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Delphinius

(161 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Δελφίνιος; Delphínios, in Crete also Delphidios). Epiclesis of Apollo, attested in both Ionic and Doric (Crete) territory and often linked in antiquity, after the Homeric hymn to Apollo, to Delphi and the  dolphin: he is said to have led his priests to Delphi as a dolphin. Many academics adopted this etymology, even though the cults could not confirm it; there the god is thoroughly bound up in the concerns of the young citizens of the polis. In Miletus (then in  Olbia) he is the g…

Himeros

(101 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἵμερος; Hímeros, ‘desire’). The personification of affectionate longing. Together with  Eros [1], he accompanies Aphrodite (since Hes. Theog. 201); with the  Charites (the goddesses of ‘grace’), he lives close to the Muses (Hes. Theog. 64, a poetological statement). Later he was firmly associated with Aphrodite and Eros, pictorially also with  Dionysus and  Pothos; he is indistinguishable iconographically from Eros and Pothos. A statue of H. by  Scopas used to stand in the temple of Aphrodite at Megara (Paus. 1,43,6). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography A. H…

Antinous

(326 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Eck, Werner (Cologne)
(Ἀντίνοος; Antínoos). [German version] [1] Most unrestrained of the suitor From Ithaca, son of Eupeithes, the most unrestrained of the suitors. He perpetrated numerous futile attacks on Telemachus (Hom. Od. 4,660-73; 16,364-92), threw the stool at Odysseus transformed into a beggar (17,462-5) and brought about the competition with Irus (18,434-39). Odysseus' first arrow hit him (22,8) [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography 1 O. Touchefeu-Meynier, LIMC 6.1, 632, no. 3. [German version] [2] Favourite of Hadrian Born in Bithynion-Claudioupolis in the province of Bi…

Iuno

(2,357 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Ley, Anne (Xanten)
(Etruscan  Uni). [German version] I. Cult and Myth J. is an important Latin goddess and besides  Minerva the most significant goddess of the Roman pantheon; while myth makes her the wife of  Jupiter, according to the Greek model, in the cult - in spite of her association with Jupiter (and Minerva) in the Capitoline triad - she is a significant figure in her own right, embodying the same tensions as with  Hera. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] A. Name The name of J. is not related to that of Jupiter: the initial sound is always / i-/, never / di-/, and the / ū/ is monophthongal ( Iunone Louc…

Amarynceus

(80 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
(Ἀμαρυγκεύς; Amarynkeús). [German version] [1] King of the Epeians King of the Epeians, for whom his sons organize splendid commemorative games after his death. In all competitions, except in chariot racing, Nestor wins (Hom. Il. 23,629 ff.). His son Diores dies at Troy (Hom. Il. 2,622. 4,517) [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Thessalian ally of king Augeias Thessalian ally of king Augeias in the fight against Hercules (Paus. 5,1,10). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography 1 R. Hampe, LIMC 1.1, 584 f.

Ampelus

(250 words)

Author(s): Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) | Zahrnt, Michael (Kiel) | Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
(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 to be localized close to the modern town of Xerokampos. Graves and ceramics (i.a. of Rhodian origin) from the Hellenistic-Roman period. Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart) Bibliography C. Bursian, Geogr. von Griechenland 2, 1972, 577 f. I. F. Sanders, Roman Crete, 1982, 137. [German version] [2] Cape on the south-western tip of the island of  Samos Cape on the south-western …

Areia

(228 words)

Author(s): Kuhrt, Amélie (London) | Sancisi-Weerdenburg, Helen (Utrecht) | Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] [1] Achaemenid satrapy in the region of Herat Old Persian Haraiva, Achaemenid  satrapy in the region of Herat ( Alexandria [6], at the Hari Rud, Afghanistan). First mentioned in the Behistun inscription [1], later also in Herodotus (3,93), Polybius (10,49; 11,39), Pliny (HN 6,21), and Ammianus Marcellinus (23,6,69). In the 3rd cent. BC, Areia belonged to the Seleucid empire, later to the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom, and was finally incorporated into the Parthian empire. The river valley was particularly suited to viticulture (Str. 11,10,1-2). Kuhrt, Amélie (London) S…

Alea

(231 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Lafond, Yves (Bochum)
[German version] [1] see Dice (game) see  Dice (game) Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Epiclesis of Athena in Arcadia (Ἀλέα; Aléa). Epiclesis of Athena in Arcadia, where Pausanias gives evidence of it for Alea (8,23,1), Mantinea (8,9,6), and above all Tegea (8,45,4-47,3), also a xóanon in Amyclae (3,19,7). The Tegeate sanctuary enjoyed the highest respect and held the right to grant asylum (Paus. 3,5,6); a boy administered the service. Scopas constructed the classical temple, which was the largest and most beautiful one on th…

Argea

(153 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
(Ἀργεία [ Argeía], Argia). Appears as the ‘wife of Argus’ in a supporting role in various myths concerning Argus. [German version] [1] Daughter of Oceanus Daughter of Oceanus, sister and wife of Inachus, mother of the early Argive king Phoroneus and Io (Hyg. Fab. 143). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Older daughter of Adrastus and Amphithea Older daughter of Adrastus and Amphithea, wife of Polynices (Hyg. Fab. 69,5). She participated in Oedipus' burial (Hes. fr. 192) and helped Antigone to guard the dead Polynices, but fled before Creon…

Combabus

(129 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Κομβάβος; Kombábos) in the aetiological myth recounted by Lucian (De Dea Syria 17-27) is the founder of the temple of Atargatis in Hierapolis who introduced self-castration and women's clothing for the eunuchs ( gálloi); for the motivation the author himself draws an analogy with the story of Phaedra and Hippolytus. Certainly the name C. suggests Cybebe ( Cybele), a term for the Great Mother (Hdt. 5,102) cognate with the Hittite Kubaba, and kýbēbos, a term for the gállos (Semonides fr. 36 West); however, it is unclear here, as in other unrelated details,…

Gorgasus and Nicomachus

(73 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] Healing heroes in a sanctuary in Messenian Pharae. They are regarded as the sons of  Machaon and Anticlea, the daughter of king Diocles (Paus. 4,30,3). Their sanctuary was donated by Isthmius, son of the Glaucus who initiated the cultic worship of Machaon (Paus. 4,3,10). Through these myths, an independent healing cult is obviously incorporated into the cult of  Asclepius so central to Messenia. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

Ivy

(506 words)

Author(s): Hünemörder, Christian (Hamburg) | Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] I. Botanical Ivy (κισσός/ kissós, ἕλιξ/ hélix, Latin hedera) represents the only European genus of Araliaceae. English ‘ivy’ as well as German Efeu and Eppich (another word for ivy;  Celery) are derived from Old High German ebihouui or eboue. Because of confusion with the rock-rose mentioned in Theophrastus (κίσθος/ kísthos, Hist. pl. 6,2,1), Pliny (HN 16,145) distinguishes between a male ( hedera mas) and a somewhat smaller female form ( h. femina). In his further statements on ivy, he also follows Theophrastus who in turn regards the ivy as being r…

Eugnostus

(187 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Εύγνωστος; Eúgnōstos) The name of the author of a letter (‘The blessed E. to his people’) that has twice been passed down to us in the Coptic library of Nağ Ḥammādī (III 70,1-90,13 and, in a much worse condition, V 1-17). The letter, which was probably written in the late 1st or in the early 2nd cent. AD, contains ─ following the rejection of the philosophical teachings regarding the rulership of the world ─ a cosmogony described as a revelation of the ‘God of Truth’ that consider…

Hipta

(125 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἵπτα; Hípta) Goddess of western Asia Minor, probably developed out of the old Anatolian Ḫepat, a form of the Great Goddess. Mentioned on inscriptions only in Lydia as Mḗtēr H. and apparently related to  Sabazius. In the Orphic myths, she appears as a wet-nurse, to whom Zeus hands the new-born Dionysus. On her head is a basket entwined with snakes ( líknon) (Orph. fr. 199). She is addressed by the so-called Orphic hymns as the wet-nurse of Dionysus - son of Sabazius or the same - who resides on the Tmolus or the Ida Mountains ( Orphism) (Or…

Aethon

(114 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
(Αἴθων; Aíthōn), ‘the fiery one’. [German version] [1] Great-grandfather of Odysseus Great-grandfather of Odysseus, under whose name Odysseus appeared unrecognized before Penelope (Hom. Od. 19,183). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Epithet of  Erysichthon, also son of Helios After the ‘burning hunger’ epithet of  Erysichthon (since Hellanicus FGrH 4 F 7). Suidas (s. v.) makes him a son of Helios. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [3] Epic horse name Epic horse name (‘fire fox’) after Hector's horse (Hom. Il. 8,185); later poets gave this na…

Hypsistos

(1,099 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (ὕψιστος; hýpsistos, ‘the highest’) can be conferred as an adjective on every god, but, since later Hellenism, is above all the epigraphically attested epiclesis of  Zeus as mountain god or high god, and the name of a god ( theòs hýpsistos) who can be identical to Zeus H., but can also indicate the Jewish or Christian God; a distinct differentiation is often difficult. A complete study of the material which has grown enormously since the first analyses, and which L. Robert has announced on numerous occasions, has still not appeared [1]. Zeus is consistently identified a…

Magic, Magi

(7,505 words)

Author(s): Wiggermann, Frans (Amsterdam) | Wandrey, Irina (Berlin) | Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Johnston, Sarah Iles (Princeton) | Thür, Gerhard (Graz) | Et al.
I. Ancient Orient [German version] A. General The magic of the ancient Orient and of Egypt is based on a view of the world that runs counter to that of religion. In the world-view of magic, men, gods and demons are tied to each other and to the cosmos by sympathies and antipathies, whereas in the religious world view everything is created by the gods for their own purposes; the relations between men and the cosmos are the result of deliberate actions of the gods. In the practice of religion, however, b…

Astraea

(135 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἀστραία; Astraía, Latin: Astraea). In the Myth of the Ages in Hes. Op. 197-200, Aidos and Nemesis desert humanity in the Iron Age; in Arat. Phaen. 105 it is Dike, and Ovid Met. 1,149f. calls the constellation Virgo Astraea (cf. Fast. 1,249: Iustitia), as Juv. 6,19f. later also does when he calls A. the sister of Pudicitia (Αἰδώς). Verg. Ecl. 34,6 had imagined the return of Virgo at the beginning of the new Golden Age. All the Roman representations are based on Arat. Phaen. 96-98 which equates Dike with the constellation of Virgo (Parthe…

Aedoneus

(81 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (ᾈδωνεύς; Aidōneús). Another name of   Hades. In a rationalistic interpretation of the myth of how Theseus and Peirithous descend into the underworld, in order to steal Persephone, and in so doing were overcome and chained, he is the king of the Molossians, whose wife the two heroes wanted to abduct (Plut. Theseus 31,4. 35, according to an Atthidographer [1]). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography 1 C. Ampolo, in: Id, M. Manfredini, Plutarco. Le vite di Teseo e di Romolo, 1988, 252.

Dia

(455 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Bloch, René (Berne) | Kalcyk, Hansjörg (Petershausen) | Strobel, Karl (Klagenfurt)
(Δῖα, Δία; Dîa, Día). [German version] [1] Female equivalent of Zeus The female equivalent of  Zeus, as Diwiya on the Linear B inscriptions from Pylos and Knossos, with her own sanctuary, just as  Poseidon also has his female counterpart in the Mycenaean pantheon [1]. In the post-Mycenaean period the three heroines who can be linked with the Mycenaean goddess by name, are all linked with Zeus, but the individual derivation is problematical. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Heroine in the local cults of Phlius and Sicyon The heroine is most likely D. in the local cult…

Aisa

(139 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (αἶσα; aîsa), ‘Share’, ‘Portion’ (in the language of epic and in border dialects): the destiny allotted by the deity (Hom. Il. 9,608 Diós aísa); therefore synonymous with  Moira. From Homer on, she is personified as spinner of the threads of destiny (Il. 20,127 f.; in Od. 7,196 f. connected to the Clothes, the ‘Spinners’), but differentiated from the Moira Clotho, ‘Spinner’ (Hes. Theog. 905). In Aeschylus she is connected as ‘Bearer of the (avenging) sword’ with Dike and Erinys (Choeph. 647 ff.). From t…

Autolycus

(734 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Folkerts, Menso (Munich)
(Αὐτόλυκος; Autólykos). [German version] [1] Son of Hermes and Chione Son of Hermes and Chione (or Philonis, who also bore the singer  Philammon to Apollo, Hes. fr. 64,14). He was included in various mythical family circles, as the father of  Odysseus' mother Anticlea (Hom. Od. 11,85), of  Jason's mother Polymede (Apollod. 1,107) and of Aesimus, the father of  Sinon. He gives the newborn Odysseus his name, and it is whilst hunting with his sons on Mount Parnassus that Odysseus receives the wound in his th…

Capratinae (Nonae)

(221 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] Festival of the city of Rome, celebrated on July 7 ( Nonae), a festival of ritual reversal resembling the Saturnalia; its main characteristics were sacrifices by women (Varro, Ling. 6,18), a festive meal under a wild fig-tree, and by the major role of female slaves in begging processions and mock battles (Plut. Camillus 33; Romulus 29,9; Macrob. Sat. 1,11,36-40) [1]. The aitia in Plutarch and Macrobius link the festival to an attack by the Latin towns immediately after the departure of the G…

Interpretatio

(2,474 words)

Author(s): Giaro, Tomasz (Frankfurt/Main) | Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
I. Law [German version] A. Concept Interpretatio is interpretation, not only of texts but also of oral declarations and other matters of legal import. The topos of simple truth requiring no mediator (Petron. Sat. 107,15) does not apply to the specialist knowledge of astrologers (cf.  Divination), philologists (on both: Cic. Div. 1,34; 2,92) and jurists (Cic. Leg. 2,59). At the end of the Republic, the words interpres (‘interpreter’) and interpretari (‘to interpret’) become conflated into the abstract interpretatio [3. 80ff., 91ff.]; this is already true of legal interpre…

Flora

(338 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] Italian goddess whose worship in places other than Rome is attested to in various towns in central Italy (Agnone, Amiternum, Furfo, Pompeii). The blossom ( flos) to which her name refers is related by the ancient sources to grain (Aug. Civ. 4,8), wine (Lactant. Div. inst. 1,20,7) or any flowering (Fast. Praenestini on 28th April). It is not just in Rome that she is closely connected to  Ceres: in Agnone she is called F. Cerialis (dat. Fluusaí Kerríiai), in Rome her main temple is situated directly with those of Ceres and Liber [1]. She is connected with  R…

Agron

(193 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Günther, Linda-Marie (Munich)
(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…

Amphitrite

(250 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἀμφιτρίτη; Amphitrítē). Sea goddess and ruler of the aquatic creatures (Hom. Od. 3,91 and passim), daughter of Nereus and the Oceanid Doris (Hes. Theog. 243). By Poseidon, mother of Triton (Hes. Theog. 930-933; daughter Rhode: Apollod. 1,28; daughter Benthesicyme: Apollod. 3,201); later she is regarded, more in line with her importance, as mother of the Nereids (Ps.-Arion 21 = PMG 939,11). The local myth tells that Poseidon kidnapped her when he saw her dance on Naxos with the oth…

Prayer

(2,863 words)

Author(s): Renger, Johannes (Berlin) | Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) | Ego, Beate (Osnabrück) | Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
I. Ancient Orient [German version] A. General remarks Several hundred prayers have been preserved from the ancient Orient, dating from as far back as the 3rd millennium BC. In some cases, the history of their texts can be traced back for several centuries. A variety of genres usually classified as lamentations, hymns, etc., are actually prayers, since lamentations or hymns of praise to a deity simply represent the occasion for a following prayer, which constitutes the underlying reason for that hymn or lamentation. Renger, Johannes (Berlin) [German version] B. Egypt Invocations of th…

Astrabacus

(105 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἀστράβακος; Astrábakos). Spartan hero, Agiad, son of Irbus, brother of Alopecus. His shrine was situated next to the house of king Ariston; according to the Spartan tradition, modelled on Pharaonic myth, A. was the real father of Ariston's son  Demaratus (Hdt. 6,68f.). According to the Hellenistic aition for the flagellation ritual for Artemis Orthia, A. and Alopecus had found the Taurian cult image of Artemis (Paus. 3,16,3-9). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography W. Burkert, Demaratos, A. und Herakles. Königsmythos und Politik zur Zeit der Perser…

Genetyllis

(94 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Γενετυλλίς; Genetyllís). The Genetyllides (pl.) were Attic goddesses, linked, as their name indicates, to birth and fertility. Their sanctuary was situated on Cape Colias. They were venerated by women in an exuberant celebration and received the sacrifice of a dog. Closely related in function were the Phocaean Gennaides (Paus. 1,1,5), and in particular  Eileithyia, who also received canine sacrifices. Documentary evidence: Aristoph. Lys. 2; Aristoph. Nub. 52; Aristoph. Thesm. 130 with schol.; Paus. 1,1,5 with schol.; Hsch., Suda s.v. G. Graf, Fritz (Columbus…

Argynnus

(45 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἄργυννος; Árgynnos). Beautiful Boeotian youth. Agamemnon fell in love with him in Aulis and forgot his army. When A. drowned in the Boeotian Cephisus, Agamemnon established an Aphrodite Argynnis cult (Phanocles fr. 5 Powell, cf. Prop. 3,7,22). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

Aquaelicium

(184 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] ‘Luring the water’ (also aquilicium), is the general term for a Roman ritual for calling rain during periods of drought (Fest. s. v. Aquaelicium 2,24). Festus links this to a ritual that had become obsolete by his time, in which a lapis manalis (for manare, to flow, cf. Fest. 146,17) which otherwise lay outside the Porta Capena near the Temple of Mars, was brought into the town (Fest. 115,8). More lively are the petitioning processions to Jupiter the weather god, which are carried out with bare feet ( Nudipedalia) and hair …

Antiphates

(97 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἀντιφάτης; Antiphátēs). King of the Laestrygones (Od. 10,100-132). Odysseus' three scouts are shown the way to the palace by A.'s daughter at the spring of Artacia. There the enormous queen calls her husband from the marketplace, who immediately devours one of the scouts; the other two escape. Behind the story of the cannibal and his wife there is probably a firm narrative tradition [1]. Later A. becomes a metaphor of the cruel household tyrant (Ov. Pont. 2,2,114; Juv. 14,20). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography 1 U. Hölscher, Die Odyssee. Epos zw. Märchen u…

Kyrios

(1,013 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Theobald, Michael (Tübingen) | Thür, Gerhard (Graz)
(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 anax (Ἄναξ), ‘king, lord’ [1]. A number of powerful goddesses (Cybele, Aphrodite, Artemis, Demeter and Persephone, Hecate, Isis) are since archaic times invoked as déspoina (Δέσποινα), ‘mistress’, and, somewhat more rarely, male gods as despótes (Δεσπότης) [2; 3]. Even though the archaic word anax is used only in epic and prayer …

Acheron

(499 words)

Author(s): Strauch, Daniel (Berlin) | Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
(Ἀχέρων; Achérōn). [German version] [1] River in Epirus River in  Epirus, rising from the slopes of Tomarus [2. 166] (in the 4th cent. BC territory of the Molossi: Liv. 8,24,2), flows through the narrow gorges of Thesprotia (Thuc. 1,46,3); when it entered the plain its sluggish meanders formed in antiquity the swamp-like lake Ἀχερουσία λίμνη ( Acherousía límnē, today dried up). According to Str. 7,7,5 (as in Thuc. 1,46,3 based on Hecataeus [2. 443-469, 478]), it entered the sea near the γλυκὺς λιμήν ( glykỳs limḗn ‘Sweet-water harbour’, a station on the Roman   cursus publicus

Ischys

(59 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἰσχύς; Ischys). Husband (Hes. Fr. 30) or lover of Apollo's lover  Coronis. Apollo, who learns of the relationship through a raven, interprets it as adultery ( adulterium, Ov. Met. 2,545) and kills Coronis, who is pregnant with  Asclepius, but rescues the unborn child from the funeral pyre. (Pind. Pyth. 3,31-46; Apollod. 3,118). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

Anaxilaus

(309 words)

Author(s): Meister, Klaus (Berlin) | Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
(Ἀναξίλαος; Anaxílaos). [German version] [1] Tyrant of Rhegium (494-476 BC) Of Rhegium. Belonged to a family which emigrated from Messene to  Rhegium after the second Messenian War at the end of the 7th cent. BC. In 494 BC A. deposed the oligarchy of the 1,000 richest citizens in Rhegium (Aristot. fr. 611,55; Pol. 6,1316 a 38) and established there a personal rulership. A short while later he convinced the Samians and Milesians, who during their flight from the Persians were invited by the Zanclaeans to s…

Idas

(362 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἴδας; Ídas). Son of  Aphareus [1], king of Messene, and brother of  Lynceus. The Messenian pair of brothers is juxtaposed with the Spartan pair of brothers of the  Dioscuri as Apharetidai, reflecting the rivalries and disputes between Sparta and Messene. I. is characterized throughout as superhumanly strong (since Hom. Il. 9, 556) and quarrelsome, and is also regarded as son of Poseidon (Apollod. 3,117). While courting  Marpessa, the daughter of the river god Evenus at the same ti…

Amphithea

(95 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
(Ἀμφιθέα; Amphithéa). [German version] [1] Wife of  Autolycus Wife of  Autolycus, mother of Anticlea, grandmother of Odysseus (Hom. Od. 11,85; 19,416). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Wife of the Tyrrhenian king  Aeolus Wife of the Tyrrhenian king  Aeolus [3]. Her children Macareus and Canace live in an incestuous relationship (Eur. Aeolus 14-41 TGF) [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [3] Wife of Lycurgus Wife of Lycurgus, the son of Pheres, mother of Opheltes-Archemorus of Nemea (Apollod. 1,404), who is otherwise called Eurydice. Graf, Fritz (Colum…

Ascalabus

(73 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἀσκάλαβος; Askálabos). Son of Misme from Eleusis. When Misme gave Demeter the kykeon to drink while she was in search of her daughter, A. mocked the goddess who was drinking voraciously. She poured the rest of the drink over him and changed him into a spotted lizard ( askálabos; Nic. Ther. 486 ff.; Ov. Met. 5,446-61; Ant. Lib. 24). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography M. Forbes Irving, Metamorphosis in Greek Myth, 1990, 309f.

Hephaestus

(1,821 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Ley, Anne (Xanten)
(Ἥφαιστος; Hḗphaistos). [German version] I. Myth H., the son of  Hera, is the Greek god of fire, the smithy and of craftsmen; the name's etymology is unknown. H. is not documented in the Minoan-Mycenaean texts, even if a theophoric name appears in Mycenaean Knossos ( apaitijo, KN L 588; [1. 34f.]). In Homer, H. is closely connected with his element,  fire. He possesses fire, which is stereotyped as φλὸξ Ἡφαιστοίο (‘flame of H.’; Hom. Il. 9,468 etc.), and his name is used as a metonym for fire (Hom. Il. 2,426 etc., formula); at Hera's reque…

Agave

(121 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἀγαύη; Agaúe). Daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, spouse of Echion, mother of  Pentheus. She chides her sister  Semele, who had conceived Dionysus by Zeus and was consumed by lightning. Dionysus takes revenge on A., through getting her and her sisters to tear Pentheus, who opposes Dionysus, into pieces in a frenzy. Triumphantly A. carries the head of her son, whom she had thought to be a wild animal, to her home. A. is already a tragic figure in Aeschylus, but especially so in Eur. Bacchae (cf. also Ov. Met. 3,701 ff.). The artistic tradition also knows her in the…

Hemithea

(358 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἡμιθέα; Hēmithéa, ‘demigoddess’). Name of a healing goddess in Castabus on the Carian Chersonnese. Her sanctuary, whose archaeological traces go back to the late 7th cent. BC at the earliest, was expanded under Rhodian hegemony and achieved more than regional fame until the decline of Rhodes after 167 BC. In the sanctuary, patients received healing dreams through  incubation ( klísis, ‘incubation (room)’ in an inscription from c. 150 BC, SEG 14,690); H. also aided women in childbirth (Diod. Sic. 5,63). The cult forbade the use of wine and the …

Lapis

(355 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
(stone) denotes various stones used for ritual purposes in Roman cult worship. [German version] [1] Silex kept in the sanctuary of Iuppiter on the Capitol A silex which was kept in the sanctuary of Iuppiter Feretrius on the Capitol (Fest. 81,18 L.) was of particular significance in some ancient oath ceremonies, which ran according to the principle, common in the swearing of oaths, of analogy in action [1]: a) The Fetiales concluded international treaties by killing a pig with the silex from the sanctuary of Iuppiter Feretrius, thereby calling down the same death upon themse…

Motif research

(484 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] is the study of the motif understood as the 'smallest unit of content' within traditional narratives (myth, legend, folktale [1]). Such a unit might be a plot (the burning of an object which is connected to a person's life will kill that person: Meleager [1]) or a characteristic person (the youngest son is the cleverest: Zeus). Motif research has long dominated the study of folk-tales and myths. However, a precise and standard definition of ‘motif’ and its distinction from related…

Averruncus

(38 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] Deity with scarcely any attestation, who wards off evil ( deus, in Varro, Ling. 7,102, hence θεὸς ἀποτρόπαιος Gloss. 3,290,31). The name also exists in the form Auruncus (Gell. NA 5,12,14). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

Delubrum

(275 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Frateantonio, Christa (Gießen)
[German version] One of the Latin terms for sanctuary. Modern and to some extent ancient thinking has the term deriving from the Latin deluere (‘to wash off’, ‘to soak’) (Serv. Aen. 2,225, cf. ThLL, 471 s.v.); the connecting link is to be found in the watering-points at sanctuaries or temple sites where ritual washing took place before performing the sacrifice. The oldest epigraphical evidence is CIL I 1291 (3rd cent. BC ?) from Amiternum, where delubrum refers to the sacred grove of Feronia. In the constitution of Urso from the 1st cent. BC ( magistri ad fana templa delubra [1. 415], l. 6f.) de…

Genita Mana

(136 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] Goddess, mentioned by Plutarch (Quaest. Rom. 52,277a) and Pliny (HN 29,14,58) in conjunction with a canine sacrifice. According to Plutarch, the prayer during the sacrifice was for ‘none of the house slaves to become good (χρηστός, chrēstós)’, interpreted as a euphemism for ‘dead’. Plutarch links the name of the goddess to childbirth. Modern interpretations proceed hardly any further [1; 2]. A Diva Geneta appears in Agnone (mid-3rd cent. BC [3]), whereas Mana is referred to as a deity of the Underworld in Mart. Cap.…

Enagonius

(67 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἐναγώνιος; Enagṓnios). Epiclesis of the deities responsible for the Gymnasium, the athletic exercises and the young men engaging in them there; it was especially widespread from the Hellenistic period onwards.  Hermes in particular bears this epithet in many Greek cities but it is also found with Apollo (in various cities), Aphrodite (Athens) and even Dionysus (Magnesia on the Maeandrus). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

Bacis

(210 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Βάκις; Bákis). Ecstatic seer from Boeotia, supposed author of hexametric oracles, which have been in circulation since the Persian Wars (Hdt. 7,20; 77; 96; 9,43). Other oracles refer to the reconstruction of Messene (Paus. 4,27,4) or to Theban rites (ibid., 9,15,7; 10,32,8-11); Athenian inscriptions possibly attest to an oracle (IG II4968; SEG.10,175) [1]. The nymphs had driven B. to madness (Paus. 4,27,4; 20,12,11), supposedly those of the Corycian grotto (Schol. Aristoph. Pax 1279). B. also cures madness, like the seer  Melamp…

Dike

(690 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Thür, Gerhard (Graz)
(Δίκη; Díkē). [German version] [1] Personification of human law made concrete in legal pronouncements (Religion). Personification of human law made concrete in legal pronouncements (as opposed to  Themis, the divine order): the legal order breaks down if it is eroded by corrupt judges (Hes. Op. 220). She is a central figure of mythological and poetic reflection on the foundation of social existence in the archaic and classical period. The genealogies incorporate D. in a value system. She is the daughter of Ze…

Abantiades

(38 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] Each descendant of  Abas [1], such as Acrisius (Ov. Met. 4,607), Canethus (Apoll. Rhod. 1,78), Idmon (Apoll. Rhod. 2,815) and Perseus, the great-grandson of Abas (Ov. Met. 4,673 and passim). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

Aganippe

(102 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
(Ἀγανίππη; Aganíppē). [German version] [1] A spring on Mount Helicon, sacred to the muses A spring on Mount Helicon, sacred to the muses, at Thespia in Boeotia; whoever drank from it, was drawn into poetic ecstasy (Verg. Ecl. 10,12; Paus. 9,29,5;  Hippocrene). The spring nymph of the same name is the daughter of the river god Termessus (Paus. 9,29,5) [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Mythical person, also known as Eurydice Wife of  Acrisius, mother of Danae (Hyg. Fab. 63). Otherwise, she is called Eurydice (Apollod. 2,26). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography 1 P. F…

Alastor

(235 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (ἀλάστωρ, also ἐλάστωρ; alástōr, elástōr). Spirit of vengeance, who especially compels atonement for blood guilt; also epithet of avenging deities who thereby re-establish order, like the Erinnyes or Zeus Alastor (Orph. h. 73,3) or Alasterus/Elasterus (Athens, Thasos, Paros). In Athens he is god of a phratria (Demosth. or. 43,57), in Thasus of an aristocratic group; both these carry out murder atonement [1]. The alastor is credited with the sending of illness (Hippoc. De morbo Sacro 1; Soph. Trach. 1235). From Cyrene and Sel…

Golgi

(191 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Γολγοί; Golgoí). Town on Cyprus that is considered by the scholarly Alexandrian writers to be one of the main cult centres of  Aphrodite (Theoc. 15,100 and Lycophr. 589; Catull. 36,14; 64,69); its eponymous hero Golgus is considered to be the son of Aphrodite and  Adonis (Schol. Theoc. 15,100). According to Paus. 8,15,2, the sanctuary was the oldest on Cyprus; it was founded long before the establishment of the sanctuary in Paphus by Agapenor; the town itself was regarded as a col…

Acraea

(93 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
(Ἀκραία; Akraía). [German version] [1] Rock hill in Argolis Rock hill in Argolis, whose name in the saga is derived from Acraea, a daughter of the river god Asterion (Paus. 2,17,1); Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Also Acraeus: epiclesis of goddesses (also Acraeus, Ἀκραῖος) epiclesis of goddesses (Aphrodite, Artemis, Athens, Hera, the Phrygian Meter [1]) and gods (Zeus [2]; Men) whose sanctuaries were located on a hill. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography 1 Denkschriften der Akad. Wien 80, 1962, 5 no. 2 2 H. Schwabl, s. v. Acraea, RE X A, 265 f.

Galaxia

(71 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (τὰ Γαλάξια; tà Galáxia). Athenian festival in honour of the mother of the gods, named after the milk gruel served on the occasion (Hsch. s.v. G.). The importance of the festival is indicated by the evidence provided by ephebic inscriptions, that in the Hellenistic period the epheboi offered sacrifices for the goddess and dedicated a golden bowl to her (from IG II1 470,13). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

Andraemon

(105 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
(Ἀνδραίμων; Andraímōn). [German version] [1] Mythical founder of Amphissa Mythical founder of Amphissa in Ozolian Locris (Paus. 10,38,5), husband of Gorge and successor to her father  Oeneus in Calydon (Apollod. 1,64; 78). His son Thoas leads the Aetolians at Troy (Hom. Il.2,638; 7,168; Ov. Met. 13,357). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Son of Oxylus Son of Oxylus, husband of  Dryope; A. is also stepfather of  Amphissus through Apollo (Ant. Lib. 32,3; Ov. Met. 9,333). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [3] Pylian, founding hero of Colophon Pylian, founding …

Chiron

(432 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Χίρων; Chírōn or Χείρων; Cheírōn). Centaur; son of the nymph Philyra and  Kronos; for the seduction of Philyra Cronus changed himself into a horse, which explains C.'s likeness to that animal (Apollod. 1,9; Verg. G. 3,92); his poetic name, after his mother, is Phil(l)yrides or Philyreios. Of his daughters, born to him by the nymph Chariclio, Ocyroe is an ecstatic seer (Ov. Met. 2,635-639); Endeis too, wife of  Aeacus and mother of Peleus, is held to be either his daughter (Hyg. Fab. …

Anchiale

(384 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Burian, Jan (Prague) | Wirbelauer, Eckhard (Freiburg) | Hild, Friedrich (Vienna)
(Ἀγχιάλη; Anchiálē). [German version] [1] Cretan nymph Cretan nymph, mother of the Idaan  Daktyloi Tities and Cyllenus (birth myth in Apoll. Rhod. 1,1129-31) and, as lover of Apollo, mother of Oaxes also, the founder of the Cretan city of Oaxus (Serv. ecl. 1,65). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] (Anchialos) City on the western coast of Pontus This item can be found on the following maps: Byzantium | Christianity | Moesi, Moesia (Anchialus; Ἀγχίαλος; Anchíalos) City on the western coast of Pontus, present-day Pomorije, founded by and dependent on  Apollon…

Apatouria

(439 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἀπατούρια; Apatoúria). Attic/Ionian festival of ‘common fathers/progenitors’ ( sṃ-pator-, explained as homopatṓria (Schol. Aristoph. Ach. 146). It was regarded as a feature of all Ionians (Hdt. 1,147) and is also, to judge by the personal name Apaturias, found in all the areas they founded [1]. It was the festival of the tribal associations, the phratries; accordingly, Zeus Phratrios and Athena Phratria (Plat. Euthyd. 302d; Schol. Ar. Ach. 146) are connected with it, and also Hephaestus (Istros FGrH 334 F 2) and perhaps also Apollo …

Aegimius

(325 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Selzer, Christoph (Frankfurt/Main) | Nutton, Vivian (London)
(Αἰγιμιός; Aigimiós). [German version] [1] Mythical progenitor of the Dorians in the Oete mountains Son (or father) of Dorus, father of Dyman and Pamphilus (Hes. fr. 10a 7). Progenitor of the Dorians in the Oete mountains (Pind. Pyth. 1,64;5,72; Str. 9,427 after Ephoros, FGrH 115 F 15). He adopted Hercules' son Hyllus after the death of his father, in addition to his own sons, to show his appreciation of Hercules' help. The three Dorian phyles were given the names Hylleis, Pamphiloi, Dymanes, after them. Othe…

Kourotrophos

(367 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (κουροτρόφος; kourotróphos, ‘child nourishing’) is, as the title of a function, the name or epiclesis of numerous Greek gods and goddesses concerned with the growing up of the new generation and its introduction into the world of adults (lists in [1. 189-195]). The epiclesis is used of Artemis (Diod. Sic. 5,73,5), Demeter (Hsch. s.v. kourotrophos), Eileithyia, Ge (Hes. Theog. 479f.) and the nymphs. It is also attested for Hecate in Hes. Theog. 450-452 and, from Hom. Il. 19,142 onwards, for local river gods. A kourotrophos mentioned in an inscription might be a ma…

Abecedarii

(120 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (sc. psalmi or hymni). Songs whose verses or stanzas each begin with a letter of the alphabet in sequence. They are documented in Jewish literature from Jer. 1-4 onwards; Ps 145 is a devotional prayer to this day. In pagan literature they are documented for instance in the late hymns to Dionysus (Anth. Pal. 9,524) or Apollo (Anth. Pal. 9,525) and in magical texts (PGM IV 1363). In Christian literature Augustine's Psalm contra partem Donati (PL 43,25-32) is the best known, composed in 393 or 394 for the ‘entirely uneducated to learn by heart’.  Acrostich. Graf, Fritz (Columb…

Allegorism

(4,035 words)

Author(s): Suntrup, Rudolf (Münster RWG) | Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
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…

Aenarete

(27 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Αἰναρέτη). Wife of  Aeolus (Hes. fr. 10a 31; Schol. Pl. Min. 315c), who is called Enarete in Apollod. 1,51. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

Aegle

(191 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
(Αἴγλη; Aíglē). Suggestive name (‘glory’, ‘radiance’) for youthful radiant heroines, who can have genealogical connections to Helios: [German version] [1] Naiade, with Helios, mother of the Charites Naiade, with Helios, mother of the Charites (Paus. 9,35,5; Verg. Ecl. 6,20). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Daughter of Helios One of the Heliades, daughter of Helios and Clymene, who was turned into a poplar tree together with her sisters, after the death of her brother Phaethon (Hyg. Fab.154; 156, following Hesiod). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [3] He…

Iamus

(194 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἴαμος; Íamos). Forefather of the Elean family of seers named Iamidai, who were active in Olympia alongside the  Clytidae (Hdt. 9,33) up to the fall of the sanctuary. They usually read prophecies in the flames of the sacrificial fire (cf. Pind. Ol. 8,2f.), but Thrasybulus invented divination from the intestines of dogs (Paus. 6,2,4). Their prophecies were also expressed in detailed oracles ( lógia) (Paus. 3,11,6). They were closely connected to Sparta (where the tomb of the Iamidai was located, Paus. 3,12,8), although their service to Messene…

Lepreus

(117 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Λεπρέος, Λεπρεύς; Lepréos, Lepreús). The son of Pyrgeus or Caucon. He is the founder and eponym of Lepreum ( Triphylia). His grave lay allegedly in Phigalia (this is a reflection of Lepreum's claim to Arcadian). L. advised Augeias to imprison Heracles but Heracles was reconciled with him. He entered into an athletic competition with Heracles (e.g. about who could eat a bull faster) but lost and was killed in the subsequent armed fight. This local legend, the source of which was…

Dionysia

(484 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Διονύσια; Dionýsia). Term for the festival of  Dionysus, characteristic for the cult of Dionysus in many Greek poleis; the Dionysia often took place in the winter months. (1) In Athens, the Dionysia were a part of a cycle of festivals extending over four winter months, which started with the rural Dionysia (τὰ κατ' ἄγρους Δ., in the month of Poseideon), was followed by the Lenaea (month of Gamelion) and the Anthesteria (month of Anthesterion), and culminated in the urban or Great Dionysia (τά ἐν ἄστει Δ., …

Hyacinthides

(203 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ὑακινθίδες; Hyakinthídes). Name of a group of Athenian goddesses, in whose honour a yearly sacrificial festival with maiden dances was held, and who received wineless offerings prior to an army's march into battle. The mythical reason for these rites can be found in the legend that the H. had been sacrificed by  Erechtheus in order to fend off an invasion. Their names and number vary; certain names indicate a relationship to Artemis (who in Sparta received sacrifices prior to a ba…

Amphimachus

(162 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
(Ἀμφίμαχος; Amphímachos). [German version] [1] Son of Elektryon Son of Electryon, king of Mycenae, brother of  Alcmene (Apollod. 2,52). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Son of Molionic Cteatus Son of Molionic Cteatus, grandson of Actor or of Poseidon. As suitor of Helen (Apollod. 3,129), together with Thalpius he led a section of the Epeians at Troy (Hom. Il. 2,620). He was killed by Hector (Hom. Il. 13,185-205). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [3] Son of Nomion Son of Nomion, brother of Nasturtes, with whom A., as an ally of the Trojans, leads t…

Kanephoroi

(267 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Κανηφόροι/ Kanēphóroi, ‘basket-carriers’) were girls carrying the offering basket (κανοῦν, kanoûn ) in Greek offering processions, especially in the great state processions; on illustrations of offering scenes and processions, this basket has three handles and is carried on the top of the girls' heads [1; 2. 10-12]. To be kanephoros was an honour for beautiful freeborn daughters (Aristoph. Lys. 646). In Athens, kanephoroi are mentioned especially for the processions of Panathenaea (IG II2 334; Aristid. or. 18,2), of Dionysia (Syll.2 388,32) and of the pythaḯs se…

Amulius

(85 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] Son of Albanian king Procas, younger brother of Numitor. He forced his brother to abdicate, had his brother's son killed, made his daughter Rhea Silvia a vestal and punished her for her pregnancy. Later Numitor was again restored to his rightful situation by Romulus and Remus, but A. was killed (Liv. 1,4,10-11; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 1,79-83; Origo gen. Rom. 19-21) Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography G. Brugnoli, Reges Albanorum, in: Atti del Convegno Virgiliano di Brindisi nel bimillenario della morte, 1983, 157-190.

Kataibates

(158 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Καταιβάτης/ Kataibátēs, ‘he who descends’). Epiclesis of Zeus and of Hermes. For Zeus the epiclesis is epigraphically documented numerous times and is applied to the god who manifests himself through the lightning strike (‘who [in lightning] descends’). The piece of ground hit by lightning ( enēlýsion, Poll. 9, cf. the Roman fulmen condere) cannot be walked on ( ábaton), is consecrated to Zeus and is marked by a monument or an altar. The fact that the Athenians consecrated the location where Demetrius [2] Poliorcetes dismounted from his…

Anthropomorphism

(689 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (‘Formation in human shape’, anthrōpophyḗs Hdt. 1,131). A feature of Graeco-Roman representations of deities, not only in external appearance but also in terms of self-definition, which contrasts the Graeco-Roman cult with an absence of images (Hdt. 1,131; Tac. Germ. 9) or with an animal cult (Xen. Mem. 1,1,14 [1]). While animal-headed demons are attested and bird forms are disputed [2] in Minoan-Mycenaean art, Hesiod and Homer make use of a radical anthropomorphism [3]. This applies for instance to the external form, where the …

Antaeus

(252 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἀνταῖος; Antaîos). Libyan giant, son of Poseidon, who forced strangers into a wrestling match and decorated his father's temple with their skulls; he remained unconquered, as long as he remained in contact with the earth (as whose son he was regarded), but finally Hercules conquered him by lifting him up off the ground and strangling him (Pind. Isthm. 3,70; Apollod. 2,115; Aug. civ. 18,12). Attic vase paintings portrayed the battle numerous times [1], and in Plato he is a heroic wrestler together with  Cercyon (leg. 7,796a). Quite separate from him is the A. menti…

Andreus

(49 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἀνδρεύς; Andreús). Eponymous king of the island of Andros, established by Rhadamanthys (Diod. Sic. 5,79). Son of the son of Apollo and the Delian priest-king Anius (Ov. Met. 13,647-50). The Andrians made a gift of his statue to Delphi (Paus. 10,13,4). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

Antilochus

(120 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἀντίλοχος; Antílochos). Oldest son of  Nestor. He is the actual leader of the Pylians at Ilion. Poseidon, the god of Mycenean Pylos, protects him (Hom. Il. 13,554 f.); Achilles loves him as a comrade (Hom. Il. 23,556). Achilles avenges him when he falls by the hand of Memnon (Hom. Od. 4,187), sacrificing himself for Nestor (Pind. Pyth. 6,28). A., Achilles and Patroclus are laid together in a tumulus in Sigeum (Od. 24,71-84); in Hades they and Ajax are together (Od. 11,46 f., cf. 3…

Agalma

(168 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (ἄγαλμα; ágalma). Derived from the Greek agállein, ‘to praise, honour’ (especially a deity, cf. Hsch. s. v.), is actually everything that adorns, from honour (Hom. Il. 4,144) to weapons (Alc. fr.15) to children (Aesch. Ag. 208). But it is found especially in the religious sphere; here, already in Homer, agalma is the votive offerings, like   anathema (Hom. Od. 3,438; IG I3 552, 617 and passim). More narrowly, agalma designates statues (Hdt. 1,131; Isoc. Or. 9,57), but also sculpture in contrast to painting (Aristot. Pol. 1336 b 15). Later the term agalma could mean th…

Arachne

(127 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἀράχνη; Aráchnē). The metamorphosis of A. (‘Spider’) is told in Ov. Met. 6,5-145 according to an unknown Greek source. The daughter of the Colophonian wool-dyer Idmon is a brilliant weaver and is living in Hypaipa in Lydia. She challenges Athena, patron of the art of weaving, to a competition: A. surpasses the goddess with her technical skills, whereupon the goddess hits the girl in anger and tears up her weaving. A., full of despair, hangs herself and Athena turns her into a spid…

Icarius

(329 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
(Ἰκάριος; Ikários). [German version] [1] Att. hero Attic hero, whose cult (probably in the deme Icaria) is recorded as early as the 5th cent. (IG I3 253, 6.9); sacrifices to him, his daughter  Erigone [1] and their dog are mentioned by Ael. NA 7,28. His myth is known in various facets since the ‘Erigone’ of Eratosthenes, which has survived only in fragments (Hyg. Poet. Astr. 2,4; Apollod. 3,192f., etc.). The god  Dionysus comes to I., is fed by him, and gives him the first wine as thanks. When I. serves this to his nei…

Parthenos

(379 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
(Παρθένος; Parthénos). [German version] [1] Divine epithet primarily of Athena 'Maiden' (in the sense of an unmarried woman of marriageable age) is the epithet of several Greek goddesses (Hom. H. ad Venerem 7-30 mentions Athena, Artemis, and Hestia), particularly Athena as the goddess of Athens [1]: the statue of Phidias is the 'so-called Parthenos' (Paus. 5,11,10; 10,34,8); from the image on them (head of Athena), parthénoi (plural) is also a nickname for Attic coins (Poll. 9,74). The epithet parthenos often refers to the role of these goddesses in the lives of women [1;…

Antea

(97 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Eck, Werner (Cologne)
(Ἄντεια; Ánteia). [German version] [1] Daughter of the king of Lydia Daughter of the king of Lycia (Iobates or Amphianax, Apollod. 2,25), wife of  Proetus, ruler of Tiryns, to whom Bellerophon slandered her because he did not want to requite her love (Hom. Il. 6,160 ff.). From the tragedians on, she is called  Stheneboea (Apollod. 2,25). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Wife of the younger Helvidius Priscus Wife of the younger Helvidius Priscus (Plin. Ep. 9,13,4 f.); possibly mother of the child of Helvidius mentioned in Plin. epist. 4,21 (Raepsaet-Charlier, no. 68). Eck…

Hispania, Iberia

(5,486 words)

Author(s): Barceló, Pedro (Potsdam) | Toral-Niehoff, Isabel (Freiburg) | Untermann, Jürgen (Pulheim/Köln) | Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart)
I. Geography and history [German version] A. Name Since the 1st cent. AD, H. has referred more and more to the entire Iberian Peninsula. Although the name Hispania is only attested since the time of the 2nd Punic War (218-201 BC; Liv. 21,2; Enn. Ann. 503), it is the oldest of all, because it is derived from Phoenician í-shephanním, ‘rabbit coast’ (according to a new interpretation ‘land of metal plates’). A further name was Ophioussa (‘land of the snakes’; Avien. 148; 152; 172; 196), which was probably coined by the Phocaeans when they came into contact with some reg…

Cabiri

(2,062 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
(Κάβειροι; Kábeiroi, Lat. Cabiri). A group of divine beings (usually two), appearing occasionally but also one alone. They can be found in a series of local  mystery cults, were not actually Pan-Hellenic, and according to ancient views, were pre-Greek or not even Greek at all (Phrygian or Thracian) (overviews [1; 2]). [German version] A. Name The origin and meaning of the name C. are vague, the spelling not entirely clear: The texts traditionally use Kábeiroi, dialectal inscriptions also refer to Kábiroi. According to ancient thought, the name derives from a Phrygian mounta…

Alcon

(290 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Nutton, Vivian (London)
(Ἄλκων; Álkōn). [German version] [1] Figure of Greek myth: son of Erechtheus Son of Erechtheus, who fled to Chalcis. Father of Chalciope (Proxenus FGrH 425 F 2), or son of the Euboean hero Abas (Ephorus F 33). He sends his son Phalerus, who in Phalerum is venerated as a hero, along on an Argonaut journey (Apoll. Rhod. 1,95; Hyg. Fab. 14); according to Orph. Arg. 144 Phaleros comes instead from Mysia and founds the Thessalian city of Gyrton. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Figure of Greek myth: son of Hippocoon of Amyklai Son of Hippocoon of Amyclae (Apollod. 3,124), kille…

Alector

(157 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
A suggestive hero name (‘Defender’), which occurs in various genealogies. [German version] [1] Figure from the Odyssee: servant of Menelaus Father (Schol. Hom. Od. 4,22) or uncle (Pherecyd. FGrH 3 F 132) of Eteoneus, servant of Menelaus (Hom. Od. 4,22) and Iphiloche (Echemela), whom Megapenthes, Menelaus' son by a slave woman, married (Hom. Od. 4,10); he was son of  Argeius and Hegesandra (Pherecydes loc. cit.). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Mythical argive king Argive. King, son of Megapenthes, father of Anaxagoras (Paus. 2,18,4) and of Iphis (Apollod. 3,60). Graf,…

Horatius

(4,620 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Müller, Walter W. (Marburg/Lahn) | Müller, Christian (Bochum) | Kytzler, Bernhard (Durban)
Name of a patrician gens which had already died out in the 5th cent. BC. Later bearers of the name owe it to the provenance from the eponymous tribus. [German version] [1] Horatii Member of the Horatius gens (Royal period). According to legend (Liv. 1,24-26; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 3,13,4-22,10), under King Tullus  Hostilius [I 4], the conflict between Rome and  Alba Longa was decided by a fight between the Horatii triplets and the Curiatii triplets rather than a battle. After two brothers had fallen, the last H. overcame his opponent…

Anchises

(583 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἀγχίσης; Anchísēs). Son of Capys (Hom. Il. 20,239) and of a Themis (Apollod. 3,141) or a Naiad (Dion. Hal. 1,62,2); besides Priam, one of the most respected heroes of Troy, already in the Iliad described as father of  Aeneas [1] by Aphrodite. The Homeric Aphrodite hymn (h. 5) describes how the shepherd A. is seduced by Aphrodite on Mount Ida and thus becomes father of Aeneas; because of this his lineage will rule in the Troad [1]. Later hymns report that Aphrodite had also given h…

Aether

(240 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Αἰθήρ; Aithḗr). The ‘radiantly clear’ heaven, since the epic (Hom. Il. 2,412) domicile of the gods; in the cosmology up to late antiquity the highest and purest part of the cosmos (Macrob. Sat. 1,17,70). In cosmogonic poetry aether has various roles. For Hesiod the light aether is the son of the dark power Nyx ‘Night’ (and Erebus, Acusilaus of Argus FGrH 2 F 6b), but brother of Hemera, ‘Day’ (Theog. 124); with Hemera he generates the enigmatic Brotus (Hes. fr. 400), according to l…

Healing deities, healing cults

(2,358 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Heeßel, Nils (Heidelberg) | Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin)
[German version] I. Introduction The healing of illness is, in principle, within the province of any deity or hero in possession of superhuman powers of assistance. But in the reality of cult practice, the healing function came to be concentrated in certain deities and heroes whose powers were particularly strong [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography 1 W. A. Jayne, The Healing Gods of Ancient Civilizations, 1925. [German version] II. Mesopotamia and Syria In Mesopotamia, a series of deities were associated with healing powers through names, epithets, and ref…

Icarus

(654 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Kalcyk, Hansjörg (Petershausen)
(Ἴκαρος; Íkaros). [German version] [1] Son of Daedalus Son of  Daedalus [1]. Held captive on Crete by  Minos, Daedalus builds a pair of wings each for himself and I., which they use to escape Minos. However, I., despite the warnings of his father, comes too close to the sun; this melts the wax in his wings, he crashes near the island of  Icarus [2]/Icaria and drowns. Daedalus (or Hercules, Apollod. 2,132) buries him; the island and the sea around it are named after I. The well-known version of the story is formulated in Ov. Met. 8,183-235 (cf. Apollod. Epitome 1,12f.); a Pompei…

Astyoche

(170 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
(Ἀστυόχη; Astyóchē). Common mythic-epic woman's name, which is easily adapted to the hexameter, for instance: [German version] [1] Sister of  Agamemnon and Menelaus Sister of  Agamemnon and Menelaus, wife of the Phocian Strophius, who was the father of Pylades (Hyg. Fab. 117). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Daughter of  Laomedon Daughter of  Laomedon (Apollod. 3,146), wife of Telephus, mother of Eurypylus, whom she sent to help Priam (Apollod. Ep. 5,12). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [3] Daughter of an Actor Daughter of an  Actor, through Ares mo…

Hostilius

(1,203 words)

Author(s): Nadig, Peter C. (Duisburg) | Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) | Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Frigo, Thomas (Bonn)
Old Latin family name, whose origin is unexplained; in inscriptions also Hostillius and Hostilus [1. 30; 175]. The great age of the name is shown by the third Roman king Tullus H. [4] and names such as Curia Hostilia, Lares Hostilii and the goddess Hostilina. In historical times, the family was Plebeian and, from the 2nd cent. BC, politically active, particularly in the Tubuli and Mancini branches; it died out at the end of the 1st cent. BC. [German version] [1] H. Praetor and people's tribune in the 2nd cent. BC Praetor or people's tribune in the 2nd cent. BC (?), had a lex Hostilia passed, w…

Antho

(63 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἀνθώ; Anthṓ). Daughter of the usurper  Amulius, from whom she gained the promise that Rea Silvia would not be killed (Plut. Romulus 3,4, following Fabius Pictor and Diocles of Peparethus). The Greek name (‘flower’) has aetiological foundations. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography C. Ampolo, in: C. Ampolo, M. Manfredini (eds.), Plutarco. Le vite di Teseo e Romolo, 1988, 280 f. T. P. Wiseman, Remus, 1995, 142.

Hera

(2,062 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Ley, Anne (Xanten)
(Ἥρα/ Hḗra, Ἥρη/ Hḗrē, Mycenaean e-ra). [German version] I. Cult and Myth H. is the daughter of  Kronos and  Rhea and wife of  Zeus. On the one hand, she is associated with the world of the early polis (esp. with young warlike men), on the other and primarily, she is the tutelary goddess of marriage, her marriage to Zeus representing the prototype. Her cultic (and probably also mythic) association with Zeus can already be seen in Linear B documents, where she is attested in Pylos (PY Tn 316, with Zeus and dirimijo = Drimios, son of Zeus [1. 94-96]) and Thebes (TH Of 28). In Homer and …

Caeculus

(180 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] Mythical founder of  Praeneste (Cato Orig. 59 Peter; Verg. Aen. 7,678-81; Serv. Aen. 7,678; Solin. 2,9, according to the libri Praenestini; Festus s.v.). Conceived from a spark of the hearth fire and thus a son of  Vulcanus (or euhemeristically -- according to Cato -- found on a hearth), he was abandoned and brought up by his maternal uncles. He gathered shepherds around him, and with them founded the town. This myth is a combination of familiar motives (birth from the hearth fire like  Tarquinius Pr…

Chronos

(422 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Χρόνος, ‘Time’). Personification of Time, which appears in Greek religious thought as one of the primary powers and often as an allegorical reinterpretation of the primal deity  Kronos; cf. e.g. Pherecydes of Soros (Diels, Vorsokr. 7 vol. 1), where C. appears next to the primal pair Zas and Chtonia as a primal deity [2; 3]. He is particularly important in the Orphic theogonies and cosmogonies from their beginnings on; instead of the Hesiodic  Chaos, he appears as the father of Er…

Antiphus

(102 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
(Ἄντιφος; Ántiphos). The name of a number of Homeric heroes on both the Trojan (Il. 2,864; 12,191) and the Greek sides (Il. 2,678; 17,68). Those of interest are: [German version] [1] Son of Priam and Hecabe The son of Priam and Hecabe. Achilles captures him on Mount Ida, Priam ransoms him, and finally A. is killed by Agamemnon in battle (Il. 11,101, cf. 4,489). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Figure of the Odyssee, son of the Ithacan Aegyptus Son of the Ithacan Aegyptus, brother of the suitor of Eurynomus, whom Polyphem killed (Od. 2,15-22). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
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