DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14697#0325
116o
Appendix N
backward to the Golden Age when men lived 'as gods' and the soil was fruitful
to the uttermost, says :
But since the earth hath covered o'er this race
They are daimones by the will of mighty Zeus,
Good spirits that tread the ground and guard mankind,
Givers of wealth—a guerdon meet for kings1.
The late writer of an Orphic hymn strikes the self-same note ;
I bid the datmon to draw near, dread chief,
The Kindly Zeus, begetter and life-giver,
Great Zen, much-roaming2, curse-bringer3, king of all,
Wealth-giving where he enters house full-force,
Or now again chilling the poor man's blood.
The keys of grief and gladness both are thine4.
The daimon, in short, was the theos incarnate5. And the Agathos Daimon^W-
excellence was Zeus MeiUchios.
APPENDIX N.
ZEUS PH/LIOS.
It was pointed out by H. Usener6 that every important conception of a god
tends to express itself verbally in more ways than one. The result is a succession
of divine appellatives, practical synonyms which vary from time to time and
from place to place. In accordance with this principle w7e find the Greeks wor-
shipping, not only Zeus Mettichos or MeiUchios, 'the Kindly One,'but also Zeus
Philios, 'the Friendly One.' The former title gradually became old-fashioned
and wore out. The latter, with its appeal to the language of daily life, seemed
more up-to-date, promised a business-like return, and consequently acquired a
vogue of its own. Of course old centres remained more or less faithful to the old
name, the connotation of which was enlarged in various directions. But new
centres accepted, fixed, and popularised the novel epithet, which in its turn was
filled with fresh meaning and expanded into an ever widening circle of applica-
bility. Nevertheless Zeus Philios was from the outset essentially akin to Zeus
MeiUchios, as may be seen from a brief survey of the relevant monuments and
literary allusions".
1 Hes. o.d. 12 r ff. cited supra p. 1130 n. r. 2 Supra p. 1096 n. 4.
3 Supra p. 1098 n. 5.
4 Orph. h. daem. 73. 1 ff. (AAIM0N02, dvp.iap.a \ifiavov) 8a.Lp.ova klk\ti<tkw weXdcrai
ijyrjTopa (ppitcrbv, j p.ei\Lxiov ALa, irayyever-qv, fitoSihropa dvr/Twv, \ Zrjva peyav, Tro\vTr\ayK-
tov, aXdaropa, Trap^ao-iXrja, | ir\ovTo8oTriv, biror' &v ye (3pvd£uv oIkov eaeXdr), \ epiiraXi 8e
\pvxovTa (3Lov dvt)tq>v iroXvpoxGwv ' | ev ffol yap KXydes \vtttis re xaP&s T' bxeovrai. Supra
i. 504 n. 2, ii. 1098 n. 5.
5 The relation of Saip.oju to 8e6s is a thorny topic, which cannot be dismissed in a
sentence, but must not here be pursued. See further J. A. Hild in Daremberg—Saglio
Did. Ant. ii. 9 ff., O. Waser in Pauly—Wissovva Real-Enc. iv. 2010f., Harrison Prolog.
Gk. Pel.2 pp. 587, 624, 657, ead. Themis pp. 307, 386.
6 H. Usener Gotternamen Bonn 1896 p. 56 ff. (' Erneuerung des Begriffs').
7 The evidence is well presented in Roscher Lex. Myth. iii. 2305—2308 by that
excellent enquirer O. Hofer, to whose article I am much indebted.
Appendix N
backward to the Golden Age when men lived 'as gods' and the soil was fruitful
to the uttermost, says :
But since the earth hath covered o'er this race
They are daimones by the will of mighty Zeus,
Good spirits that tread the ground and guard mankind,
Givers of wealth—a guerdon meet for kings1.
The late writer of an Orphic hymn strikes the self-same note ;
I bid the datmon to draw near, dread chief,
The Kindly Zeus, begetter and life-giver,
Great Zen, much-roaming2, curse-bringer3, king of all,
Wealth-giving where he enters house full-force,
Or now again chilling the poor man's blood.
The keys of grief and gladness both are thine4.
The daimon, in short, was the theos incarnate5. And the Agathos Daimon^W-
excellence was Zeus MeiUchios.
APPENDIX N.
ZEUS PH/LIOS.
It was pointed out by H. Usener6 that every important conception of a god
tends to express itself verbally in more ways than one. The result is a succession
of divine appellatives, practical synonyms which vary from time to time and
from place to place. In accordance with this principle w7e find the Greeks wor-
shipping, not only Zeus Mettichos or MeiUchios, 'the Kindly One,'but also Zeus
Philios, 'the Friendly One.' The former title gradually became old-fashioned
and wore out. The latter, with its appeal to the language of daily life, seemed
more up-to-date, promised a business-like return, and consequently acquired a
vogue of its own. Of course old centres remained more or less faithful to the old
name, the connotation of which was enlarged in various directions. But new
centres accepted, fixed, and popularised the novel epithet, which in its turn was
filled with fresh meaning and expanded into an ever widening circle of applica-
bility. Nevertheless Zeus Philios was from the outset essentially akin to Zeus
MeiUchios, as may be seen from a brief survey of the relevant monuments and
literary allusions".
1 Hes. o.d. 12 r ff. cited supra p. 1130 n. r. 2 Supra p. 1096 n. 4.
3 Supra p. 1098 n. 5.
4 Orph. h. daem. 73. 1 ff. (AAIM0N02, dvp.iap.a \ifiavov) 8a.Lp.ova klk\ti<tkw weXdcrai
ijyrjTopa (ppitcrbv, j p.ei\Lxiov ALa, irayyever-qv, fitoSihropa dvr/Twv, \ Zrjva peyav, Tro\vTr\ayK-
tov, aXdaropa, Trap^ao-iXrja, | ir\ovTo8oTriv, biror' &v ye (3pvd£uv oIkov eaeXdr), \ epiiraXi 8e
\pvxovTa (3Lov dvt)tq>v iroXvpoxGwv ' | ev ffol yap KXydes \vtttis re xaP&s T' bxeovrai. Supra
i. 504 n. 2, ii. 1098 n. 5.
5 The relation of Saip.oju to 8e6s is a thorny topic, which cannot be dismissed in a
sentence, but must not here be pursued. See further J. A. Hild in Daremberg—Saglio
Did. Ant. ii. 9 ff., O. Waser in Pauly—Wissovva Real-Enc. iv. 2010f., Harrison Prolog.
Gk. Pel.2 pp. 587, 624, 657, ead. Themis pp. 307, 386.
6 H. Usener Gotternamen Bonn 1896 p. 56 ff. (' Erneuerung des Begriffs').
7 The evidence is well presented in Roscher Lex. Myth. iii. 2305—2308 by that
excellent enquirer O. Hofer, to whose article I am much indebted.