Zeus : a study in ancient religion - Warburg Institute

The Delphic 07nphal6s 187
at the conclusion that the true owner of the omphalos was Zeus^
and compared its two golden eagles with the two gilded eagles
that flanked the altar of Zeus Lykaios'^. Whatever be thought of
Boetticher's main contention, the analogy that he drew is sound
and its implications are of some consequence. The altar of Zeus
Lykaios flanked by the gilded eagles was simply a circular summit
of Mount Lykaion^ I am disposed to infer that the oinpJialSs at
Delphoi was likewise, to begin with, a mound— a mere mass of
earth-*, which in process of time was conventionalised into a hemi-
spherical or ovoid stone, but to the last bore upon its surface the
tell-tale monosyllable Gds^. This mound (the 'Archer's hill' some
called if^) supported the sky-pillar', and was therefore haunted by
the sky-god, who here as elsewhere came and went in the form of
an eagle. I take it that both in Arkadia and in Phokis the eagles
betoken the telephany of the god himself**. The fact that they
^ Id. ib. p. 5 :
' Der Omphalos ist vom Ursprunge an das Weihethum des Zeus
Moiragetes und der ihm beisitzenden Moiren gewesen ; durch eine Reihe schicksallen-
kender Mjichte, welche alle nur Zeus Willen oftenbaren, vererbt er sich auf den jUngsten
Gott der Statte, den Apollon, der nach einem bezeichnenden Worte Platons : in des Zeus
Namen als Exeget der Satzungen und Anordnungen seines Vaters fur die ganze Mensch-
heit kv ixiat^ r^s yyjs iirl tov 6/j.(pa\ov Kadrjfievos e^iryeiTai ' [Plat. re/>. 427 c].
2 Id. ib. p. 7f. ' Supra i. 81 ff.
* Cp. fig. 131 =M. Rostowzew ' Die hellenistisch-romische Architekturlandschaft ' in
the Rom. Mitth. 191 1 xxvi. 41 fig. 18 a wall-painting from a house at Pompeii {reg. vii.
2. t8) decorated in the third or 'ornate' style (supra p. 143 n. 4). Height i"i7"S
breadth o'63'". In the centre is a sacred tree with a gateway erected over it and a statue
of Artemis or Hekate holding torches beneath it. Close by is seen a circular wall, with
openings in it, surrounding another tree, which bears fruit (? apples), and an omphaloid
hillock, which is covered with an agrenon and topped by a tall tripod. The remainder of
the picture is occupied by two persons (?man and woman), carrying thyrsos and torch,
three goats grazing, and a number of votive offerings. See further H. Heydemann in the
Bidl. d. Inst. 1868 p. 45 (' un simulacro femminile di bronzo,...due uomini coronati...'),
-Sogliano Pitt, niiir. Camp. p. 141 no. 686 ('una divinita muliebre...due donne...'),
A. Mau Geschichte der decorativen Wandmalerei in Pompeji Berlin 1882 p. 430.
^ Supra p. 175 f. The Delphic omp/ia/os was known to Pindar, Bakchylides, the
tragedians, etc. as the 'navel of the Earth' (see W. H. Roscher Omphalos Leipzig 1913
p. 54
ff.). But neither Homer nor Hesiod mentions it as such {id. ib. p. 10) ; our earliest
source for the expression is Epimenides, who writes : oiire yap rjv yairjs fx^aos ofxipaKbi
oiiSe doKdaaris- |
ei 5^ tls ecrri, Oeoh SfjXos, dvtjTo'ta-L 5' aots ^dvrji'
XeyoyU^cijj' • iKu yap Kai 6 dpuKuv KaTero^eidi). Koi 6 6fj.a\6s ttjs yrjs TOLcpos ecTTl tov
Hvduivos. .See further T. Schreiber Apollon Pythoklonos Leipzig 1879 pp. 6 n. 27, 44,
Gruppe Gr. Myth. Pel. p. 1256 n. 2, Tiirk in Roscher Lex. Myth. iii. 3404 f.
' Supra p. 1 69 ff.
* Zeus took the form of an eagle, when he first came from Crete to Naxos (sjipra i.
164 n. 4), consorted with Europe in the tree (supra i. 532), inspected the charms of Semele
(Nonn. Dion. 7. 210 ff.), ravished Aigina (Clem. Rom. horn. 5. 13 (ii. 181, 184 Migne),
Athen. 566 D, Nonn. Dion. 7. 122, 7. 213, 13. 201 'iU, 16. 56 ff., 24. 77 ff-, 33. 296 f,