DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14697#0223
Zeus Ktesios
1061
A }
KTHI! OY
with pi., A. J. B. Wace—M. S. Thompson op. cit. p. 222). At Tiryns beneath
the walls of the older Mycenaean palace five small stone-built graves with
crouched bodies have come to light (W. Dorpfeld in the Ath. Mitth. 1907 xxxii
p. iii, R. M. Dawkins in The Year's
Work in Class. Stud. 1907 p. 14).
In Thessaly graves have been re-
peatedly found within houses of the
bronze age (Ch. Tsountas At irpo'i-
crTopiKal aupcnroXeis AiprjvLOV K.ai
Se'crKXou Athens 1908 p. 131 'ot ven-
pol £0 c17ttovto ivTOS tu>v OIKLWV i)
Trap' avrds,' lb. p. 383 'to edtpov va
BaTTTcoai tovs veKpovs evTOS tSjv ol-
Kiav')), was viewed as Zeus ; for in
prehistoric times he had been the
representative of the sky-god to his
clan. Herein, I take it, lies the
ultimate explanation of such cults
as that of Zeus 'Ayapepvcov, who
was worshipped at Sparta, if not
at Athens (Append. I), Zeus \\p-
(pLapaos, who had a popular sanc-
tuary at Oropos (Append. J), Zeus
Tpe(pa>vios or Tpo(pdnvios, the great
oracular deity of Lebadeia (Ap-
pend. K), and Zeus 'Ao-kXtjtuos, the
healer of Epidauros, Hermione, and
Pergamon (Append. L). The same
conception will afford us a clue to
the cults of Zeus MetX/^to? and
Zeus <5iAto? as well as to the myth
of Periphas (Append. M). Most of
these buried kings appeared in the
guise of snakes. And it is important
to observe that Zeus Ktesios did so
too. A marble stele from Thespiai,
now in the Museum at Thebes
(inv. no. 330), bears the inscription
AIOZ I KTHIIOY in lettering of
s. iii (?) B.C. and below it a relief,
partially chipped away to make
the block available for building
purposes, but still plainly portray-
ing a coiled snake with crest and t^-- <&^< ..^g^sife^- ■
beard (M. P. Nilsson' Schlangenstele Fig. 914.
des Zeus Ktesios' in the Ath. Mitth.
1908 xxxiii. 279—288 fig. = my fig. 914, Harrison Themis p. 297 ff. fig. 79).
The discovery of this stele confirmed, as M. P. Nilsson notes, the acute surmise
of E. Gerhard Uber Agathodamon und Bona Dea Berlin 1849 pp. 3, 23 (Gesam-
vielte akademische Abhandlungen Berlin 1868 ii. 45 with n. 28) that Zeus Ktesios
was probably represented as a snake.
1061
A }
KTHI! OY
with pi., A. J. B. Wace—M. S. Thompson op. cit. p. 222). At Tiryns beneath
the walls of the older Mycenaean palace five small stone-built graves with
crouched bodies have come to light (W. Dorpfeld in the Ath. Mitth. 1907 xxxii
p. iii, R. M. Dawkins in The Year's
Work in Class. Stud. 1907 p. 14).
In Thessaly graves have been re-
peatedly found within houses of the
bronze age (Ch. Tsountas At irpo'i-
crTopiKal aupcnroXeis AiprjvLOV K.ai
Se'crKXou Athens 1908 p. 131 'ot ven-
pol £0 c17ttovto ivTOS tu>v OIKLWV i)
Trap' avrds,' lb. p. 383 'to edtpov va
BaTTTcoai tovs veKpovs evTOS tSjv ol-
Kiav')), was viewed as Zeus ; for in
prehistoric times he had been the
representative of the sky-god to his
clan. Herein, I take it, lies the
ultimate explanation of such cults
as that of Zeus 'Ayapepvcov, who
was worshipped at Sparta, if not
at Athens (Append. I), Zeus \\p-
(pLapaos, who had a popular sanc-
tuary at Oropos (Append. J), Zeus
Tpe(pa>vios or Tpo(pdnvios, the great
oracular deity of Lebadeia (Ap-
pend. K), and Zeus 'Ao-kXtjtuos, the
healer of Epidauros, Hermione, and
Pergamon (Append. L). The same
conception will afford us a clue to
the cults of Zeus MetX/^to? and
Zeus <5iAto? as well as to the myth
of Periphas (Append. M). Most of
these buried kings appeared in the
guise of snakes. And it is important
to observe that Zeus Ktesios did so
too. A marble stele from Thespiai,
now in the Museum at Thebes
(inv. no. 330), bears the inscription
AIOZ I KTHIIOY in lettering of
s. iii (?) B.C. and below it a relief,
partially chipped away to make
the block available for building
purposes, but still plainly portray-
ing a coiled snake with crest and t^-- <&^< ..^g^sife^- ■
beard (M. P. Nilsson' Schlangenstele Fig. 914.
des Zeus Ktesios' in the Ath. Mitth.
1908 xxxiii. 279—288 fig. = my fig. 914, Harrison Themis p. 297 ff. fig. 79).
The discovery of this stele confirmed, as M. P. Nilsson notes, the acute surmise
of E. Gerhard Uber Agathodamon und Bona Dea Berlin 1849 pp. 3, 23 (Gesam-
vielte akademische Abhandlungen Berlin 1868 ii. 45 with n. 28) that Zeus Ktesios
was probably represented as a snake.