DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14697#0328
Zeus Philios
of which would be eked out by means of colour. Behind the goddess stands a
naked cup-bearer, dipping his right hand into the krater so as to fill the phidle
in his left. Then, on a smaller scale, we have two women and a man approach-
ing from the left with hands raised in adoration. The architrave above carries
an inscription, which throws a good deal of light (together with some darkness)
on the scene represented :
' Aristomache, Olympiodoros, Theoris dedicated (this) to Zeus Epiteleios
Philios and to Philia the mother of the god and to Tyche Agathe the god's
wife1.'
We gather that the dedicators are worshipping their kinsman transformed into
a chthonian Zeus—Epiteleios because he has himself come 'to maturity2,'
Philios because he will be ' friendly' to his friends. The goddess associated
with him is in all probability his wife, Tyche Agathe as the inscription calls her.
An Agathe Tyche makes an appropriate partner for one who is essentially an
Agathos Daimon. This being so, we should have expected Philia, the feminine
form of Philios, to be a second title attached to Tyche. Instead of that, it is
treated as the name of a third deity, who is described as the mother of the god.
Possibly the curious distribution of divine names was motived by the fact that
the dedicators too were three in number—a man, his wife, and his mother3.
Possibly also an effigy of Philia was added in paint on the smooth background
between Zeus Epiteleios Philios and Tyche Agathe.
But this does not exhaust the interest of our relief. The artist has, somewhat
unexpectedly but quite justifiably, used for his Zeus Philios the familiar type of a
Totenmahl or hero-feast4. Now Mr J. C. Lawson5 in a chapter marked by equal
insight and eloquence has gone far towards proving, partly from ancient literature0,
1 'ApiaTO/j.dxy, | 'OXvfxTriodupos, j Qewpls dvedeaav Ad 'E7rireXet'wt <£iXtwt Kal rrjc p.tjTpl
rod 6eov €>t\t'cu | Kal Tvxyi 'Ayadr)l tou 8eov yvvaiKl. Since the names of the three
dedicators are inscribed above their respective figures, and Theoris heads the procession,
it seems that the order of precedence should be Oew/ns, 'OXv/j-wiodupos, 'Apiaro/naxv-
2 Cp. Plat. legg. 784 D /XTjre yap els yd/xovs tru /XTjre els rets tQv iraiSuv e7rireXeiwcreis
with Hesych. s.v. e7rireXei'a;<ris • auf^crts. Zeus 'E7rtre\etos would
thus be only another form of Zeus TeXeios, whose priest at i E p E HI £
Athens was drawn from the ancient clan of the Bouzygai and ^jq^TEAEI
occupied a special seat in the theatre (Corp. Inscr. Alt. iii. 1
no. 294 = Michel Recueil d'Inscr. gr. no. 860. 55 = Roberts— OYBOYIYTO
Gardner Gk. Epigr. ii. 467 ff. no. 251 lepem j Aios Te\ei\ov Fig. 971.
(iovfyyov in lettering (fig. 971) not earlier than s. ii A.D.).
3 So Harrison Proleg. Gk. Pel.'2 p. 356.
4 Ltibker Reallexfi p. 1052 gives a brief bibliography, to which should be added
Gruppe Gr. Myth. Ret. p. 1049 n- r> Harrison Proleg. Gk. Ret.2 pp. 349—362, 614, ead.
Themis pp. 307—316.
3 J. C. Lawson Modern Greek Folklore and Ancient Greek Religion Cambridge 1910
pp. 543—606 ('The union of gods and men'). The statement 'that Easter falls in the
same period of the year as did the great Eleusinian festival' (id. p. 572) is a slip, which
has hindered the critics from appreciating the real merits of this important chapter.
6 Soph. Ant. 574 f., [653 b,] 804 b, 810 ff., 891 ff., 1203 ff., 1240 b, [Eur. Tro. 445,
Or. 1109, /. A. 460 f.,] Artemid. oneirocr. i. 80 dew be rj dea fj.iyrjvai rj vtt6 deov irepavdrivat
vocfovvtl ixev davarov arj/xaiveL (davdrov ar\p.uov cod. B.)- Tore yap rj ~<pvxv rds tCqv deoov
avvodovs re Kal /xt^eis fiapreveraL, orav eyyvs 77 rod KaTaKiireiv to awfxa y ivoiKer k.t.X.,
1. 49 airodaveiv botteiv Kal eKKOfuadrivai Kal Karopvyrjvai... .avSpl.. .dyd/xui ydp.ov irpoayopevef
ri\rj p.kv yap dp.<poTepa rots dvdpuirois elvat vevajxiarai Kal 6 ydp.os Kal 6 ddvaros. del de
of which would be eked out by means of colour. Behind the goddess stands a
naked cup-bearer, dipping his right hand into the krater so as to fill the phidle
in his left. Then, on a smaller scale, we have two women and a man approach-
ing from the left with hands raised in adoration. The architrave above carries
an inscription, which throws a good deal of light (together with some darkness)
on the scene represented :
' Aristomache, Olympiodoros, Theoris dedicated (this) to Zeus Epiteleios
Philios and to Philia the mother of the god and to Tyche Agathe the god's
wife1.'
We gather that the dedicators are worshipping their kinsman transformed into
a chthonian Zeus—Epiteleios because he has himself come 'to maturity2,'
Philios because he will be ' friendly' to his friends. The goddess associated
with him is in all probability his wife, Tyche Agathe as the inscription calls her.
An Agathe Tyche makes an appropriate partner for one who is essentially an
Agathos Daimon. This being so, we should have expected Philia, the feminine
form of Philios, to be a second title attached to Tyche. Instead of that, it is
treated as the name of a third deity, who is described as the mother of the god.
Possibly the curious distribution of divine names was motived by the fact that
the dedicators too were three in number—a man, his wife, and his mother3.
Possibly also an effigy of Philia was added in paint on the smooth background
between Zeus Epiteleios Philios and Tyche Agathe.
But this does not exhaust the interest of our relief. The artist has, somewhat
unexpectedly but quite justifiably, used for his Zeus Philios the familiar type of a
Totenmahl or hero-feast4. Now Mr J. C. Lawson5 in a chapter marked by equal
insight and eloquence has gone far towards proving, partly from ancient literature0,
1 'ApiaTO/j.dxy, | 'OXvfxTriodupos, j Qewpls dvedeaav Ad 'E7rireXet'wt <£iXtwt Kal rrjc p.tjTpl
rod 6eov €>t\t'cu | Kal Tvxyi 'Ayadr)l tou 8eov yvvaiKl. Since the names of the three
dedicators are inscribed above their respective figures, and Theoris heads the procession,
it seems that the order of precedence should be Oew/ns, 'OXv/j-wiodupos, 'Apiaro/naxv-
2 Cp. Plat. legg. 784 D /XTjre yap els yd/xovs tru /XTjre els rets tQv iraiSuv e7rireXeiwcreis
with Hesych. s.v. e7rireXei'a;<ris • auf^crts. Zeus 'E7rtre\etos would
thus be only another form of Zeus TeXeios, whose priest at i E p E HI £
Athens was drawn from the ancient clan of the Bouzygai and ^jq^TEAEI
occupied a special seat in the theatre (Corp. Inscr. Alt. iii. 1
no. 294 = Michel Recueil d'Inscr. gr. no. 860. 55 = Roberts— OYBOYIYTO
Gardner Gk. Epigr. ii. 467 ff. no. 251 lepem j Aios Te\ei\ov Fig. 971.
(iovfyyov in lettering (fig. 971) not earlier than s. ii A.D.).
3 So Harrison Proleg. Gk. Pel.'2 p. 356.
4 Ltibker Reallexfi p. 1052 gives a brief bibliography, to which should be added
Gruppe Gr. Myth. Ret. p. 1049 n- r> Harrison Proleg. Gk. Ret.2 pp. 349—362, 614, ead.
Themis pp. 307—316.
3 J. C. Lawson Modern Greek Folklore and Ancient Greek Religion Cambridge 1910
pp. 543—606 ('The union of gods and men'). The statement 'that Easter falls in the
same period of the year as did the great Eleusinian festival' (id. p. 572) is a slip, which
has hindered the critics from appreciating the real merits of this important chapter.
6 Soph. Ant. 574 f., [653 b,] 804 b, 810 ff., 891 ff., 1203 ff., 1240 b, [Eur. Tro. 445,
Or. 1109, /. A. 460 f.,] Artemid. oneirocr. i. 80 dew be rj dea fj.iyrjvai rj vtt6 deov irepavdrivat
vocfovvtl ixev davarov arj/xaiveL (davdrov ar\p.uov cod. B.)- Tore yap rj ~<pvxv rds tCqv deoov
avvodovs re Kal /xt^eis fiapreveraL, orav eyyvs 77 rod KaTaKiireiv to awfxa y ivoiKer k.t.X.,
1. 49 airodaveiv botteiv Kal eKKOfuadrivai Kal Karopvyrjvai... .avSpl.. .dyd/xui ydp.ov irpoayopevef
ri\rj p.kv yap dp.<poTepa rots dvdpuirois elvat vevajxiarai Kal 6 ydp.os Kal 6 ddvaros. del de