Myths of the Dipolieia: Diomos 593
°W days men and gods alike were content with vegetables and
abstained from animal food. Further, I think we may infer that the
philosopher, or his unknown authority, anxious to explain a bizarre
custom of immemorial age, and aware perhaps that axe and bull
Played an important part in ancient Cretan Zeus-cults1, hazarded
the conjecture that the Bouphonia had been introduced into Athens
from Crete2.
(y) Myths of the Dipolieia : Diomos.
A second aetiological tale is given by Porphyrios in the following
form3. The first man to slay an ox was Diomos, a priest of Zeus
ohetis. The Diipolia was being held, and the fruits of the earth
a°- been prepared in accordance with ancient custom, when the
said ox drew near and tasted the sacred barley-meal. Diomos
tnen4 took all that were present as partners in his deed, and killed
the ox.
This recital is one of four, which profess to explain how the pig,
e sheep, the goat, and the ox came to be sacrificed5. Klymene
struck a pig unintentionally and killed it: her husband, wishing to
avoid the consequences of this unlawful act, consulted the oracle
-Pytho and obtained the sanction of the god6. Episkopos,
escendant of the Theopropoi, was minded to offer up the
I &*pra i. 648 ff., ii. 516 ff., 528 f., 535 ff.
ofp Von Prott in the Hhein. Mus. 1897 Hi. 193 ff. urged that the Sopatros-tale
'iffeStt °k a^st- -■ 29 f- should be connected with some Ionian cult, probably that of the
" /3w/i6s in Delos, which had been actually mentioned ii. 2. 28 Sewprjtrai 8e (arw i>c
^eP AfjAop crt vvv atp^o/xivov fiupLov, Trpbs Sv ovdevos irpoaayofitvov Trap airois oi)5£
thal " e"" "-vtoD fojou ciaefiwv titcX/pm [3ufi6s. Von Prott (p. 200 n. 2) recalled the fact
'44-D-Del'anS a festival Sb"r<"7,ela (T. HomoIIe in the Bull. Corr. Hell. 1882 vi.
To, ~ en°erger Syll. inscr. Gr.'2 no. 588, 54 (pidXas I I I I as (<baaav irapadoBrji/ai Otto
"""'W/tou Kal NtKapxov <o> Efepyarluv, •i'lAeraipei'mx, —wnaTpdwv, ITaTai/veiW,
°x(t»,) [-hhuu,
inVoj . nn"]. This combination is, however, more ingenious than probable,
a knav^ f** C'°es l'le assumpti°n that the worthy Porphyrios was either a fool or
tllinks rath ^ P' 578 Schmidt in Pau'y—Wissowa Real-Enc. iii A. 1000
accidenf £r t'lat tne Attic Sopatros gave rise to the Delian, or else that the two were
3 °tal homonyms.
4 p°r^'de absL 2'10 ^cited s"fra ?: 577 l)-
'Pzig-^Tj611^6' 'n Hermes 1893 xxviii. 490 and in his Opfcrbriiuche der Gritchen
e°ujunct' n P' 20^ ^ assumes a lacuna before this sentence (to explain the
I897 lii. °n """^ovs yap k.t.X.). But he is refuted by H. von Prott in the Rhein. Mus.
6 p0 ?2 2< CP- L- Deubner Attische Feste Berlin 1932 p. 162 n. 6.
,Hyt,iolooae "p Was Perhaps an appellative of Persephone (so H. Dibbelt Quacstwnes Coae
*er in r^PMsw^diae 1891 pp. 36—42 ('De Clymene et Clymeno') and W. H.
^°se conn • L'*' Myth' I22'- For Kx^e"os = Hades see supra ii. 1113 n. o (2)),
*nd Wild ; eXIOn vvith the pig is well-established (Frazer Golden Bough3: Spirits of Corn
U l6ff Supra i. 784, ii. 1140 n. 5).
38
°W days men and gods alike were content with vegetables and
abstained from animal food. Further, I think we may infer that the
philosopher, or his unknown authority, anxious to explain a bizarre
custom of immemorial age, and aware perhaps that axe and bull
Played an important part in ancient Cretan Zeus-cults1, hazarded
the conjecture that the Bouphonia had been introduced into Athens
from Crete2.
(y) Myths of the Dipolieia : Diomos.
A second aetiological tale is given by Porphyrios in the following
form3. The first man to slay an ox was Diomos, a priest of Zeus
ohetis. The Diipolia was being held, and the fruits of the earth
a°- been prepared in accordance with ancient custom, when the
said ox drew near and tasted the sacred barley-meal. Diomos
tnen4 took all that were present as partners in his deed, and killed
the ox.
This recital is one of four, which profess to explain how the pig,
e sheep, the goat, and the ox came to be sacrificed5. Klymene
struck a pig unintentionally and killed it: her husband, wishing to
avoid the consequences of this unlawful act, consulted the oracle
-Pytho and obtained the sanction of the god6. Episkopos,
escendant of the Theopropoi, was minded to offer up the
I &*pra i. 648 ff., ii. 516 ff., 528 f., 535 ff.
ofp Von Prott in the Hhein. Mus. 1897 Hi. 193 ff. urged that the Sopatros-tale
'iffeStt °k a^st- -■ 29 f- should be connected with some Ionian cult, probably that of the
" /3w/i6s in Delos, which had been actually mentioned ii. 2. 28 Sewprjtrai 8e (arw i>c
^eP AfjAop crt vvv atp^o/xivov fiupLov, Trpbs Sv ovdevos irpoaayofitvov Trap airois oi)5£
thal " e"" "-vtoD fojou ciaefiwv titcX/pm [3ufi6s. Von Prott (p. 200 n. 2) recalled the fact
'44-D-Del'anS a festival Sb"r<"7,ela (T. HomoIIe in the Bull. Corr. Hell. 1882 vi.
To, ~ en°erger Syll. inscr. Gr.'2 no. 588, 54 (pidXas I I I I as (<baaav irapadoBrji/ai Otto
"""'W/tou Kal NtKapxov <o> Efepyarluv, •i'lAeraipei'mx, —wnaTpdwv, ITaTai/veiW,
°x(t»,) [-hhuu,
inVoj . nn"]. This combination is, however, more ingenious than probable,
a knav^ f** C'°es l'le assumpti°n that the worthy Porphyrios was either a fool or
tllinks rath ^ P' 578 Schmidt in Pau'y—Wissowa Real-Enc. iii A. 1000
accidenf £r t'lat tne Attic Sopatros gave rise to the Delian, or else that the two were
3 °tal homonyms.
4 p°r^'de absL 2'10 ^cited s"fra ?: 577 l)-
'Pzig-^Tj611^6' 'n Hermes 1893 xxviii. 490 and in his Opfcrbriiuche der Gritchen
e°ujunct' n P' 20^ ^ assumes a lacuna before this sentence (to explain the
I897 lii. °n """^ovs yap k.t.X.). But he is refuted by H. von Prott in the Rhein. Mus.
6 p0 ?2 2< CP- L- Deubner Attische Feste Berlin 1932 p. 162 n. 6.
,Hyt,iolooae "p Was Perhaps an appellative of Persephone (so H. Dibbelt Quacstwnes Coae
*er in r^PMsw^diae 1891 pp. 36—42 ('De Clymene et Clymeno') and W. H.
^°se conn • L'*' Myth' I22'- For Kx^e"os = Hades see supra ii. 1113 n. o (2)),
*nd Wild ; eXIOn vvith the pig is well-established (Frazer Golden Bough3: Spirits of Corn
U l6ff Supra i. 784, ii. 1140 n. 5).
38