DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14696#0654
580 The double axe and Zeus Labrdyndos
of Pausanias1 lead us to conclude that the native name of the former
Zeus was spelled Osogoa, an indeclinable appellation which has the
variants Osogo (genitive) and Osogoz (genitive2, dative). The meaning
of the epithet is quite unknown3. The god's temple was situated to
the west of Mylasa, at the foot of the scarped mountain, which
dominates the town. Traces of the precinct are still to be seen4—a
wall of polygonal masonry set against the mountain-side and turned
towards the east, with a row of fourteen unfluted columns at right
angles to it. Five fluted columns, bearing dedicatory inscriptions
by priests of Zeus Osogoa5, have been recovered from the immediate
neighbourhood. The practice of thus dedicating temple-columns
recurs at Euromos6 and was not unfrequent in Asia Minor7. An
allusion to it may be detected in the familiar words of the New
Testament: 'He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the
temple of my God, and he shall go out thence no more: and I will
write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of
my God,...and mine own new name8.' Zeus Osogda is once at least
identified1' writh the Zeus Otorkondeon of sundry late inscriptions10.
[—Jip o~WTe\ovp.ivu>v tu)i Ad k.t.\. (Le Bas restored tlov aydivuv t~\Qv avvTe\ovp.ivwv
™i Ad).
(7) Lebas—Waddington Asie Mineure no. 408 = Michel Reaieil (PInscr.gr. no. 473
(honorary decree, referred by Michel to s. ii B.C., by Schaefer to s. i A.D.), 14 f. dvadeivai
de tt)v eiKbva (sc. of Aifivauos OvXiadov) ev tuii ie[pu) tov Atos roO] 'OcroyQ k.t.X.
1 Paus. 8. 10. 4 (infra p. 581), where 'Ocroywa is A. Boeckh's correction of the manu-
script reading '0706a (dytoa Lb. 076a Pa. oywa Pc. oywva La.).
2 Supra p. 579 n. o no. (15).
a For a string of guesses see W. Drexler in Roscher Lex. Myth. iii. 1225 f., E. Assmann
in Philologus 1908 lxvii. 188 f., and infra § 3 (c) iii.
4 P. Le Bas et W. H. Waddington Voyage archiologique en Grece et en Asie Mineure
pendant 184J et 1844 Itineraire pi. 63—64 —Lebas—Reinach Voyage Arch. p. 47 pi. 63—
64, fig. ii, A. Hauvette-Besnault—M. Dubois 'Antiquites de Mylasa' in the Bull. Corr.
Hell. 1881 v. 98.
5 Supra p. 578 n. 4 nos. (3)—(7).
6 Corp. inscr. Gr. ii nos. 2713, 27i4 = Lebas—Waddington Asie Mineure nos. 313,
3!4—3i8.
7 A well-known example is that of the columns dedicated by Kroisos in the sixth-
century Artemision at Ephesos (Hdt. 1. 92, E. L. Hicks The Collection of Ancient Greek
Inscriptions in the British Museum Oxford 1890 iii. 2. 173 no. 518 a—e, D. G. Hogarth
Excavations at Ephesus London 1908 pp. 15, 294 f.) and by others in the fourth-century
temple on the same site (Aristot. oeconom. 2. 2. 1349 a 9 ff., E. L. Hicks op. cit. iii. 2.
173 ff. no. 519 a—i with the examples, ancient and mediaeval, cited by Canon Hicks
ad loc).
8 Rev. 3. 12. 9 Supra p. 579 n. o no. (2) bis.
10 J. Schaefer op. cit. p. 394 quotes the following decrees of the tribe 'OTwpKovSewv :
(1) Corp. inscr. Gr. ii no. 2693 c = Lebas—Waddington Asie Mineure no. 403 (of
s. i B.C.), 15 f. dvaypdxpai 8e rode to \pri[(piafj.a eis CTrfKyjv \i8Lvt]v /cai] | [arrja^ai iv run
i[epu>t tov A]tos 'OTwpKovdliwjv.
(2) Lebas—Waddington Asie Mineure no. 405, 14 f. avaypaipai de Kal r6de to xprjcpiafxa
iv tu>i 7rept/36Xan tQ>[i] \ [r?}s] </)u\[?)]s 'OrupKovdewv.
of Pausanias1 lead us to conclude that the native name of the former
Zeus was spelled Osogoa, an indeclinable appellation which has the
variants Osogo (genitive) and Osogoz (genitive2, dative). The meaning
of the epithet is quite unknown3. The god's temple was situated to
the west of Mylasa, at the foot of the scarped mountain, which
dominates the town. Traces of the precinct are still to be seen4—a
wall of polygonal masonry set against the mountain-side and turned
towards the east, with a row of fourteen unfluted columns at right
angles to it. Five fluted columns, bearing dedicatory inscriptions
by priests of Zeus Osogoa5, have been recovered from the immediate
neighbourhood. The practice of thus dedicating temple-columns
recurs at Euromos6 and was not unfrequent in Asia Minor7. An
allusion to it may be detected in the familiar words of the New
Testament: 'He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the
temple of my God, and he shall go out thence no more: and I will
write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of
my God,...and mine own new name8.' Zeus Osogda is once at least
identified1' writh the Zeus Otorkondeon of sundry late inscriptions10.
[—Jip o~WTe\ovp.ivu>v tu)i Ad k.t.\. (Le Bas restored tlov aydivuv t~\Qv avvTe\ovp.ivwv
™i Ad).
(7) Lebas—Waddington Asie Mineure no. 408 = Michel Reaieil (PInscr.gr. no. 473
(honorary decree, referred by Michel to s. ii B.C., by Schaefer to s. i A.D.), 14 f. dvadeivai
de tt)v eiKbva (sc. of Aifivauos OvXiadov) ev tuii ie[pu) tov Atos roO] 'OcroyQ k.t.X.
1 Paus. 8. 10. 4 (infra p. 581), where 'Ocroywa is A. Boeckh's correction of the manu-
script reading '0706a (dytoa Lb. 076a Pa. oywa Pc. oywva La.).
2 Supra p. 579 n. o no. (15).
a For a string of guesses see W. Drexler in Roscher Lex. Myth. iii. 1225 f., E. Assmann
in Philologus 1908 lxvii. 188 f., and infra § 3 (c) iii.
4 P. Le Bas et W. H. Waddington Voyage archiologique en Grece et en Asie Mineure
pendant 184J et 1844 Itineraire pi. 63—64 —Lebas—Reinach Voyage Arch. p. 47 pi. 63—
64, fig. ii, A. Hauvette-Besnault—M. Dubois 'Antiquites de Mylasa' in the Bull. Corr.
Hell. 1881 v. 98.
5 Supra p. 578 n. 4 nos. (3)—(7).
6 Corp. inscr. Gr. ii nos. 2713, 27i4 = Lebas—Waddington Asie Mineure nos. 313,
3!4—3i8.
7 A well-known example is that of the columns dedicated by Kroisos in the sixth-
century Artemision at Ephesos (Hdt. 1. 92, E. L. Hicks The Collection of Ancient Greek
Inscriptions in the British Museum Oxford 1890 iii. 2. 173 no. 518 a—e, D. G. Hogarth
Excavations at Ephesus London 1908 pp. 15, 294 f.) and by others in the fourth-century
temple on the same site (Aristot. oeconom. 2. 2. 1349 a 9 ff., E. L. Hicks op. cit. iii. 2.
173 ff. no. 519 a—i with the examples, ancient and mediaeval, cited by Canon Hicks
ad loc).
8 Rev. 3. 12. 9 Supra p. 579 n. o no. (2) bis.
10 J. Schaefer op. cit. p. 394 quotes the following decrees of the tribe 'OTwpKovSewv :
(1) Corp. inscr. Gr. ii no. 2693 c = Lebas—Waddington Asie Mineure no. 403 (of
s. i B.C.), 15 f. dvaypdxpai 8e rode to \pri[(piafj.a eis CTrfKyjv \i8Lvt]v /cai] | [arrja^ai iv run
i[epu>t tov A]tos 'OTwpKovdliwjv.
(2) Lebas—Waddington Asie Mineure no. 405, 14 f. avaypaipai de Kal r6de to xprjcpiafxa
iv tu>i 7rept/36Xan tQ>[i] \ [r?}s] </)u\[?)]s 'OrupKovdewv.