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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…

(Αἴολος; Aíolos). [German version] [1] Eponym of the Aeolean tribe Eponym of the Aeolean tribe. Son of Hellen (Hes. fr. 9 MW), grandson of  Deucalion, whose many genealogical connections help to give structure to the mythical worldview of the Greeks, including geographically. His brothers Dorus and Xythos emigrate, A. is king in the paternal Magnesia/Thessaly. By Enarete, daughter of Deimachus, he has many children: the sons Cretheus, Athamas,  Sisyphus, Salmoneus and Perieres (Hes. fr. 10 MW; Apollod. 1,…

[German version] (Ἀλθαιμένης; Althaiménēs). Rhodian hero, son of the Cretan king Catreus. He left his homeland when an oracle prophesied that he would kill his father, and at Camerus he founded the mountain cult of Zeus Atabyrius. His father set out to find him, and during a nocturnal landing he was mistaken for a pirate and slain by A., unrecognized. A. wanders around aimlessly and dies in anguish (Diod. Sic. 5,59) or is swallowed up by the earth (thus Apollod. 3,12-16, in whose account he also murders his sister Apemosyne). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

(Ἀλφειός; Alpheiós). [German version] [1] River in the Peloponnese At 110 kms it is the longest river with the largest volume of water flow of the  Peloponnese, which, with its tributaries (especially the  Ladon,  Erymanthus,  Lousius) drains a large part of  Arcadia and  Elis. The eastern spring, called A. surfaces on the valley watershed near the Eurotas (483 m above sea level at Ambelakion; possibly some tapping of the water flow). The A. has so far for the most part preserved the character of a mount…

 Only Latin Acoetes has been handed down; the Greek form Ἀκοίτης does not appear to be attested. [German version] [1] Mythical Helmsman Helmsman of a Tyrrhenian pirate ship, opposed the intention of his travelling companions to kidnap the beautiful child Dionysus, and therefore was the only one to escape transformation into a dolphin (Ov. Met. 3,582-691 as first-person account to Pentheus; Hyg. Fab. 134); perhaps following a common Hellenistic source that went back to Hom. H. 7; in all other accounts of this myth the name or the entire episode is missing [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) …

[German version] (Mid-Persian Ōhrmazd, Greek Ὀρομάζης, Ὀρομάσδης; Oromázēs, Oromásdēs). Highest God (‘the Wise Lord’) in the system of Zoroaster, the highest of the good powers ( ahuras), who is surrounded by a host of abstract deities (Amša Spntas) as mediators of his will and his deeds. He is creator and god of blessing, the one addressed in cults of the Zoroastrian community, and it was he that revealed his teachings to  Zoroaster. There is discussion regarding to what extent he is pre-Zoroastrian; in any case he co…

[German version] (Ἄργης; Árgēs). One of the three  Cyclopes, along with Brontes ( brontḗ, ‘thunder’) and Steropes ( steropḗ, ‘lightening’). His name comes from argḗs, a stock expression for lightening (Hes. Theog. 140; Apollod. 1,1). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

[German version] (Ἠρικεπαῖος; Ērikepaîos). Deity which is mentioned in Orphic poetry and the associated Bacchian mysteries; the late etymology of ‘life-giver’ (ζωοδοτήρ; zōodotḗr) cannot be verified (Malalas, Chronogr. 4,91; cf. Suda 660 s.v. Orpheus). The name is first mentioned with certainty in the papyrus Gurôb 1, a Dionysian mysteries text of the late 3rd cent. BC [1]; an earlier reference in a gold leaflet from Pherae is uncertain [2]. E. then becomes important in various Neoplatonic writings of the so-called r…

Suggestive heroic name: ‘Defender’. As such it is assigned to three figures, who are difficult to differentiate from each other. [German version] [1] Son of Ormenos, domiciled in Eleon Son of Ormenus, domiciled in Eleon in Boeotia, whom Autolycus robbed of a famous leather helmet (Hom. Il. 10,266; cf. 2,500; Pherec. fragment 38a FHG 4, 638). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Likewise son of Ormenus, father of Phoenix Likewise son of Ormenus, father of Phoenix. The son seduced the concubine of his father, who cursed him with childlessness; Phoenix fle…

[German version] Roman goddess whose temple was vowed and founded on the Caelius mons by the first  Brutus immediately after the expulsion of the  Tarquinii; (Macrob. Sat. 1,12,31). Its foundation day is 1 June, the festival of the Carnaria (CIL III 3893). C. received offerings of bacon and bean gruel (Macrob. Sat. 1,12,32; cf. Ov. Fast. 6,169-182: Kalendae fabariae), which suggest a simple, old-fashioned way of life (Ovid) or which are meant to depict C. as a protector of physical strength (Macr.). The authors state that her role is the protection of …

(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.…

(Ionian-Attic Δημήτηρ; Dēmḗtēr, Doric-Boeotian Δαμάτηρ; Damátēr, Aeolian Δωμάτηρ; Dōmátēr, Attic short form Δηώ; Dēṓ). Goddess of agriculture, especially grain cultivation, womanhood and the Mysteries. [German version] A. Name The name is only partly comprehensible. In the second part of the word ‘mother’ is recognizable, for the first part ancient writers offer two interpretations, a connection with ‘earth’ ( gê/ gâ) or a word for grain (Cretan dēaí, ‘barley’). The first has been in currency since the classical period (Derveni Papyrus, col. 18), the second is…

[German version] A. General Points, Definition Mysteries or rather mystery cults (in order to avoid the misleading term ‘mystery religions’) are cults of the Greek and Roman world which, for classical and modern observers alike, constitute a circumscribed category of cults within Greek and Roman religion.  Their name derives from the Attic celebration of the Mysteria, the festival of Demeter and Kore/Persephone, celebrated annually over a period of days at the shrine of Eleusis, and known since the Ho…

(Ἀστυδάμεια; Astydámeia). [German version] [1] Daughter of the Dolopian king Amyntor Daughter of the Dolopian king Amyntor, by Hercules mother of Tlepolemus (Hes. fr. 232; Pind. Ol. 7,24). In Homer she is Astyocheia (Il. 2,658), in Apollod. 2,149 and Hyg. Fab. 162 Astyoche, daughter of Phylas of Ephyra (Apollod. 1,166). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Wife of  Acastus of Iolcus Wife of  Acastus of Iolcus, who purified Peleus from his accidental killing of  Eurytion. When Peleus rejected her love, she slandered him to his wife  Antigone [2],…

[German version] (Αἰολίδαι; Aiolídai). Not only the sons of Aeolus, such as Sisyphus, Athamas and Cretheus, but also their descendants, e.g. Bellerophontes and Jason in Pindar, Minyas, Phrixus, Idmon in Apoll. Rhod. In Virgil's Aeneid (6,529) Anchises calls Odysseus Aeolides, in accordance with the tradition which makes him the son of Sisyphus (since Soph. Phil. 417). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography M. Scarsi, s. v. Eolide, EV 2,324.

(Ἄλκιμος; Álkimos). [German version] [5] Latinus A. Alethius Rhetorician, writer of panagyrics and poet Appears as a famous rhetorician (probably based on a catalogue of model speeches from Bordeaux) in  Sidonius, where he is praised for his oratorical fortitudo: Epist. 5,10,3 (see Jer. Chron. a. Abr. 2371). Probably also the author of a rhetorical handbook that is otherwise no longer distinguishable (Sid. Apoll. Epist. 8, 11, 2; in the same source: origin in Agen; concerning false identifications, see PLRE 2, Alethius 2, against [3…

(Ἄρτεμις; Ártemis) I. Religion [German version] A. Etymology and Early History Greek goddess; daughter of Zeus and Leto, twin sister of Apollo. Goddess of transitions -- birth and coming-of-age in both sexes -- of female death, hunting and game, as well as, in the Greek East, city goddess. Identified especially with Cybele and Anahita in Asia Minor and the Near East, and with Diana in Rome. Etruscan representations, where she is called artume(s), preserve her character as a figure borrowed from the Greeks. It is a matter of dispute, whether her name, which defies all etymology…

[German version] Hermetic writings (HW; the terminus is modern) are Graeco-Egyptian texts, whose author is supposed to have been the Egyptian god Thot, Greekified as Hermes Trismegistus. His epithet (‘the thrice great H.’), which has only existed since the Imperial period, derives from the thrice repeated call to Hermes-Thot as ‘the greatest’ (which is already documented in Hellenistic Demotic and Greek sources). Clemens [3] of Alexandria (Strom. 6,4,35) describes a procession, in which 42 fundame…

[German version] (Ἀστραῖος; Astraîos). Titan, son of the Titans Creius (Crius) and Eurybia. With Eos he begot the winds ( Astraei fratres, Ov. Met. 14,545) which blow at the first light of dawn, the morning star and the other stars (Hes. Theog. 375-82; Apollod. 1,9). Besides that he is a giant, son of Tartarus and Ge (Hyg. praef. 4). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography E. Simon, s.v. A., LIMC 2. 1, 927.

(Άσκλήπιος; Asklépios) I. Religion [German version] A. Mythology The most important Greek healing hero, son of Apollo and of a mortal woman, in cultic reality he soon became a god, in Rome venerated as Aesculapius. It is hard to interpret the Greek name from an etymological perspective. The usual form of the myth -- and it is not certain that it derives from the Hesiodic ‘Catalogues’ [1; 2] -- makes A. the son of Apollo and of Coronis, the daughter of the Thessalian Phlegyas; in contrast to this, Hesiod calls his mother  Arsinoe, daughter of…

[German version] [I] Office (ἄρχοντες, ἄρχων; árchontes, árchōn). In general, the term applied to all holders of   archai . However, the term was frequently used as the title of a particular office, originally, at least, the highest office of the state. Archontes in this sense of the term are found in most states of central Greece, including Athens, and states dependent on or influenced by Athens. According to Aristot. Ath. Pol. 3, the kings were initially replaced by archons who were initially elected for life, later for a period of ten years, and finally for …

[German version] (Καύκων; Kaúkōn). Eponymous hero of the Peloponnesian people of the  Caucones [1]; his genealogy is dependent on the ancient localization of the people first named in Hom. Od. 3. 366. His grave was shown in Lepreum in Triphylia (Paus. 5,5,5; Str. 8,345), and according to the Triphylian cult centre on Samicon, he is seen as the son of Poseidon (Ael. NA 1,24). Yet as a result of the Arcadian localization, C. is also the son of Arcas (schol. Hom. Od. 3,366) or of Lycaon (Apollod. 3,97…

[German version] (Ἀδράστεια; Adrásteia). Goddess related to the mountain mother of Asia Minor,   Cybele. She had a cult at Cyzicus (actually on the Adrásteia óros outside the city, Str. 12,8,11; 13,1,13) and on the Trojan Mount Ida (Aesch. fr. 158 TGF). A. was compared to Artemis (Demetrius of Scepsis apud Harpocr. 6,9; Solin. 7,26) and revered in Athens in association with Bendis (IG I3 383,142; cf. 369,67). In mythic poetry she was associated with the birth of Zeus: as daughter of Melisseus, sister of Ide and of Curetes, she helps with the care of the chil…

[German version] Named only in Tacitus (hist. 2,3; ann. 3,62,4), founder of the sanctuary of Aphrodite at Paphos, which was called  Aeria [3] after him. Father of Amathus, the founder of the second largest Cypriot Aphrodite sanctuary. Research derives the name partly from Greek ἀήρ, ‘air’, partly from ‘copper’ Latin aes, (Greek κύπρος). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography V. Pirenne-Delforge, L'Aphrodite grecque, 1994, 330-333.

[German version] Cyprus [3] The island was incorporated into Roman possessions in 58 BC and remained part of the province of Cilicia until 48/47 BC. It was returned to the Ptolemaic kingdom by Caesar and Antony, and came permanently into Roman possession from 30 BC. As a province in its own rights, it was initially administered by a legatus, then from 22 BC by the Senate through an annually appointed procurator; following Diocletian's reorganization of the provinces, it was placed under the administration of the consularis of the dioecesis Oriens in Antioch [1] . After the initial f…

[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…

(Αἴπυτος; Aípytos). [German version] [1] Arcadian hero Arcadian hero, son of Elatus, father of Peirithous (Hes. fr. 166). His grave, known already to Homer (Il. 2,604) was displayed on Mount Sepia at Cyllene, where he had been bitten by a snake. Pindar (O. 6,30) gives his residence as Phaesane at Alpheius; Pitane promises him her daughter by Poseidon, Evadne, who, by Apollo, will become mother of the seer Iamus. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] King of Arcadian Trapezus King of Arcadian Trapezus, son of Hippothous, father of Cypselus. He went blind because he…

[German version] (Ἀδμήτη; Ádmḗtē). Daughter of Eurystheus, Hera priestess in Argus, for whom Hercules secured the belt of Hippolyte, the queen of the Amazons (Apollod. 2,99). She fled with the cult image to Samos and there became a priestess of Hera; the cultic aetiology of the Samian festival of the Tonaia (Ath. 15,672) is dependent on this.  Hera. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography M. Schmidt, s. v. A., LIMC 1.1, 216-218.

[German version] (Ἡρόδωρος; Heródōros) from Heraclea on the Pontus. Mythographer, father of  Bryson of the Megarian School, wrote in Ionian dialect around 400 BC, often cited in the MSS as  Herodotus. Monographs on individual mythical figures (Heracles in at least 17 bks., Pelops, Oedipus) or groups ( Argonaútai, Orphéōs kaì Musaíou historía = ‘Orpheus and Musaeus’), of which a few fragments are extant (FGrH 31), are conceivable in the titles. Accordingly H. adopted the mythical traditions especially of  Hellanicus and  Pherecydes of Athens. The…

[German version] (Caca). In the mythology of the Augustan authors (Verg. Aen. 8,190-279; Liv. 1,7,3-15; Prop. 4,9; Ov. Fast. 1,543-586), the battle of Hercules with the cave-dwelling monster C. on the Palatine (where the scala Caci lies [1]) or Aventine (according to Verg.) is important: it had stolen Hercules' cattle and was punished accordingly. The myth provides the aetiology for the cult of Hercules in the Ara Maxima on the Forum Boarium, it also takes up -- with its basic theme of the triumph over the monster -- themes of Au…

[German version] (Ἀλήθεια), ‘Truth’. Personified as daughter of Zeus (Pind. Ol. 10,4 and fr. 205) and wet nurse of Apollo (Plut. Symp. 3,9 657e); her throne is made of iron (Them. Or. 22,281c Hercher). To the Romans, daughter of Kronos (Saturnus) (Plut. qu. R.11,267e) or Tempus, ‘Time’, which presupposes the Greek understanding of Kronos as Chronos (Gell. NA 12,11,7, after a vetus poeta); the nuda Veritas in Hor. (Carm. 1,24,7) is probably an ad hoc idea. Represented as an image on the famous painting of the slander of  Apelles (Lucian. Cal. 5), imitated by Botticelli's…

[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…

[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…

(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…

(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…

(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.

(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 …

[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…

[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…

(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…

[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,…

[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)

[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…

[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…

[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…

(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…

[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…

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…

[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…

[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.

(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…