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(Ἀλκιμέδων, Alkimédōn). [German version] [1] Arcadian hero Arcadian hero, after whom a plateau at Mantinea is named, father of Phealo, whom Hercules made pregnant. A. exposed her with her child Aechmagoras; through a jay ( kíssa), which imitated the whimpering of the child, Hercules was led to them both, recognized the son and named the spring nearby Kissa (‘Jay spring’; Paus. 8,12,2). Also used elsewhere as a hero-name appropriate for the hexameter: Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Figure of the Iliad: chariot-driver Son of Laerces, leader of the Myrmidons, char…

(Ἀλεκτρυών, ‘Rooster’). [German version] [1] Ares' minder during his meetings with Aphrodite Ares' minder during his meetings with Aphrodite. When A. slept late one morning, Helios discovered the lovers and betrayed them to Hephaestus. Ares turned A. into a rooster (Lucian. Gallus 3; Auson. 26,2,27) [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] An Argonaut Father of Leitus (Hom. Il. 17,602), an Argonaut (Apollod. 1,113). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography 1 C. Robert, Alektryon, in: Hermes 37, 1902, 318-320.

(Ἀλθαία; Althaía). [German version] [1] Mythical figure: daughter of Thestius Daughter of  Thestius and Eurythemis, wife of  Oeneus of Calydon; among her children are  Ancaeus,  Deianira and  Meleager, who was also regarded as a son of Ares (Hyg. Fab. 14,16; Apollod. 1,63). Shortly after his birth, an oracle told her that Meleager would live as long as the log burned in the oven; she took it out and kept it for safe keeping, but burned it when Meleager killed her brothers in the dispute about the Calydoni…

[German version] (Ἄμπυξ, Ἄμπυκος; Ámpyx, Ámpykos). Son of Tita(e)ron, the eponym of a Thessalian city (Schol. Apoll. Rhod. 1,65). Seer, married to Chloris, the daughter of Orchomenus, father of the seer Mopsus (Hygin. fab. 14,5; Paus. 5,17,10). Titaresius (Hes. sc. 181) and Titaironeus (Tzetz. in Lycophrontem 881) are thus epithets of Mopsus. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

[German version] (Κλυτιάδαι, Κλυτίδαι; Klytiádai, Klytídai). Family, which together with the Iamidae ( Iamus) provided the seers in Olympia; through  Clytius [2], grandson of Amphiaraus, who is in turn the great-grandson of Melampus, the C. can be traced back to two of the central seers in Greek myth (Paus. 6,17,6). In the pre-Imperial period only Theogonus and his son Eperastus are known, by means of a statue in Olympia (Paus. loc. cit.). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

Hero cult (HC) is the cult worship of a particular group of superhuman beings whom the Greeks describe as heroes from the time of Homer (ἥρωες, hḗrōes); the etymology of the word is unclear, and the modern link with  Hera is problematical [1]. The HC uses both the form of the common Olympian sacrifice as well as more specific cult forms. In the course of the development of Greek religion, various groups have been subsumed under the category of heroes, from original gods to real deceased people [2]. [German version] A. The myths In Bronze Age Greece, heroes are perhaps presupposed by the ti-rise-r…

(Ἀχαιός; Achaiós). [German version] [1] Son of Xuthus and Creusa Son of Xuthus and Creusa, grandson of Helen, brother of Ion (Hes. fr. 10a 20-24; Apollod. 1,49 f.). He settled in Achaea (Eur. Ion 1592-4; Philochor. FGrH 328 F 13) or in Thessaly (Paus. 7,1,2), from whence his sons Archander and Architeles set off for Argus (Paus. 7,1,6). The myths reflect attempts to establish a special position of the Achaeans in the Peloponnese. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography M. L. West, The Hesiodic Catalogue of Women, 1985, 57 f. [German version] [2] of Eritrea Tragedian, 5th cent. BC Tragedi…

[German version] A. General Initiation refers a) in a perspective limited to Greek and Roman religion, to ritual inauguration into a mystery cult, b) in additional ethnological and socio-anthropological terminology, to the complex of rites with which in ancient society adolescents of both sexes are accepted into the society of adults (in German scholarship formerly referred to also as puberty ceremony). For the former function, corresponding ancient terminology exists (Greek μύησις; mýēsis, more rarely τελετή; teletḗ, Latin initia n.pl.), but not for the latter. This doe…

[German version] (Ἀντιάδης; Antiádēs). Son of Hercules and Aglaea, the daughter of Thespius (Apollod. 2,162). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

(Ἄκμων; Ákmōn, ‘anvil’). [German version] [1] One of the Idaeaic dactyls in the  Phororonis One of the Idaeaic dactyls in the  Phororonis (fr. 2,3 PEG), matching the dactyls as deities of the blacksmith's forge: the stem of the name is also found with those other divine blacksmiths, the Cyclops (Pyracmon, ‘Fire anvil’ Verg. Aen. 8,425; Acmonides, ‘son of the anvil’ Ov. Fast. 4,288) Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] In an early Greek theogony son of Gaia, father of Uranus In an early Greek theogony son of Gaia, father of Uranus (Hes. fr. 398; Alcman fr. 61). The…

[German version] (Ἀκρίσιος; Akrísios). Argive, son of Abas and Aglaea (Apollod. 2,24; Schol. Eur. Or. 965; Ocaleia), spouse of Aganippe (Eurydice Paus. 3,13,8), father of Danae. A. expelled his twin brother Proetus from the land; however, with the help of his father-in-law, the Lycian Iobates (Amphianax), Proetus compelled A. to share his kingdom with him; Proetus received Tiryns, A., Argus. Because of a prophecy that a descendant would cause his death [1], A. locked Danae in a subterranean iron va…

[German version] (Κάνδαλος; Kándalos). One of the seven sons of Helius and the nymph Rhodus; in the prehistory of the island of Rhodes, they are culture-bringers after the  Flood. After the most handsome of the brothers,  Tenages, is killed by the rest, they flee; C. settles on the neighbouring island of Cos (Diod. Sic. 5.56f.; schol. Pind. Ol. 7.72f.). The myth most likely reflects the island of Rhodes' political claims to Cos. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

[German version] (Ἀνθεύς; Antheús). Epithet of Dionysus in Patrae. Here he was venerated simultaneously as A., Mesateus and Aroeus, after the three villages whose synoecism formed Patrae, and whose old Dionysian images were each brought into the sanctuary of Dionysus Aesymnetes in his festival (Paus. 7,21,6). The festival played out the dissolution of the political unity on the entry of the god; the local epiclesis here is to be distinguished from related ones, such as of Evanthes and Anthius in Attica (Paus. 1,31,4). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography Graf, 84 f.

(Ἀλκάνωρ; Alkánōr). [German version] [1] Figure in the Aeneid: Trojan from Mount Ida Trojan from Mount Ida, whose sons Pandarus and Bitias fought in Aeneas' army in Italy (Verg. Aen. 9,672). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Figure in the Aeneid: a Rutulian A Rutulian, who is killed by Aeneas, brother of Maeon and Numitor (Verg. Aen. 10,338). The name is formed from good epic elements, only attested historically in Greek [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography 1 Bechtel, HPN, 36.

(Αὐτομέδων; Automédōn). [German version] [1] Charioteer to Achilles and Patroclus Son of Diores of Scyrus (Hyg. Fab. 97). Charioteer to Achilles and Patroclus (Hom. Il. 9,209; frequent references in books 16 and 17 of the Il.). He is often depicted in this role in vase paintings. In Virgil (Aen. 2,476f.) he is Neoptolemus' charioteer. From the time of Varro (Men. 257), in Rome automedo is used to denote the reliable personal charioteer (e.g. Cic. Rosc. Am. 98; Juv. 1,61). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography A. Kossatz-Deissmann, s.v. A., LIMC 3.1, 56-63. [German version] [2] Greek …

[German version] (Ἄνθος; Ánthos). Son of Autonous and Hippodamia, who was torn apart by his father's horses and transformed into the bird A.; since then he flees from horses and imitates their neighing (Aristot. Hist. an. 9,1 609b 14; Plin. HN 10,116; cf. Ant. Lib. 7).  Acanthis. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

[German version] (Ἁλιρρόθιος; Halirrhóthios). Attic hero, son of Poseidon and a nymph, whose death was the subject of the first trial before the  Areopagus. In the most common form of the myth, which explains the role of the Areopagus as a homicide court, he rapes the daughter of Ares and Aglaurus, Alcippe, and is struck down by Ares; the site of both deeds is the spring in the later Asclepium above the theatre of Dionysus. Poseidon indicts Ares, the court of the twelve gods acquits him (Eur. El. 1…

[German version] (from the Latin incubare; Greek ἐγκοιμᾶσθαι/ enkoimâsthai, ‘to sleep in a temple’). The term for a method, practised in many religions, for receiving revelations: the sleep in a sacred place, during which the superhuman occupant of the place appears, gives information and advice (even in the comic fracture of Aristoph. Plut. 698-747 Asclepius himself appears). In Graeco-Roman antiquity, just as in Byzantine Christianity, incubation was particularly practised in the  healing cults, above…

[German version] (Ἀκεσώ). Healing heroine ( akéomai ‘to heal’), daughter of Asclepius and Epione, venerated in Epidaurus (Suda s. v. Ἠπιόνη 578 eagle). In inscriptions in Athens, as daughter of Epione she is connected with Iaso, Panacea, Hygiea (LSCG 21 A) and  Aegle [4] (CIA III 171 b). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography Edelstein, Asclepius vol. 2, 87 ff. J. Larson, Greek Heroine Cults, 1994, 62 f.

[German version] (Ἰξίων; Ixíōn). Thessalian king and one of the great sinners being punished in the Underworld. According to Pindar, he is the first murderer of a relative (Pindar leaves the identity of the victim open, later - Pherecydes FGrH 3 F 51 - it is his father-in-law Eïoneus). When Zeus purifies him personally from the blood of murder (Aesch. Eum. 717f.) and takes him to himself, he wants to indecently assault Hera; but Zeus substitutes a cloud for her and I. fathers the first  Centaurs (u…

(Μυστήρια/ Mystḗria). [German version] A. Terminology Mysteria is the Attic name of the main cult festival of Demeter and Kore (Persephone) in Eleusis [1]. The name is formed in the same way as most Attic festival names, but the etymology is unclear (Mysteries [1. 15]). Eleusis was also the place for the polis festival of the Eleusinia, a festival which included games and contests, probably held in late spring, in modern times often confused with the Mysteria. Beginning with Hdt. 2,51,2, the festival…

[German version] Views about what awaits humans after death exist in most cultures. In the Graeco-Roman world, they were found in literature and art, in philosophical reflection, theological propaganda and, not least, in epitaphs; yet the literary and philosophical opinions in themselves are more coherent than the everyday concepts expressed in the epitaphs. It must also be emphasized that it is difficult to discern a strong connection between concepts of the afterlife and funerary rites, in the s…

(Ἀρέθουσα; Aréthousa). Frequent name for springs. [German version] [1] Spring on Homer's Ithaca Spring on Homer's  Ithaca, where the swine of  Eumaeus graze (Hom. Od. 13,408; Plut. Mor. 776 E; Steph. Byz. s. v. A.). To identify A. with the spring of Perapigadi on the modern Ithaka, 5 km south-east of Vathy, is speculative. Strauch, Daniel (Berlin) Bibliography A. Heubeck, A commentary on Homer's Odyssey, 1992, 189 f. A. J. Wace, F. H. Stubbings, A companion to Homer, 1963, 414-416. [German version] [2] Name for the main spring of Chalkis on Euboia The name handed down by numerou…

(Ἀλκαθόη, Ἀλκιθόη; Alkathóē, Alkithóē). [German version] [1] Figure of Greek myth: One of the Minyades One of the Minyades, together with Leucippe and Arsinoe, daughter of Minyas of Orchomenus. Her myth belongs to the myths of resistance against Dionysus and is an aition of their  agrionia (Plut. Quaest. Graec. 299ef). While all the other women celebrated the god on the mountain, the Minyades remained at the loom and remained unmoved by miraculous signs. Finally Dionysus made them insane; they tore Leucippe's …

[German version] ‘Temple guardians’, older, aeditumus (discussions of the word form Varro, ling. 7,12; rust. 1,2,1; Gell. NA 12,2; ThLL 1,934,6 ff.). The aedituus (inscriptions attested for women also: CIL VI 2209. 2213) is especially responsible for access to the temple -- he opens the temple, gives admittance to private individuals, even to the cult idol itself (Sen. Epist. 41,1), and can also, when directed by the responsible magistrate, open the temple on exceptional occasions, for instance for thanksgiving festi…

[German version] Sister of  Dido; she plays an important narrative role especially in Verg. Aen. 4 [1]. Her earlier history is not clear: according to Varro it was not Dido, but rather A. who immolated herself for love of Aeneas (Serv. auct. Verg. Aen. 4,682; Serv. Verg. Aen. 5,2). Ovid at the latest identifies her with the goddess  Anna Perenna; the possibly Semitic name of Dido's sister was associated by popular etymology with annus, ‘year’. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography 1 R. Heinze, Vergils ep. Technik, 1915, 126-130.

[German version] (In Greek always, in Latin very rarely Carmenta). Roman goddess of birth and ‘everything future’ (Fast. Praenestini on 11 January). Even if in historical times, she was overshadowed by related female deities (especially  Iuno Lucina), her old importance is evident in the existence of a Flamen Carmentalis. Her sanctuary lay between the Capitol and the Tiber at the Porta Carmentalis [1] and was regarded as being founded by the matrons at the resumption of births after a birth-strike…

(Αἰακίδης; Aiakídēs). [German version] [1] Patronym for mythical descendents of Aeacus, the Molossian king Patronym for mythical and historical figures, who traced their lineage back to Aeacus: Peleus, Achilles, Neoptolemus, the Molossian kings [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography 1 P. R. Franke, Die ant. Mz. von Epirus, 1961, 270.42 (literature). [German version] [2] Molossian king Son of the Molossian king  Arybbas and father of   Pyrrhus (Plut. Pyrrhus 1,5 ff.; Paus. 1,11,1; Diod. Sic. 16,72,1); after the death of Alexander [6] he succ…

[German version] Roman ‘special deity’ which according to Varro (ant. rer. div. 116 Cardauns) is mentioned in Christian polemic (Tert. Ad nat. 2,11; Aug. civ. 4,21) together with Adeona, and is derived from abire or adire. According to Varro both are deities of childhood; the etymological derivation probably refers to the first attempts to walk. The problems associated with all   indigitamenta apply to the name. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography B. Cardauns, M. Terentius Varro. Antiquitates rerum divinarum II (commentary), 1976, 206.

[German version] (Γαῖα, Γῆ; Gaîa, Gê). Greek personification of the earth as the basis of all existence; her name can be interpreted possibly in Indo-European as ‘she who gives birth’ [1]. From Hesiod (Theog. 117ff.), she is seen in theogonic poetry as a primal power, who first gave birth to  Uranus, the sky, and Pontus, the Sea, then became the mother of the subsequent generation of deities as well as that of a number of monsters, whose birth even posed a threat to the order of Zeus ( Giants,  Typho…

[German version] (Ὑγίεια; Hygíeia). Personification of health and one of the daughters of  Asclepius and  Epione (along with  Aceso, Iaso and Panacea); she has no independent mythology. While her sisters incorporate various forms of healing in their names (Greek iáomai, akéomai), H. is the personification of ‘health’ itself. As such, by the late 5th cent. BC she began to displace the rest of her family, at least in cultic significance (Aristid. 38,22). In cult worship, she is usually the only one invoked together with Asclepius and ma…

(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, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [3] Figure of Greek myth: Son of Hercules and Omphale Son of Hercules and Omphale, progenitor of the Lydian kings (Apollod. 2,165). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [4] Figure of Greek myth: Son o…

[German version] (Δήλιος; Dḗlios). Epithet of  Apollo, indicating his association with the island of  Delos: he was born there, and along with  Leto and  Artemis had a central cult site there. D. is as frequent an epiclesis for Apollo as  Pythius, which indicates his association with  Delphi. Whereas there are many cases where the cult of a divinity named Pythius was established (i.e. sanctioned) by the Delphic oracle, there is no comparable institution on Delos: the epiclesis D. is more the expres…

[German version] (Ἀγήτωρ; Agḗtōr, Doric for Ἡγήτωρ; Hegḗtōr). Epiclesis of Zeus in Sparta, connected with the preliminary sacrifices at the beginning of a campaign (Xen. Lac. Pol. 13,2), of Hermes in Megalopolis (Paus. 8,31,7, in the form of Hermes) and of Apollo Karneios in Argos (Theopomp, FGrH 115 F 357 = Schol. Theocr. 5,83). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

[German version] I. Egypt see Nile. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) II. Greece and Rome [German version] A. General The personification of conditions from the physical environment is part of many myths and religions in antiquity. Apart from the sun and the moon, the mountains and rivers are of special significance: they firmly belong to a particular local environment, and thus define identity and home. Whereas the mountain gods in the Greco-Roman world have only mythological and hardly any cultic reality, the worship …

[German version] [1] Kingfisher (Ἀλκυονίδες [ Alkyonídes] = ἀλκυόνες [ alkyónes], also ἁλκ-, therefore ‘halcyon days’), kingfisher, alcedines, colourful fish-eating coraciiformes (cf. Aristot. Hist. an. 8(9),14,616 a 14-18; Plin. HN 10,89). In Greece they were only winter guests and their brooding (at that time actually unknown) was said to take place during the calm of 14 days (ἀλκυονί(τι)δες, ἀλκυόνειοι ἡμέραι [ alkyoní(ti)des, alkyóneioi hēmérai], alcyonii dies, Alcedonia, Plur.) [1; 2] that can occur on many seas during winter solstice (as an exception! cf…

[German version] (Λευκίππη; Leukíppē, ‘the one with the white horse’), as a counterpart to Leucippus with his noble associations, is a typical and almost arbitrarily used heroine's name. Thus it is given to a companion of Persephone (H. Hom. Cer. 418), the mother (Hyg. Fab. 250) or wife of Laomedon (Apollod. 3,146), or to one of the Minyades (Antoninus Liberalis 10), whom Ov. Met. 4,168 calls Leuconoe. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

[German version] (or Gaia Fufetia). A Vestal, who donated to the city of Rome the campus Tiberinus (the Tiber island according to Plut. Publicola 8,8,101b, or rather the Campus Martius according to Gell. NA 7,7,4); therefore, she was not only honoured with a statue (Plin. HN 34,11,25), but also with a law which set out the central prerogatives of the vestals ( lex Horatia, Gell. NA 7,7,2-4). This story is the aition for these rather unusual privileges, which in many aspects gave the Vestals an equal standing with men. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography A. Momigliano, Tre figure miti…

[German version] (Ἀνδρόγεως; Andrógēos). Son of Minos and Pasiphae. His death in Attica led to the military campaign by Minos for revenge and to paying a tribute of seven girls and seven youths to the Minotaur. He died after his victory in the first Panathenaea through an attack by one of the men he had defeated (Apollod. 3,209). Aegeus is also often made responsible for his death: he allows A. to be removed due to his connections to the sons of Pallas (Diod. Sic. 4,60 f.), or Aegeus despatched him against the Marathonian bull, which killed him (Paus. 1,27,10). As a figure venerated in Attic…

[German version] (Plural ancilia). Ritual bronze shields of the  Salii in the form of an 8; their form is common in Mycenae, later obsolete. Twelve in number, they belong to the ‘pledges of rulership’, pignora imperii (Varro, ap. Serv. Verg. Aen. 7,188), the religious guarantees for the permanence of Rome's might. Usually kept safe in the Regia, the ancilia are publicly displayed ceremonially twice yearly, in March and October, and worn by the Salii for a weapon dance, in their special ritual procession (in addition to the ancilia, trabea, pointed helmet, bronze girdle, breast plat…

[German version] A Volscian Amazon maiden warrior, whose myth is recounted only by Verg. Aen. 11,539-828 (cf. [1. 803]). While fleeing with the young C., her father,  Metabus, the king of the Volscians, tied her to an ash spear, dedicated her to Diana, and hurled her across the river Amisenus; she grew up as a huntress in the forest. In the war against the followers of Aeneas, she joined forces  with Turnus, and was killed by the Etruscan Arruns. Set up as an ideal virgo virilis by Hier. Adversus Jovinum 41,306 BD, she became with Dante (Inferno 1,107; 4,124) a heroic Italian v…

[German version] (Αἰδώς; Aidṓs). ‘Shame, demureness, respect’ [1]; its antonym is  Anaideia (Hes. Op. 324); its effect can be ambivalent (Hes. Op. 319-320). She is often personified, but the boundary between appellative and personification cannot always be easily drawn [1]. In Hesiod (Op. 200), as comprehensive social powers A. and Nemesis are the last of the gods to leave iron-age humanity (the two are already connected in Hom. Il. 13,121 f.). According to Sophocles she is enthroned with Zeus as o…

[German version] (Αἴθιλλα; Aíthilla). Familiar form of Αἰθία (Polyaenus. 7,47), daughter of Laomedon, sister of Priam, captured by Protesilaus' companions after the conquest of Troy. On the peninsula of Pallene, with her fellow prisoners she burns the Greek ships, whereupon the Greeks found Scione (Conon FGrH 26 F 1,13; Tzetz. Lycoph. 921). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

[German version] I. Name Strabo was the first to refer to the peninsula of Asia Minor (AM) west of the  Taurus (Str. 2,5,24; 12,1,3; cf. Plin. HN 5,27f.; Ptol. 5,2) as a single unit by the name of Asia in the narrower sense, as opposed to the continent of Asia. The term of Asia minor in this sense is first used in Oros. 1,2,26 (early 5th cent. AD). Olshausen, Eckart (Stuttgart) [German version] II. Geography AM is the westernmost part of the Asian continent between 36° and 42° northern latitude, and 26° and 44° eastern longitude, stretching from the Aegean to the Euphrates ( c. 1,200 km), and fro…

(Εὐρυδίκη; Eurydíkē). [German version] [1] Frequently occurring name of Greek heroines Frequently occurring name of Greek heroines, initially that of the wife of Aeneas in the  Cypria (Paus. 10,26,1; catalogue [1. 193]). The best-known is the wife of  Orpheus; the myth is told by  Vergilius (Georg. 4,453-527) and  Ovidius (Met. 10,1-147; 11,1-66) in the form that has since become canonical: E. died of a snakebite on the day of her marriage; through the power of his songs Orpheus was able to persuade the ru…

[German version] Roman name for a group of twelve deities, six male and six female, presumably from the etymological root *‘con-sens’ (‘being together’) [1]. They corresponded to the 12 Olympians of Greece from at least the time of Varro [2], but the name, including an archaic plural form deum consentium, points to greater antiquity. Their temple ( aedes deum consentium: Varro, Ling. 8,70) must be the porticus deum consentium at the north end of the Forum and its two groups of six golden statues each (Varro, Rust. 1,1,4) those which Vettius Agorius  Praetextatus restored in 367 ( CIL VI 102 = I…

[German version] [1] King and founder of Tegea (Paus. 8,45,1), eponymous oikist of Alea (Paus. 8,23,1) and of the Tegean sanctuary of Athena Alea (Paus. 8,4,8); sometimes he is called king of all Arcadia. Usually he is son of Apheidas and grandson of Arcas, with Neaera, father of Lycurgus, Cepheus, Amphidamas and of Auge (Paus. 8,4,8; somewhat differently Apoll. Rhod. 1,161-171: daughter Alcidike, mother of  Tyro Diod. 4,68,1), whom Aleus appoints as priestess of Athena. When she is made pregnant b…

[German version] (Greek Βασιλίσκος; Basilískos), ‘the king of the snakes’, fabulous snake of the Libyan desert, documented from Hellenistic times; detailed descriptions are given by Pliny (HN 8,78f.) and Isidore (12,4,6f.). Recognizable by a white spot on its head, ‘like a diadem’ (Pliny) and by its unsnakelike form of forward motion, the B. kills by its breath and smell: wherever it passes, it burns bushes and grass and breaks stones (Plin.). It can kill humans also by its mere gaze (Plin. HN 29,66…

[German version] (κῶμος; kômos, verb κωμάζειν; kōmázein) is the term for the ritualized, exuberant Greek procession to the music of the cithara or, especially, the flute (Ath. 14,9,618c). In its earliest occurrences, the word is not connected with Dionysus, but describes rites with musical accompaniment, probably also with singing and dancing. (In H. Hom. Merc. 481, Hermes gives Apollo the lyre for kṓmoi; in Ps.-Hes. Aspis 281, kōmázusi young men in a marriage procession dance rapturously to the sound of the flute; Pind. Pyth. 5,22 calls the performance of his song a kṓmos of men). Unt…

(ἱερὸς γάμος; hieròs gámos: sacred marriage). [German version] I. Term A term which has attained great significance in modern research as the name for a ritual sexual union, since the emergence of the fertility paradigm in the 19th cent. (Mannhardt, Frazer). Based on the sexual intercourse between  Demeter and her mortal lover  Iasion ‘in a thrice-ploughed field’ recounted in the Homeric epic (Hom. Od. 5, 125-128; Hes. Theog. 969-971), which has been understood by analogy with north-European customs as th…