DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14697#0274
I I I 2
Appendix M
local king, reverenced during his life-time as Zeus incarnate, was after his death
worshipped as an anguiform soul under the euphemistic appellation of Zeus 'the
Kindly One'? On this showing Zeus Meilichios falls into line with a whole string
of deities already discussed—Zeus Ktesios1, Zeus Agamemnon2, Zeus Amphi-
draos3, Zeus Troplwnios^, Zeus Asklepidsh. Moreover, from the new stand-
point the circumstances of the cult on the Kephisos are readily intelligible. The
head of a clan, dead and buried, would be just the personage required on the one
hand to purify a man from the stain of kindred bloodshed, on the other to pro-
mote the fertility of the fig-trees. His title Meilichios, 'the Kindly One6,'—
originally a euphemistic name7—would lend itself equally well to two false inter-
1 Append. H. 2 Append. I. 3 Append. J.
4 Append. K. 5 Append. L.
fi E. Maass De Aeschyli Supplicibus commentatio Gryphiswaldiae 1890 p. xxxvii n. 4
says: 'Juppiter MeAuro-cuos (Hesych. s.v. [MeAicnrcuos' 6 Zeus]) a /j^Xiacra abstracto ( = 1)71-16-
tt/s) videtur derivatus, ut sit idem ac ,ueiAixtos.' But Zeus MeAttrcatos presumably means
Zeus 'of the Bees' (cp. Nik. ther. 611). Whether the allusion is to the infant Zeus of Crete
nurtured by bees [supra i. 150, ii. 928 f. n. o, 932 f. n. 1) or to Aristaios the bee-keeper wor-
shipped as Zeus in Arkadia {supra i. 372 n. 7) or to some unidentified cult, we cannot say.
Gruppe Gr. Myth. Rel. p. 908 f.: ' Das gewohnlichste Mittel, die Geister zu versbhnen,
ist die Bewirtung mit Honig; wahrscheinlich nach ihm heisst das Entsiihnen p-eCKiaaeLv.
Nach der besanftigenden Honigspende sind wahrscheinlich Zeus und Dionysos Meilichios
genannt worden.' But, as Gruppe himself is aware (op. cit. p. 908 n. 2 f.), the connexion
of peikio-creiv with fiAi is very doubtful: see now Boisacq Diet. dtym. de la Langue Gr.
pp. 620, 624.
7 Euphemism is and always has been a vera causa in popular life. I once stayed
at Lavancher, a village near the Mer de Glace : the little inn, which had languished under
the name Vhotel du Mauvais Pas, was doing well as Vhdtel Beau-Sejourl Similarly with
Greek and Latin place-names: the"A£efos became the 'Ev^elvos (Strab. 298 f., Ov. trist. 4.
4. 55 ff., Mela r. 102, Plin. nat. hist. 4. 76, 6. 1, Solin. 23. 16, Isid. orig. 13. 16. 7), Male-
ventum was improved into Beneventum (Liv. 9. 27, Plin. nat. hist. 3. 105, Fest. p. 340 #
7 f. Muller, p. 458, 35 f. Lindsay, Paul, ex Fest. p. 34 Midler, p. 31, 17 ff. Lindsay, Steph.
Byz. s.v. BtvefievTos, Prokop. de bell. Goth. 1. 15) ; it was even supposed that Epidamnus
had been changed into Dyrrhachium (Mela 2. 56, Plin. nat. hist. 3. 145, Fest. p. 340^
9 Muller, p-458, 37 Lindsay) and Egesta into Segesta (Fest. p. 340$ 3 ff. Muller, p. 458, 31 ff.
Lindsay) for the sake of avoiding an evil omen. Frazer Golden Bough3: Taboo p. 392 ff.
collects many examples of euphemistic substitutes for common words, which for one reason
or another were taboo. He might have added to his store from Greek usage. When the
ancient Greek spoke of his 'left hand' as dpiffTepd or evuivvpos, of 'night' as ev<ppovrj, of
'death' as et ri irddon, of 'the dead' as ol irXeioves (see O. Hofer in Roscher Lex. Myth.
iii. 2560 b), when the modern Greek calls the small-pox ljvyxwpep.ev7], the 'Gracious One,'
or Ei'Xo7ta, the ' Blessing' (G. F. Abbott Macedonian Folklore Cambridge 1903 p. 236), and
the Devil himself 6 koXos avdpwiros, 'the Good man,' or 6 xard/caXos, 'the Beloved'
(B. Schmidt Das Volksleben der Neugriechen Leipzig 1871 i. 176), these complimentary
phrases are best explained as due to downright euphemism. Cp. Eustath. in Od. p. 1398,
50 ff., et. mag. p. 144, 20 ff. Further instances are adduced by writers on rhetoric to illus-
trate the trope antiphrasis : see Anonymos 7repi rpbivuv 14 (C. Walz Rhetores Graeci
Stuttgartiae et Tubingae 1835 viii. 722, 10 f.), Tryphon irepl Tpbirwv 15 (Walz op. cit. viii.
755, 11 ff.), Gregorios of Corinth ireplTpbirwv 18 (Walz op. cit. viii. 773, 20 ff.), Kokondrios
7repi rpoTTUv 6 (Walz op. cit. viii. 785, 27 ff.), Choiroboskos wept Tpbwwv 13 (Walz op. cit.
viii. 812, 11 ff.). An example will serve : Helladios ap. Phot. bill. p. 535 a 4 ff. Bekker
on to jUT? XeyeLv 3vcT(prip.a irauL rois waXaiois p.ev (ppovris rjv, p.d\io~Ta 5e rots' Adrjvaiois. 5i6
Kal to Seap-wrripLov OLKrjpa £k&\ovi>, kcu tov 8r]p.iov kolvov [a euphemism for a euphemism !],
t&s de 'JUpivvvas Yivp.evidas rj creptvas deds, to 5e pivaos dyos, to de o^os ytteAi Kal ttju x0^!"
Appendix M
local king, reverenced during his life-time as Zeus incarnate, was after his death
worshipped as an anguiform soul under the euphemistic appellation of Zeus 'the
Kindly One'? On this showing Zeus Meilichios falls into line with a whole string
of deities already discussed—Zeus Ktesios1, Zeus Agamemnon2, Zeus Amphi-
draos3, Zeus Troplwnios^, Zeus Asklepidsh. Moreover, from the new stand-
point the circumstances of the cult on the Kephisos are readily intelligible. The
head of a clan, dead and buried, would be just the personage required on the one
hand to purify a man from the stain of kindred bloodshed, on the other to pro-
mote the fertility of the fig-trees. His title Meilichios, 'the Kindly One6,'—
originally a euphemistic name7—would lend itself equally well to two false inter-
1 Append. H. 2 Append. I. 3 Append. J.
4 Append. K. 5 Append. L.
fi E. Maass De Aeschyli Supplicibus commentatio Gryphiswaldiae 1890 p. xxxvii n. 4
says: 'Juppiter MeAuro-cuos (Hesych. s.v. [MeAicnrcuos' 6 Zeus]) a /j^Xiacra abstracto ( = 1)71-16-
tt/s) videtur derivatus, ut sit idem ac ,ueiAixtos.' But Zeus MeAttrcatos presumably means
Zeus 'of the Bees' (cp. Nik. ther. 611). Whether the allusion is to the infant Zeus of Crete
nurtured by bees [supra i. 150, ii. 928 f. n. o, 932 f. n. 1) or to Aristaios the bee-keeper wor-
shipped as Zeus in Arkadia {supra i. 372 n. 7) or to some unidentified cult, we cannot say.
Gruppe Gr. Myth. Rel. p. 908 f.: ' Das gewohnlichste Mittel, die Geister zu versbhnen,
ist die Bewirtung mit Honig; wahrscheinlich nach ihm heisst das Entsiihnen p-eCKiaaeLv.
Nach der besanftigenden Honigspende sind wahrscheinlich Zeus und Dionysos Meilichios
genannt worden.' But, as Gruppe himself is aware (op. cit. p. 908 n. 2 f.), the connexion
of peikio-creiv with fiAi is very doubtful: see now Boisacq Diet. dtym. de la Langue Gr.
pp. 620, 624.
7 Euphemism is and always has been a vera causa in popular life. I once stayed
at Lavancher, a village near the Mer de Glace : the little inn, which had languished under
the name Vhotel du Mauvais Pas, was doing well as Vhdtel Beau-Sejourl Similarly with
Greek and Latin place-names: the"A£efos became the 'Ev^elvos (Strab. 298 f., Ov. trist. 4.
4. 55 ff., Mela r. 102, Plin. nat. hist. 4. 76, 6. 1, Solin. 23. 16, Isid. orig. 13. 16. 7), Male-
ventum was improved into Beneventum (Liv. 9. 27, Plin. nat. hist. 3. 105, Fest. p. 340 #
7 f. Muller, p. 458, 35 f. Lindsay, Paul, ex Fest. p. 34 Midler, p. 31, 17 ff. Lindsay, Steph.
Byz. s.v. BtvefievTos, Prokop. de bell. Goth. 1. 15) ; it was even supposed that Epidamnus
had been changed into Dyrrhachium (Mela 2. 56, Plin. nat. hist. 3. 145, Fest. p. 340^
9 Muller, p-458, 37 Lindsay) and Egesta into Segesta (Fest. p. 340$ 3 ff. Muller, p. 458, 31 ff.
Lindsay) for the sake of avoiding an evil omen. Frazer Golden Bough3: Taboo p. 392 ff.
collects many examples of euphemistic substitutes for common words, which for one reason
or another were taboo. He might have added to his store from Greek usage. When the
ancient Greek spoke of his 'left hand' as dpiffTepd or evuivvpos, of 'night' as ev<ppovrj, of
'death' as et ri irddon, of 'the dead' as ol irXeioves (see O. Hofer in Roscher Lex. Myth.
iii. 2560 b), when the modern Greek calls the small-pox ljvyxwpep.ev7], the 'Gracious One,'
or Ei'Xo7ta, the ' Blessing' (G. F. Abbott Macedonian Folklore Cambridge 1903 p. 236), and
the Devil himself 6 koXos avdpwiros, 'the Good man,' or 6 xard/caXos, 'the Beloved'
(B. Schmidt Das Volksleben der Neugriechen Leipzig 1871 i. 176), these complimentary
phrases are best explained as due to downright euphemism. Cp. Eustath. in Od. p. 1398,
50 ff., et. mag. p. 144, 20 ff. Further instances are adduced by writers on rhetoric to illus-
trate the trope antiphrasis : see Anonymos 7repi rpbivuv 14 (C. Walz Rhetores Graeci
Stuttgartiae et Tubingae 1835 viii. 722, 10 f.), Tryphon irepl Tpbirwv 15 (Walz op. cit. viii.
755, 11 ff.), Gregorios of Corinth ireplTpbirwv 18 (Walz op. cit. viii. 773, 20 ff.), Kokondrios
7repi rpoTTUv 6 (Walz op. cit. viii. 785, 27 ff.), Choiroboskos wept Tpbwwv 13 (Walz op. cit.
viii. 812, 11 ff.). An example will serve : Helladios ap. Phot. bill. p. 535 a 4 ff. Bekker
on to jUT? XeyeLv 3vcT(prip.a irauL rois waXaiois p.ev (ppovris rjv, p.d\io~Ta 5e rots' Adrjvaiois. 5i6
Kal to Seap-wrripLov OLKrjpa £k&\ovi>, kcu tov 8r]p.iov kolvov [a euphemism for a euphemism !],
t&s de 'JUpivvvas Yivp.evidas rj creptvas deds, to 5e pivaos dyos, to de o^os ytteAi Kal ttju x0^!"