DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14697#0344
Zeus Phi I 10 s
1179
to us Orestes and Pylades were revered by the Scythians as Philioi Daimones\
Not impossibly, therefore, the Arcadian Orestes likewise was a Philios Datmotl
worshipped after his death as Zeus Philios. Orestes was the son of Agamemnon ;
and it is probable enough that lie, like his father2, was remembered as a human
Zeus. His name Orestes, whatever its origin3, would pass muster as a title of
Zeus the mountain-god4. In any case there was good reason for the retention of
this pre-Megalopolitan cult : the appellative Philios was a most desirable omen
for a town w hich combined the inhabitants of some forty Arcadian villages5.
(4) Zeus Philios at Pergamon.
From Arkadia we pass to Pergamon. 'The Pergamenes themselves,' says
Pausanias, 'claim to be Arcadians of the band which crossed into Asia with
Telephosl' It is not, therefore, surprising to find that Pergamon too had its
cult of Zeus Philios. An inscribed block from the wall of the Traiaiieum speaks
of that splendid structure (fig. 979)7 as the temple of Iupiter Amicalis and the
emperor Trajan. The inscription is probably of 113—114A.D. and intimates
that, thanks to the liberality of one Iulius Ouadratus, the joint cult is to be
honoured with a penteteric festival, which shall take rank with the existing
Pergamene festival of Roma and Augustus8. The competitions thus established
1 In Loukian. Toxar. 7 the Scythian states that his compatriots honour Orestes and
Pylades on account of their mutual loyalty and devotion, adding /cat rovvop.a ewl tovtols
avTLOv ide/meda KopaKOVs KaXeiadai- tovto 8e eoriv ev rrj rj/uLerepg. cpccvy uiairep av et tls \eyoi
' <Pi\ioi Acti/uoves.' He also mentions a bronze tablet in the Ore'sieion inscribed with the
tale of their sufferings, which Scythian children had to get by heart, and ancient paintings
on the temple-wall illustrating the record. Possibly Kopaxoi — (Aider)Kopoi.
2 Supra Append. I.
3 Recent discussion of Orestes and his myth is conveniently summarised by Gruppe
Myth. Lit. 1908 pp. 576 ff., 620 ff.
4 Supra i. 100 ff., 117 ff., ii. Append. B.
5 Diod. 15. 72, Pans. 8. 27. 3ft'. Prof. J. B. Bury in the Journ. Hell. Stud. 1898
xviii. 19 says of the temples enumerated by Pausanias at Megalopolis : 'Those which he
saw on the north side [of the river Helisson] suggest no federal association.' Is not this
to ignore the obvious connotation of the title Phlliosl
6 Paus. 1. 4. 6. See further W. Ridgeway The Early Age of Greece Cambridge 1901
i. 180 f. and A. C. Pearson on Soph. Mwrot frag. 409 ff. Jebb.
Orestes enters into the myth of Telephos (O. Hofer in Roscher I.ex. Myth. iii. 958—
961) and is figured on the small inner frieze of the grand altar of Zeus (H. Winnefeld in
Pergamon iii. 2. 191 f., 219, 223, 228, Beilage 6, D, 7, 42, pi. 33, 4, Overbeck Gr. Plastiki
ii. 285 fig. 201 c, C. Robert in the Jahrb. d. kais. deutsch. arch. Inst. 1887 ii. 245 ft'.
fig. D, id. ib. 1888 iii. 104, A. Trendelenburg in Baumeister Denkm. ii. 1271 f. fig. 1429,
O. Hofer loc. cit. p. 960).
7 Pergamon v. 2. 1—54 with numerous illustrations and an Atlas of plates (my fig. 979
is after pi. 34 the restored view) forms a monograph on the Traianeum by H. Stiller.
See also E. Pontremoli and M. Collignon Pergame, restauration et description des monu-
ments de Pacropole Paris 1900 pp. 153-160 with figs, and pis. 11 f.
8 T. Mommsen in the Corp. Inscr. Lat. iii Suppl. no. 7086, 18 ff. =M. Frankel Die
Inschriften von Pergamon ( = Pergamon viii. 2) Berlin 1895 ii. 203 ft". n0- 2^9> 9 ft- with
facsimile [placere ut certamen illud,] quod in honorem templi Iovis Amicalis et | [Imp.
Caes. divi Nervae f. Nerjvae Traiani Augusti Germanici Dacici | [pontif. max. est con-
st]itutum dtreKaeTTiKov in civitate | [Pergamenorum, eiusdem conjdicionis sit, cuius est,
quod in honorem Romae | [et divi Aug. ibi agitur, it]a ut ea impendia, quae propter id
certamen | [fieri oportebit, cedant in] onus Iuli Quadrati clarissimi viri [ [eorumque a]d
quos ea res pertinebit. The official description ib. 13 = 5 [aywv 5evr~\epos nap' vp.elv iepos
1179
to us Orestes and Pylades were revered by the Scythians as Philioi Daimones\
Not impossibly, therefore, the Arcadian Orestes likewise was a Philios Datmotl
worshipped after his death as Zeus Philios. Orestes was the son of Agamemnon ;
and it is probable enough that lie, like his father2, was remembered as a human
Zeus. His name Orestes, whatever its origin3, would pass muster as a title of
Zeus the mountain-god4. In any case there was good reason for the retention of
this pre-Megalopolitan cult : the appellative Philios was a most desirable omen
for a town w hich combined the inhabitants of some forty Arcadian villages5.
(4) Zeus Philios at Pergamon.
From Arkadia we pass to Pergamon. 'The Pergamenes themselves,' says
Pausanias, 'claim to be Arcadians of the band which crossed into Asia with
Telephosl' It is not, therefore, surprising to find that Pergamon too had its
cult of Zeus Philios. An inscribed block from the wall of the Traiaiieum speaks
of that splendid structure (fig. 979)7 as the temple of Iupiter Amicalis and the
emperor Trajan. The inscription is probably of 113—114A.D. and intimates
that, thanks to the liberality of one Iulius Ouadratus, the joint cult is to be
honoured with a penteteric festival, which shall take rank with the existing
Pergamene festival of Roma and Augustus8. The competitions thus established
1 In Loukian. Toxar. 7 the Scythian states that his compatriots honour Orestes and
Pylades on account of their mutual loyalty and devotion, adding /cat rovvop.a ewl tovtols
avTLOv ide/meda KopaKOVs KaXeiadai- tovto 8e eoriv ev rrj rj/uLerepg. cpccvy uiairep av et tls \eyoi
' <Pi\ioi Acti/uoves.' He also mentions a bronze tablet in the Ore'sieion inscribed with the
tale of their sufferings, which Scythian children had to get by heart, and ancient paintings
on the temple-wall illustrating the record. Possibly Kopaxoi — (Aider)Kopoi.
2 Supra Append. I.
3 Recent discussion of Orestes and his myth is conveniently summarised by Gruppe
Myth. Lit. 1908 pp. 576 ff., 620 ff.
4 Supra i. 100 ff., 117 ff., ii. Append. B.
5 Diod. 15. 72, Pans. 8. 27. 3ft'. Prof. J. B. Bury in the Journ. Hell. Stud. 1898
xviii. 19 says of the temples enumerated by Pausanias at Megalopolis : 'Those which he
saw on the north side [of the river Helisson] suggest no federal association.' Is not this
to ignore the obvious connotation of the title Phlliosl
6 Paus. 1. 4. 6. See further W. Ridgeway The Early Age of Greece Cambridge 1901
i. 180 f. and A. C. Pearson on Soph. Mwrot frag. 409 ff. Jebb.
Orestes enters into the myth of Telephos (O. Hofer in Roscher I.ex. Myth. iii. 958—
961) and is figured on the small inner frieze of the grand altar of Zeus (H. Winnefeld in
Pergamon iii. 2. 191 f., 219, 223, 228, Beilage 6, D, 7, 42, pi. 33, 4, Overbeck Gr. Plastiki
ii. 285 fig. 201 c, C. Robert in the Jahrb. d. kais. deutsch. arch. Inst. 1887 ii. 245 ft'.
fig. D, id. ib. 1888 iii. 104, A. Trendelenburg in Baumeister Denkm. ii. 1271 f. fig. 1429,
O. Hofer loc. cit. p. 960).
7 Pergamon v. 2. 1—54 with numerous illustrations and an Atlas of plates (my fig. 979
is after pi. 34 the restored view) forms a monograph on the Traianeum by H. Stiller.
See also E. Pontremoli and M. Collignon Pergame, restauration et description des monu-
ments de Pacropole Paris 1900 pp. 153-160 with figs, and pis. 11 f.
8 T. Mommsen in the Corp. Inscr. Lat. iii Suppl. no. 7086, 18 ff. =M. Frankel Die
Inschriften von Pergamon ( = Pergamon viii. 2) Berlin 1895 ii. 203 ft". n0- 2^9> 9 ft- with
facsimile [placere ut certamen illud,] quod in honorem templi Iovis Amicalis et | [Imp.
Caes. divi Nervae f. Nerjvae Traiani Augusti Germanici Dacici | [pontif. max. est con-
st]itutum dtreKaeTTiKov in civitate | [Pergamenorum, eiusdem conjdicionis sit, cuius est,
quod in honorem Romae | [et divi Aug. ibi agitur, it]a ut ea impendia, quae propter id
certamen | [fieri oportebit, cedant in] onus Iuli Quadrati clarissimi viri [ [eorumque a]d
quos ea res pertinebit. The official description ib. 13 = 5 [aywv 5evr~\epos nap' vp.elv iepos