DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14697#0326
Zeus Philios
1161
(i) Zeus Philios at Athens.
We begin with 'Athens. The priest of Zeus Philios was a personage of
importance, who in
the time of Augustus
had a reserved seat
at the theatre1. On
the northern slope
of the Nymphs' Hill,
where—as we have
already seen2—Zeus
Meilichios was wor-
shipped, Zeus Phi-
//<?.y toohad obtained
a footing as far back
as s. iv B.C. For here
in the archonship
of, Hegesias (324—
323 B.C.) certain e-
ranistai or club-feasters dedicated to
him a stele of Pentelic marble bearing
a relief (fig. 969)3, which closely re-
sembles the offering of [? Arisjtoboule
to Zeus Meilichios (fig. 943)i. The
club-feasters too represent Zeus en-
throned on the left with a phidle in
his right hand, while a pig is brought
to the altar before him. The pig is
proof enough that Zeus Philios, despite
the eagle at his side, was a chthonian
god5—a god much like the Agathos
Daimon, as Miss Harrison adroitly
shows by figuring together this relief
and another from Thespiai (fig. 951)6.
But what—it will be asked — had
feasters to do with a chthonian god
1 Corp. inscr. Att. iii. i no. 285 = Michel
RecueilcPInscr.gr. no. 860. 46= Roberts—
Gardner Gk. Epigr. ii. 467 ff., no. 260
IEPE02AI0S<I>IAI0T in letters referable
to the Augustan age.
2 Supra p. 1 £ 14.
3 Svoronos Ath. Nationahnus. pi. 219,
1, Harrison Proleg. Gk. J?el.2p. 357 fig. 107.
My fig. 969 is from a photograph kindly
supplied to me by Miss Harrison. The
stile is inscribed : ipav(i)aral Aii | $1X1001
ave\deaav icp' 'El^crtou dpxov'\Tos (Corp.
inscr. Att. ii. 3 no. 1330).
1 Supra p. 1105 f.
5 Supra p. 1105.
6 Supra p. 1125 n. 1. Fig. 969.
1161
(i) Zeus Philios at Athens.
We begin with 'Athens. The priest of Zeus Philios was a personage of
importance, who in
the time of Augustus
had a reserved seat
at the theatre1. On
the northern slope
of the Nymphs' Hill,
where—as we have
already seen2—Zeus
Meilichios was wor-
shipped, Zeus Phi-
//<?.y toohad obtained
a footing as far back
as s. iv B.C. For here
in the archonship
of, Hegesias (324—
323 B.C.) certain e-
ranistai or club-feasters dedicated to
him a stele of Pentelic marble bearing
a relief (fig. 969)3, which closely re-
sembles the offering of [? Arisjtoboule
to Zeus Meilichios (fig. 943)i. The
club-feasters too represent Zeus en-
throned on the left with a phidle in
his right hand, while a pig is brought
to the altar before him. The pig is
proof enough that Zeus Philios, despite
the eagle at his side, was a chthonian
god5—a god much like the Agathos
Daimon, as Miss Harrison adroitly
shows by figuring together this relief
and another from Thespiai (fig. 951)6.
But what—it will be asked — had
feasters to do with a chthonian god
1 Corp. inscr. Att. iii. i no. 285 = Michel
RecueilcPInscr.gr. no. 860. 46= Roberts—
Gardner Gk. Epigr. ii. 467 ff., no. 260
IEPE02AI0S<I>IAI0T in letters referable
to the Augustan age.
2 Supra p. 1 £ 14.
3 Svoronos Ath. Nationahnus. pi. 219,
1, Harrison Proleg. Gk. J?el.2p. 357 fig. 107.
My fig. 969 is from a photograph kindly
supplied to me by Miss Harrison. The
stile is inscribed : ipav(i)aral Aii | $1X1001
ave\deaav icp' 'El^crtou dpxov'\Tos (Corp.
inscr. Att. ii. 3 no. 1330).
1 Supra p. 1105 f.
5 Supra p. 1105.
6 Supra p. 1125 n. 1. Fig. 969.