Zeus : a study in ancient religion - Warburg Institute

and the Soul-Ladder 129
and correspond with the seven or eight steps of the Mithraic ladder'
or, for that matter, with the Sabian ladder of the seven planets I
^Fortified by these examples of the soul-ladder as conceived in
other parts of the Mediterranean world—to go no further afield^
we return to Thrace and the Orphists. Otos and Ephialtes, who
essayed to pile Ossa on Olympos and Pelion on Ossa, ' that the
astrology. Gudea describes the zikkiirat at Lagash known as E-Pa as the "house of the
seven divisions'" ['Thureau-Dangin, Siiinerisch-Akkadische Inschriftefi, pp. 76, 84, 86,
etc.]; and from the still fuller designation of the tower at Borsippa as the "seven
divisions of heaven and earth," it would appear that in both cases there is a symbolical
reference to the ''seven planets," as the moon, sun, and five planets were termed by the
Babylonians themselves "' [''Rawlinson, III. Plate 57, No. 6, 65.].' Etc. Cp. id. The
Religion of Babylonia and Assyria Boston etc. 1898 pp. 618 ff., 639.
' Orig. ('. Cels. 6. 21 f. kina. 5f ovpavovs •^ SXcos Tr€pLO}pi(rfj,€i>ov apidfiov avruiv al (p€p6-
fievaL ev rah iKKXTjffiais tou deov ovk airayyi\\ov7iTr)S, ev 6\pei rod irar-
pidpxov i]/xu)v 'Ia/ctJ/3 7)(nv iuipdaPai Bilov evvwviov, KXlfxaKa "els ovpavov^' (pddvovaav Kal
dyyeXovs ^''rov deoD^' dva^aivovras Kai Kara^aivovTas eir' avrfji. rbv Bk Kvpiov eireuT-q-
piyfxkvov eiri rots fi/cpots aiiTrjs, eire ravra e'lre two, fxeL^ova tovtwv aiviTrbfievos ev ruj irepi
TTJs KXi/xaKos X6yip irepi ^s Kal ti2 i>iXwvi crvvrkTaKTai ^l^XLov, d^iov (ppovifiov Kal crvveTrjs
wapd Tois ^iXaXrideaiv e^erdaecxis (cp. Philon de soniniis i. 22 (i. 641 f. Mangey)). e^'^s 5^
TovTOLS j3ovX6iJ.evos 6 KeXaos iroXvuddeiav eavrov iirtdel^aadai ev rtjj Kad' riixCiv Xoyip
eKTiderai Tiva Kal Hepcrt/ca fj-varripia iv oh (prjffiv alvlTTerai ravra Kal 6 Ilepawv X6yos, Kal
7) Tov Midpov reXeTTj, 17 (r) ins. Keim) Trap' ai^rors eariv. 'kari ydp ri ev avry (jvfxfioXov rujv
5i5o ruv ev oipavi^ wepidSuv, rrjs re djrXai'oOs Kai Trjs els roiis irXavriras av veve/j.7]/j.kvris, Kal ttjs
5i' ai.Vaij' TTJs i/'i'X^s 5te^65ov. roiovde to avfx^oXov ' KXtfjLa^ I'l/'iTrnXos (fTrraTruXos cj. Koetschau
post Boheiellum), eirl S' avrrj irvXi] oydorj (eir' avrfi 8k TrvXai eirrd cj. Guiet). i) ttpurr] twv
TTvXwv /xoXipdov, K.T.X. cited supra i. 626 n. o). The Mithraic doctrine is discussed by
F. Cumont Textes et monuments figures relatifs aitx mysteres de Mithra Bruxelles 1899 i.
37 ff., 1896 ii. 243 ff. fig. 77, id. in Roscher Lex. Myth. ii. 3057, id. in Daremberg—Saglio
Diet. Ant. iii. 1953, id. Die Mysterien des Mithra''^ trans. G. Gehrich Leipzig 1911
p. 129 f. See further Lobeck Aglaophamus ii. 934, G. Kroll De oraculis Chaldaicis
Vratislaviae 1894 pp. 63
(citing from Psellos i^rjyrjaLS els rd XaX5ai/ca X67ia (cxxii. 1 132 B
Migne) the lines /u.77 Karoi veixrys' Kprj/jLvos Kara yrjs viroKeuaL |
^ad/jLi8os' f i"p' rjv 6 TTJs 'AvdyKTjs dpbvos eariv (an leg. riv inr' 'AvdyKTjs \
eTrraTropov
cvpojv Kara
^crri dpovos?),
where the ewrdwopos ^ad/xis is equivalent to Origen's KXIfxai, kirrdTrvXas), 76 Add., Gruppe
CuU. Myth, orient. Rel. i. 665, id. inXht/ahresbericht iiber die Forlschritle der classischen
Alterlhumswissenschaft 1896IXXXV. 266, id. Gr. Myth. Rel. p. 1599 f., '^ . ^^^^ Zttr Frage
nach dem Ursprung des Gnostizismus Leipzig 1897 p. 86 ff., W. Bousset 'Die Himmels-
reise der Seele' in the Archivf. Rel. 1901 iv. 160 ff.
^ D. Chwolsohn Die Ssabier und der Ssabismus St Petersburg 1856 ii. 610 cites from
Makrisi (1364—1441 A.D.) the following statement: ' Unter diesen geistigen Wesen
verstehen sie die Engel, von denen sie glauben, dass sie die Leiter der sieben Planeten in
deren Himmelskreisen seien,' etc.
^ A pilaster-relief from the stilpa of Bharhut, now at Calcutta, shows 'the great
Ladder by which Buddha descended at Sankisa from the Trayastrinsas heavens ' as ' a
triple flight of solid stone steps, similar in all respects to the single flight of steps which
was found at the Western Gateway of the Stiipa' (A. Cunningham The Stitpa of Bharhut
London 1879 p. 91 ff. pi. 17 railing-pillars of West Gate, middle relief of right side ;
A. della Seta Religion &= Art trans. Mrs A. Strong London 1914 p. 306 fig. 167).
c. n. Q