DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14697#0065
The Mountain-cults of Zeus 909
Mus. Cat. Coins Sicily p. 42 nos. 8—11, Hunter Cat. Coins i. 171 nos. 1—5, G. F. Hill
Historical Greek Coins London 1906 p. 43 pi. 3, 21, Head Hist, mini? p. 131) or AIT
NAI likewise abbreviated {Brit. Mus. Cat. Coins Sicily p. 43 no. 12 fig., nos. 13—16,
G. F. Hill op. cit. p. 44, Head Hist, mim? p. 132). And a unique silver tetradrachm in
the Hirsch collection at Brussels {supra i. 90f. fig. 62) shows obv. AITNA ION the
head of a bald Silenos wearing an ivy-wreath (Eur. Cycl. 18 ff. Silenos as slave of Poly-
phemos dwells in a cave on Mt Aitne), with a beetle beneath (Aristoph. pax 73 Ahvdlov
/j.eyi<TToi> KCLfdapov and schol. ad loc), rev. Zeus Airvaios sitting on a throne spread with
a lion-skin. He is clad in a himdtion. His right hand rests on a vine-staff (Strab. 269
'iXiLV TL oiKetw/xa irpbs r-qv a/nireXov etVoj rr/v Airvaiav awoSbv) ; his left holds a thunderbolt
with two curled wings. In the field is an eagle perched on a pine-tree (Diod. 14. 42 els
rb Kara ttjv A'(tvt]v 8pos aireaTeihe yep.ov /car' etceivovs tovs XP^V0VS TroXvreXovs eXaT-rjs re xal
TrevKrjs). On this remarkable coin, which has been taken to represent the cult-statue of
Zeus ALrvaios (Ziegler in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. x. 2475 f.), see further Baron L. de
Hirsch in the Num. Chron. Third Series 1883 iii. 165 f. pi. 9, 1, B. V. Head ib. p. 171 ff.,
G. F. Hill Coins of Ancient Sicily London 1903 p. 74 f. pi. 4, 13, id. Historical Greek
Coins London 1906 p. 43 ff- pi. 3, 22, G. Macdonald Coin Types Glasgow 1905 pp. 94 f.,
97 pi. 3, 6, Head Hist, num.2 p. 131 f. fig. 70. The types of the tetradrachm recall the
famous scene in Aristoph. pax 62 ff., where Trygaios tries to reach Zeus, first by clambering
up light ladders towards the sky {supra p. 130), and then by mounting an Aetnaean beetle
as a sort of Pegasos. Not improbably there were Dionysiac traits in the cult of Zeus on
Mt Aitne, as there were in his cult on Mt Olympos {supra i. 104 ff.).
There is, however, no evidence of a Zeus-cult on Aitne earlier than s. v B.C. Hence
the paucity of myths connecting this god with the mountain. Zeus is indeed sometimes
said to have piled Aitne on Typhon (Aisch. P. v. 351 ff., Find. Pyth. 1. 13 ff., cp. Strab.
626 f.) or on Enkelaclos (Lucilius (?) Aetna 71 ff., Stat. Theb. 11. 8, cp. Verg. Aen. 3.
578 ff., Opp. devenat. 1. 273 ff.) ; but Typhon is more properly located in the land of
Arima {supra p. 826) or in the Corycian Cave {supra p. 448 11. 2), and Enkelados is com-
monly described as the victim of Athena, not of Zeus. Again, the Palikoi, autochthonous
deities (Polemon frag. 83 {Frag. hist. Gr. iii. 140 f. Mtiller) ap. Macrob. Sat. 5. 19. 26)
of the two volcanic springs in the Lago dei Palici {supra i. 156. See further L. Bloch in
Roscher Lex. Myth. iii. 1281 —1295), were fathered upon Zeus. Aisch. AiTvalai frag. 7
Nauck2 ap. Steph. Byz. s.v. HoKlkt) made them the children of Zeus by Thaleia daughter
of Hephaistos. Id. ib. frag. 6 Nauck2 ap. Macrob. Sat. 5. 19. 24 added that Zeus had
named them IlaXucoi because they would ' come again ' from darkness into light. The
context in Macrob. Sat. 5. ig. 17 ff. preserves the Aeschylean version of their myth. The
nymph Thaleia, embraced by Zeus near the Sicilian river Symaithos, became pregnant
and, through fear of Hera, prayed that the earth might swallow' her. It did so. But in
due time it opened up and Thaleia's twin sons the IlaXiKoi 'came again' to light. The
self-transformation of Zeus into a vulture (or eagle?) in order to win the nymph (Rufin.
recognit. 10. 22 and Clem. Rom. horn. 5. 13 (ii. i84Migne)—both cited supra i. 106 n. 2f.)
is a feature of the story, which would have appealed to Aischylos' love of spectacular effect
(cp. the vase-painting supra i. 105 f. fig. 76). The so-called interpolator of Servius
(Donatus ?) knows the tale of Zeus and Thaleia, though he is muddle-headed about the
eagle. But Servius himself makes the Palikoi the children of Zeus by the nymph Aitne
(Serv. in Verg. Aen. 9. 584 Symaethos fluvius est Siciliae [a rege Symaetho dictus], haud
longe ab urbe Carinensi {leg. Catinensi), circa quern sunt Palici dei, quorum talis est
fabula: Aetnam nympham [vel, ut quidam volunt, Thaliam] luppiter cum vitiasset et
fecisset gravidam, timens Iunonem, secundum alios ipsam puellam, Terrae commendavit,
et illic enixa est. secundum alios partum eius, postea cum de Terra erupissent duo pueri,
Palici dicti sunt, quasi iterum venientes. nam -koXiv Ikciv est iterum venire, hi primo
humanis hostiis placabantur, postea quibusdam sacris mitigati sunt et eorum immutata
sacrificia. inde ergo 'placabilis ara,' quia mitigata sunt eorum numina. [Palicos nauticos
deos Varro appellat. alii dicunt Iovem hunc Palicum propter Iunonis iracundiam in
aquilam commutasse. alii Vulcani et Aetnae filium tradunt, sed etc.]). Another line of
Mus. Cat. Coins Sicily p. 42 nos. 8—11, Hunter Cat. Coins i. 171 nos. 1—5, G. F. Hill
Historical Greek Coins London 1906 p. 43 pi. 3, 21, Head Hist, mini? p. 131) or AIT
NAI likewise abbreviated {Brit. Mus. Cat. Coins Sicily p. 43 no. 12 fig., nos. 13—16,
G. F. Hill op. cit. p. 44, Head Hist, mim? p. 132). And a unique silver tetradrachm in
the Hirsch collection at Brussels {supra i. 90f. fig. 62) shows obv. AITNA ION the
head of a bald Silenos wearing an ivy-wreath (Eur. Cycl. 18 ff. Silenos as slave of Poly-
phemos dwells in a cave on Mt Aitne), with a beetle beneath (Aristoph. pax 73 Ahvdlov
/j.eyi<TToi> KCLfdapov and schol. ad loc), rev. Zeus Airvaios sitting on a throne spread with
a lion-skin. He is clad in a himdtion. His right hand rests on a vine-staff (Strab. 269
'iXiLV TL oiKetw/xa irpbs r-qv a/nireXov etVoj rr/v Airvaiav awoSbv) ; his left holds a thunderbolt
with two curled wings. In the field is an eagle perched on a pine-tree (Diod. 14. 42 els
rb Kara ttjv A'(tvt]v 8pos aireaTeihe yep.ov /car' etceivovs tovs XP^V0VS TroXvreXovs eXaT-rjs re xal
TrevKrjs). On this remarkable coin, which has been taken to represent the cult-statue of
Zeus ALrvaios (Ziegler in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. x. 2475 f.), see further Baron L. de
Hirsch in the Num. Chron. Third Series 1883 iii. 165 f. pi. 9, 1, B. V. Head ib. p. 171 ff.,
G. F. Hill Coins of Ancient Sicily London 1903 p. 74 f. pi. 4, 13, id. Historical Greek
Coins London 1906 p. 43 ff- pi. 3, 22, G. Macdonald Coin Types Glasgow 1905 pp. 94 f.,
97 pi. 3, 6, Head Hist, num.2 p. 131 f. fig. 70. The types of the tetradrachm recall the
famous scene in Aristoph. pax 62 ff., where Trygaios tries to reach Zeus, first by clambering
up light ladders towards the sky {supra p. 130), and then by mounting an Aetnaean beetle
as a sort of Pegasos. Not improbably there were Dionysiac traits in the cult of Zeus on
Mt Aitne, as there were in his cult on Mt Olympos {supra i. 104 ff.).
There is, however, no evidence of a Zeus-cult on Aitne earlier than s. v B.C. Hence
the paucity of myths connecting this god with the mountain. Zeus is indeed sometimes
said to have piled Aitne on Typhon (Aisch. P. v. 351 ff., Find. Pyth. 1. 13 ff., cp. Strab.
626 f.) or on Enkelaclos (Lucilius (?) Aetna 71 ff., Stat. Theb. 11. 8, cp. Verg. Aen. 3.
578 ff., Opp. devenat. 1. 273 ff.) ; but Typhon is more properly located in the land of
Arima {supra p. 826) or in the Corycian Cave {supra p. 448 11. 2), and Enkelados is com-
monly described as the victim of Athena, not of Zeus. Again, the Palikoi, autochthonous
deities (Polemon frag. 83 {Frag. hist. Gr. iii. 140 f. Mtiller) ap. Macrob. Sat. 5. 19. 26)
of the two volcanic springs in the Lago dei Palici {supra i. 156. See further L. Bloch in
Roscher Lex. Myth. iii. 1281 —1295), were fathered upon Zeus. Aisch. AiTvalai frag. 7
Nauck2 ap. Steph. Byz. s.v. HoKlkt) made them the children of Zeus by Thaleia daughter
of Hephaistos. Id. ib. frag. 6 Nauck2 ap. Macrob. Sat. 5. 19. 24 added that Zeus had
named them IlaXucoi because they would ' come again ' from darkness into light. The
context in Macrob. Sat. 5. ig. 17 ff. preserves the Aeschylean version of their myth. The
nymph Thaleia, embraced by Zeus near the Sicilian river Symaithos, became pregnant
and, through fear of Hera, prayed that the earth might swallow' her. It did so. But in
due time it opened up and Thaleia's twin sons the IlaXiKoi 'came again' to light. The
self-transformation of Zeus into a vulture (or eagle?) in order to win the nymph (Rufin.
recognit. 10. 22 and Clem. Rom. horn. 5. 13 (ii. i84Migne)—both cited supra i. 106 n. 2f.)
is a feature of the story, which would have appealed to Aischylos' love of spectacular effect
(cp. the vase-painting supra i. 105 f. fig. 76). The so-called interpolator of Servius
(Donatus ?) knows the tale of Zeus and Thaleia, though he is muddle-headed about the
eagle. But Servius himself makes the Palikoi the children of Zeus by the nymph Aitne
(Serv. in Verg. Aen. 9. 584 Symaethos fluvius est Siciliae [a rege Symaetho dictus], haud
longe ab urbe Carinensi {leg. Catinensi), circa quern sunt Palici dei, quorum talis est
fabula: Aetnam nympham [vel, ut quidam volunt, Thaliam] luppiter cum vitiasset et
fecisset gravidam, timens Iunonem, secundum alios ipsam puellam, Terrae commendavit,
et illic enixa est. secundum alios partum eius, postea cum de Terra erupissent duo pueri,
Palici dicti sunt, quasi iterum venientes. nam -koXiv Ikciv est iterum venire, hi primo
humanis hostiis placabantur, postea quibusdam sacris mitigati sunt et eorum immutata
sacrificia. inde ergo 'placabilis ara,' quia mitigata sunt eorum numina. [Palicos nauticos
deos Varro appellat. alii dicunt Iovem hunc Palicum propter Iunonis iracundiam in
aquilam commutasse. alii Vulcani et Aetnae filium tradunt, sed etc.]). Another line of