DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14697#0300
Zeus Meiltchios
1135
the sons of Stilbe by Apollon1, or by the contiguity of the Olympieion to the
Pythion2. In any case it is noteworthy that at Ardettos, just across the
Ilissos, Athenian jurors used to swear by Apollon Patroios, Demeter, and Zeus
Basileus3.
The myth of Periphas comes to us from an age that had largely forgotten
its own antecedents. Few, if any, citizens even of Periclean Athens would have
dared to assert that on the banks of the Ilissos there once lived a line of kings
claiming to be Zeus incarnate. Nevertheless that is the real gist of the tale, and
I do not see how we are to avoid accepting it as a genuine echo of bygone
beliefs. After all, Periclean Athens, democratic to the core, still had its ' king'
and still remembered that divinity clung about him4. If any doubted, he had
but to lift his eyes to the scene carved by Pheidias' direction above the main
doorway of the Parthenon. The central slab of the eastern frieze (pi. xliv)5
represents a ritual apotheosis6. The 'king' and 'queen' of Athens receive from
1 Diocl. 4. 69.
2 Frazer Pansanias ii. 189 ff., v. 519 ff., W. Judeich Topographic von Athen Miinchen
1905 P- 344 f-
3 Poll. 8. 122 wp.vvffau Se ev 'ApSrjTTqi StKao~t7]piq> 'AttoXXco HaTpwov Kai Ar\p.r\Tpa Kai
Ata BacrtXea.
4 We must be careful here to rule out invalid evidence. Some statements, which
prima facie connect the Athenian king with Zeus, or Zeus with the Athenian king, will
not bear closer scrutiny.
The fiaaCkevs of republican Athens, during his year of office, sat in the 2rod BacrtXetos
(Paus. 1. 3. 1 with the notes of Sir J. G. Frazer and H. Hitzig—H. Bliimner ad loc,
E. A. Gardner Ancient Athens London 1902 pp. 386 f., 518 f., W. Judeich op. cit.
p. 295 ff.), which is sometimes said to have been named after Zeus BaaiXevs (Hesych. s.v.
BacrtXeios Stoo. ■ Svo eiaiv 'KQr\vr\aiv BacrtXetot Sroat, 77 re tov Xeyop.evov BacrtXe'ws Aids /cat
77 tov "EiXevOepiov = Favorin. lex. p. 355, 13 f., Bekker anecd. i. 222, 29 f. BacrtXeios Srod •
'Adrjvricri Svo et'crt BacrtXetot Sroai, 17 tov Xeyop-evov BacrtXews Atos Kat 73 rot" 'EXevdepLov) ;
but this seems to be a misconception due to a transcriber's error (cp. Harpokr. s.v.
Bacrt'Xetos Srod •.. .Svo et'crt crroat nap' dXXrjXas, 77 re tov 'EXevdepiov Atos /cat 77 BacrtXetos.
Pari Se Kai TplT-q tls, 77 7rdXat /ueu 'Av&ktios KaXov/xevrj, UoiKiXr] 5e [xeTOvoixaadeiaa, Souid.
s.z>. BacrtXetos Zrod • Svo et'crt crroat Trap' dXXTjXas, 17 re rod 'EXevdepiov Atos Kai 77 BacrtXetos.
^crrt 5e Kat rptTTj, 77 irdXai p.kv Ilav&KTios (P. J. de Maussac cj. Iletcriaj'd/cTeios cp. Diog.
Laert. 7. 5 and Souid. s.vv. Z-qvuv and Iletcrtai'd/cTtos Srod, G. Bernhardy cj. Iletcrta^d/crtos)
e/caXetTo, vvv Se fj,eTwvop.a<rdri HotKiXr), whence Meursius in Hesych. loc. cit. restored Svo
eicriv 'Adrjvyffi crroat 77 re BacrtXetos Xeyop-iviq tov (3ao~iXius Kai 17 Atos tov FiXevdepiov).
Cic. de nat. deor. 3. 53 AtocrKoupot etiam apud Graecos multis modis nominantur.
primi tres, qui appellantur Anactes Athenis, ex rege love antiquissimo et Proserpina
nati, Tritopatreus, Eubuleus, Dionysus. This passage forms part of the Catalogue of the
gods, the origin of which has been much disputed. J. B. Mayor ad loc. would trace it
back to Kleitomachos, who became head of the New Academy in 129 B.C. W. Michaelis
De origine indicis deorum cognominum Berlin 1898 finds its ultimate source in the pseudo-
Aristotelian peplos, which he attributes to an unknown Rhodian author of s. ii. B.C.
W. Bobeth De indicibus deorum Leipzig 1904 thinks that the Catalogue was first drafted
in 100—50 B.C. Gruppe Myth. Lit. 1908 p. 199 refers it to Aristokles of Rhodes, whose
floruit falls in s. i. B.C. In any case the allusion to 'Zeus a very ancient king' betrays
the influence of Euhemeros {supra i. 662, 758).
5 PI. xliv, 1 is drawn from the best available photographs of the actual slab, viz.
A. H. Smith The Sculptures of the Parthenon London 1910 pis. 34—36, supplemented
by the casts of it in the Cambridge collection. PI. xliv, 2 gives a restoration of the same.
6 So at least I ventured to suggest in the Class. Rev. 1904 xviii. 371, cp. Frazer
Golden Bough3: The Dying God p. 89 n. 5. Other interpretations (which to me,
1135
the sons of Stilbe by Apollon1, or by the contiguity of the Olympieion to the
Pythion2. In any case it is noteworthy that at Ardettos, just across the
Ilissos, Athenian jurors used to swear by Apollon Patroios, Demeter, and Zeus
Basileus3.
The myth of Periphas comes to us from an age that had largely forgotten
its own antecedents. Few, if any, citizens even of Periclean Athens would have
dared to assert that on the banks of the Ilissos there once lived a line of kings
claiming to be Zeus incarnate. Nevertheless that is the real gist of the tale, and
I do not see how we are to avoid accepting it as a genuine echo of bygone
beliefs. After all, Periclean Athens, democratic to the core, still had its ' king'
and still remembered that divinity clung about him4. If any doubted, he had
but to lift his eyes to the scene carved by Pheidias' direction above the main
doorway of the Parthenon. The central slab of the eastern frieze (pi. xliv)5
represents a ritual apotheosis6. The 'king' and 'queen' of Athens receive from
1 Diocl. 4. 69.
2 Frazer Pansanias ii. 189 ff., v. 519 ff., W. Judeich Topographic von Athen Miinchen
1905 P- 344 f-
3 Poll. 8. 122 wp.vvffau Se ev 'ApSrjTTqi StKao~t7]piq> 'AttoXXco HaTpwov Kai Ar\p.r\Tpa Kai
Ata BacrtXea.
4 We must be careful here to rule out invalid evidence. Some statements, which
prima facie connect the Athenian king with Zeus, or Zeus with the Athenian king, will
not bear closer scrutiny.
The fiaaCkevs of republican Athens, during his year of office, sat in the 2rod BacrtXetos
(Paus. 1. 3. 1 with the notes of Sir J. G. Frazer and H. Hitzig—H. Bliimner ad loc,
E. A. Gardner Ancient Athens London 1902 pp. 386 f., 518 f., W. Judeich op. cit.
p. 295 ff.), which is sometimes said to have been named after Zeus BaaiXevs (Hesych. s.v.
BacrtXeios Stoo. ■ Svo eiaiv 'KQr\vr\aiv BacrtXetot Sroat, 77 re tov Xeyop.evov BacrtXe'ws Aids /cat
77 tov "EiXevOepiov = Favorin. lex. p. 355, 13 f., Bekker anecd. i. 222, 29 f. BacrtXeios Srod •
'Adrjvricri Svo et'crt BacrtXetot Sroai, 17 tov Xeyop-evov BacrtXews Atos Kat 73 rot" 'EXevdepLov) ;
but this seems to be a misconception due to a transcriber's error (cp. Harpokr. s.v.
Bacrt'Xetos Srod •.. .Svo et'crt crroat nap' dXXrjXas, 77 re tov 'EXevdepiov Atos /cat 77 BacrtXetos.
Pari Se Kai TplT-q tls, 77 7rdXat /ueu 'Av&ktios KaXov/xevrj, UoiKiXr] 5e [xeTOvoixaadeiaa, Souid.
s.z>. BacrtXetos Zrod • Svo et'crt crroat Trap' dXXTjXas, 17 re rod 'EXevdepiov Atos Kai 77 BacrtXetos.
^crrt 5e Kat rptTTj, 77 irdXai p.kv Ilav&KTios (P. J. de Maussac cj. Iletcriaj'd/cTeios cp. Diog.
Laert. 7. 5 and Souid. s.vv. Z-qvuv and Iletcrtai'd/cTtos Srod, G. Bernhardy cj. Iletcrta^d/crtos)
e/caXetTo, vvv Se fj,eTwvop.a<rdri HotKiXr), whence Meursius in Hesych. loc. cit. restored Svo
eicriv 'Adrjvyffi crroat 77 re BacrtXetos Xeyop-iviq tov (3ao~iXius Kai 17 Atos tov FiXevdepiov).
Cic. de nat. deor. 3. 53 AtocrKoupot etiam apud Graecos multis modis nominantur.
primi tres, qui appellantur Anactes Athenis, ex rege love antiquissimo et Proserpina
nati, Tritopatreus, Eubuleus, Dionysus. This passage forms part of the Catalogue of the
gods, the origin of which has been much disputed. J. B. Mayor ad loc. would trace it
back to Kleitomachos, who became head of the New Academy in 129 B.C. W. Michaelis
De origine indicis deorum cognominum Berlin 1898 finds its ultimate source in the pseudo-
Aristotelian peplos, which he attributes to an unknown Rhodian author of s. ii. B.C.
W. Bobeth De indicibus deorum Leipzig 1904 thinks that the Catalogue was first drafted
in 100—50 B.C. Gruppe Myth. Lit. 1908 p. 199 refers it to Aristokles of Rhodes, whose
floruit falls in s. i. B.C. In any case the allusion to 'Zeus a very ancient king' betrays
the influence of Euhemeros {supra i. 662, 758).
5 PI. xliv, 1 is drawn from the best available photographs of the actual slab, viz.
A. H. Smith The Sculptures of the Parthenon London 1910 pis. 34—36, supplemented
by the casts of it in the Cambridge collection. PI. xliv, 2 gives a restoration of the same.
6 So at least I ventured to suggest in the Class. Rev. 1904 xviii. 371, cp. Frazer
Golden Bough3: The Dying God p. 89 n. 5. Other interpretations (which to me,