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In Greek, three different nouns referred to mystery cults, the specific term μυστήρια and the wider terms ὄργια and τελετή. The plural ὄργια (the singular is attested later and in a different meaning) is etymologically connected with the Indo-European root found in English “work.” In its origins euphemistic, already in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter the core-text on Eleusis from perhaps the second half of the 7th century BCE (Richardson, 1974), ὄργια is the specialized term for the type of ritual that we call mystery rites ( Homeri H. Cer. 273). Greek τελετή is similarly open: conne…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Christian Secrecy I. Religious Studies Discipline of the Secret ( disciplina arcani) is a modern expression coined in the context of post-Reformation controversial theology (first used by J. Daillé, De usu patrum ad ea definienda capita, Geneva, 1686). It refers to the ancient Christian demand, made especially in the 4th and early 5th centuries, that central parts of the ritual (baptism and Eucharist) and the …

[German Version] Incubation (Lat. incubare, Gk enkatheúdein, enkoimán, “to sleep in a sanctuary”) is the ritual practice of sleeping in a sanctuary for the purpose of experiencing a divine epiphany in one's dreams and of receiving help. The practice was especially cultivated in the healing sanctuaries of Asclepius, although it is also attested in other cults in which healing (Amphiaraos in Oropus, Isis and other gods in Kanopos-Menouthis in the Nile Delta) or dream oracles were sought. Incubation is at…

[German Version] I. History of Religions – II. Responses I. History of Religions 1. Orphic-Dionysian mysteries. The earliest Greeks anticipated a short and active life without any form of existence after death. The 6th century bce saw the appearance of religious alternatives that promised an afterlife in the beyond. One of these spread anonymously under the name of Orpheus; myths of Orpheus speak of deliverance from a senseless and cheerless netherworld. There was never a coherent religion practiced by Orphics, but there is discu…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Greco-Roman Antiquity I. Religious Studies 1. Terms and definition Divination derives from Lat. divinare, “to ascertain the divine will.” Manticism, Gk μαντική (sc. τέχνη)/ mantikḗ (sc. téchnē), is “(the art of) indicating the future”; the term derives from a root that expresses “spiritual effort”; in antiquity, at least after Plato ( Phaidr. 244c), owing to the dominance of ecstatic divination, the word was associated with “mania” (μανία/ manía) (Mania). Divination is …

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. History – III. Philosophy of Religion – IV. Fundamental Theology. – V. Missiology I. Religious Studies 1. The Concept and Its History Myth may be defined by either content or function. Defined by content, myth is a belief about something significant, such as the world or society. Defined by function, myth accomplishes something significant, such as explaining the world or supporting society. Most theories of myth are concerned with the function of myth, but many are also concerned with either the origin or the subject matter of myth. Myt…

[German Version] Gallio, Junius Annaeus, eldest son of the rhetor Lucius Annaeus Seneca and the brother of the philosopher, poet and statesman Lucius Annaeus Seneca. He was adopted by the rhetor Lucius Iunius Gallio and followed the typical senatorial track, becoming governor (proconsul) of Achaia under Claudius (51/52 ce) and consul suffectus in 56 ce. He survived his brother, whom Nero forced to commit suicide in the wake of the Piso conspiracy of 65 ce, but also seems to have been compelled to take his own life at a later point in time (Tacitus, Annales XV, 73; Dio Cassius, LXII, 25).…

Magic I: Introduction When contemporary academics discuss “magic”, in most cases the assumptions which guide their understanding of it are variations on a few influential theories. First, there is the “intellectualist” understanding of magic linked to the names of E.B. Tylor and J.G. Frazer. Tylor, in his foundational Primitive Culture of 1871, defined magic as based upon ‘the error of mistaking ideal analogy for real connexion’ (Tylor 1771, I, 116). Tylor's assumption was that primitive man, ‘having come to associate in thought those things w…

(Ἀμφιδάμας; Amphidámas). [German version] [1] Hero from Tegea in Arcadia Hero from Tegea in Arcadia, son of Aleus, brother of Lycurgus son of Cepheus and Auge (Paus. 8,4,8), one of the Argonauts (Apoll. Rhod. 1,161; 2,1046). In Apollod. 3,105 he is not the brother, but the son of Lycurgus, and his children are Melanion ( Atalante) and Antimache, wife of Eurystheus. Deviating genealogies in the Homeric scholia  Aphidas. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Opuntic Locrian Opuntic Locrian. Patroclus killed his son during an astragalos game and sought protection from Pe…

[German version] (Αὐτονόη; Autonóē). Daughter of  Cadmus and  Harmonia, sister of  Semele,  Agave and Ino ( Leucothea), wife of Aristaeus, mother of  Actaeon (Hes. Theog. 977; Apollod. 3,26; 30; Hyg. Fab. 184). In Euripides' Bacchae she leads a thiasos of Theban Maenads (230; 680; Ov. Met. 3,720). Following the death of her son, she goes to Megara; her tomb is mentioned by Pausanias (1,44,5). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography A. Kossatz-Deissman, s.v. Autonoe, LIMC 3.1, 64f.

The Roman god of passage in a topographical, temporal and figurative sense. His name is derived from ianua (‘passage, gate’) and is connected with  Ianiculum. The name refers to the god as well as to the cultically relevant gates connected to him. Iconographical representations begin in the Republican period, depicting I. usually with two faces, occasionally with four ( bifrons, quadrifrons). [German version] A. Cult centres His cult is almost exclusively public and political, only two private dedications to him are extant. Two old altars of I. in Rome are att…

[German version] (Κινύρας, Kinýras). Mythic founder of the temple of  Aphrodite of Paphus, and progenitor of the priestly family of the Cinyradae, who shared the leadership of the cult together with the Tamiradae family (whose ancestor, the Cilician seer Tamiras, C. had introduced), but later presided alone over the worship and oracle (Tac. Hist. 2,3). C. is connected with  Apollo (Pind. Pyth. 2,15), which indicates the role of singers in the cult. He is often regarded as a son of Apollo; but it is…

[English version] The polarity between Apollo and Dionysus and the phenomena linked with these gods was introduced into modern aesthetic discussion by Friederich Nietzsche. Nietzsche understood the ‘duplicity of Apollo and Dionysus’ as a fundamental opposition of Greek aesthetics : An ihre (sc. der Griechen) beiden Kunstgottheiten, Apollo und Dionysus, knüpft sich unsere Erkenntnis, daß in der griech. Welt ein ungeheurer Gegensatz, nach Ursprung und Zielen, zw. der Kunst des Bildners, der apollinischen, und der unbildlichen Kunst der Musik, als der des Dionysus, besteht (‘it i…

[German version] [1] Precious stone According to Theophr. De lapidibus 31 [1.68], a precious stone ( gemma) named after the river of the same name in Sicily (today's Carabi or Canitello), and which, along with 11 others, adorned the official escutcheon of the High Priest Aaron (Ex 39,10-13) [2.204 f.]. According to Plin. HN 37,5, King Pyrrhus of Epirus owned a specimen whose naturally occurring streaks ( maculae) depicted Apollo and the nine Muses. According to Plin. HN 37,139-142, the achates and its many variants, whilst having decreased in value owing to ma…

(Καρμάνωρ; Karmánōr). [German version] [1] Cretan seer A Cretan seer and priest of purification, as such closely connected with  Apollo, the god of ritual purification, and with Delphi, his centre of cult worship. He purifies Apollo and Artemis after the killing of the snake  Python (in Tarrha, Phaestus or Dion on Crete, Paus. 2,30,3; Euseb. Praep. evang. 5,31); in his house Apollo loves the nymph Acacallis who becomes mother of the founding heroes of the Cretan city Elyrus (on the myth of abandonment …

[German version] [1] 9th of the 10 Attic phylae (Αἰαντίς; Aiantís). The 9th of the 10 Attic phylae, dating from the phyle reforms of  Cleisthenes (Hdt. 5,66). Named after the hero  Ajax [1], son of Telamon, king of  Salamis. In the 4th cent. BC it included four paralia demes as well as one   asty- and one mesogeia deme ( Phalerum and  Aphidna), which, on account of their size, each represented one trittýs. In 307/6 BC, the A. gave none of its demes to the new Macedonian phyles, but later gave one each to the  Ptolemais,  Attalis and  Hadrianis. In the case of the mesogeiatrittýs of A., there is e…

(Ἀλήτης; Alḗtēs). Suggestive hero's name, ‘Roamer’. [German version] [1] Mythical conqueror of Corinth Son of the Heraclid Hippotes, captures and colonizes Corinth after expelling the descendants of  Sisyphus with help from Melas, an ancestor of  Cypselus (Str. 8,8,5; Konon FGrH 26 F 1,26; Paus. 2,4,3 f; 5,18,8), or he receives the rulership from the Heraclids (Diod. Sic. 7,9,2). His dynasty is replaced by the  Bacchiadae, and in poetry the Corinthians are called Aletidai after him. He won power in Corinth with the help of the Dodona oracle, which told him that he w…

(Ἀφείδας; Apheídas). Suggestive heroic name, ‘not miserly’. [German version] [1] Figure of the Odyssee Son of Polypemon from Alybas, as whose son Eperitus Odysseus passes himself off (Hom. Od. 24,304). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] King of Athens King of Athens, son of Oxyntes; his illegitimate brother kills him (Demon FGrH 327 F 1; Nikolaus FGrH 90 F 48). He is progenitor of the noble family of the Aphidantidae [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [3] King of Tegea Son of Arcas, younger brother of Elatus, king of Tegea (Apollod. 3,102; Paus. 8,4…

(Ἄμφιος; Ámphios). [German version] [1] Son of the seer Merops of Percote A. and Adrestus, sons of the seer Merops of Percote, fought in the Trojan war against his will and were slain by Diomedes (Hom. Il. 2,828-834; 11,328-334). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Son of Selagos from Paesus Son of Selagos from Paesus, killed by Telamonian Ajax (Hom. Il. 5,612; Tzetz. Allegoriae Iliadis Proleg. 812) [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography 1 O. Tauchefen, LIMC 1.1, 318, no. 24.

I. Theory of myth [German version] A. Definition Despite many attempts, it has proven impossible to arrive at a definition of myth (Gr. μῦθος/ mýthos; Lat. mythos) that would satisfy all disciplines. The most satisfactory one refers to G.S. Kirk and W. Burkert who described myth as a ‘traditional narrative of collective significance’ [1; 2]. Still, this definition fails to fully represent the function of myth in the time after Classical Antiquity, when we find myths in entertaining narratives such as Ovidius's ‘Metamorphoses or Nonnus's Dionysiaká. The term ‘traditional’ implies…

[German version] ‘Eternity’, personification of duration of political rule. In the imperial period one can swear by the ‘eternal duration’ of the rule of an emperor, likewise invoke his fame or his well-being (Plin. Ep. 10,41,1; 83). The cult of Aeternitas probably begins in the early imperial period in Spain: coins (for instance from Tarraco and Emerita) under Augustus and Tiberius depict a temple with the legend, Aeternitati Augustae [1]. First depictions of the goddess occur under Vespasian, and the first cult reference is a sacrifice of   the Arvales fratres to A. imperii, after the…

Name of a Roman Plebeian family from Tusculum (who, as mint masters, liked to place on their coins the Dioscuri, who were particularly revered there, RRC 290, 307, cf. 353), whose members often held the office of praetor; the family did not attain the consulate until the early Imperial period. 1. Republican period [German version] [I 1] F. Legate Legate of the proconsul Q. Servilius Caepio in Asculum; their murder by the local population triggered the  Social Wars [3] (Cic. Font. 41; 48; Vell. Pat. 2,15,1; App. B Civ. 1,173); perhaps identical with the mint master RRC 290 or 307. Elvers, Karl…

[German version] (Ἄνδροκλος; Ándroklos). Son of king Codrus of Athens. According to Pherecydes (FGrH 3 F 155), the leader of the procession of colonists going from there to Ionia; however, according to Hellanicus (FGrH 4 F 125), Neleus, son of Codrus, already has this role. A. expels Leleges and Lydians and founds Ephesus; the royal lineage in Ephesus may have been called ‘the Androclids’. A. is said to have fought against the Samians and Carians and to have fallen when securing Priene as an Ionian colony (Paus. 7,2,9). Ephesian coins of the imperial period show his image. Graf, Fritz (Colu…

[German version] (Ἄντικλος; Ántiklos). One of the Greeks in the wooden horse. He wanted to answer Helena, when, near the horse standing on the hill fortress, she was imitating the voices of Greek women. However, Odysseus closed his mouth until Athena had led Helena away (Hom. Od. 4,271-89; Q. Smyrn. 12,317; Apollod. ep. 5,19; Ov. Ib. 567). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

[German version] (Αἴγεστος; Aígestos). Son of Trojan parents who had fled to Sicily; fights with Elymus at Troy and founds Egesta/Segesta after his return (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 1,52). According to another tradition, son of Sicilian river god   Crimisus and the Trojan nymph Egesta/Segesta (Serv. Aen. 1,550). Virgil recounts in Aen. 5, how A. (whom he calls Acestes) receives Aeneas as a guest. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography C. Arnold-Biucchi, s. v. A., LIMC 1.1, 357 f.

Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] A. Terminology (CT) Neither Greek nor Latin had a word that precisely corresponds to the modern term 'religion' in its academic sense, whether to designate a specific cultural subsystem ('the religion of the Aztecs') or to refer to the anthropological constant of religion. This modern concept was a result of the Enlightenment and ethnological discoveries, and dates only to the Early Modern era. Ancient concepts focused on individual areas: the Greek thrēskeía, 'worship', and the Greek eusébeia refer only to ritual in the collective…

[German version] (Ἄμυρις; Ámyris). From Siris, called ‘the Wise’, father of Damasus, one of the suitors of  Agariste, the mother of Cleisthenes (Hdt. 6,127). The epithet associates him with the general sphere of the pre-philosophical, archaic Tales of Sages [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography 1 F. Wehrli, Hauptrichtungen des griech. Denkens, 1964, 39-43.

[German version] (Ἀμυθάων; Amytháōn). Son of Cretheus and Tyro in Iolcus, brother of Phereus and Aeson, half brother of Neleus and Pelias, the sons of Poseidon (Hom. Od. 11,235-259; Hes. fr. 38). He settles in Pylos, which Neleus founded, and here he fathers his sons Melampus and Bias (Diod. Sic. 4,68,3; Apollod. 1,93; 96). He appears with his relatives in Iolcus, to demand Iason's inheritance from Pelias; he is one of the Argonauts (Pind. Pyth. 4,126). A part of Elis is called Amythaonia after him; before Pelias and Neleus he renews the Olympic games (Paus. 5,8,2). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, …

[German version] (‘Little story’). Modern term describing brief tales built into magic formulas, providing a mythic precedence for a magically effective treatment. Historiolas are already documented in Mesopotamian and ancient Egyptian  magic. In the Graeco-Egyptian  magic papyri (PGM), they provide references to both Greek (e.g. PGM XX) and Egyptian (e.g. PGM IV 1471) mythology, and to Christian legends in Christian rites. However, historiolas should not be understood as abridgments of well-known myths or as ad hoc inventions, rather the narrator understands them as p…

[German version] (Αἰολία sc. νῆσος; Aiolía nêsos). Residence of  Aeolus [2], the lord of the winds. It is a floating island, which is hedged around by steep cliffs and a bronze wall (Hom. Od. 10.3 f.); in a certain contrast to these fairy-tale motives -- especially the floating of the island -- is the very Greek idea that the city and the ‘beautiful houses’ of A. and his family are on this island (loc. cit.13). Since the 5th cent. it is sited in actual geography and in particular identified with the Liparic or Aeolic Islands (Αἰόλου νῆσοι) (Antiochus of Syracuse FGrH 555 F 1; Thuc. 3,88). Graf, Fri…

(Ἀργεῖος; Argeîos). [German version] [1] Son of Likymnios Son of Licymnius. In two myths he is the doomed battle comrade of Hercules. He accompanies him together with his brother Melas on the quest to conquer Oichalia; both are slain and are buried by Hercules (Apollod. 2,156). According to another version he accompanies Hercules on his Trojan campaign, in spite of his father's resistance; Hercules had to swear an oath promising to bring him back. When he is slain outside Troy, Hercules burns the corpse and brings back the ashes (Schol. Hom. Il. 1,52). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) …

(Ἀκταῖος; Aktaîos), ‘he from the coast’ ( akte) or ‘of Akte’. [German version] [1] Attic primal king Attic primal king, the first (Paus. 1,2,6) or successor of Porphyrion (Paus. 1,14,7); father of the (first) Aglaurus, the wife of Cecrops and mother of Aglaurus [2], Herse and Pandrosus (Apollod. 3,180, who in 3,177 first made Cecrops the primal king). Attica was first called Acte after him, as was the Piraeus peninsula in the historical period (Apollod. 3,177; Harpocrat. s. v. Akte). According to Pherecydes (FGrH 3 F 60) he is father of Telamon of Glauce, the daughter of th…

(Ἀτύμνιος; Atýmnios). [German version] [1] Son of the Carian king Amisodarus Son of the Carian king Amisodarus. He and his brother Maris, companions at arms of Sarpedon, were killed by two sons of Nestor (Hom. Il. 16,317). Later, he is regarded as identical to Tymnius, the eponymous founder of the Carian city of Tymnus [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Son of Zeus Son of Zeus (of the Phoenix: Schol. Apoll. Rhod. 2,178) and  Cassiopea, courted by the brothers Minos and Sarpedon in competition with each other. Otherwise Miletus, the son of Ap…

[German version] (Εἰλειθυία; Eileithyíai, Doric Ἐλευθ(υ)ία; Eleuth(y)ía, Mycenaean in Knosos e-reu-ti-ja). Greek goddess, worshipped almost exclusively by women in the context of pregnancy and birth, also in the context of children's and women's diseases (Diod. Sic. 5,73,4; [1]). Already known by Homer in this function (μογοστόκος, ‘concerned with the effort of giving birth’, Hom. Il. 16,187). The name itself seems to be telling ─ it can be connected with eleuth-, ‘to go, to come’ [2]. She has almost no independent myths: she was born at her important cult centre…

[German version] (Βοώτης; Boṓtēs). (‘Ox-driver’) One of the names of a constellation near that of Ursa Major; attested since Hom. Od. 5,272. If the latter constellation is thought of as a bear, the former, as its companion, is termed instead ‘bear-keeper’, Arktophylax (Arat. 91-83; Ov. Fast. 3,145; Manil. Astr. 1,316-318 etc.). Its brightest star is Arcturus (Arktouros), which occasionally gives its name to the whole constellation (Eratosth. Catast. 8). Various legends about the stars give a mythical background to the meaning of Bootes. 1. He is generally underst…

[German version] (ἐποπτεία; epopteía, ‘the seeing’). One of the levels of initiation into the  mysteries; whoever attained it, was epóptēs. In  Eleusis, whence the term originated, epopteia refers to the stage of initiation after the initial  myesis ─ epopteia either refers to the public ‘display’ during the celebration of the mysteries, in which myesis was the individual dedication which could take place outside of the celebrations, or rather a second facultative stage following on from the obligatory mýēsis [1; 2]. In any case, the term underlines the importance of vis…

(Ἀλκίππη; Alkíppē). Common woman's name in mythological epics. [German version] [1] Figure of Greek myth: daughter of Ares …

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(Αἰθαλίδης; Aithalídēs). [German version] [1] Herald during the Argonauts' campaign Son of Hermes and Eupolemea, daughter of Myrmidon, born near the Thessalian stream Amphryssus. Herald during the Argonauts' campaign (Apoll. Rhod. 1,51-55, 640-47). Hermes allowed him to continue to remember after his death and thus to move between the Underworld and the Upperworld (Pherecydes FGrH 3 F 109; Apoll. Rhod. 1,644-7). His soul is said to have entered the body of Pythagoras, as first recounted by Heraclides Ponticus (fr. 89 W. = Diog. Laert. 8,1,4) [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) …

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[German version] (Ἰάλεμος; Iálemos). Son of  Apollo and the Muse  Calliope, thus the brother of several mythical singers:  Hymenaus,  Linus,  Orpheus (schol. Eur. Rhes. 985). Just as Hymenaus is a personification of the wedding song and Linus of the dirge, so I. is the personification of those dirges that, poetically, are called iálemoi. The myth explains this either with I.'s early death which gives cause for lament (as for Linus) (Pind. fr. 139,8), or with I.'s invention of the dirge. He is occasionally identified with Linus (Schol. Eur. Or. 1390).…

[German version] [1] Fish Fish (Greek ἰχθῦς/ ichthŷs; Latin piscis) was a common food in Greece and Rome, certain fishes in Rome were even considered a luxury food. This explains the Greek curiosity about neighbouring cultures such as Egypt or Syria, where conspicuous food prohibitions were observed and generalized (priests in Egypt: Hdt. 2,37; Plut. De Is. et Os. 7, 353b; Plut. Symp. 8,8,2; Syria: Ov. Fast. 2,473f.; Porph. De abstinentia 2,61 etc.) that probably relate to the worship of fish in these cultures (Egypt: Str. 17,1,40, cf. PSI 8 no. 901; Syr…

[German version] (ἄλσος/ álsos, Latin lucus). In Greece and Italy a sacred area characterized by its stand of trees (cf. Str. 9,2,33); although lucus originally meant ‘glade’. A grove had at least one altar, often also votive offerings; often a grove could also be part of a larger sacred area with a temple: as in the Apollo sanctuary of  Didyma (Str. 14,1,5), the Samian Heraeum (LSCG, Suppl. 18) or in the Roman grove of the  Dea Dia. The grove was sacred because it was considered to be the place where a deity resided;…

[German version] (μυσταγωγός/ mustagōgós). An Athenian cult functionary in the Eleusinian mysteries ( Mystḗria ) who accompanied the mystae in the annual procession to Eleusis [1] , kept order and probably helped the mystae during the rites (inscriptions from the 1st cent. BC: LSCG, Suppl 15; Plut. Alcibiades 34,6). There is also evidence for this function outside Athens (Andania: IG V 1, 1390 l. 149; 92 BC); the verb derived from it, μυσταγωγεῖν/ mystagōgeín), denotes an initiation (e.g. of a priest in Panamara, Caria, Syll.3 900; 4th cent. AD). Figuratively, a mystagogos is a person…

[German version] Literally ‘Procession around agricultural land’, an agrarian lustration ritual, the corresponding ritual for lustration of urban areas being the amburbia (SHA Aurelian. 20,3 cf. Fest. s. v. Amburbiales hostiae). The Roman cult is familiar with a series of such cleansing processions around agricultural land, which for the most part are the responsibility of individual landowners ( lustratio agri, Cato agr. 141; sacrificium ambarvale, Serv. Ecl. 3,77; cf. also Tib. 2,1 [1]). The animal carried in the procession, which is killed at its conclusi…

(Ἄνθης or Ἄνθας; Ánthēs, Ánthas). [German version] [1] Son of Poseidon and Alcyone [1] Son of Poseidon and  Alcyone [1], the daughter of Atlas. As a child he became lost, but was fo…

[German version] [1] Goat or nymph, who nourished Zeus as a child (αἴξ aíx). According to the post-Hesiodic myth, Zeus was fed and nourished as a child in the Cretan cave by a goat ( Amalthea) or a nymph by the name of ‘Goat’. Zeus kills her, uses her coat as a shield ( Aegis) in the battle of the Titans and in gratitude sets her among the stars (Eratosth. Catast. 13 Capella; Ant. Lib. 36). The nymph is the mother of Aegipan and Aegocerus (Capricorn, Eratosth. Catast. 27). The representation of the constellation of Ἡνίοχος ( Hēníochos; Auriga) bearing the goat on the shoulder and her two …

(Ἀριστόμαχος; Aristómachos). [German version] [1] Great-grandson of Heracles Great-grandson of Hercules, son of Cleodaeus (Hdt. 6,52; Apollod. 2,171; Paus. 2,7,6). His attempt to conquer the Peloponnese failed because an oracle was misunderstood. He fell in the battle and the country was conquered by his sons Temenus, Cresphontes and (in the Spartan version) Aristodemus [1] (Hyg. Fab. 124. 137) [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) …

[German version] (Λαιρβηνός; Lairbēnós) is the epiclesis of Apollo in Phrygia, as attested to in numerous inscriptions. The missing Greek etymology as well as the variants point to the fact that this is the Greek interpretatio of an indigenous name. Many confession inscriptions stem from his shrine in the region of modern Ortaköy. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography K. M. Miller, Apollo L., in: Numen 32, 1985, 46-70 G. Petzl, Die Beichtinschr. Westkleinasiens, 1994, 122-143.

(Ἄρχανδρος [ Árchandros], Ἀρχιτέλης [ Architélēs]). [German version] [1] Sons or Grandsons of Achaeus Sons or grandsons of Achaeus. They move from Phthia to Argus, where Danaus gives them two of his daughters in marriage, whereby they become rulers of Argus and Lacedaemon and the inhabitants there become known as the Achaeans (Paus. 7,1,6 f.). The city in Lower Egypt known as Archandroupolis is supposed to have been…

(Ἶρις; Îris, ‘Rainbow’) [German version] [1] Messenger of the gods, personification of rainbow The deified rainbow. In Hesiod's genealogy (Hes. Theog. 266) she is the daughter of  Thaumas (cf. θαῦμα/ thaûma, ‘marvel’) and  Electra [1] (cf. the shining metal electrum) and sister of the  Harpies, who flew as fast the wind. Her genealogy characterizes her: she herself is thought to be fast, and in Greek physics, the rainbow can produce winds. In mythological accounts, she is to a very great extent detached from her element, and has the function of …

[German version] (Ἀκάδημος). Attic hero, who was venerated in the grove  ‘Akademeia’, 1.6 km west of Athenian Dipylon (a cultic building is presumed). Hecademus is probably an older form of the name (a vase inscription reads hεκα[δεμος] Beazley, ABV 27,36). He revealed to Castor and Polydeuces that Theseus was holding their sister Helena, abducted from Sparta, in Aphidna (Plut. Theseus 32,3-5), and founded the gymnasium (Hesych. s. v. akadḗmia). In gratitude the Spartans spared the academy during their invasions of Attica. The myth competes with another, in whic…

[German version] (Ἀμυμώνη; Amymṓnē). Daughter of Danaus and Europa. By Poseidon she is the mother of Nauplius (Nostoi fr. 1; …

[German version] (Ὑάκινθος; Hyákinthos).Hero whose tomb and cult are located in  Amyclae [1] near Sparta, but whose festival, the Hyacinthia, and the name of the month connected to it (hyakínthios, Cretan bakínthios/wakínthios [1]) is known in many Doric cities. The widespread familiarity with H. indicates the hero's ancient, supra-regional significance. The name must be pre-Greek due to the suffix -nth-. Although the Amyclaean sanctuary is pre-Doric, it can be traced only from the late Mycenaean …

[German version] Son of Hermes or Poseidon (Pind. Paean 2), Opuntic Locrian, favourite of Hercules and eponymous hero of the Thracian city Abdera. For Hercules he guarded the human-flesh-eating mares, stolen from the Bistonian king Diomedes, and in so doing, he was himself eaten by them. Hercules founded Abdera on his grave site (Apollod. 2,97) and instigated annually an agone, which was conducted without horse races (Philostr. Imag. 2,25). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) …

[German version] (Βαυβώ; Baubṓ). According to a version of the Eleusinic myth attributed to Orpheus, she was an original inhabitant of Eulisis with the heroes Triptolemus, Eumolpus, Eubuleus and her husband Dysaules, who are visited by  Demeter on her search for his daughter. Like  Iambe in the version of the myth in the Homeric hymn, B. entertains the goddess with food and drink and then obscenely exposes her lower body in order to cheer her up (Clem. Protrepticus 20f.; Arnob. 5,25, who describes …

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(Ἀμώνιος; Ammónios). [German version] [1] Favourite of  Alexander [II 13] I (Balas), middle of the 2nd cent. BC Favourite of  Alexander [II 13] I (Balas); ruled in his place in Syria, executed relatives and followers of (the deceased) Demetrius I and oppressed the Antiochenes. When he attempted an attack on Ptolemy VI, certainly Alexander's most important supporter, and Ptolemy demanded that A. be handed over, Alexander actually declined to do this, so Ptolemy broke with Alexander: despite dressing as a woman, A…

[German version] (Ἀλλογενής; Allogenḗs, the ‘different’). Name of  Seth as son of Adam and Eve in Sethian  Gnosticism (Epiphanius, Panarii libri 40,7,2). His seven sons …

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[German version] A festival was held in her honour at the Ides of March in her grove (Martial. 4,64; 16) at the first milestone of the Via Flaminia near the Tiber, which is characterized by a sacrifice for a good year ut commode liceat annare perennareque (Macrob. Sat. 1,12,6) and by both sexes drinking wine together in tents and grass huts (Ov. Fast. 3,523-540); the date, rites and portentous character indicate a festival of dissolution associated with the beginning of a new year. The origin and character of the goddess were just as uncle…

(Greek ἰατρός; iatrós, ‘physician’). [German version] [1] Physician Physician,  Medicine. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Epiclesis of Apollo Epiclesis of  Apollo as healing god, esp. common in the Ionian east and the Greek colonies along the western coast of the Black Sea. In Olbia, Apollo I. has replaced the Milesian Apollo Delphinios from the Hellenistic period. This form of Apollo was adopted as Apollo Medicus in early Republican Rome. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [3] Title of four Att. healing heroes Functional name and title of four Attic he…

[German version] (Γελάνωρ; Gelán…

[German version] [1] see Precious stones see  Precious stones …

[German version] (Αὐγείας, Αὐγέας; Augeías, Augéas). King of the Epeians (Hom. Il. 11,698), often of the Eleans or of Ephyra. His genealogy vacillates -- his father is often and from early on  Helius, with whom his name connects him (from αὐγέα, ‘shine, beam’); other names mentioned are  Poseidon or Phorbas, his mother is Hyrmine, his brother Actor. He is rich in herds of cows like his father Helius; his treasury was built by  Trophonius and Agamedes; to this is connected since the  Telegony a novell…

[German version] (Ἄκεσις). Healin…

[German version] I. Greek-Roman antiquity Katabasis (κατάβασις/ katábasis, ‘descent’, more precisely εἰς ᾍδου κ., ‘descent into the Underworld’; pl. katabáseis; since Isoc. Or. 10,20, cf. Hdt. 2,122,1). Katabasis is, as a specific form of the voyage into the other world, the (mythological) narration or (ritual) staging of a voyage into the Underworld, with the purpose of either finding a particular inhabitant (a dead person, a deity, or a monster), or gaining knowledge of the future (guarded by the subterraneans)…

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[German version] (Γαλεῶται; Galeôtai). Name of a Sicilian family of seers, probably from Hybla Galeatis/Gereatis (Paus. 5,23,6), whose members are linked with prophecies relating to the rule of  Dionysius I (Philistus FGrH 556 F 57 in Cic. Div. 1,39; Ael. VH 12,46). Myth associates them with  Telmissus, the location in Caria famous for its prophecy (Cic. Div. 1,91): the eponymous Galeos was said to be, like his brother Telmissus, the son of  Apollo and the Hyperborean princess Themisto. On the advi…

[German version] (Ἀντίκλεια; Antíkleia). Daughter of  Autolycus, wife of  Laertes, mother of  Odysseus and Ctimene. In Homer she died of anguish about her lon…

[German version] (ἀρχηγέτης; archēgétēs). ‘Leader’, functional title of heroes and epiclesis of Apollo and Hercules. In the case of heroes, A. indicates in particular the role of progenitor and patron -- examples are the heroes of Attic demes (Demosth. 43,66 [1]) and the Thracian horse-riding hero in northern Greece and in Pontus [2]. Apollo A. denotes Apollo as the main god of the Seleucid foundations. The basis for this is the god's role in the Seleucid dynasty [3], but the epiclesis as a descrip…

[German version] (Κόδρος; Kódros). Son of  Melanthus, a mythical king of Athens. In the list of Attic kings, his role is primarily to establish the connection to the Pylian colonists of Ionia. According to a tradition common in the 5th cent. BC, his father, a Neleid, came to Athens as a refugee and was made king …

(Ἀλκάθοος; Alkáthoos). [German version] [1] Megarian hero, connected with the town that was also called Alcathoe Megarian hero, son of Pelops and Hippodamia of Elis. A fugitive after striking his brother dead, by killing the Cithaeronian lion he won the daughter of the Megarian king Megareus and succeeded him to the throne. Many aetiologies connect him with the city (Paus. 1,41,3-43,3), which is addressed as Alcathoi urbs or Alcathoe. With Apollo's help, he renewed the city wall that made sounds like a kithara (Ov. Met. 6,16), built temples (Apollo and Artemis) …

[German version] (Ἀκεσ(σ)αμενός). King of Pieria, founder and hero of Acesamenae in Macedonia …

[German version] (Ἀχλύς). The darkness that in Homer comes upon the eyes of mortals (e.g. Il. 5,696) or those whom the gods have blinded (e.g. Il. 20,324). It is depicted on the shield of Hercules in a female personification with hideous baroque-like features as leader of the team of horses of Nyx (Hes. asp. 264), in the late Orph. A. 341. The Latin correspondence to her is Caligo ‘dark fog’, Mother of Chaos and Nox in the cosmogonical myth, of unknown, but probably Greek origin (Hyg. Fab. praef. 1).…

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[German version] (Λήναια, the Lenaea). Name of a festival of Dionysus that according to the name of the month associated with it - Lenaion - must have been widespread over the whole of Ionia. However, we have more precise knowledge only of the festival from Athens, where the Lenaea together with the Anthesteria and the two Dionysia were part of the winter festival cycle for Dionysus. They took place in the month of Gamelion (January/February) and in the texts were called Dionysia ‘on the Lenaion’ (ἐπὶ Ληναίωι), a place in the lower part of the Athenian Agora. They comprised a pompḗ (procession…

[German version] (mid-Persian, Avesta Angra Mainyu, Greek Ἀρειμάνιος; Areimánios, Latin Arimanius). One of the twin gods in the system of Zoroaster; the ‘evil spirit’ alongside Spnta Mainyu, the ‘spirit of wholeness’, the two opposing creators of the world (Yasna 30,3…

[German version] (usually spelled Halaesus). Italic hero, companion or illegitimate son of  Agamemnon, who fled to Italy (Serv. Aen. 7,723). He is regarded as the founder of  Falerii and the eponymous hero of the  Falisci, and imported the local cult of Juno from Argos (Ov. Am. 3,13,31-35; Fast. 4,73f.; connection of Falerii with Argos: Cato fr. 47 HRR). Alternatively, he is the founder of Alsium (Sil. Pun. 8,474). The former case presupposes the Faliscan sound change f > h [1]; the latter assumes the name takes the form * Alesus. In Virgil, H., the companion of Agamemnon (Aen. 7,7…

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[German version] (Ἄφίδνος; Aphídnos). Autochthonous, eponymous king of the Attic town of Aphidna (Steph. Byz. s. v. Aphidna). He was entrusted by Theseus with the task of guarding Aithra, Theseus' mother and also the abducted Helen (Plut. Thes. 31; 33). During the attack on Aphidna by the Dioscuri (heavenly twins), he wounded Castor in the right thigh (Polemon fr. 10). A. adopted the Dioscuri and initiated them into the Eleusinian Mysteries (Plut. Thes. 33,2).

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[German version] Roman equivalent of the Greek ruler of the Underworld,  Hades or respectively  Pluto. According to ancient tradition, the name Dis derives from dives, ‘rich’, in the same way as Pluto derives from ploûtos, ‘wealth’ (Cic. Nat. D. 2,66; Quint. Inst. 1,6,34). Dis Pater (DP) was only worshipped in cult within the context of the ludi Tarentini, a celebration of atonement introduced by the Sibylline oracles in 249 BC, and its associated secular festival; together with  Proserpina, he was venerated at  Tarentum with the sacrifice of black an…

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[German version] (Ἀντέρως; Antérōs). ‘Mutual love’, as personified requited love, likewise the avenger of an unrequited love (Serv. Aen. 4,520). In a palaistra from Elis a plastic group of both these was to be seen, in which A. sought to seize the victory palm from Eros (Paus. 6,23,5; altars: 6,23,3); on Tenos C. Pandusinus dedicated Nikes, Erotes and Anteros (IG XII 5,917). Near to the Acropolis in Athens Anteros had an altar as  Alastor (Avenger) of an unrequited love (Paus. 1,30,1), and in an erotic defixio of the imperial period the Anterotes are invoked [1]. In theological …

[German version] (Αἰγιάλεια; Aigiáleia). In prose also Aegiale, daughter of Adrastus (Hom. Il. 5,412) and Amphithea (Apollod. 1,79), and wife of Diomedes. In order to avenge herself for being wounded by Diomedes (Il. 5,330 ff,) Aphrodite coe…

[German version] (Κελεός; Keleós). An Eleusinian local hero, local king and husband of…

(Ἀθήνη/Ἀθηνᾶ; Athḗnē/ Athēnâ). [German version] A. Etymology and Origin Central Greek polis deity, daughter of Zeus and Metis, born from her father's head, virginal patron of war, crafts and female work (Hom. Hymn. Ven. 7); her common epithet, Pallas, is understood to mean ‘girl’ (Chantraine s.v. παλλακή). The Romans identified her with  Minerva (Etruscan, Menrva), the Greeks with numerous Eastern deities, for instance the Lycian Maliya [1], the Egyptian  Saïs (Hdt. 2,28), the Ugarite  Anat or the Palmyrene Allat. Like many Eastern goddesses, she …

[German version] (Λητώ…

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[German version] [1] Name of a goddess associated with agrarian wealth in the imperial period Name of a goddess associated with agrarian wealth ( karpophóros) in the imperial inscriptions of Lesbos and Aegae; identified with Agrippina I and II (as Θεὰ Αἰολὶς Σεβαστή; Theà Aiolìs Sebastḗ, IG XII suppl. 134). She corresponds to the Αἰοληία θεά ( Aiolēía theá) mentioned in Alc. fr. 129 LP, who was worshipped together with Zeus and Dionysus Omestes in the main Lesbian sanctuary at Messa. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography L. Robert, Recherches épigraphiques V. (Inscriptions de L…

[German version] [1] Wife and sister of the Phaeacian king  Alcinous (Ἀρήτη; Arḗtē). Wife and sister of the Phaeacian king  Alcinous (Hes. fr. 222). Her benevolence helped both Odysseus (Hom. Od. 7) and Jason and Medea: she mediated between the Argonauts and the Colchians (Apoll. Rhod. 4,1068-1120), married Jason to Medea (Apollod. 1,138 f.), and presented the couple with 12 female servants who jokingly teased the heroes during the wedding celebrations; an aition in the cult of Apollo Aigletes [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography U. Hölscher, Das Schweigen der Arete, in…

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[German version] (Κυνοκέφαλοι; Kynoképhaloi, ‘dog heads’) is the term for various fanciful frontier peoples; they settled in Libya (Hdt. 4,191), in Ethiopia (Aesch. fr. 603ab Mette; Str. 16,4,16) and in India (Ctesias, FGrH 688 F 45), and are considered to be particularly just and long-lived. The link between animal and ideal hum…

[German version] I. General comments Predestination (Lat. praedestinatio, a Christian concept) is most precisely the Christian doctrine according to which history and individual lives are predetermined. A groundbreaking idea in the history of the Church resulting mainly from the dispute between Augustinus and the Pelagians (Pelagius [4]), its roots go back to the OT and Graeco-Roman philosophy and religion. It is, ultimately, the Christian version of a conflict, fundamental to most religious systems, b…

(Ἀριστόδημος; Aristódēmos). …

Roman god of the outdoors, early identified with the Greek  Pan. In poetry and especially in the figurative arts the two generally coincide: F., lover of the  Nymphs (Hor. Carm. 3,18,1) and insatiable erotomaniac [1], comes from Hellenistic mythology. F. does not have his own iconography [2; 3]. Like Pan, he is associated with forest and mountains as well as with goats and sheep. More his own is his role as originator of nightmares and numinous voices (and then generally as a seer), his association with the   …

[German version] (χίμαιρα; chímaira). C., ‘goat’, is the Lycian monster, ‘lion in front, snake behind, and she-goat in the middle’ (Hom. Il. 6,181 = Lucr. 5,905), slain by  Bellerophon. It is the child of  Typhon by Echidna, mother of the  Sphinx (Phix: Hes. Theog. 319-326); a different tradition says it was reared by the Lycian Amisodarus (Hom. Il. 16,328). A firm component of the myth, since Homer, is that it breathes fire: according to Ov. Met. 9,647 and Apollod. 2,31 from the eponymous goat's h…