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(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…

[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…

(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…

(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…

(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…

(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…

(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 …

[German version] [1] Amphinomus and Anapias Pious pair of brothers from Catana (Ἀμφίνομος and Ἀναπίας, Ἄναπις; Amphínomos and Anapías/ Ánapis). Pious pair of brothers from Catana, who during a volcanic eruption of Etna carried their parents from the flames; the lava stream divided in a miraculous manner before them. They were still cultically venerated in the imperial period (Paus. 10,28,4); their statutes stood at the place of this rescue, the ‘Place of the Pious’, eusebōn chṓros. The event is first mentioned by Lycurg. Or. in Leocratem 95, which only mentions a youth…

[German version] I. Cult and myth J. (rarely Iupiter, archaic Diovis, Umbrian Iupater) is the supreme god of the Roman and Latin pantheon; while in iconography and myth he is identified completely with the Greek  Zeus, he exists in his own right in the cult. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] A. Etymology and origin The derivation from * Dieu-pater, i.e. Indo-European * dieu-/ diu- and the invoking pater, is undisputed; it connects him with Greek Zeus (* dieus, vocative Ζεῦ πάτερ) and Old Indo-Aryan Dyaus, and actually denotes the deity of the bright day sky (cf. Latin dies), indica…

(Ἄτυς; Átys). [German version] [1] Lydian proto-king Lydian proto-king, son of Manes and brother of Cotys. His sons are Lydus and Tyrsenus, the eponyms of the Lydians and Etruscans (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 1,27, cf. Hdt. 1,7; 94). A. is related to the god  Attis of Asia Minor, just as Cotys is with the Thracian goddess Cotys (Kotytto). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Son of the Lydian king Croesus Son of the Lydian king  Croesus. His violent death in the boar hunt on Mysian Olympus is stylized according to the manner of the Attis myth. Hdt. 1,34-45, ho…

(Ἀπόλλων [ Apóllōn]; Latin: Apollo). A., the eternally youthful Greek god of healing, divination, music and ephebes, worshipped as A. in Rome since the early 5th cent. BC and referred to as Aplu in Etruscan written records. From the earliest literary sources, he was always referred to as the son of Zeus and Leto, the younger twin brother of Artemis. The very widespread use of theophoric proper names in every era demonstrates his great popularity and the extent to which he was known. [1]. [German version] A. Etymology The etymology of the name -- the search for the origins and prima…

(Γίγαντες; Gígantes). [German version] I. Mythology Giants are usually huge, clumsy beings from primeval times; according to the commonest myth, the  Gigantomachy, they attempted unsuccessfully to deprive Zeus and the Olympians of power. In Homer the Giants are a lawless and arrogant marginal people destroyed because of their king  Eurymedon (Hom. Od. 7,59-61); they settled close to the  Cyclopes and  Phaeaces (Hom. Od. 7,205f.). According to Hesiod, during the castration of  Uranus, drops of blood fa…

(Γόρδιος; Górdios). [German version] [1] Mythical founder of the Phrygian state Mythical founder of the Phrygian state and eponymous hero of its capital  Gordium. When birds flew around him as he was ploughing, he wanted to find out the significance of the sign from the seers in the city. A beautiful girl from a family of seers whom he asked for information at the city gate interpreted the sign as a promise of royal honour and offered to marry him. In order to end a civil war, the  Phrygians followed Zeus'…

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

This item can be found on the following maps: Writing | Theatre | Doric Migration | Dark Ages | Grain Trade, Grain Import | Achaeans, Achaea | Apollo | Macedonia, Macedones | Macedonia, Macedones | Mycenaean culture and archaeology | Natural catastrophes | Oracles | Peloponnesian War | Athletes | Delian League | Aegean Koine | Education / Culture (Ἄργος; Árgos). I. Mythical characters [German version] [I 1] Son of Zeus and Niobe The son of Zeus and Niobe, brother of Pelasgus (Acusilaus FGrH 2 F 25), husband of Evadne, father of Epidaurus i.a. (Hes. fr. 247), or Pei…

[German version] [1] Fish Fish (Greek ἰχθῦς/ ichthŷs; Latin piscis) was a common food in Greece and Rome, certain fishes in Rome were even considered a luxury food. This explains the Greek curiosity about neighbouring cultures such as Egypt or Syria, where conspicuous food prohibitions were observed and generalized (priests in Egypt: Hdt. 2,37; Plut. De Is. et Os. 7, 353b; Plut. Symp. 8,8,2; Syria: Ov. Fast. 2,473f.; Porph. De abstinentia 2,61 etc.) that probably relate to the worship of fish in these cu…

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

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

(Ἀκέστωρ; Akéstōr), ‘Healer’, literary epithet of Apollo (Eur. Androm. 900), but also anthronym (unknown Athenian: Aristoph. vesp. 1221). [German version] [1] Figure from Greek myth; Son of Ephippos of Tanagra Son of Ephippos of Tanagra, killed by Achilles (Plut. qu. Gr. 37, 299c, following a local epic). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Hero in the genealogy of the Philaedians Hero in the genealogy of the Philaedians, namely great-grandson of  Philaeus (Pherec. FGrH 3 F 2; Markell. v. Thuc. 3). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [3] Athenian Athenian, alleg…

(Ἀστέριος; Astérios). [German version] [1] Cretan epiclesis of Zeus A Cretan epiclesis of Zeus, attested to only in the Byzantine writers; it arose through euhemeristic interpretation of the myth of Asterion [1]. In contrast to this view, evolutionist interpretations regarded him the origin of that hero. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography H. Schwabl, s.v. Zeus I, RE 10 A, 281. [German version] [2] Sophis from Cappadocia Sophist from Cappadocia, belonged to the circle of students of Lucianus of Antioch (martyr AD 312) from whom came the spokesmen for the …