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https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14696#0577
504 Lightning as a flash from an Eye
shot from the jealous eye of Zeus. And, when we remember that the
'jealous eye' was another name for the evil eye1, it becomes highly
probable that the Greeks sometimes considered lightning as an
exhibition of the evil eye on the part of Zeus.
Now \Y. Wundt2 in his masterly Volkerpsyckologie has shown
that the superstition of the evil eye3 presupposes a belief in the
eye as the seat and doorway of the soul4. Primitive man regards
reflections on the cornea as due to an inward fire and, since this fire
is dimmed or extinguished by death, connects it with the soul's
activity5. The pupil of the eye he takes to be a hole through
which the soul can pass outwards to work its will at a distance.
Parenthetically I may add that this explanation accounts, not only
for the evil eye, but also for the good eye6. If the glance of the eye
1 O. Jahn ' t'ber den Aberglauben des bosen Blicks bei den Alten' in the Ber. sac/is.
Gesellsch. d. Wiss. Phil.-hist. Classe 1855 p. 31 n. 9.
- W. Wundt Viilkerpsychologie Leipzig 1906 ii. 2. 27 f.
3 For recent investigation of the evil eye see Gruppe Myth. Lit. 1908 p. 35S. To the
articles cited by him must now be added the important volumes of S. Seligmann Der hose
Blick und Venvandtes Berlin 1910 i. 1—406, ii. 1 —526 (reviewed by R. Wunsch in the
Ber/. philol. Woch. Jan. 21, 1911 p. 75 ff. and in the Archiv f. Rel. 1911 xiv. 546, cp.
K. T. Preuss ii. 1910 xiii. 453 ff.) and the very thorough-going monograph of B. Schmidt
'Der bose Blick und ahnlicher Zauber im neugriechischen Volksglauben' in the Neue
Jahri.f. Mass. Altertum 1913 xxxi. 574—613.
4 On the eye as seat of the soul see E. Monseur 'L'ame pupilline' in the Revue de
Vliistoire des religions 1905 li. 1 — 23, L. Deubner in the Archiv f. Rel. 1907 x. 319,
O. Waser in Roscher Lex. Myth. iii. 3209 and in the Archiv f. Rel. 1913 xvi. 381,
G. Elliot Smith The Evolution of the Dragon Manchester 1919 pp. 52—55.
5 Cp. e.g. Plin. nat. hist. 28. 64 augurium ex homine ipso est non timendi mortem in
aegritudine, quamdiu oculorum pupillae imaginem reddant, Iul. Capit. v. Pert. 14. 2
ea die, qua occisus est, negabant in oculis eius pupulas cum imaginibus, quas reddunt
spectantibus, visas.
6 Examples of 'Der gute Blick' are collected by S. Seligmann op. cit. i. 244—251,
cp. ii. ii. 493 Index s.v. 'Gutes Auge.' 1 have it from Prof. P. Gardner that the modern
Greek peasant believes in the influence of a good eye as well as in that of an evil eye.
I have noted the following ancient allusions to the good eye of deities : Kallim. h. Ap.
50 ft", peid fee j3ov(36cnov reXedoi irXeov, ovSe Kev alyes j 5-etioivro fipe<peLov evifi-nXaSes, yaiv
'AttoWuw I fioaxofxevris bcpdaXubv ewrjyayev k.t.X., Theokr. 9. 35 f. rbaaov efj.lv Mdiaat.
(piXai • oi)s yap bpeuvri j yadevaai, tovs 5' oii tl irorcp baXrjcraTo Kipper/ (cp. Kallim. ep. 23. 5 f.
MoOcrcu yap o<rovs 'Ibov b/x/xari waibas | /xt) Xo^ip, ttoXiovs ovk aire'devTO tpiXovs, where fir]
Xoijy is read by schol. Hes. theog. 82, a%pt fit-ov by Anth. Pal. 7. 525. 6), cp. Pind. 01.
7. 11 f., PytJi. 3. 85, Hdt. 1. 124, Alkiphr. ep. 1. 36, 3. 44, Aristain. ep. 1. 11, r. 19, Hor.
od. 4. 3. 1 ff. See further C. Sittl Die Gebiirden der Griechen und Rbnier Leipzig 1890
p. 343 n. 5. In the case of men I have no certain instances, but cp. Pind. Pyth. 5. 14 ff.
to fiev, otl j3acri\€vs | iacrl fxeyaXav iroXiuv ' | ^%«t ffvyyevijs \ 6<pdaX/xbs aidoibrarov yepas, |
rea touto fiiyvvfxevov eppevi. The ' eye born with ' Arkesilas of Kyrene, which brought him
worship and honour as an inalienable prerogative, may well have been his good eye. It
seems to have been hereditary : id. 51 ff. 6 Bclttov 5' eirerai TraXaibs o\/3os ^ixirav to. Kal ra
vefxwv, j Trvpyos acrreos ofx/xa re (paevvbrarov \ ^evoicri. J. Bridge '2TITEXHS 0$9AAMOS'
in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 1900 xi. 141 ff. gives a different explanation
{ffvyyevrjs b(pdaX/j.6s — avyyevys irbr/xos, 'the guardian spirit of the race,' cp. Aisch. cho. 934
shot from the jealous eye of Zeus. And, when we remember that the
'jealous eye' was another name for the evil eye1, it becomes highly
probable that the Greeks sometimes considered lightning as an
exhibition of the evil eye on the part of Zeus.
Now \Y. Wundt2 in his masterly Volkerpsyckologie has shown
that the superstition of the evil eye3 presupposes a belief in the
eye as the seat and doorway of the soul4. Primitive man regards
reflections on the cornea as due to an inward fire and, since this fire
is dimmed or extinguished by death, connects it with the soul's
activity5. The pupil of the eye he takes to be a hole through
which the soul can pass outwards to work its will at a distance.
Parenthetically I may add that this explanation accounts, not only
for the evil eye, but also for the good eye6. If the glance of the eye
1 O. Jahn ' t'ber den Aberglauben des bosen Blicks bei den Alten' in the Ber. sac/is.
Gesellsch. d. Wiss. Phil.-hist. Classe 1855 p. 31 n. 9.
- W. Wundt Viilkerpsychologie Leipzig 1906 ii. 2. 27 f.
3 For recent investigation of the evil eye see Gruppe Myth. Lit. 1908 p. 35S. To the
articles cited by him must now be added the important volumes of S. Seligmann Der hose
Blick und Venvandtes Berlin 1910 i. 1—406, ii. 1 —526 (reviewed by R. Wunsch in the
Ber/. philol. Woch. Jan. 21, 1911 p. 75 ff. and in the Archiv f. Rel. 1911 xiv. 546, cp.
K. T. Preuss ii. 1910 xiii. 453 ff.) and the very thorough-going monograph of B. Schmidt
'Der bose Blick und ahnlicher Zauber im neugriechischen Volksglauben' in the Neue
Jahri.f. Mass. Altertum 1913 xxxi. 574—613.
4 On the eye as seat of the soul see E. Monseur 'L'ame pupilline' in the Revue de
Vliistoire des religions 1905 li. 1 — 23, L. Deubner in the Archiv f. Rel. 1907 x. 319,
O. Waser in Roscher Lex. Myth. iii. 3209 and in the Archiv f. Rel. 1913 xvi. 381,
G. Elliot Smith The Evolution of the Dragon Manchester 1919 pp. 52—55.
5 Cp. e.g. Plin. nat. hist. 28. 64 augurium ex homine ipso est non timendi mortem in
aegritudine, quamdiu oculorum pupillae imaginem reddant, Iul. Capit. v. Pert. 14. 2
ea die, qua occisus est, negabant in oculis eius pupulas cum imaginibus, quas reddunt
spectantibus, visas.
6 Examples of 'Der gute Blick' are collected by S. Seligmann op. cit. i. 244—251,
cp. ii. ii. 493 Index s.v. 'Gutes Auge.' 1 have it from Prof. P. Gardner that the modern
Greek peasant believes in the influence of a good eye as well as in that of an evil eye.
I have noted the following ancient allusions to the good eye of deities : Kallim. h. Ap.
50 ft", peid fee j3ov(36cnov reXedoi irXeov, ovSe Kev alyes j 5-etioivro fipe<peLov evifi-nXaSes, yaiv
'AttoWuw I fioaxofxevris bcpdaXubv ewrjyayev k.t.X., Theokr. 9. 35 f. rbaaov efj.lv Mdiaat.
(piXai • oi)s yap bpeuvri j yadevaai, tovs 5' oii tl irorcp baXrjcraTo Kipper/ (cp. Kallim. ep. 23. 5 f.
MoOcrcu yap o<rovs 'Ibov b/x/xari waibas | /xt) Xo^ip, ttoXiovs ovk aire'devTO tpiXovs, where fir]
Xoijy is read by schol. Hes. theog. 82, a%pt fit-ov by Anth. Pal. 7. 525. 6), cp. Pind. 01.
7. 11 f., PytJi. 3. 85, Hdt. 1. 124, Alkiphr. ep. 1. 36, 3. 44, Aristain. ep. 1. 11, r. 19, Hor.
od. 4. 3. 1 ff. See further C. Sittl Die Gebiirden der Griechen und Rbnier Leipzig 1890
p. 343 n. 5. In the case of men I have no certain instances, but cp. Pind. Pyth. 5. 14 ff.
to fiev, otl j3acri\€vs | iacrl fxeyaXav iroXiuv ' | ^%«t ffvyyevijs \ 6<pdaX/xbs aidoibrarov yepas, |
rea touto fiiyvvfxevov eppevi. The ' eye born with ' Arkesilas of Kyrene, which brought him
worship and honour as an inalienable prerogative, may well have been his good eye. It
seems to have been hereditary : id. 51 ff. 6 Bclttov 5' eirerai TraXaibs o\/3os ^ixirav to. Kal ra
vefxwv, j Trvpyos acrreos ofx/xa re (paevvbrarov \ ^evoicri. J. Bridge '2TITEXHS 0$9AAMOS'
in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 1900 xi. 141 ff. gives a different explanation
{ffvyyevrjs b(pdaX/j.6s — avyyevys irbr/xos, 'the guardian spirit of the race,' cp. Aisch. cho. 934