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Zeus : a study in ancient religion - Warburg Institute

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3o6 Attis <strong>in</strong> relation to Christianity<br />

blaze of light, the words of comfort whispered by the priest<br />

Courage, ye mystics of the god now saved ;<br />

Salvation shall be ours from all our woes ^ !<br />

No less suggestive was the teach<strong>in</strong>g connected with the taurobolium^<br />

and criobolhim'^. In all the <strong>Zeus</strong>-cults of the Mediterranean world<br />

the bull and the ram play their part as centres of procreative powers<br />

And by this dread baptism <strong>in</strong> their blood and reception of their<br />

vital forces'* the worshipper (I quote a Roman altar of the fourth<br />

century) was 'reborn to life eternaP.' The devotee of Attis belonged<br />

on the part of the victim.' But, if those Eddie stanzas represent a genu<strong>in</strong>e Norse beHef,<br />

the sacrifice of Odh<strong>in</strong> to Odh<strong>in</strong> on the gallows tree might well be taken as the nearest<br />

pagan parallel to the crucifixion of Christ.<br />

^ Firm. Mat. 22. i nocte quadam simulacrum <strong>in</strong> lectica sup<strong>in</strong>um ponitur et per<br />

numeros digestis fletibus plangitur : de<strong>in</strong>de cum se ficta lamentatione satiaver<strong>in</strong>t, lumen<br />

<strong>in</strong>fertur : tunc a sacerdote omnium qui flebant fauces unguentuv, quibus perunctis sacerdos<br />

hoc lento murmure susurrat : dappilre fivaTaL rod deov (Teacjcr/j.ei'ov \ 'earai yap rip.iv (k<br />

irbvuv auTTjpla. That the allusion is to the rites of Attis appears from Firm. Mat. 3. i ff.,<br />

cp. Damaskios v. Isid. ap. Phot. bibl. p. 345 a 5 ff. Bekker Tore t^ 'lepairdXei iyKadev-<br />

drjaas idoKovv 6vap b" Arrris yiviadai, KaL p.01 <strong>in</strong>iTeXeljOat. wapa rrjs fnjrpbs tQv dtwv ttjv rwv<br />

'IXapLuv KoXovixivojv eopr-qv dwep edrjXov rrjv c| q.Sov yeyovviav Tifj-dv (joirripiav.<br />

- Supra i. ^17 n. 2, H. Graillot Le ctilte dc Cybcle Mh-e des dieux a Rome et dans Vem-<br />

pire rema<strong>in</strong> Paris 1912 p. 153<br />

^ Supra i. 428 ff., 633 ff., 716 ff., 779.<br />

^ Wissowa Rel. Kull. J\om.^ p. 325 :<br />

ff., Frazer Golden Bongli^ : Adonis Attis Osiris'* i. 274 ff.<br />

' e<strong>in</strong>e besondere, nicht vollig aufgekljirte Rolle<br />

spielen beim Opfer die Hoden (vires) des Stieres ' cit<strong>in</strong>g Corp. <strong>in</strong>scr. Lat. xiii no. 510,<br />

3<br />

ff. = Dessau Inscr. Lat. sel. no. 4127, 3 ff. (Lactora<strong>in</strong> Aquitania) vires escelpit Eutyche|tis,<br />

xiii no. 1751, ioff. = Dessau no. 4131, 10 ff. (Lugdunum) vires excepit et a Vaticano<br />

transjtulit, ara et bucranium |<br />

tauri, I quo<br />

propri(e) ]<br />

525, 3 ff. =Dessau no. 4129, 3 |<br />

pub(lice) fact(um) |<br />

per<br />

suo <strong>in</strong>pendio consacravit, xiii no. 522, 3 ff. (Lactora) vires<br />

tauropo|lium pub(lice) fac|tum fecerat, | consacravit,<br />

ft". (Lactora) vires tauri,<br />

quo<br />

proprie |<br />

xiii no.<br />

per<br />

tauropojlium<br />

consacravit, xii no. 1567, 20 f =Dessau no. 4140, 20 f. (Dea<br />

fecerat,<br />

Augusta Vocontiorum) loco vires conjditae. H. Graillot op. cit. p. J55 n. 6 adds Ephem.<br />

epigr. 1899 viii. 118 no. 455 (Liternum) sacerdos | [MJatris deum | [?At]hamas condidit<br />

(^. z;w(rr. Za/. V no. 6961 f = Dessau no. 4158 f (Taur<strong>in</strong>i) viribus | Aeterni |<br />

taurobolio | Sempronia | Eutocia and viri[b]us | Aeterni | taurobolio | P. Ulattius |<br />

Priscus. So Corp. <strong>in</strong>scr. Lat. xiii no. 573 = Dessau no. 4157 (altar at Burdigala with ram's<br />

head on one side, hdrpe and Phrygian cap on other side) natalici virib(us) |<br />

lull<strong>in</strong>a I<br />

et<br />

Valer(ia)<br />

lul(ia) Sancta. Elsewhere the Vires are personified and associated with a<br />

variety of water-div<strong>in</strong>ities, viz. Neptunus [Corp. <strong>in</strong>scr. Lat. v no. 4285 = Dessau no. 329 1 ),<br />

Lymphae [Corp. <strong>in</strong>scr. Lat. v no. 5648 = Dessau no. 3871), Nymphae {Corp. <strong>in</strong>scr. Lat. xi<br />

no. ii62=Dessau no. 3870), Fons and (Aqua) Vent<strong>in</strong>a [Co7p. <strong>in</strong>scr. Lat. ix no. 3351<br />

= Dessau no. 5781), Deus Magnus Pantheus {Corp. <strong>in</strong>scr. Lat. v no. 5798 = Dessau<br />

no. 3997),<br />

or worshipped on their own account {Corp. <strong>in</strong>scr. Lat. v nos. 1964, 8247,<br />

8248). Their cult apparently implies the belief that runn<strong>in</strong>g water is the sem<strong>in</strong>al fluid of<br />

a deity. See further H. Hepd<strong>in</strong>g Attis se<strong>in</strong>e Mythen und se<strong>in</strong> Kidt Gieszen 1903 p. 191 f<br />

and sttpra i. 882 Index ii s.v. 'Testicles.'<br />

^ Corp. <strong>in</strong>scr. Lat. vi no. sio = Orelli Inscr. Lat. sel. no. 2352 = Wilmanns Ex. <strong>in</strong>scr.<br />

Lat. no. 110= Dessau Inscr. Lat. sel. no. 4152 a marble altar decorated with reliefs (on<br />

right side, a p<strong>in</strong>e-tree, from which hang flutes and Phrygian cap, with a ram ; on left side,<br />

a p<strong>in</strong>e-tree, from which hang timbrel and pipe, with a bull; on back, iorchts, patera, and<br />

vessels) and <strong>in</strong>scribed : Dis |<br />

magnis<br />

|<br />

Matri<br />

deum et Attidi Se|xtilius Agesilaus Aedesius |

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