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)

Myths of the Dipolieia: Sopatros 591

that he might be rid of his offence with its attendant curse, if all
acted in common, Sopatros told those who had come to fetch him
that an ox must be cut up by the city. And, when they could not say
who should strike the beast, he undertook to do it himself, provided
they would make him a citizen and so take their share in the
daughter. They agreed, and, on returning to Athens, arranged the
ceremony, which has been performed there ever since.

This story is undeniably constructed with ancient materials. In
Particular, the treatment of the ox as sacrosanct and the alleged
necessity for common action in the slaying of it are features that
°°k backwards to a very remote past1. Nevertheless the story as

ce<l"raTp<H' ^eT" TV* ?rpd£ews avevpeBivTos. But the Greek is so unusual as to be almost
ly corrupt. A. Nauck, after J. J. Keiske, prints tov [ZuTrarpov] ficrairiov t?/s
T£p*u* avevpeeYpros. L. Deubner Attische Feste Berlin 1932 p. 164 n. 5 desiderates fieri.
Ve\iP~ra''m ""P°fews- I suspect the word irpdjews and suggest tov 'Zairarpov pera tov

«fws (or t?js dfii-Tjs) avtvpedevTos.
8- 2 '?r'stoxenos of Tarentum frag. 7 (Frag. hist. Gr. ii. 273 Muller) ap. Diog. Laert.
^uii ° ^ ^PlaT0he"o^ Trdyra niv raXXa avyxupei" &vtov (sc. jbv 'HvBa.ybpa.v) iaBleiv
"Aiceip1' tl^viu'v ^ [oi}i"dc] airixtadai apoTijpos /3s6s kcll Kpiov, Arat. phaen. 129 ft', d XX'ore 5^
K(*-Kh L ^T^va,(ra-Vi oi 5' iytvovTo, | xoX/cd?/ yevei], wpoT^puv 6\ou>T€poi aVSpes, [ ol irpuiroi
Hi<y^^°V ^X-a^K€6<raj>To p.&xcupav | civobiT)v, wpwToi de fio&v iwdo-avT dpoTTjpuv, [ teal t6t€
'4. ff \ n ^'k7> k*h>W yepos avSpGiv \ {irraS' incovpaplrj with schol. ad loc. (Maass p. 360,
((ol))

etix, > ' aPXa'<" i(pv\a.TTOVTO tovs epyaras /3o0s Kaditpeveiv ... dcrejBes yap «'56/cei tovto
ft ' Th U<"P))

ayvvui dpdrijv. irpuiTOi de 'AStjikiloi tyevaavTO rujv tolo6t<i)v fio&v, iirel iroTe

^"liriurn °"1'0^'',,s ""0x0*0 Ko.re<payev (sic), Varr. rer. rust. 2. 5. 3—4 hie (sc. bos) socius
v°'uerunt 'n rust'co °Pere e' Cereris minister, ab hoc antiqui nianus ita abstineri
Oictaei ' U-' caP'te sanxerint, siquis occidisset, Verg.georg. 2. 536 ff. ante etiam sceptrum
in terris^'S' 6' ante ' 'mP'a quam caesis gens est epulata iuvencis, | aureus hanc vitam
1u°d ite a urnus agebat, Colum. de re rust. 6. praef. 7 (expanded from Varro loc. cit.)
adhuc h 11. tnen's Cereris et Triptolemi fertur minister...quod deinde laboriosissimus
CaPitale tlUn's soc'us in agricultural cuius tanta fuit apud antiquos veneratio, ut tam

Fraze ^ ^°vem necisse quam civem.
SuSgests th ^f"" BouS,l i'- Spirits of Corn and Wild ii. 6. n. 1 (cp. his Pausanias ii. 304)
^""Mo/iia ^n(, arro s statement may be merely an inference drawn from the ritual of -the
to judge fran leSend told to explain it.' So, no doubt, may be the allusion of Aratos,
* different "i j 6 SC'10'' loc- But tne tradition concerning the Pythagorean taboo is of
Ur'her evide ^ certa'n'y implies the sanctity of the ploughing ox and the ram.
*°ris aijr' en°e °f that sanctity may °e found in Plln. nat. hist. 8. 180 socium enim
damn " 'lat,emus hoc animal tantae apud priores curae ut sit inter

.^'sse se negan * '30PU'° ^omano die dicta, qui concubino procaci rure omasrum
?0t a'so in p C occ'derat bovem, actusque in exsilium tamquam colono suo interempto,
Ve'top (tpj^ °rph. de abst. 2. 11 iropd yovv AZ7KTT101S koX 'I'oii'ifi 0S.ttov civ ris avBpw-
oi^tois. ~0\fr<7aiT0 ^ Ov^cias fio6s. ahtov 6c Sti XP^'M01' to f"?01' touto iariritf*
^°"^s 6>e*o ^ail"av Kal (yeiiaavTO Kai dir^pjovro, tuv ie S^Xeiwc <puUp.€voi Trjs
^^iii. tgg n * T° ty**Oai irono8trji<sar. W. W. Hyde in the Am. foum. Phil. 1917
lodern times.' 2 remarks: 'The old idea has survived in some parts of Greece into
t'i- l'Abb!r»?' .Mariti' Pavels through Cyprus, Syria and Palestine (1791—2) I,
pjf'tire gt^Q, Mari'' Voyages dans I'isle de Chypre, la Syrie et la Palestine, avee
"s & ■naigre" ' fU ^ant traduits de l'italien Neuwied 1791 i. 39 'Les boeufs sont
es Grecs n'en mangent jamais; ils ont pour maxime, que l'animal qui