DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14697#0254
1092
Appendix M
ancestral house1 on Hekatombaion 82. Plutarch adds that, in return for their
entertainment, Theseus gave them charge over a sacrifice at the Oschophoria3.
In the old Attic myth two points deserve to be stressed. On the one hand,
Zeus Meilichios was a god able to purify a man from the stain of kindred
bloodshed: we have already noted that the skins of animals sacrificed to him
were used in purificatory rites4. On the other hand, the festival of this god was
observed 'at home5' by a clan traditionally associated with the fig-tree and its
fruit6: in fact, the descendants of Phytalos appear to have had special duties in
regard to Zeus Meilichios, much as the descendants of Anthos had in regard to
Zeus Lykaios"1.
(2) The Title Meilichios.
We are, therefore, at once confronted with the difficult question : What is
the meaning of Meilichios! Does it denote 'the Kindly One' (meilichos,
meilichios)8, a deity whose wrath could be readily appeased by the quaking
man-slayer? Or does it rather signify 'the god of Figs' (meilicha)9 with special
1 Cp. Paus. 1. 37. 2 quoted infra n. 6.
2 In the calendar of Mykonos (J. de Prott Leges Graecorum sacrae Lipsiae 1896
Fasti sacri p. 13 ff. no. 4, 29 ft"., Michel Recueil d''Inscr. gr. no. 714, 29 ft"., Dittenberger
Syll. inscr. Gr!2 no. 615, 29 ff.) Hekatombaion 7 is marked by the sacrifice of a bull and
ten lambs to Apollon 'E/caTo/x/3atos and by the sacrifice of a full-grown victim and ten
lambs to Acheloios—a god who at Athens was closely connected with Zeus MetXixios
{infra p. 1117 f.). It seems possible that this Myconian festival on Hekatombaion 7 was the
equivalent of an Athenian festival on Hekatombaion 8. But further evidence is lacking.
3 Plout. v. Thes. 23 : see J. Topffer Attische Genealogie Berlin 1889 p. 251 f.,
Mommsen Feste d. Stadt Athen p. 286 n. 2.
4 Supra i. 4226°.
5 Plout. v. Thes. 12 Kal Seop-evov KaOapdjjvai tols vevopuapievoLs dyviaavTes Kal MeAty/a
dvaavres eiariaaav olkol.
6 Paus. 1. 37. 2 iv tovtlc Tip xwPLV QvTaXbv <paaiv olklo ArjpnjTpa beijaadai, Kal tt)v debv
dvrl tovtlov dovvaL ol to (pvrbv rrjs trvKrjs- /xapTvpei de fxoi rip Xbyip to e7rtypa/x/xa (Cougny
Anth. Pal. Append. 3. 24) to evl to? ^vtclKov rd0«' evddd' aval; rfpws ^vtoXos iroTe
de^aro ae/xvijv | ArjpiriTpav, ore (A. Meineke cj. Ar/pir/Tp' ip tots L. Dindorf and C. G.
Cobet cjj. Ar)/j.T)Tp' biriroTe) irp&Tov diriopas Kapnbv icpr}vev, | fjv iepdv avKrjv 6vt]ti2v yevos
e^ovopid^ei • | e£ oS 5ij np-as QvrdXov yevos §o~x€V dyrjpws. Infra p. 1103 n. 3.
7 Supra i. 71 ff.
8 Cornut. theol. n p. 12, 2 ff. Lang irpoaayopevovai de Kal p-eiXixov (F. Osann cj.
fxeihixi-ov ; but Aristeid. or. 1. 3 (i. 4 Dindorf) has el de tttj crcpaXXo/xeda, 6 pieiXixos (sc.
Zeus) 7]p2v KeKXrjcrdco) rov Ala, evp.eiXiKT0v ovra rots e£ ddiKias fJ.eTaTidep.e'vois, ov deovTos
ddiaW&KTws 'ixeLV Tpbs avrovs: cp. Liban. or. 57. 12 (iv. 154 Foerster) ~Lev9)pos de xprl°"r0^
re rjv ev tols prj/xaffi Kal TipA]aeiv 'iXeye rrj irpaoT^Ti rov MeiXixiov Ala, k.t.X., Anth. Pal. 9.
581. 4 f. (Leon Philosophos ?) p.rjde vorjaio, | Titjvos MeiXixioio \axwv dpbvov, dvipos oltov.
A highly moral explanation : but high morals are out of place in an early cult-title.
Phrynichos the ' Atticist' (on whom see Sir J. E. Sandys A History of Classical Scholar-
ships Cambridge 1906 i. 323 ff.) in Bekker anecd. i. 34, 12 ff. AiKaibcrwos Zevs- 6 eirl tols
diKaia re Kal adiKa dpiocri reray/xevos. iocnrep Kal b eVi tois [xe'iXixa jxeiXixios Kal b iirl tols
(f>l\a (piXios adduces would-be parallels. But Zeus AiKaibcrwos is a late divinity (D. M.
Robinson in the Am. fourn. Arch. 1905 ix. 302 no. 24 near Gherzeh (Karousa) Ad
AiKaioffvvwi I MeydXwi \ Ylvdrjs Aiovvcriov \ ffTpaTrjyujv | xo-Pl(yl"hpLOV ■> CP- schol. II. 13. 29,
Eustath. in II. p 918, 47), and Zeus Q'Chios is probably euphemistic (Append. N). On
Zeus'Ayios see supra i. 192, 400 n. 6, 565 n. 2.
9 Figs were called pielXixa, 'sweets,' in Naxos—witness Athen. 78c Nd£ioi di, ihs
''AvbpiffKos (frag. 3 in Frag. hist. Gr. iv. 304 Miiller) eVi 5' 'AyXaoadevr/s (frag. 5 in Frag,
hist. Gr. iv. 294 Miiller) iGTopovm, "SLeiXixiov KaXeiadai rov Alovvctov did rr\v rod cfvkIvov
Appendix M
ancestral house1 on Hekatombaion 82. Plutarch adds that, in return for their
entertainment, Theseus gave them charge over a sacrifice at the Oschophoria3.
In the old Attic myth two points deserve to be stressed. On the one hand,
Zeus Meilichios was a god able to purify a man from the stain of kindred
bloodshed: we have already noted that the skins of animals sacrificed to him
were used in purificatory rites4. On the other hand, the festival of this god was
observed 'at home5' by a clan traditionally associated with the fig-tree and its
fruit6: in fact, the descendants of Phytalos appear to have had special duties in
regard to Zeus Meilichios, much as the descendants of Anthos had in regard to
Zeus Lykaios"1.
(2) The Title Meilichios.
We are, therefore, at once confronted with the difficult question : What is
the meaning of Meilichios! Does it denote 'the Kindly One' (meilichos,
meilichios)8, a deity whose wrath could be readily appeased by the quaking
man-slayer? Or does it rather signify 'the god of Figs' (meilicha)9 with special
1 Cp. Paus. 1. 37. 2 quoted infra n. 6.
2 In the calendar of Mykonos (J. de Prott Leges Graecorum sacrae Lipsiae 1896
Fasti sacri p. 13 ff. no. 4, 29 ft"., Michel Recueil d''Inscr. gr. no. 714, 29 ft"., Dittenberger
Syll. inscr. Gr!2 no. 615, 29 ff.) Hekatombaion 7 is marked by the sacrifice of a bull and
ten lambs to Apollon 'E/caTo/x/3atos and by the sacrifice of a full-grown victim and ten
lambs to Acheloios—a god who at Athens was closely connected with Zeus MetXixios
{infra p. 1117 f.). It seems possible that this Myconian festival on Hekatombaion 7 was the
equivalent of an Athenian festival on Hekatombaion 8. But further evidence is lacking.
3 Plout. v. Thes. 23 : see J. Topffer Attische Genealogie Berlin 1889 p. 251 f.,
Mommsen Feste d. Stadt Athen p. 286 n. 2.
4 Supra i. 4226°.
5 Plout. v. Thes. 12 Kal Seop-evov KaOapdjjvai tols vevopuapievoLs dyviaavTes Kal MeAty/a
dvaavres eiariaaav olkol.
6 Paus. 1. 37. 2 iv tovtlc Tip xwPLV QvTaXbv <paaiv olklo ArjpnjTpa beijaadai, Kal tt)v debv
dvrl tovtlov dovvaL ol to (pvrbv rrjs trvKrjs- /xapTvpei de fxoi rip Xbyip to e7rtypa/x/xa (Cougny
Anth. Pal. Append. 3. 24) to evl to? ^vtclKov rd0«' evddd' aval; rfpws ^vtoXos iroTe
de^aro ae/xvijv | ArjpiriTpav, ore (A. Meineke cj. Ar/pir/Tp' ip tots L. Dindorf and C. G.
Cobet cjj. Ar)/j.T)Tp' biriroTe) irp&Tov diriopas Kapnbv icpr}vev, | fjv iepdv avKrjv 6vt]ti2v yevos
e^ovopid^ei • | e£ oS 5ij np-as QvrdXov yevos §o~x€V dyrjpws. Infra p. 1103 n. 3.
7 Supra i. 71 ff.
8 Cornut. theol. n p. 12, 2 ff. Lang irpoaayopevovai de Kal p-eiXixov (F. Osann cj.
fxeihixi-ov ; but Aristeid. or. 1. 3 (i. 4 Dindorf) has el de tttj crcpaXXo/xeda, 6 pieiXixos (sc.
Zeus) 7]p2v KeKXrjcrdco) rov Ala, evp.eiXiKT0v ovra rots e£ ddiKias fJ.eTaTidep.e'vois, ov deovTos
ddiaW&KTws 'ixeLV Tpbs avrovs: cp. Liban. or. 57. 12 (iv. 154 Foerster) ~Lev9)pos de xprl°"r0^
re rjv ev tols prj/xaffi Kal TipA]aeiv 'iXeye rrj irpaoT^Ti rov MeiXixiov Ala, k.t.X., Anth. Pal. 9.
581. 4 f. (Leon Philosophos ?) p.rjde vorjaio, | Titjvos MeiXixioio \axwv dpbvov, dvipos oltov.
A highly moral explanation : but high morals are out of place in an early cult-title.
Phrynichos the ' Atticist' (on whom see Sir J. E. Sandys A History of Classical Scholar-
ships Cambridge 1906 i. 323 ff.) in Bekker anecd. i. 34, 12 ff. AiKaibcrwos Zevs- 6 eirl tols
diKaia re Kal adiKa dpiocri reray/xevos. iocnrep Kal b eVi tois [xe'iXixa jxeiXixios Kal b iirl tols
(f>l\a (piXios adduces would-be parallels. But Zeus AiKaibcrwos is a late divinity (D. M.
Robinson in the Am. fourn. Arch. 1905 ix. 302 no. 24 near Gherzeh (Karousa) Ad
AiKaioffvvwi I MeydXwi \ Ylvdrjs Aiovvcriov \ ffTpaTrjyujv | xo-Pl(yl"hpLOV ■> CP- schol. II. 13. 29,
Eustath. in II. p 918, 47), and Zeus Q'Chios is probably euphemistic (Append. N). On
Zeus'Ayios see supra i. 192, 400 n. 6, 565 n. 2.
9 Figs were called pielXixa, 'sweets,' in Naxos—witness Athen. 78c Nd£ioi di, ihs
''AvbpiffKos (frag. 3 in Frag. hist. Gr. iv. 304 Miiller) eVi 5' 'AyXaoadevr/s (frag. 5 in Frag,
hist. Gr. iv. 294 Miiller) iGTopovm, "SLeiXixiov KaXeiadai rov Alovvctov did rr\v rod cfvkIvov