DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14697#0045
The Mountain-cults of Zeus 891
Elis
Mount Olympos1.
Olympia2.
Arkadia
Mount Lykaion3.
to Mt Ithome, as to Mt Lykaion (supra i. 70 ff.); for Aristomenes is said to have slain
300 persons, including Theopompos king of Sparta, as an offering to Zeus 'Wufxaras
(Clem. K\. protr. 3. 42. 2 p. 31, 23 ff. Stahlin (= Euseb. praep. ev. 4. 16. 12) ' Apio-Top,evrjs
yovP 6 MeaarjVLOs ti2 'Idu^-qrri Ad TpiaKoaiovs aTriffcpa^ev, Toaavras bfxod Kal TOLauras
KaWtepeTv olo/JLevos €Kar6/j,[3as ■ ev ots Kal Qebirop-iro's r\v < 6 (Euseb.) > AaKedaipioviwv
j3acri\eijs, iepetov evyevis, Kyrill. Al. c. Jul. 4 (lxxvi. 696 D—697 A Migne) ' ApiaTO/xe'vris p.ev
yap 6 MecTT^j'tos tcj eir'iKkyv \dwp.i]Tri Ad rpiaKoaiovs bp.ov vexpovs exapt^fro- irpoaeridei. be
tovtols Kal twv AaKebaifxoviwv fiacCKevaavTa' QebirofXTros outos fjv. a^idyacrTos ivrevdev 6
twv dewv virarbs re Kal (nrepraTOs. eTrefieidia yap Kara to eiwdos dvbpdaiv ddXlws 8io\w\bai,
Kal Tr\rjprj (3\eTrwv rbv eKeivwv {3wp.bv 5airbs etarjs. evTpvcpav yap 'idos avrois tuc avdpwirwv
ffv/jLtpopals). Philippos v of Makedonia (in 214 B.C.?) sacrificed to Zeus on Mt Ithome,
took the entrails of the ox in both hands, and showed them to Aratos of Sikyon and
Demetrios of Pharos, asking each for his interpretation of the omens (Plout. v. Arat. 50).
The latest notice of Zeus 'Idw/xdras is in Scholl—Studemund anecd. i. 265 "Eiir'ideTa Aibs
(51) ldwfj.r)Tov, 266 'Eiridera Alos (43) i6wp.r)Tov. Nowadays on the highest peak of Ithome
the traveller sees a ruined monastery, a branch from that at Vourkano: its paved threshing-
floor is the scene of the annual festival of the Panagia [Aug. 15], at which the peasants
dance crowned with oleander-blossom (Frazer Pausanias iii. 437). Among the ruins lives
a solitary monk (D. Fimmen loc. cit. p. 2307).
Wide Lakon. Kulte p. 22 infers a tree-cult of Zeus T#co/xdras at Leuktron or Leuktra
(Leftro) in Lakonike from Paus. 3. 26. 6 8 be 018a ev rrj wpbs OaXdcrar] x^Pa TV* AevKTpucrjs
etr' i/Aod o~vpi(3di>. ypd^/w. avefios irvp es vXr]v eveyKwv rd troXXd rq(pdvLae twv bevbpwv • ws
be dve<pdv7] to xuP'l0v j^i-Xov, dyaXfia evravda iSpvjxevov eiipeOrj Alos 'I6wp.aTa. tovto 01
^ilecrarjvioL (pacri fxaprvpiov elval a<picn rd AeuKTpa to dpxalov tt/s 'Sieaarjvia'S elvaL. bvvaiTO
5' hv Kal AaKe8aLfj.oviuv t<x AevKTpa ei; dpxv? olkovvtwv 6 'Idw/xaTas 7iei>s trap' avTois ^x€lp
Tip-ds. He justly cp. the figure of Dionysos found in a plane-tree broken by the wind at
Magnesia ad Maeandrum (A. E. Kontoleon in the Ath. Mitth. 1890 xv. 330 ff. no. 1 -
Michel Recueil (Timer, gr. no. 856). We might also cite in this connexion a modern
parallel from Ithome itself. Miss M. Hamilton (Mrs G. Dickins) Greek Saints and Their
Festivals Edinburgh and London 1910 p. i7of. writes : 'According to the popular legend,
the monks of the monastery of St. Basil on Mount Eva, opposite Ithome, saw one night
a flaming tree on the opposite ridge. They crossed the valley and found this ikon of the
Panagia on a tree, with a lighted candle beside it. They conveyed it across to their
monastery, but it transferred itself miraculously back to the place at which it was found,
and the monks believed themselves forced to change to the other ridge. Since then the
monastery of St. Basil has been deserted. The trunk of the tree was made into the lintel
of the monastery door, and it is said that at the festival it is hacked by the faithful, who
take pieces of it as a cure for fever. The ikon is inscribed with reference to the legend—
The Guide to the Plill of Ithome—'ObriyriTpia Tip 6pei 'Idw/maTei. In celebration of the
festival this ikon makes a short tour of the country. On 12th August it goes up from
Voulkano to its old home with pomp and ceremony, accompanied by the monks and its
worshippers, a goodly company, comprising a large number of babies brought to be
baptised on the top of Ithome ... On the 15th a solemn procession reconducts the ikon
to the lower monastery, and nine days later it is taken to Nisi, near Kalamata, where a
fair ends the celebrations of the district. The rest of the year the ikon remains at
Voulkano.'
1 Supra i. too, ii. 758. 2 Zeus "T^icttos (supra p. 878 n. o no. (5)).
:l Zeus AvKaios (supra i. 63—99, I54f., 177!.).
Elis
Mount Olympos1.
Olympia2.
Arkadia
Mount Lykaion3.
to Mt Ithome, as to Mt Lykaion (supra i. 70 ff.); for Aristomenes is said to have slain
300 persons, including Theopompos king of Sparta, as an offering to Zeus 'Wufxaras
(Clem. K\. protr. 3. 42. 2 p. 31, 23 ff. Stahlin (= Euseb. praep. ev. 4. 16. 12) ' Apio-Top,evrjs
yovP 6 MeaarjVLOs ti2 'Idu^-qrri Ad TpiaKoaiovs aTriffcpa^ev, Toaavras bfxod Kal TOLauras
KaWtepeTv olo/JLevos €Kar6/j,[3as ■ ev ots Kal Qebirop-iro's r\v < 6 (Euseb.) > AaKedaipioviwv
j3acri\eijs, iepetov evyevis, Kyrill. Al. c. Jul. 4 (lxxvi. 696 D—697 A Migne) ' ApiaTO/xe'vris p.ev
yap 6 MecTT^j'tos tcj eir'iKkyv \dwp.i]Tri Ad rpiaKoaiovs bp.ov vexpovs exapt^fro- irpoaeridei. be
tovtols Kal twv AaKebaifxoviwv fiacCKevaavTa' QebirofXTros outos fjv. a^idyacrTos ivrevdev 6
twv dewv virarbs re Kal (nrepraTOs. eTrefieidia yap Kara to eiwdos dvbpdaiv ddXlws 8io\w\bai,
Kal Tr\rjprj (3\eTrwv rbv eKeivwv {3wp.bv 5airbs etarjs. evTpvcpav yap 'idos avrois tuc avdpwirwv
ffv/jLtpopals). Philippos v of Makedonia (in 214 B.C.?) sacrificed to Zeus on Mt Ithome,
took the entrails of the ox in both hands, and showed them to Aratos of Sikyon and
Demetrios of Pharos, asking each for his interpretation of the omens (Plout. v. Arat. 50).
The latest notice of Zeus 'Idw/xdras is in Scholl—Studemund anecd. i. 265 "Eiir'ideTa Aibs
(51) ldwfj.r)Tov, 266 'Eiridera Alos (43) i6wp.r)Tov. Nowadays on the highest peak of Ithome
the traveller sees a ruined monastery, a branch from that at Vourkano: its paved threshing-
floor is the scene of the annual festival of the Panagia [Aug. 15], at which the peasants
dance crowned with oleander-blossom (Frazer Pausanias iii. 437). Among the ruins lives
a solitary monk (D. Fimmen loc. cit. p. 2307).
Wide Lakon. Kulte p. 22 infers a tree-cult of Zeus T#co/xdras at Leuktron or Leuktra
(Leftro) in Lakonike from Paus. 3. 26. 6 8 be 018a ev rrj wpbs OaXdcrar] x^Pa TV* AevKTpucrjs
etr' i/Aod o~vpi(3di>. ypd^/w. avefios irvp es vXr]v eveyKwv rd troXXd rq(pdvLae twv bevbpwv • ws
be dve<pdv7] to xuP'l0v j^i-Xov, dyaXfia evravda iSpvjxevov eiipeOrj Alos 'I6wp.aTa. tovto 01
^ilecrarjvioL (pacri fxaprvpiov elval a<picn rd AeuKTpa to dpxalov tt/s 'Sieaarjvia'S elvaL. bvvaiTO
5' hv Kal AaKe8aLfj.oviuv t<x AevKTpa ei; dpxv? olkovvtwv 6 'Idw/xaTas 7iei>s trap' avTois ^x€lp
Tip-ds. He justly cp. the figure of Dionysos found in a plane-tree broken by the wind at
Magnesia ad Maeandrum (A. E. Kontoleon in the Ath. Mitth. 1890 xv. 330 ff. no. 1 -
Michel Recueil (Timer, gr. no. 856). We might also cite in this connexion a modern
parallel from Ithome itself. Miss M. Hamilton (Mrs G. Dickins) Greek Saints and Their
Festivals Edinburgh and London 1910 p. i7of. writes : 'According to the popular legend,
the monks of the monastery of St. Basil on Mount Eva, opposite Ithome, saw one night
a flaming tree on the opposite ridge. They crossed the valley and found this ikon of the
Panagia on a tree, with a lighted candle beside it. They conveyed it across to their
monastery, but it transferred itself miraculously back to the place at which it was found,
and the monks believed themselves forced to change to the other ridge. Since then the
monastery of St. Basil has been deserted. The trunk of the tree was made into the lintel
of the monastery door, and it is said that at the festival it is hacked by the faithful, who
take pieces of it as a cure for fever. The ikon is inscribed with reference to the legend—
The Guide to the Plill of Ithome—'ObriyriTpia Tip 6pei 'Idw/maTei. In celebration of the
festival this ikon makes a short tour of the country. On 12th August it goes up from
Voulkano to its old home with pomp and ceremony, accompanied by the monks and its
worshippers, a goodly company, comprising a large number of babies brought to be
baptised on the top of Ithome ... On the 15th a solemn procession reconducts the ikon
to the lower monastery, and nine days later it is taken to Nisi, near Kalamata, where a
fair ends the celebrations of the district. The rest of the year the ikon remains at
Voulkano.'
1 Supra i. too, ii. 758. 2 Zeus "T^icttos (supra p. 878 n. o no. (5)).
:l Zeus AvKaios (supra i. 63—99, I54f., 177!.).