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(Ἀγέλαος; Agélaos). A suggestive hero name (‘leader of the warring people’): [German version] [1] Figure from the Iliad: Greek, whom Hector kills Greek, whom Hector kills (Hom. Il. 11,302). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Figure from the Iliad: Greek, whom Diomedes kills Trojan, whom Diomedes kills (Hom. Il. 8,257). Graf, Fri…

(Εὐρυδίκη; Eurydíkē). [German version] …

(Ἀλφειός; Alpheiós). [German version] [1] River in the Peloponnese …

(Ἔρως; Érōs). [German version] [1] Personification of sexual desire Greek personification of love as sexual desire (Latin Amor, Cupido). Usually, E. is regarded as being the son of  Aphrodite, in whose sphere of influence he represents a central figure.  Ares is named as his father (Simon. fr. 43B). Not mentioned in Homer, E.'s image in archaic poetry is developed into an expression of the complex and contradictory experience of individual love [1]: ‘limb-loosening’ conquerer of gods and men (Hes. Theog.…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient In Mesopotamia, the ecstatic state is described as maḫû, ‘to be outside of oneself, to be crazy, to rave’. It is possible that the verb tebû, ‘to elevate oneself’, used in the Mari-Letters already points to the special mental state of a  prophet. The term maḫḫû, ‘ecstatic’, is documented again and again since the 24th cent. BC [1]. Ecstasy occurs primarily in the context of delivering oracles at the temple and is therefore controllable. Ecstasy is a method of legitimizing divine communication ( Divination). Fo…

(Ἄμπελος; Ámpelos). [German version] [1] Cape on the south-eastern coast of  Crete Cape on the south-eastern coast of  Crete (Ptol. 3,17,4), according to Plin. HN 4,59 also one of the oppida insignia. The town is …

I. Law [German version] A. Concept Interpretati…

(Ἄγρων; Ágrōn). [German version] [1] Mythical figure: inhabitant of Cos Lived with his father Eumelus and his two sisters Meropis and Byssa on the island of Cos. They worshipped only Gaia, rejected the cult of the other gods and scorned Hermes as a thief, Athena as owl-eyed and Artemis as a moth, even when the deities appeared to them in human form. As punishment, they were transformed into birds, A. into a plover (Ant. Lib. 15 according to Boeus, ‘Ornithogony’). Hyginus (Astron. 2,16) adds the mother Echedemeia. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Legendary Lydian king Legendar…

(Κύριος; Kýrios, ‘lord’). I. Religion [German version] A. Pagan Addressing a deity felt to be powerful with ‘lord’ is widespread in Greek religious language. Since Homer, gods (especially Apollo and Zeus) can be addressed by the Mycenaean royal title …

Suntrup, Rudolf (Münster RWG) I. Linguistics and Literary Studies (CT) [German version] A. Introduction : The Concept (CT) In recent linguistic and literary-historical studies, as in theology, allegorism designates the methodically reflective development of a multiple meaning that goes beyond the literal meaning of religious, poetical, and other normative texts. As a hermeneutic-interpretative procedure, allegorism is to be distinguished from the grammatical, rhetorical, and productive-poetic forms (cf. below, ad finem) of allegory. Like the latter, it proceeds a…

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[German version] I. General Cult encompasses th…

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(NYC). The beginning of the year was variously fixed in different local or supra-regional calendars. It was oriented, as far as we know, towards agricultural patterns connected to the time of the year (especially sowing in the spring and harvest in the autumn). The beginning of the year was connected with administrative measures (e.g. raising taxes). Spring and autumn received particular consideration in the festival calendar because of their significance within the agrarian cycle. Because in re…

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 a…

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] [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] [2] Healing hero in Rhamnus Healing hero in Rhamnus. His sanctuary lies on a hill south-west of the Rhamnus Acropolis. He …

[German version] [1] Ancient name for Egypt Ancient name for Egypt used in Aesch. Supp. 75; see also Steph. Byz., s. v. Αἴγυπτος ( Aígyptos) and Apoll. Rhod. 4,267. The etymology is unclear, perhaps from ἀήρ. Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) [German version] [2] Town in  Gallia Narbonensis Town in  Gallia Narbonensis (Str. 4,185), probably the place today known as Mont Ventoux. Lafond, Yves (Bochum) [German version] [3] Aphrodite's name in Paphus  Aërias (Ἀερία; Aería). Aphrodite's name in Paphus  Aërias. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [4] Figure from Greek myth Mother of …

(Ἀέτιος; Aétios). [German version] [1] Mythical king of Troezen Son of Anthas, mythical king of Troezen; his successors colonized Halicarnass and Myndus in Caria (Paus. 2,30,8 f.). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Doxographer of 1st cent. AD Doxographer of 1st cent. AD. Although historically elusive, A. played a central role in the doxographic tradition of antiquity, because he wrote the only detailed doxographic manual to have been handed down fairly complete ( Doxography). Large parts of the work can be quite accur…