. Myth. ii. 1495 ff., 1546 ft
4 A. de Gregorio Iconografia delle collezioni preistoriche della Sicilia Palermo 1917
p. 128 ft pi. 126, ia, ib, ic ( = my fig. 281). Height o-io6,n. Not having seen the original,
I can only assume the genuineness of this bizarre little bronze. Gregorio's sketch hardly
inspires confidence. But would any forger have ventured upon a creation so remote from
the common run of classical types ?
the mediaeval representations of January1, was after all a mere
duplication of the twofold type.
(77-) Ianus bifrontal in ritual.
The conception of Ianus as a double-faced deity was not without
its influence on his ritual. Ioannes the Lydian, writing in the sixth
century on the usage of his native town, says :
'Our own Philadelphia still preserves a trace of the ancient belief. On the
first day of the month (sc. January) there goes in procession no less a personage
than Ianus himself, dressed up in a two-faced mask, and people call him
Saturnus, identifying him with Kronos2.'
The confusion of Ianus with Kronos no doubt presupposes the
usual blunder A'ronos = 6~7/ronos, which from the fifth century B.C.
onwards3 queered the course of Greek theology. But the interest of
the passage lies in its record of a Ianus-mask. And of this there is
much earlier monumental evidence. A. de Gregorio in his recent
publication of prehistoric antiquities from Sicily has included a
bronze belonging to the Prince of Torrebruna at Palermo (fig. 281)4,
which represents a male dancer wearing a Janiform mask. This
grotesque little figure is clad in a close-fitting fleecy costume, pre-
sumably of sheep-skin, which reaches to elbows and knees, buttons
down the chest, and is clasped about by a girdle or girdles. He
1 Souid. s.i'. \avovapios. Koclin. irarpia, RowaravTivoinroXecos 2. 2 p. 152, 7 ft. Preger,
Favorin. lex. p. 922, 15 ft". Cp. supra p. 326, infra p. 374.
2 Lyd. de mens. 4. 2 p. 65, n ft". Wttnsch iv rrj tcad' 57/xas <J>t\a5e\0ei'a e'rt /cat vvv lx^os
t9)S dpxcuoTrjTos (TLo^eraL- iv yap rrj rjp.epa tQjv KaXevdwv wpoeiffi iaxrllJ-aTia'/J-^V0S omtos SijOey
6 'lavos iv SipLopcpip irpoaujvLp, Kal ^arovpvov aiirbv kclXovctiv oiop Kpovov.
J. Brand Popular Antiquities rev. Sir H. Ellis London 1849 *• 19 f•: 'Upon the
Circumcision, or New Year's Day, the early Christians ran about masked, in imitation
of the superstitions of the Gentiles. Against this practice Saint Maximus and Peter
Chrysologus declaimed; whence in some of the very ancient missals we find written in
the Mass for this day, " Missa ad prohibendum ab Idolis." See Maeri Hiero-Lexicon,
p. 156 [D. Magri Hierolexicon** Bononia; 1765 i. 505 ft].' The pagan rites for Jan. 1 are
denounced by Christian writers of s. iv—v : Io. Chrys. horn, in kalendas (xlviii. 953—
962 Migne), Aug. serm. ig'j ' de calendis Tanuariis, contra paganos ' and 198 ' de calendis
Januariis, ii' (xxxviii. 1021 —1026 Migne), Asterios of Amaseia horn. 4 ' adversus kalen-
darumfestum ' (xl. 215—226 Migne), Ambros. serm. 7 ' de kalendis Januariis ' (xvii. 617 f.
Migne), Prudent, c. Symm. 1. 237 ff., Petrus Chrysologus serm. 155 ' de kalendis Januarii,
quae varia gentium superstitione polluebantur' (lii. 609—611 Migne). Cp. cone. Trull.
can. 62, cone. Turon. ii can. 17, cone. Tolet. iv can. 11. On the other side read Liban.
or. 9 ei's t&? KaKavSas (i. 2. 393—398 Foerster).
s M. Mayer in Roscher Lex. Myth. ii. 1495 ff., 1546 ft
4 A. de Gregorio Iconografia delle collezioni preistoriche della Sicilia Palermo 1917
p. 128 ft pi. 126, ia, ib, ic ( = my fig. 281). Height o-io6,n. Not having seen the original,
I can only assume the genuineness of this bizarre little bronze. Gregorio's sketch hardly
inspires confidence. But would any forger have ventured upon a creation so remote from
the common run of classical types ?