DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14697#0092
93^
Appendix B
Mount Ide1.
The god here invoked is clearly thought of as coming from afar to witness, or even to
join in, his worshippers' dance—a dance which very possibly originated as a piece of pure
magic. But I do not on that account see in him 'a Kouros who is obviously but a reflection
or impersonation of the body of Kouretes' (Miss J. E. Harrison Themis p. 27) any more
than I regard the Bull Dionysos, who is invited to visit his temple at Elis (carm. pop.
5 Hiller—Crusius ap. Plout. quaestt. Gr. 36), as a projection of the Elean women. The
Creator Spiritus is not lightly to be identified with the spiritus creatorum.
1 Mt Ide bore a name (T5tj) which, like many mountain-names (Schrader Reallex.2
p. 88 f.), means 'forest, wood' (F. Solmsen in the Indogermanische Forschungen 1908
xxvi. 109 ff., A. Fick Vorgriechische Ortsnamen Gottingen 1905 p. 10, id. Haitiden und
Dannbier in Griechenland Gottingen 1909 p. 11 f. (' Ida'), Boisacq Diet. etym. de la Langue
Gr. p. 365 f.). It had flourishing oak-trees (Dionys. per. 503). And it was famous for its
cypresses (Theophr. hist.pl. 3. 2. 6, 4. 1. 3, Nik. titer. 585, Verg. georg. 2. 84, Plin. nat.
hist. 16. 142. Claud, de rapt. Pros. 3. 370ff. confuses Mt Ide in the Troad), which
probably stood in some relation to the cult of Rhea {supra i. 649 n. 1) or of Zeus (F. Olck
in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. iv. 1920, 1924, 1926, supra i. 558 n. 5); for not only were
Cretan cypresses called bpviTai (Theophr. cans. pi. 1. 2. 2), but beams of cypress were
used to roof the temple in which were celebrated the rites of Rhea and Zagreus (Eur.
Cretes frag. 472 Nauck2 ap. Porph. de abst. 4. 19 cited supra i. 648 n. 1). A fruit-bearing
poplar grew in the mouth of the Idaean Cave (Theophr. hist. pi. 3. 3. 4 iv Kpr}t7] de teal
alyeipoi Ka.pTTLp.oi ivXeiovs eicri- p.ia p.ev iv Tip UTOfxiip tov avrpov tov iv rrj "I5y (so J. G.
Schneider for toviv Tip"ldrj cod. U. tov iv Tip "Idrjs codd. M. V. iv rrj "Idy edd. Aid. Heins.),
iv ip to. dvad7]p.ara dva.Kei.Tai, aXXrj de p.iKpd ttXtjctlov k.t.X., cp. ib. 2. 2. 10, Aristot. mir.
ausc. 69), though Pliny describes it as a willow (Plin. nat. hist. 16. no salix...una tamen
proditur ad maturitatem perferre solita in Creta insula ipso descensu Iovis speluncae durum
ligneumque (sc. semen), magnitudine ciceris). Iron-coloured stones shaped like the human
thumb were found in Crete and known as Idaei dactyli (Plin. nat. hist. 37. 170, Isid. orig.
16. 15. 12, Solin. 11. 14): if these were fossil belemniies (E. Babelon in Daremberg—
Saglio Diet. Ant. ii. 1465), they were doubtless viewed as thunderbolts (C. Blinkenberg
The Thunderweapon in Religion and Folklore Cambridge 1911 p. 76 f. (' Thunderstones
(Belemnites)')).
Mt Ide, which, as the ancients said, sees the sun before the sunrise (Solin. 11. 6,
Prise, per. 527 f. (Geogr. Gr. min. ii. 194 Miiller)), was not unnaturally associated with
the Hellenic sky-god. From s. v B.C. onwards we hear of Zeus 'IScuos (Eur. Cretes frag.
472 Nauck2 ap. Porph. de abst. 4. 19 cited supra i. 648 n. 1, Polyb. 28. 14. 3 -Kepi tovtwv
Keip.ivrjs ivopKov ovvdrjKTjs irapd tov Aia tov 'Ibaiov, cp. Schdll—Studemund anecd. i. 264 f.
'YiwideTa Atos no. (50) idaiov, 266 ''Eiiridera Aids no. (42) idaiov, 281 '~EiTri6eTa tov Atos...
idaios. In Nonn. Dion. 13. 236 ko.1 x^bva XwScuoto Atos k.t.X. G. Falkenburg, G. H.
Moser, and Count de Marcellus would read x®ovos 'T-Saioio. J. J. Scaliger cj. x^ovbs
wdaioLo. F. Graefe cj. x#cW AiKTaioio).
Zeus is never said to have been born on Mt Ide (in Diod. 5. 70 cited supra p. 928
n- o the right reading appears to be AiKTy, not "ldy : at most we have Mart. ep. 4. 1. 2
Dictaeum...tulit Ida Iovem) ; the claims of Mt Aigaion (supra p. 925 n. 1) and Mt
Dikte (supra p. 927 n. 1) were too strong. He is, however, said to have been brought by the
Koureies living near Mt Ide to a cave and to have been nurtured there by the nymphs on
honey and the milk of the goat Amaltheia (Diod. 5. 70 ttjv de 'Feav.. .tov Aia TeKovaav...
k\e\pai Kai dovvai Xddpa rots Kotiprjo-iv iKdpi\f/ai reus KaTOiKovai TrXriaiov opovs rqs "ld-qs.
tovtovs d' direveyKavTas e'lsTL ttvTpov rrapadovvai rais Nuu</>cus, TrapaKeXevo~ap.ivovs tt\v iraaav
i-Kiy-iXeiav avrov TroLeladai. avrai be p.eXi KalydXa p.io-yovo~ai to waidiov 'iQpeipav koI tt)s aiybs
Trjs 6vop.a'gop.ev7]s 'Ap.aXdeias tov p.aaTbv eis diaTporprjv irapeixovro, Ov. fast. 5. 115 f. Na'is
Amalthea, Cretaea nobilis Ida, | dicitur in silvis occuluisse Iovem, Iuv. 13. 41 et privatus
adhuc Idaeis Iuppiter antris) together with Aigokeros or Capricornus (pseudo-Eratosth.
catast. 27 p. 237 f. Maass < AiyoKepwTos. > oCros io-Ti Tip e'tdei bp.oios Tip Aiyiwavi. e£ iKeivov
Appendix B
Mount Ide1.
The god here invoked is clearly thought of as coming from afar to witness, or even to
join in, his worshippers' dance—a dance which very possibly originated as a piece of pure
magic. But I do not on that account see in him 'a Kouros who is obviously but a reflection
or impersonation of the body of Kouretes' (Miss J. E. Harrison Themis p. 27) any more
than I regard the Bull Dionysos, who is invited to visit his temple at Elis (carm. pop.
5 Hiller—Crusius ap. Plout. quaestt. Gr. 36), as a projection of the Elean women. The
Creator Spiritus is not lightly to be identified with the spiritus creatorum.
1 Mt Ide bore a name (T5tj) which, like many mountain-names (Schrader Reallex.2
p. 88 f.), means 'forest, wood' (F. Solmsen in the Indogermanische Forschungen 1908
xxvi. 109 ff., A. Fick Vorgriechische Ortsnamen Gottingen 1905 p. 10, id. Haitiden und
Dannbier in Griechenland Gottingen 1909 p. 11 f. (' Ida'), Boisacq Diet. etym. de la Langue
Gr. p. 365 f.). It had flourishing oak-trees (Dionys. per. 503). And it was famous for its
cypresses (Theophr. hist.pl. 3. 2. 6, 4. 1. 3, Nik. titer. 585, Verg. georg. 2. 84, Plin. nat.
hist. 16. 142. Claud, de rapt. Pros. 3. 370ff. confuses Mt Ide in the Troad), which
probably stood in some relation to the cult of Rhea {supra i. 649 n. 1) or of Zeus (F. Olck
in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. iv. 1920, 1924, 1926, supra i. 558 n. 5); for not only were
Cretan cypresses called bpviTai (Theophr. cans. pi. 1. 2. 2), but beams of cypress were
used to roof the temple in which were celebrated the rites of Rhea and Zagreus (Eur.
Cretes frag. 472 Nauck2 ap. Porph. de abst. 4. 19 cited supra i. 648 n. 1). A fruit-bearing
poplar grew in the mouth of the Idaean Cave (Theophr. hist. pi. 3. 3. 4 iv Kpr}t7] de teal
alyeipoi Ka.pTTLp.oi ivXeiovs eicri- p.ia p.ev iv Tip UTOfxiip tov avrpov tov iv rrj "I5y (so J. G.
Schneider for toviv Tip"ldrj cod. U. tov iv Tip "Idrjs codd. M. V. iv rrj "Idy edd. Aid. Heins.),
iv ip to. dvad7]p.ara dva.Kei.Tai, aXXrj de p.iKpd ttXtjctlov k.t.X., cp. ib. 2. 2. 10, Aristot. mir.
ausc. 69), though Pliny describes it as a willow (Plin. nat. hist. 16. no salix...una tamen
proditur ad maturitatem perferre solita in Creta insula ipso descensu Iovis speluncae durum
ligneumque (sc. semen), magnitudine ciceris). Iron-coloured stones shaped like the human
thumb were found in Crete and known as Idaei dactyli (Plin. nat. hist. 37. 170, Isid. orig.
16. 15. 12, Solin. 11. 14): if these were fossil belemniies (E. Babelon in Daremberg—
Saglio Diet. Ant. ii. 1465), they were doubtless viewed as thunderbolts (C. Blinkenberg
The Thunderweapon in Religion and Folklore Cambridge 1911 p. 76 f. (' Thunderstones
(Belemnites)')).
Mt Ide, which, as the ancients said, sees the sun before the sunrise (Solin. 11. 6,
Prise, per. 527 f. (Geogr. Gr. min. ii. 194 Miiller)), was not unnaturally associated with
the Hellenic sky-god. From s. v B.C. onwards we hear of Zeus 'IScuos (Eur. Cretes frag.
472 Nauck2 ap. Porph. de abst. 4. 19 cited supra i. 648 n. 1, Polyb. 28. 14. 3 -Kepi tovtwv
Keip.ivrjs ivopKov ovvdrjKTjs irapd tov Aia tov 'Ibaiov, cp. Schdll—Studemund anecd. i. 264 f.
'YiwideTa Atos no. (50) idaiov, 266 ''Eiiridera Aids no. (42) idaiov, 281 '~EiTri6eTa tov Atos...
idaios. In Nonn. Dion. 13. 236 ko.1 x^bva XwScuoto Atos k.t.X. G. Falkenburg, G. H.
Moser, and Count de Marcellus would read x®ovos 'T-Saioio. J. J. Scaliger cj. x^ovbs
wdaioLo. F. Graefe cj. x#cW AiKTaioio).
Zeus is never said to have been born on Mt Ide (in Diod. 5. 70 cited supra p. 928
n- o the right reading appears to be AiKTy, not "ldy : at most we have Mart. ep. 4. 1. 2
Dictaeum...tulit Ida Iovem) ; the claims of Mt Aigaion (supra p. 925 n. 1) and Mt
Dikte (supra p. 927 n. 1) were too strong. He is, however, said to have been brought by the
Koureies living near Mt Ide to a cave and to have been nurtured there by the nymphs on
honey and the milk of the goat Amaltheia (Diod. 5. 70 ttjv de 'Feav.. .tov Aia TeKovaav...
k\e\pai Kai dovvai Xddpa rots Kotiprjo-iv iKdpi\f/ai reus KaTOiKovai TrXriaiov opovs rqs "ld-qs.
tovtovs d' direveyKavTas e'lsTL ttvTpov rrapadovvai rais Nuu</>cus, TrapaKeXevo~ap.ivovs tt\v iraaav
i-Kiy-iXeiav avrov TroLeladai. avrai be p.eXi KalydXa p.io-yovo~ai to waidiov 'iQpeipav koI tt)s aiybs
Trjs 6vop.a'gop.ev7]s 'Ap.aXdeias tov p.aaTbv eis diaTporprjv irapeixovro, Ov. fast. 5. 115 f. Na'is
Amalthea, Cretaea nobilis Ida, | dicitur in silvis occuluisse Iovem, Iuv. 13. 41 et privatus
adhuc Idaeis Iuppiter antris) together with Aigokeros or Capricornus (pseudo-Eratosth.
catast. 27 p. 237 f. Maass < AiyoKepwTos. > oCros io-Ti Tip e'tdei bp.oios Tip Aiyiwavi. e£ iKeivov