DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14699#0084
1042
Appendix R
Zeus consorted with Hera. But that Zeus in Euboia, like Poseidon in Lesbos1,
bore the cult-title Elymnios is an unsupported conjecture-.
(6) The Hierds Gdmos on Mount Kithairon.
Plutarch, who as a native of Chaironeia knew the mythology of Boiotia well,
gives us a more detailed account3. Hera was brought up as a virgin in Euboia,
but was stolen away by Zeus and carried across the strait to Boiotia. Kithairon,
the mountain-god, provided the run-aways with a shady nook and a bridal
chamber of nature's making4. And, when Makris the nurse of Hera came in
search of her and was minded to pry too far, Kithairon prevented her by saying
that Zeus was there resting with Leto. So Hera escaped detection and later
showed her gratitude by admitting Leto Myc/n'a, ' of the Nook,' or Nychia,
'of the Night,' to share her altar and her temple. Others declared that Hera
herself, since she companied there in secret with Zeus, was called Leto Nychia,
'the Secret One of the Night6,' but when their union was made public—and
this happened first in the neighbourhood of Kithairon and Plataiai0—came to
be known as Hera Tcleia, 'of the Wedding Rites,' and Gamelios, 'the goddess
of Marriage7.'
Plutarch's narrative proves that the cult of Zeus and Hera on Mount
Kithairon, its ancient ritual8 notwithstanding, had been influenced by the
Euboean worship of Hera, and must in fact be treated as the remodelled form
of an earlier cult, in which Zeus had been paired, not with Hera at all, but with
Leto My cilia or Nyc/ti'a0.
1 Hesych. "KKv^vios- llocreiScSc ec A^it/3<j). Kal vijaos Trji Ev(3olas. But also Hesych.
2 O. Jessen in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. v. 2468, E. Fehrle in Roscher Lex. Myth.
vi. 623.
3 Plout. TTfpl twv iv IIAaTtucus Aaioa\uv 3 ap. Euseb. praep. ev. 3. 1. 3.
4 Plout. lot. cit. iivluKibv two. yuuxoc Kal da\a/j.ov avro(f>vt;. Cp. supra ii. 898 n. 6.
Kithairon is described as 'EpiwiW /xvxis by Hermesianax of Kypros frag. 2 {Frag. hist.
Gr. iv. 428 Miiller) ap. [Plout.] de fluv. 2. 3 : see further K. Dilthey in the Arch. Zeit.
1874 xxxi. 93 f. and S. Eitrem in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. xvi. 994 f.
5 At)tc6 from \rj8w, \av8avw, and Nux'a from vii^, vvxios. On these derivations see
A. Enmann in Roscher Lex. Myth. ii. 1969 f., to whose references for Ajjtu add
L. Meyer Handb. d. gr. Etym. iv. 537, Prellwitz Etym. Worterb. d. Gr. Spr.2 p. 267 f.,
Walde Lat. etym. Worterb. p. 327 s.v. 'lateo,' Walde—Pokorny Vergl. Worterb. d.
indogcrm. Spr. ii. 377 s.v. 'la- "verborgen, versteckt sein."' But F. Wehrli in Pauly—
Wissowa Real. Enc. Suppl. v. 571 ff. supports the connexion of A^rti, Aarci, Lelun,
Latona with Lycian lada (supra ii. 455) and adds: 'Darum hat auch die ursprungliche
Identitat von Leto-Lato und Leda [supra i. 763 n. 4] einige Wahrscheinlichkeit.'
6 At Plataiai Hera bore the titles TeAefa and ~Nvfi<j>£vofiev7) (Paus. 9. 2. 7).
7 For these epithets see Gruppe Gr. Myth. Ret. p. 1134 nn. 5 and 3 f.
8 Supra ii. 898 n. 6.
0 Schcill—Studemund anecd. i. 269 'Etridera "Hpos...IJ vvx'cts with the note : 1 /ivxlas
potius quam vvxias videtur in L exstare; nisipotius vvxHas ex /J.vxtas
correctum est.' See further O. Hofer in Roscher Lex. Myth. ii. 3298.
An interesting relic of this goddess is a paste in the Vienna
collection (fig. 838 is enlarged (;) from T. Panofka Gemmen mit
Inschriften Berlin 1852 pp. 122, 135 pi. 4, 40), which shows a cock
surrounded by the inscription A6T0MVXI(Corp . inscr. Gr. iv
no. 7361 rf) = A7)To(i) ilvxt(q-). The cock was dear to Leto, as to
all women in childbirth, because he stood by her to lighten her
labour (Ail. de not. an. 4. 29). Possibly Leto 4>w£i; of Phaistos (Ant. Lib. 17 (after
Appendix R
Zeus consorted with Hera. But that Zeus in Euboia, like Poseidon in Lesbos1,
bore the cult-title Elymnios is an unsupported conjecture-.
(6) The Hierds Gdmos on Mount Kithairon.
Plutarch, who as a native of Chaironeia knew the mythology of Boiotia well,
gives us a more detailed account3. Hera was brought up as a virgin in Euboia,
but was stolen away by Zeus and carried across the strait to Boiotia. Kithairon,
the mountain-god, provided the run-aways with a shady nook and a bridal
chamber of nature's making4. And, when Makris the nurse of Hera came in
search of her and was minded to pry too far, Kithairon prevented her by saying
that Zeus was there resting with Leto. So Hera escaped detection and later
showed her gratitude by admitting Leto Myc/n'a, ' of the Nook,' or Nychia,
'of the Night,' to share her altar and her temple. Others declared that Hera
herself, since she companied there in secret with Zeus, was called Leto Nychia,
'the Secret One of the Night6,' but when their union was made public—and
this happened first in the neighbourhood of Kithairon and Plataiai0—came to
be known as Hera Tcleia, 'of the Wedding Rites,' and Gamelios, 'the goddess
of Marriage7.'
Plutarch's narrative proves that the cult of Zeus and Hera on Mount
Kithairon, its ancient ritual8 notwithstanding, had been influenced by the
Euboean worship of Hera, and must in fact be treated as the remodelled form
of an earlier cult, in which Zeus had been paired, not with Hera at all, but with
Leto My cilia or Nyc/ti'a0.
1 Hesych. "KKv^vios- llocreiScSc ec A^it/3<j). Kal vijaos Trji Ev(3olas. But also Hesych.
2 O. Jessen in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. v. 2468, E. Fehrle in Roscher Lex. Myth.
vi. 623.
3 Plout. TTfpl twv iv IIAaTtucus Aaioa\uv 3 ap. Euseb. praep. ev. 3. 1. 3.
4 Plout. lot. cit. iivluKibv two. yuuxoc Kal da\a/j.ov avro(f>vt;. Cp. supra ii. 898 n. 6.
Kithairon is described as 'EpiwiW /xvxis by Hermesianax of Kypros frag. 2 {Frag. hist.
Gr. iv. 428 Miiller) ap. [Plout.] de fluv. 2. 3 : see further K. Dilthey in the Arch. Zeit.
1874 xxxi. 93 f. and S. Eitrem in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. xvi. 994 f.
5 At)tc6 from \rj8w, \av8avw, and Nux'a from vii^, vvxios. On these derivations see
A. Enmann in Roscher Lex. Myth. ii. 1969 f., to whose references for Ajjtu add
L. Meyer Handb. d. gr. Etym. iv. 537, Prellwitz Etym. Worterb. d. Gr. Spr.2 p. 267 f.,
Walde Lat. etym. Worterb. p. 327 s.v. 'lateo,' Walde—Pokorny Vergl. Worterb. d.
indogcrm. Spr. ii. 377 s.v. 'la- "verborgen, versteckt sein."' But F. Wehrli in Pauly—
Wissowa Real. Enc. Suppl. v. 571 ff. supports the connexion of A^rti, Aarci, Lelun,
Latona with Lycian lada (supra ii. 455) and adds: 'Darum hat auch die ursprungliche
Identitat von Leto-Lato und Leda [supra i. 763 n. 4] einige Wahrscheinlichkeit.'
6 At Plataiai Hera bore the titles TeAefa and ~Nvfi<j>£vofiev7) (Paus. 9. 2. 7).
7 For these epithets see Gruppe Gr. Myth. Ret. p. 1134 nn. 5 and 3 f.
8 Supra ii. 898 n. 6.
0 Schcill—Studemund anecd. i. 269 'Etridera "Hpos...IJ vvx'cts with the note : 1 /ivxlas
potius quam vvxias videtur in L exstare; nisipotius vvxHas ex /J.vxtas
correctum est.' See further O. Hofer in Roscher Lex. Myth. ii. 3298.
An interesting relic of this goddess is a paste in the Vienna
collection (fig. 838 is enlarged (;) from T. Panofka Gemmen mit
Inschriften Berlin 1852 pp. 122, 135 pi. 4, 40), which shows a cock
surrounded by the inscription A6T0MVXI(Corp . inscr. Gr. iv
no. 7361 rf) = A7)To(i) ilvxt(q-). The cock was dear to Leto, as to
all women in childbirth, because he stood by her to lighten her
labour (Ail. de not. an. 4. 29). Possibly Leto 4>w£i; of Phaistos (Ant. Lib. 17 (after