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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)

Egeria

(294 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] [1] Deity of the inlet of the same name into Lake Nemi near Aricia Deity (‘Nymph’) of the inlet of the same name into Lake Nemi near Aricia, related to the sanctuary of  Diana there (Str. 5,3,12; Verg. Aen. 7,761-777; Schol. Juv. 3,17). Wife or lover of the Roman king  Numa [1], whom she advised with respect to his cultic arrangements (Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 2,60; Ov. Fast. 3,273-299; Plut. Numa 4,2). Ennius already reports that she gave him the ancilia (Ann. 114). A rationalizing reading makes this myth an invention with which Numa legitimized his religious re…

Arsinoe

(1,871 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Harder, Ruth Elisabeth (Zürich) | Ameling, Walter (Jena) | Bieberstein, Klaus (Fribourg) | Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) | Et al.
(Ἀρσινόη; Arsinóē). I. Myth [German version] [I 1] Daughter of Leukippos Daughter of Leucippus, sister of the Leucippids, who were abducted by the Dioscuri, she was the mother by Apollo of the Messenian Asclepius (Hes. fr. 50; Apollod. 3,117f.; Paus. 2,26,7; 4,3,2). In Sparta A. had a shrine (Paus. 3,12,8); on the agora of Messene there was an A. spring (Paus. 4,31,6), in the Messenian Asclepieum there was, amongst other things, a painting of A. (Paus. 4,31,11f.). The relationship of the Messenian to the …

Dodona, Dodone

(1,049 words)

Author(s): Strauch, Daniel (Berlin) | Höcker, Christoph (Kissing) | Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
This item can be found on the following maps: Theatre | Dark Ages | Oracles | Persian Wars | Aegean Koine | Education / Culture (Δωδώνη; Dōdṓnē). [German version] I. Topography, historical development Sanctuary and settlement in Epirus, 22 km south-west of today's Ioannina in the 640 m high plain of Hellopia beneath the Tomarus [1. 85-87, 92]. D. is the oldest oracle site in Greece attested in literature (myth of its founding in Hdt. 2,54f. [2. 51-54]), already known to the Homeric epics (Il. 16,233-235; Od. 19,296-301). The or…

Argiope

(123 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
(Ἀργιόπη; Argiópē). [German version] [1] Nymph Nymph. Rejected by her lover Philammon, she journeys from Parnassus to the Odrysae in Thrace and there gives birth to the singer  Thamyris (Apollod. 1,16; Paus. 4,33,3) [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Thracian wife of Orpheus Thracian wife of Orpheus, for whose sake he enters the Underworld (Hermesianax fr. 7,1-14 Powell). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [3] Daughter of Teuthras Daughter of Teuthras, the king of Mysia, wife of  Telephus (Diod. Sic. 4,33). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [4] D…

Amynus

(84 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἄμυνος; Ámynos). Athenian god of healing. His domain (Amyneion) with a fountain lay at the southern slope of the Areopagus; the earliest finds date to the 6th cent. According to inscriptional evidence, Asclepius and Hygiea were also venerated in this domain. A cultic organization to venerate ( orgeones) A., Asclepius and Dexion is likewise attested; located nearby was the domain of this hero (under whose name Sophocles was revered due to his reception of Asclepius). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography Kearns, 14-21.

Autumnus

(50 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] The autumn; evidence exists for him personified in illustrative art and poetry from the Augustan era onwards, yet without any proven cult. He is usually associated with the  Horae and therefore often represented as feminine. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography L. A. Casal, s.v. A., LIMC 5.1, 819f.

Apelles

(821 words)

Author(s): Günther, Linda-Marie (Munich) | Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Hoesch, Nicola (Munich)
(Ἀπελλῆς; Apellês). [German version] [1] Macedonian Politician, died 218 BC Macedonian, influential confidant of  Antigonus [3] Doson, from 222 BC guardian of  Philippus V. In 219/8, as ‘ traditionalist’, he criticized the Adriatic policy of the king and his pro-Achaean leanings under the influence of  Aratus, against whom he intrigued together with  Leontius and  Megaleas (Pol. 4,76; 82-87). In 218 their plot against Philip V was discovered and A. was executed in Corinth (Pol. 5,2,8; 16; 26-28; Plut. Arat. 48) [1. 167-170]. Günther, Linda-Marie (Munich) [German version] [2] Mace…

Laogonus

(30 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Λαόγονος/ Laógonos, ‘who grew out of the people's army’). Descriptive name of two Trojan warriors in the Iliad (Hom. Il. 16,303 and 20,460). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

Aglaonice

(62 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἀγλαονίκη; Agolaoníkē). Daughter of Hegetor (Plut. Coniugalia praecepta 48,145c; de def. or. 13,417a), a Thessalian, who as witch was not only able to draw down the moon (schol. Apoll. Rhod. 4,59), but was also able ritually to purify the moon when a lunar eclipse occurred (Plut. loc. cit. credits her with rationalizing astronomical knowledge). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

Asteropaeus

(53 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἀστεροπαῖος; Asteropaîos). Son of Pelegon, grandson of the river god Axius, leader of the Paeonians who were allies of Troy, killed by Achilles. Physically he was the tallest of the Trojans and Achaeans (Hom. Il. 21,140-83; Philost. Heroicus 48,14-22). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography A. Kossatz-Deissmann, LIMC 1. 1, 132, no. 556.

Leucaspis

(95 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Λεύκασπις; Leúkaspis, ‘the one with the white shield’). Repeatedly used name of Greek heroes. L. especially refers to one of the five commanders of the Sicani, who are killed by Heracles and who are honoured cultically (Diod. Sic. 4,23,5); he is portrayed on Syracusan coins from the 5th cent. onwards [1]. The cult of a hero L. is also attested for the Attic deme of Erchia [2], while Virgil uses the name for a drowned Trojan (Verg. Aen. 6,334). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography 1 HN 175 2 LSCG 18 G 50.

Ladon

(581 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Lienau, Cay (Münster) | Meyer, Ernst (Zürich) | Strobel, Karl (Klagenfurt)
(Λάδων; Ládōn). [German version] [1] Dragon The dragon referred to in Apoll. Rhod. 4,1396, elsewhere referred to only as a ‘serpent’ ( óphis, drákōn), who guards the apples of the Hesperides (as also mentioned on Probus in Verg. G. 1,244); he has a hundred heads and many voices. Mythographers have him either be descended directly (as a chthonic beast) from Gaia (as is Typhon) or from related monsters (Phorcys and Ceto, the parents of Echidna and grandparents of the Lernean Hydra in Hes. Theog. 333-335; Echidna and…

Elaphebolos

(154 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἐλαφηβόλος; Elaphēbólos, ‘Stag Slayer’). Poetic (Anac. fr. 1 Calame; Soph. Trach. 213) and cultic epiclesis of  Artemis. Her feast of Elaphebolia (with characteristic ritual destruction in the Phocian federal sanctuary of Hyampolis, Plut. Mor. 244 BD; Paus. 10,1,6; [1; 2; 3]) and the Athenian month name  Elaphebolion derived from the festival attest to the significance of the association of the goddess with her quarry. The association has been attested in literature since Homer (O…

Anaideia

(105 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἀναιδεία; Anaideía). ‘Indecency’, divine power (Xen. Symp. 8,35; Men. Fr. 223 K., perhaps Soph. fr. 269 = TGF 4,291). According to Theophrastus she had altars in Athens, together with Hybris (Zenob. 43,6, cf. Cic. Leg. 2,28 Contumeliae et Impudentiae fanum): meant are the ‘stone of indecency’ (λίθος Ἀναιδείας, líthos anaideías) and the ‘stone of temerity’ ( líthos Hýbreos) on the Athenian Areopagus, where accusers and the accused (Paus. 1,28,5) gathered. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography C. E. of Erfa, ΑΙΔΩΣ und verwandte Begriffe in ihrer Entwickl…

Askioi

(153 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἄσκιοι; Áskioi). The ‘shadowless ones’ is the name given to the inhabitants of those zones of the earth, within which the sun on certain days of the year is at its zenith so that the  gnomon does not cast a shadow, such as on the day of the summer solstice in Syene (Poseidon. fr. 115 Edelstein-Kidd); Onesicritus (FGrH 134 F 10) told of such ascia loca in India. In the system formulated by Posidonius (fr. 208 Edelstein-Kidd) the people between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn are called ἀμφίσκιοι ( amphískioi), whereas those between the polar circle and the tropics …

Bellona

(480 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] The Roman goddess of war (from bellum, old form Duellona from duellum; cf. Varro, Ling. 5,73; Ant. rer. div. fr. 189 Cardauns), who stands beside Mars and is relatively independent of him: the devotional formula of P. Decius Mus names her directly after  Ianus who is invoked at each new beginning and the triad of old Roman state gods Jupiter, Mars and Quirinus -- no doubt as the actual female ruler of war (Liv. 8,9,6). In Latium her cult is attested in a 5th-cent. inscription (CIL I2 441) [1], whilst an urban Roman temple to her was vowed by Appius Claudius Caecus …

Amphinomus

(227 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Antoni, Silke (Kiel)
[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…

Cult

(3,745 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Renger, Johannes (Berlin) | Backhaus, Knut (Paderborn)
[German version] I. General Cult encompasses the entirety of ritual tradition in the context of religious practise. Via Christian usage, the term derives from the cultus deorum (‘divine worship’) named already in Cicero, and corresponds to the Greek thrēskeía; like the latter (and the Latin caerimonia, ‘rites’), it can in pagan language stand simply for ‘religion’ in general and thus refer to the absolute predominance in pagan Greek and Roman religion of ritual actions over faith. There, as in the religious cultures of the ancient Mediterr…

Labrys

(254 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (ἡ λάβρυς; he lábrys) refers to the double-headed axe (Latin bipennis), which has two blades opposite each other; it is a tool as well as a ritual device and religious symbol. The expression, known in Greek only as a Lydian word in a gloss (Plut. Mor. 45,302a), was introduced into scholarly language in the late 19th cent. to refer to the Minoan ritual symbol as well as to indicate its Anatolian origin. In Minoan but more especially in Greek ritual, there is good evidence for the double-head…

Iuppiter

(3,022 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Ley, Anne (Xanten)
[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…

Leitus

(101 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Λήϊτος; Lḗïtos). Son of Alector [4], a Boeotian hero; he has a tomb and cult in Plataeae (Paus. 9,4,3). He is integrated into several Panhellenic narrative cycles: he is one of the leaders of the Boeotians outside Troy, distinguishes himself occasionally and is wounded slightly - in the battle for the corpse of Patroclus - by Hector, returns to his homeland; he wooes Helene [1] and takes part in the expedition of the Argonauts (Hom. Il. 2,494; 17,601; Eur. IA 259; Catalogues: Apollod. 1,113; 3,130). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography W. Kullmann, Die Quellen der I…

Abartus

(74 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] Descendant of the Athenian king Codrus. Was brought to the city of Phocaea, together with the Codrideans Deoites and Periclus, from Erythrae and Teos, because the Ionians did not want to accept Phocaea in the Ionian league until it had Codrians as kings (Paus. 7,3,10). The myth legitimated the claim of Athens to hegemony over Ionia. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography A. Sakellariou, La migration grecque en Ionie, 1958, 238, n. 3.

Alcander

(77 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἄλκανδρος; Álkandros). Suggestive name (‘strong man’), which was given to various historical and mythical persons. Important points are: a) in the Lycurgus myth he strikes out an eye of Lycurgus in anger (aition for the cult of Athena Opilletis, Plut. Lycurgus 11,2-8; Paus. 3,18,2); b) in Lebadeia he is venerated as the son of Trophonius and as a saving hero, to whom one sacrifices before the katabasis (Paus. 9,39,5). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

Curse

(1,191 words)

Author(s): Jansen-Winkeln, Karl (Berlin) | Krebernik, Manfred (Munich) | Koch, Heidemarie (Marburg) | Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] I. Ancient Orient, Egypt, Old Testament In the ancient Orient, the curse is considered to be a magically effective utterance by which the speaker destroys enemies or objects of their sphere, excludes them from the community or at the very least reduces their vitality. How effective this is depends upon the status of the speaker, the social context and the use of set phrases. There is no evidence of colloquial curses in the Near East and hardly any from Egypt. In the Near East set curse phrases are preserved from the mid 3rd millennium onward i…

Astyanax

(248 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (Ἀστυάναξ; Astyánax). Son of  Hector and  Andromache; called Scamandrius by his parents, and A. (‘lord of the town’) by the Trojans in honour of Hector (Hom. Il. 6,402f., 22,506f.). According to the Ilioupersis, the young A. was hurled from the walls of Troy -- the Achaeans making the decision to do this (Paus. 10. 25) -- to ensure that he could not grow up to take revenge on the conquerors (Clem. Al. Strom. 6,2,19); Stesichorus recounts the same story (fr. 25 PMG). The tragic poet used by Accius in his A. has the seer Calchas give the order to murder A. in order to g…

Antimachus

(718 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Karttunen, Klaus (Helsinki) | Fantuzzi, Marco (Florence) | Selzer, Christoph (Frankfurt/Main)
(Ἀντίμαχος; Antímachos). [German version] [1] Trojan, opponent of Antenor Trojan, opponent of  Antenor. When, before the war, Menelaus and Odysseus demanded the return of Helen in Troy, he advised, contrary to custom and tradition, killing the envoys (Hom. Il. 3,205; 11,138). Later, bribed by Paris, he prevented the handing over of Helen, then under consideration by the Trojans (Hom. Il. 11,123 ff.). His three sons were killed by the Greeks (Hom. Il. 12,188). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Two Indo-Greek kings in the 2nd cent. BC Two Indo-Greek kings in the 2nd c…

Adolenda

(303 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] In the records of the   Arvales fratres of the year 183 in the lists of sacrifice receivers, Adolena, Commolenda, Deferunda appear twice (8 February, 13 May); in those of the year 224 Admetus and Coinquenda [1]. Each time the sacrifice is a lustrum missum, the one offered in the year 183 is for the removal ( deferre), splitting up ( commolere) and burning ( adolere) of the fig tree growing on the roof of the temple of Dea Dia, which was damaging the roof; the one in the year 224 is for the hacking up ( coinquere) and burning of those trees struck by lightning in the grove. Since Marini […

Hieromnemones

(176 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
[German version] (ἱερομνήμονες; hieromnḗmones, singular hieromnḗmōn, ἱερομνήμων). Religious officials with wide-ranging duties. Aristot. Pol. 6,5, 1321b 35 counts them, together with mnḗmones, epistátai et al., as archives officers; Plut. Symp. 8,8,4 attests the title for the priests of  Poseidon Phytalmios in Leptis; this is an isolated instance. The copious epigraphical evidence shows that the hieromnemones in some places really were archivists, frequently organized festivals, conducted temple finances or looked after temple property; prominent hieromnemones were t…

Agrius

(196 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)
(Ἄγριος; Ágrios), ‘the wild’. [German version] [1] Mythical Calydonian Calydonian, son of Porthaon and Eureite (Hes. fr. 10a 49; Euryte: Apollod. 1,63), brother of Melas and Oeneus (Hom. Il. 14,117; about this Alcathous Hes. fr. 10a 52 f.; cf. Apollod. loc. cit.). He dethrones Oeneus, is expelled by Diomedes and kills himself (Hyg. Fab. 175, 242); after others his sons too are the usurpers and are killed by Diomedes (Apollod. 1,77-8; Ant. Lib. 37) [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Son of Odysseus and Circe Son of Odysseus and Circe, brother of Latinus and toge…

Atys

(152 words)

Author(s): Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) | Högemann, Peter (Tübingen)
(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…
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