Cook, Arthur B.: Zeus: a study in ancient religion (Band 3,1): Zeus god of the dark sky (earthquake, clouds, wind, dew, rain, meteorits): Text and notes (Cambridge, 1940)

474 The myth of Danae and analogous myths

Danae is invariably said to have been impregnated by a golden
rain, and that rain is not a very natural description of sunlight or
the sun.

L. Radermacher1 contends that the Greeks believed in impi'eS'
nation by a falling star. In support of his contention he quotes the
story told by Nikephoros Skeuophylax2 about Saint Theodoros
Sykeotes, archimandrite of Galatia and bishop of Anastasiop°uS
(590—613 A.D.)3. His mother Maria kept a public hostelry at
Sykeon, where she met the magistrate Kosmas. On the night of her
child's conception, a glittering star fell from the sky and entered he1
womb, symbolising—says the pious Nikephoros—the purity of hlS
actions. The Greek life of the saint4 and its Latin version" D°
vouch for the miracle. On the strength of this, and of sundry mode1"11

matum. eadem Atia prius quam pareret somniavit, intestina sua ferri ad sl^l0
explicarique per omnem terrarum et caeli ambitum. somniavit et pater Octavius, ^
Atiae iubar solis exortum (cp. Rev. 12. 1 ff.), Konon tiarr. 33 Kal iis 6 XptKpbs J"""? 0j
iv MiKrjffioLS iv86t;wi> dvyaripa yap.e'i, Kal alin] rlKTOvcra bp!} rbv y\\iov avTf) -.^

orbp-aros elobtivra bid tt)S yaorpbs Kal t&v albolwv 5ie£eX0e?z'* Kal to 6pa/xa toU ^ ^ T£Jp
dyadbv. Kal greKe Kbpov, Bpdyxov dirb rou oveipov KaXtvaaa, ort 6 97X105 avrijs ^
Bpdyxov (an fipbyxov? a.b.C.) Sie^fiXOe. Kal -qv 6 irais /cdXXiffros av0ptl>Ti>x'' *
e<pi\yjoev epaodels 'AttoWujv, eupiw TTOLfxalvovTa kvQa $up.bs 'ATbWwvos 4>tX/ou 1 ^
L. Radermacher in the Archiv f. Ret. 1927 xxv. 218 notes also Artemid. oneii'oc''
r/Xtos dirb dvaroXrjs dvlaxo>y \ap.vpbs Kal Ka6apbs Kai Karabubnevos eh SOtn" ayaObs ^ 0j
oh [lev yap irpd^ets irpoayopeiei •... oh be iraiboiv yovr/v- i]\iovs yap Kai to dppe"lica^ v0goV
yoveis viroKopi^bfxevoi KaXovai, ib. 17X105 ev rrj koLtt] twos KaraKelfiefOS Kai ^^^^eiO1''
p.eydXT]!' Kal <p\eynovas wpoayopeibei, \eywv be ti dyadbv yj bibois ebiroplas ^pjesl
7roXXois be Kal vl&v yeveoiv irporiybpevoev. Add Achmes oneirocr. ]66 p- I37> 2( y^vri^'
ei be tbrj} otl 0 %\ios tfroi 6 bioKos elor)\6ev ev rip otK<p a^rov, ei fitv effTi j3aO^€V^' *tttrcU
3aai\ea, ei be fj.e'yioros 7) rod kolvou, vipuOrjo-eTai Kaixap^erai, rdxa Kai pafft-heta ^

bv oi^

tsofy

See also Soph.dub. 1017 Nauck2=/rof. 752 Jebb "HXi', oUripois ep-t, 1 ^ov "\ ,yff.
\eyovai yevv-i)TT\v Bewv | <kcu> iraripa nravjuv ap. anon, de Arati interp. P° aba5's
Maass (supra i. 461 n. 7). Dreams, visions, and philosophemes may equally res
of popular belief. 'Happy is the bride the sun shines 011.' ^ 1927 X!(V'

1 L. Radermacher 'Danae und der goklene Regen ' in the Archiv]• "e '
216—218. nolla'd'0"1

2 Nikeph. Skeuophylax encomium in S. Thtodorum Siccotam 5 {Anakcta&" ^jrt'
Bruxellis 1901 xx. 254) roioiirui' eK<pvoa yevvt)Tbpuv rj tovtov yevvrtTpia ota ^[ep0ipeto^
'\epefxiav kv vrjbiji irpoobexeTat. eK /ArjTpas ayia£bp.evov Kal rip Bey Trpoo-<t>bp»>s 0^
Ka6' r}v yap vtiKTa rip avvevvoi TrXrjataoaaa rbv tto\>utifxov iKelvov piapyaplTV v7r agapby ine^0"
ovpavbdev 7p\taKats doTpdirTOJu jiapixapvyais tt\v toijttis VTjbiiv vTretae'pXeTal' T^

™ irpd^einii ovp.^o\iKws aiviTTbp.evos. k.t.X. _ jplt cf ",

3 K. Krumbacher Geschichte der byzanlinischen Lilteratur"1 Munchen 189"!£ara?b'ca,
E. Venables in Smith—Wace Diet. Chr. Biogr. iv. 933. F. G. Holvyeck A ^gjjali* '
Dictionary of the Saints St. Louis, Mo. t924 p. 960 says ' Anastasiopolis (D tas;0polis) 111
but S. Frankel in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. iv. 2150 locates Dara (Anas
Mesopotamia.

4 Th. Ioannes Mnj/itia d7ioXo7[/cd 1884 p. 361 ff. ^ . ^'^Ge°f°

6 Acta Sanctorum edd. Bolland. Antverpise 1675 Aprilis iii- 34 A.^fUSIU teOT & clar3,1!'
v. S. Theodori Sicealce 3) concepit mulier ex eo, & in quiete stellam vidit mg
e ccelo in uterum suum descendere.