DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14696#0666
592 The double axe and Zeus Labrdyndos
lised. But, apart from the late inscriptions which associate Hera
with Zeus Strdtios1, we have no evidence of a goddess at all in
Lab-randa. It would seem that here throughout historical times the
god was all in all2. Yet, remembering
the similarity of the Carian to the
Cretan cult, we may well suspect that
in the former as in the latter a goddess
had once played the leading part. In-
deed, it would not be unreasonable to
conjecture that in Karia the cult of the
Indo-Europaean sky-father had been
superposed on that of an indigenous
earth-mother, and that Zeus had to a
certain extent absorbed into himself
her maternal characteristics. In point
of fact, some such hypothesis is
necessary to account for two very
remarkable reliefs, in which the Zeus
of Labranda is represented with the
breasts of a goddess. One of these
(fig. 496) is 'an archaic statuette in
white marble' seen by I. T. Wood3 'in
rig. 496. J J
the garden of a Turkish gentleman
at Mylassa.' It is of importance, because in all probability it pre-
serves for us the type of the cult-image at Labranda on a larger scale
than the coins already mentioned (figs. 476—479, 485)4. We are con-
fronted by a beardless (?) deity, with kdlathos on head, necklaces
round throat, double axe and sceptre in either hand. The body
below the waist is swathed with an agrenon5 and above it exhibits
1 Supra p. 591 n. 2.
2 Cp. J. Schaefer op. fit. p. 382 : ' neque Rhea-Cybele, quam Cretenses omnibus
aetatibus praeter Iovem diligenter venerabantur, in Caria nisi in septentrionali Lydiae
confinio culta est.' See, however, H. Graillot Le culte de Cybele Paris 1912 pp. 362 ff.,
385» 4°9-
3 J. T. Wood Discoveries at Ephesus London 1877 p. 270 fig. B ( = my fig. 496).
4 Supra p. 574 ff. (figs. 476—479, 485). C. Lenormant Nouvelle galerie mythologique
(Tresor de numismatique et de glyptique) Paris 1850 p. 52 f. no. 16 pi. 8, n and an
enlarged fig. on p. 53 : 'il porte une longue barbe et laisse voir deux mamelles de femme.'
P. Foucart in the Mon. Piot 1910 xviii. 162 thinks that Lenormant's draughtsman meant
to represent three breasts, not two. But Overbeck Gr. Kunstmyih. Zeus p. 270 is justly
sceptical of the whole design. I fail to detect any breasts on the two examples of the coin
in the British Museum {Brit. Mits. Cat. Coins Caria, etc. p. 133 nos. 38, 39); nor are
they mentioned by G. Macdonald as present on the two specimens at Glasgow [Hunter
Cat. Coins ii. 425 nos. 2, 3); while Foucart loc. cit. admits that ' M. Babelon est d'avis
que la piece du Cabinet des Medailles ne permet ni de nier ni d'affirmer.'
5 Supra p. 574 n. 7.
lised. But, apart from the late inscriptions which associate Hera
with Zeus Strdtios1, we have no evidence of a goddess at all in
Lab-randa. It would seem that here throughout historical times the
god was all in all2. Yet, remembering
the similarity of the Carian to the
Cretan cult, we may well suspect that
in the former as in the latter a goddess
had once played the leading part. In-
deed, it would not be unreasonable to
conjecture that in Karia the cult of the
Indo-Europaean sky-father had been
superposed on that of an indigenous
earth-mother, and that Zeus had to a
certain extent absorbed into himself
her maternal characteristics. In point
of fact, some such hypothesis is
necessary to account for two very
remarkable reliefs, in which the Zeus
of Labranda is represented with the
breasts of a goddess. One of these
(fig. 496) is 'an archaic statuette in
white marble' seen by I. T. Wood3 'in
rig. 496. J J
the garden of a Turkish gentleman
at Mylassa.' It is of importance, because in all probability it pre-
serves for us the type of the cult-image at Labranda on a larger scale
than the coins already mentioned (figs. 476—479, 485)4. We are con-
fronted by a beardless (?) deity, with kdlathos on head, necklaces
round throat, double axe and sceptre in either hand. The body
below the waist is swathed with an agrenon5 and above it exhibits
1 Supra p. 591 n. 2.
2 Cp. J. Schaefer op. fit. p. 382 : ' neque Rhea-Cybele, quam Cretenses omnibus
aetatibus praeter Iovem diligenter venerabantur, in Caria nisi in septentrionali Lydiae
confinio culta est.' See, however, H. Graillot Le culte de Cybele Paris 1912 pp. 362 ff.,
385» 4°9-
3 J. T. Wood Discoveries at Ephesus London 1877 p. 270 fig. B ( = my fig. 496).
4 Supra p. 574 ff. (figs. 476—479, 485). C. Lenormant Nouvelle galerie mythologique
(Tresor de numismatique et de glyptique) Paris 1850 p. 52 f. no. 16 pi. 8, n and an
enlarged fig. on p. 53 : 'il porte une longue barbe et laisse voir deux mamelles de femme.'
P. Foucart in the Mon. Piot 1910 xviii. 162 thinks that Lenormant's draughtsman meant
to represent three breasts, not two. But Overbeck Gr. Kunstmyih. Zeus p. 270 is justly
sceptical of the whole design. I fail to detect any breasts on the two examples of the coin
in the British Museum {Brit. Mits. Cat. Coins Caria, etc. p. 133 nos. 38, 39); nor are
they mentioned by G. Macdonald as present on the two specimens at Glasgow [Hunter
Cat. Coins ii. 425 nos. 2, 3); while Foucart loc. cit. admits that ' M. Babelon est d'avis
que la piece du Cabinet des Medailles ne permet ni de nier ni d'affirmer.'
5 Supra p. 574 n. 7.