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Zeus : a study in ancient religion - Warburg Institute

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at Delphoi 257<br />

the griff<strong>in</strong> which shows him as an earthly deity too, the arrows which mark him<br />

as a destructive god of the underworld ^' Etc.<br />

F<strong>in</strong>ally, Macrobius {c. 400 A.D.), after adduc<strong>in</strong>g the Aeschylean and<br />

Euripidean evidence already quoted- by way of proof that Mount<br />

Parnassos was not sacred to two diverse deities, puts his case thus^:<br />

'We began with the statement that Apollo is the sun. We next showed that<br />

Father Liber is none other than Apollo. Consequently there can be no doubt<br />

that Sol and Father Liber refer to the same god. Nevertheless this shall be<br />

established by yet clearer arguments. Mystic <strong>religion</strong> <strong>in</strong> its rites observes the<br />

follow<strong>in</strong>g rule : when the sun is <strong>in</strong> the upper or diurnal hemisphere, it is called<br />

Apollo ; when <strong>in</strong> the lower or nocturnal, it is held to be Dionysos*, that is Father<br />

Liber.' Etc.<br />

In short, it appears that a variety of <strong>in</strong>fluences—Pythagorean,<br />

Egyptian, Orphic—tended towards the assimilation of Dionysos<br />

' Serv. ill Verg. eel. 5. 66 sed constat secundum Porphyrii librum, quern Solciii<br />

appellavit, triplicem esse Apoll<strong>in</strong>is potestateni, et eundeni esse Solem apud superos,<br />

Liberum Patrem <strong>in</strong> terris, Apoll<strong>in</strong>em apud <strong>in</strong>feros, unde etiam tria <strong>in</strong>signia circa eius<br />

simulacrum videmus—lyram quae nobis caelestis harmoniae i<strong>in</strong>ag<strong>in</strong>em monstrat, gryphen<br />

quae eum (see H. A. Lion ad loc'. n. 66 : Myth. Vat. 3. 8. 16 has more correctly gryphen<br />

qui ettvt) etiam terrenum numen ostendit, sagittas quibus <strong>in</strong>fernalis deus et noxius <strong>in</strong>-<br />

dicatur. The passage is quoted by Myth. Vat. 3. 8. 16 and, <strong>in</strong> a shortened form, by<br />

Myth. Vat. 2. 18 (where G. H. Bode would rightly restore gryphem as aga<strong>in</strong>st A. Mai's<br />

qztadrigam).<br />

^ Supra p. 253.<br />

^ Macrob. Sat. i. 18. 7 f. sed licet, illo prius \Sat. i. 17. 7 ff.] adserto eundem esse<br />

Apoll<strong>in</strong>em ac solem, edoctoque postea \^Sat. i. 18. i ff.] ipsum esse Liberum patrem<br />

qui Apollo est, nulla ex his dubitatio sit Solem ac Liberum patrem eiusdem num<strong>in</strong>is<br />

habendum, absolute tamen hoc argumentis liquidioribus astruetur. <strong>in</strong> sacris enim haec<br />

religiosi arcani observatio tenetur, ut sol, cum <strong>in</strong> supero—id est <strong>in</strong> diurno—hemisphaerio<br />

est, Apollo vocitetur, cum <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>fero^id est <strong>in</strong> nocturno—Dionysus, qui est Liber pater,<br />

habeatur.<br />

"* An etymologis<strong>in</strong>g (vy^ + i^Xtoy or ijeAios !) explanation of NiiktAios, a title borne by<br />

Dionysos at Megara (Paus. i. 40. 6 /uera 5^ tov Aids ro rifxevos es ttiv aKpStroXiv dve\dov

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