DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14697#0049
The Mountain-cults of Zeus
895
Megaris
A height near Megara1.
archaic Greek inscription (Roehl Inscr. Gr. ant, no. 352, Roberts Gk. Epigr. i. 146 f.
no. 120, F. Bechtel in Collitz—Bechtel Gr. Dial.-Inschr. iii. 1. 195 no. 3408, Inscr. Gr.
Pelop. i no. 6 KwXtdcicus 'A/3\lojv eiro'nqcre ' AXrlWov), perhaps the base of some offering to
Zeus, whose cult was in time superseded by that of the Archangel (cp. G. F. Hill 'Apollo
and St. Michael: some analogies' in the Journ. Hell. Stud. 1916 xxxvi. 134 ff., especially
p. 145). It was however reserved for Furtwangler by the latest excavations, of 1905 to
produce definite epigraphic evidence that the terrace of Hagios Asomatos was indeed the
sanctuary of Zeus HaveWrjvios (A. Furtwangler op. cit. i. 5 f. with the excellent map by
H. Thiersch appended to the volume). For Zeus 'EXAi^tos in the wider sense of the
'Hellenic,' i.e. national as opposed to foreign, god see O. Jessen in Pauly—Wissowa
Real-Enc. viii. 176.
1 Paus. 1. 44. 9 iirl 8e tou opovs rfj aKpa (above the Scironian Rocks) Aios eariv
'Acpecriov KaXov/uevov vabs- (paai 8e eiri rod (H. Hitzig cj. eVt rov) avfx^dvTos irore rots
"'EWricnv avxfJ-ov dvcravros AiaKov Kara tl §7] \6yiov ti2 UaveWrjvlw Ad ev Alyivr) fKO/xiaavra
Be dtyelvai Kai did tovto ' A<pe<xiov Kokeiadai rbv Aia. Many attempts have been made to
mend this broken passage. T. Panofka Der Tod des Skiron und des Patroclus Berlin
1836 pp. 4, 17 would read KO/ulcravTa Se<&eTov (sic) ttjv x^^W >d(pelvat on the strength
of an engraved chalcedony at Berlin (Furtwangler Geschnitt. Steine Berlin
p. 121 f. no. 2614 pi. 23, T. Panofka op. cit. p. 23 pi. 4, 7, E. Braun in
the Ann. d. Inst. 1836 viii. 317 f., Overbeck Gr. Kunstmyth. Zeus p. 267
Gemmentaf. 3, io = my fig. 821), which represents Zeus with a sceptre in
his left hand, a tortoise in his right, and an eagle at. his feet. This is
ingenious; for rjfpiei... dcpeOevra... used in Paus. 1. 44. 8 of Skiron and
his tortoise prepare us for a second tortoise-story in explanation of the title Fig. 821.
'Acpecrios: but, as Frazer Pausanias i. 567 f. points out, the sentence re-
mains ungrammatical. C. L. Kayser in the Zeitschrift fiir die Alterthumswissenschaft 1848
vi. 503 cj. ev Aiyivrj< Kai ev^afxevov v5wp dcpdvai is rrjv 'EAXaSa yr\v vira > Kovaavrd re d<pe£vai.
H. G. Lolling in the'E0. 'Ap%. 1887 p. 214 proposed ev Aiybrj <aeTov apiraacu to iepelov
eis Se TTjv &Kpav> KOfxicravra acpeivai, cp. schol. Aristoph. 7111b. 52. L. C. Valckenaer
(see H. Hitzig in the Jahrb. f. class. Philol, 1889 xxxv. 819) had suggested KOfilo-avra
<4vdd> de, which 'would still leave the verb dfietvai without either subject or object'
(Frazer loc. cit.). And J. F. Facius in his edition (Lipsiae 1794 i. 173) had cj. Aty'ivy Kai
vaavrd re dcpelvai. After all this stirabout H. Hitzig and F. Spiro are content to print
the passage as it stands.
In 1887 H. G. Lofling recognised the site of this sanctuary, about an hour and a half
to the south-west of Megara, at a place called Sla Marmara, some 850 ft above sea-level,
though far below the mountain-crest (H. G. Lolling in the'E0. 'Apx. 1887 p. 213 ff. with
sketch-plan). D. Philios, who excavated it in 1889, discovered a small prostyle temple
(6"40m x 4'75m) facing south-east. Of this nothing remained except three foundation-
courses and the pavement; but the temple appears to have been of stone and certainly had
stone triglyphs. To the north was a Christian tomb (T), long since rifled, showing that
sanctity still attached to the spot in Byzantine times: terra-cotta lamps were found, marked
with a cross. To the south was a cistern (N), and further east a circular structure (K),
three bases (9), and a large oblong altar (?)(H). Adjoining this was a line of plinths (M)
and a wall (II—P). West of the precinct, if so it may be termed, lay a complex of
chambers built round a court-yard. One chamber (A), which had stone couches set against
its walls, contained two pits (a, /3) full of ashes. Two other chambers (7 and 8), entered
from a stoa with bases for pillars (r, v, 0(?)), were likewise lined with stone couches.
A short staircase led from the stod into another room (9), the centre of which was occupied
by a shallow circular depression with a flooring of baked brickwork. From this a channel
of baked brick ran into a pit about o-iom deep. On the rim of the large sinking, towards
the north, was set a square base o"5o,n high. The next room (10) again disclosed a pit
895
Megaris
A height near Megara1.
archaic Greek inscription (Roehl Inscr. Gr. ant, no. 352, Roberts Gk. Epigr. i. 146 f.
no. 120, F. Bechtel in Collitz—Bechtel Gr. Dial.-Inschr. iii. 1. 195 no. 3408, Inscr. Gr.
Pelop. i no. 6 KwXtdcicus 'A/3\lojv eiro'nqcre ' AXrlWov), perhaps the base of some offering to
Zeus, whose cult was in time superseded by that of the Archangel (cp. G. F. Hill 'Apollo
and St. Michael: some analogies' in the Journ. Hell. Stud. 1916 xxxvi. 134 ff., especially
p. 145). It was however reserved for Furtwangler by the latest excavations, of 1905 to
produce definite epigraphic evidence that the terrace of Hagios Asomatos was indeed the
sanctuary of Zeus HaveWrjvios (A. Furtwangler op. cit. i. 5 f. with the excellent map by
H. Thiersch appended to the volume). For Zeus 'EXAi^tos in the wider sense of the
'Hellenic,' i.e. national as opposed to foreign, god see O. Jessen in Pauly—Wissowa
Real-Enc. viii. 176.
1 Paus. 1. 44. 9 iirl 8e tou opovs rfj aKpa (above the Scironian Rocks) Aios eariv
'Acpecriov KaXov/uevov vabs- (paai 8e eiri rod (H. Hitzig cj. eVt rov) avfx^dvTos irore rots
"'EWricnv avxfJ-ov dvcravros AiaKov Kara tl §7] \6yiov ti2 UaveWrjvlw Ad ev Alyivr) fKO/xiaavra
Be dtyelvai Kai did tovto ' A<pe<xiov Kokeiadai rbv Aia. Many attempts have been made to
mend this broken passage. T. Panofka Der Tod des Skiron und des Patroclus Berlin
1836 pp. 4, 17 would read KO/ulcravTa Se<&eTov (sic) ttjv x^^W >d(pelvat on the strength
of an engraved chalcedony at Berlin (Furtwangler Geschnitt. Steine Berlin
p. 121 f. no. 2614 pi. 23, T. Panofka op. cit. p. 23 pi. 4, 7, E. Braun in
the Ann. d. Inst. 1836 viii. 317 f., Overbeck Gr. Kunstmyth. Zeus p. 267
Gemmentaf. 3, io = my fig. 821), which represents Zeus with a sceptre in
his left hand, a tortoise in his right, and an eagle at. his feet. This is
ingenious; for rjfpiei... dcpeOevra... used in Paus. 1. 44. 8 of Skiron and
his tortoise prepare us for a second tortoise-story in explanation of the title Fig. 821.
'Acpecrios: but, as Frazer Pausanias i. 567 f. points out, the sentence re-
mains ungrammatical. C. L. Kayser in the Zeitschrift fiir die Alterthumswissenschaft 1848
vi. 503 cj. ev Aiyivrj< Kai ev^afxevov v5wp dcpdvai is rrjv 'EAXaSa yr\v vira > Kovaavrd re d<pe£vai.
H. G. Lolling in the'E0. 'Ap%. 1887 p. 214 proposed ev Aiybrj <aeTov apiraacu to iepelov
eis Se TTjv &Kpav> KOfxicravra acpeivai, cp. schol. Aristoph. 7111b. 52. L. C. Valckenaer
(see H. Hitzig in the Jahrb. f. class. Philol, 1889 xxxv. 819) had suggested KOfilo-avra
<4vdd> de, which 'would still leave the verb dfietvai without either subject or object'
(Frazer loc. cit.). And J. F. Facius in his edition (Lipsiae 1794 i. 173) had cj. Aty'ivy Kai
vaavrd re dcpelvai. After all this stirabout H. Hitzig and F. Spiro are content to print
the passage as it stands.
In 1887 H. G. Lofling recognised the site of this sanctuary, about an hour and a half
to the south-west of Megara, at a place called Sla Marmara, some 850 ft above sea-level,
though far below the mountain-crest (H. G. Lolling in the'E0. 'Apx. 1887 p. 213 ff. with
sketch-plan). D. Philios, who excavated it in 1889, discovered a small prostyle temple
(6"40m x 4'75m) facing south-east. Of this nothing remained except three foundation-
courses and the pavement; but the temple appears to have been of stone and certainly had
stone triglyphs. To the north was a Christian tomb (T), long since rifled, showing that
sanctity still attached to the spot in Byzantine times: terra-cotta lamps were found, marked
with a cross. To the south was a cistern (N), and further east a circular structure (K),
three bases (9), and a large oblong altar (?)(H). Adjoining this was a line of plinths (M)
and a wall (II—P). West of the precinct, if so it may be termed, lay a complex of
chambers built round a court-yard. One chamber (A), which had stone couches set against
its walls, contained two pits (a, /3) full of ashes. Two other chambers (7 and 8), entered
from a stoa with bases for pillars (r, v, 0(?)), were likewise lined with stone couches.
A short staircase led from the stod into another room (9), the centre of which was occupied
by a shallow circular depression with a flooring of baked brickwork. From this a channel
of baked brick ran into a pit about o-iom deep. On the rim of the large sinking, towards
the north, was set a square base o"5o,n high. The next room (10) again disclosed a pit