Cook, Arthur B.: Zeus: a study in ancient religion (Band 2,2): Zeus god of the dark sky (thunder and lightning): Appendixes and index (Cambridge, 1925)

The Mountain-cults of Zeus 877

F. G. Welcker Der Felsaltar des Hochsten Zeus oder das Pelasgikon zn Athen, bisher
genannt die Pnyx Berlin 1852 pp. 1 — 75 with pi., id. 'Pnyx oder Pelasgikon' in the
Rhein. Mus. 1856 x. 30—76, id. 'Ueber C. Bursians "Athenische Pnyx"' ib. 1856 x.
591—610, and defended especially by E. Curtius Attische Studien i Pnyx und Stadtmauer
in the Abh. d. got/. Gesellsch. d. Wiss. Phil.-hist. Classe 1862 xi. 53—132 with pis. j, 2,
viz. that the so-called Pnyx was an ancient sanctuary of Zeus "Ti/wros with the so-called
bema for its altar, is nowadays discredited. But it is generally admitted that in imperial
times, when the Pnyx had long ceased to be used for public assemblies, a cult of Zeus
"T^lcttos as a healing god was here carried on. In the rock-cut back-wall of the Pnyx,
between its eastern angle and the bema, there are more than fifty rectangular niches cut
to receive tablets. Many of the tablets that had been in the niches were found by Lord
Aberdeen in 1803 buried in the earth at the foot of the wall and are now in the British
Museum (Cor/, inscr. Gr. i nos. 497—506, C. T. Newton in The Collection of Ancient
Greek Inscriptions in the British Museum Oxford 1874 i nos. 60—70, Corp. inscr. Att.
iii. 1 nos. 147—156, 237, 238). They are dedications, mostly by women of the lower
class, to Zeus"Ti/wrcis (Corp. inscr. Att. iii. 1 no. 148 Hvvrpocpos \ 'Tt^iaroo Ad | xaPL(TTVPL01'i

Fig. 816.

no. 153 ,Q)vr\(j'ijj.7) evxvv I Atl 'Ti/wtw with relief representing a female breast) or to debs

"f\pi<7Tos (ib. no. 237 ......a deu'TipL[(XTu]\[e']ux'ri1' with relief of part of a shoulder) or more

often to "TfiaTos alone (ib. no. 149 EuoSos 'Txj/laroj evxvu with relief of a pair of eyes (cp.
ib. no. 238 = 0. T. Newton loc. cit. no. 69), no. 150 7 0\v fiir Las'T-^ La tw \ evxyv with relief
of a woman's abdomen, no. 151 TeprLa 'T^/Larui | ei>xv>' with relief of a face from the
bridge of the nose downwards, no. 152 K\av8ia Hpiirovaa \ evxapt-ffTw 'T\pLaTU with relief
of a pair of arms, no. 154 EiVux's 'TfLarw ev\x(^v) with relief of a female breast ( = my
fig. 816), no. 155 EtVtas'Ti/'ficrrw] | ev[xvl'~i with relief of a female breast).

Sporadic inscriptions attest the existence of the same cult elsewhere in Athens.
L. Ross Die Pnyx und das Pelasgikon in Athen Braunschweig 1853 p. 15 cites three in-
scriptions discovered in the foundations of a house on the northern slope of the Akropolis
(Ann. d. Inst. 1843 xv. 330ff.) and now at Berlin (Ant. Skulpt. Berlin p. 270 no. 718
Euruxta I 'Tfeiarw | evxvv with relief of a female breast, no. 719 Eu7r/ja£i[s] ] evxvv with
relief of a female breast, no. 720 EtcriSoT?? Ad 'T\fl<TTw with relief of eyebrows, eyes, and
bridge of nose. Cp. no. 721 an uninscribed relief from the same spot, representing the
middle part of the body of a nude female). A column of Pentelic marble, found to the