Zeus : a study in ancient religion - Warburg Institute

The Mother-goddess and hcv pdredros 2C^C)
the goddess. The rest of the Hd is covered with corn-ears, which
fall outwards from the centre : the cock's tail is formed by some of
them^ and supported by others. On the front of the basket is in-
scribed ' M. Modius Maximus, Archigallus of the colony of Ostia^'
The latter part of the inscription is grouped about pan-pipes, and
round it are disposed other tokens of the cult ; to the right, a
lagobolon, a pipe, a flute (?) ; to the left, a timbrel and a bed of
reeds^, among which are seen the head of Attis, the head of Zeus,
the lion of Kybele, etc. This curious
relic seems to have been a corn-
measure or modius dedicated by the
chief-priest, presumably because his
own name happened to be Modius.
Sir James Frazer supposes that it con-
tained the priest's ashes'*. But, arguing
from the analogy of the Cabiric bas-
ket^ I should surmise that it was the
receptacle for the genitals of which,
in accordance with the Phrygian rite
(fig. 191)°, the Archigallus had de-
prived himself". Votaries of Kybele, Zeus, and Attis were wont to
wear effigies of the gods that they served^. A statue brought from
Golden Bougli^: Adonis Attis Osiris^ i. 279 (who notes that the ' urn' is in the Lateran
Museum, no. 1046).
^ Cp. the tail of the Mithiaic bull {supra i. 518), which ends in three corn-ears.
'^ Corp. inscr. Lat. .xiv no. 385 = Dessau Inscr. Lat. sel. no. 4162 M. Modius
Maxximus {sic) \ archiigallus
fig. 190).
|
cololniae
| Ostilensis (Dessau reads Ostiens. But see
•* H. Dessau loc. cit. says ' arbores.' But C. L. Visconti loc. cit. and H. Graillot
Le culte de Cybele Mere des dieiix a Rome et dans Pe»ipire I'omain Paris 191 2 p. 117 n. 2
rightly connect the reeds with the Cannophori (F. Cumont in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Etic.
iii. 1484 f.) and their festival known as canna intrat on March 15 (Wissowa Rel. Kult.
Rom." p. 321).
* Frazer Golden Bough'^ : Adonis Attis Osiris* i. 279.
= Supra i. 107 f. See now an interesting article by E. M. W. Tillyard 'A Cybele altar
in London' in the/ourn. Rom. Stud. 1917 vii. 284 ff. pi. 8.
^ Morell. IVies. Num. Imp. Rom. ii. 301 pi. 11, 16 ( = my fig. 191) a bronze contorniate :
obv. IMP -CAES -VESPASIAN -AVG -cos- III
• Head of Vespasian, laureate, to right; rev.
A Gallus, nude, castrating himself with a knife before an altar (?), or into a round
receptacle (??), set on or in the ground : behind him, his Phrygian cap. On the age and
purpose of such contorniates see Babelon Mann. gr. rom. i. i. 689 ff., B. Pick in Pauly
\N\&iOvi& Real-Enc. iv. 1153— 1160, F. Lenormant in Daremberg— Saglio Diet. Ant. i
1485— 1488, .Stevenson—Smith—Madden Diet. Rom. Coins p. 271 ff. {ib. p. 94).
" Cp. the case of Kombabos {supra i. 591 n. 2). H. Graillot op. cit. pp. 134 n. 7,
179 n. 4 takes the same view, quoting Apul. met. 11. 11, Paulin. Nol. 19. 1^6, poem,
ult. 79 ff. (Ixi. 525 A and 699 A Migne).
** Hdt. 4. 76, Polyb. 21. 6. 7, 21. 37. 6, Dion. Hal. ant. Rom. 2. 19, cp. Cornut.
theol. 6 p. 6, 8 f. Lang.