Zeus : a study in ancient religion - Warburg Institute

The altars of Zeus Kataibdtes 1
from 421 B.C. onwards^ and is by the universal testimony of the
grammarians and lexicographers the god ' who makes to descend
the thunderbolts^ This indeed is not quite exact as a rendering of
his title, which should rather be the god 'who descends' himself in
the form of a thunderbolt ; but it sufficiently indicates that the
epithet denoted the fall of the lightning-flash from sky to earth.
(a) The altars of Zeus Kataibates.
Zeus Kataibdtes did not often acquire civic importance. But in
Syria, where the cult of the thunderbolt played a large part^, he
rose to the rank of a state-deity. Imperial coppers of Kyrrhos
show Zeus enthroned on a rock^ with thunderbolt and sceptre,
Zeus Kataibdtes of the
and the legend expressly designates him '
Cyrrhestians' (fig. 3)'. Frequentlyan eagle is added at his feet (fig.4)«.
Ktpa.vv!hv o\ ixkv Karapdrai k.t.X., and without a second substantive Niket. Chon. de Isaacio
Angela i p. 471 Bekker ws KaTailSdrrj TrXriy^vTes 17 ^povrrjs ijxv i^aiaLas TrapaKOwevres -rbv
vovv...av€^a.\\ovTo ttjv fxdxv^ ^ai i^eracraovTo pa6vpi,us. Cp. the Apolline oracle cited by
Porph. ap. Euseb. praep. ev. 6. 3. i (Cougny Anth. Pal. Appetid. 6. 146. 11 f.) ovU
fxivovaiv I
fiai-biiiv oaaoiaL KaTaiBdaiov Aids ^7X°^'
1 Aristoph. /rt;ir 42 (where with H. Sharpley read Ai6s tTKarat^drov to point the jest),
Klearchos /ra^. 9 {Frag. hist. Gr. ii. 306 f. Mliller) ap. Athen. 522 D— F, Lyk. Al. 1370,
Orph. h. Zens 15. 6, ApoUod. frag. 34 {Frag. hist. Gr. i. 434 Muller) ap. schol. Soph.
O.C. 705, Cornut. theol. 9 p. 9, 13 Lang, Aristeid. or. i. 8 (i. i j Dindorf), Paus. 5. 14. 10,
Poll. I. 24, 9. 41, Liban. or. 15. 32 (ii. 131, 11 f. Foerster), Hesych. i-.z*. KaTai/3dTr;s,
Scholl—Studemund anecd. i. 265, 266, 274, 282.
4. f.
- Schol. Aristoph. pax 42, Souid. s.v. Karai/Sdrjjs Zeyj, et. tnag. pp. 341, 7 ff., 494,
* Infra § 3 (c) iv (e).
^ Supra i. 124.
5 Brit. Mus. Cat. Coins Galatia, etc. p. 133 pi. 17, 4 Trajan AIOCKATAI BATOY
KYPPHCTCON with mint-mark B in exergue, Hunter Cat. Coins iii. 134 Trajan,
Eckhel Doctr. num. vet.^ iii. 260 f., Rasche Lex. Num. ii. 1167
M; Aurelius, 1168 Commodus, Overbeck Gr. Kunstniyth. Zeus
p. 214 Miinztaf. 3, 16.
The cult of Zeus at Kyrrhos is attested also by coppers of
Alexandros i
Balas, king of Syria, struck in 148 B.C., which have as
reverse type Zeus standing with uplifted wreath and an owl at his feet
{Brit. Mus. Cat. Coins Seleucid Kings of Syria p. 56 pi. 16, 14, Hunter
Cat. Coins iii. 66, Eckhel Doctr. num. vet.''' iii. 260, Rasche Lex. 'S- '^•
Num. ii. 1 166, Suppl. ii. 349, Head Hist, nuin? pp. 766, 777). I figure a sample in the
Leake collection at Cambridge (fig. 2).
® Brit. Mus. Cat. Coins Galatia, etc. p. 134??. Antoninus Pius, M. Aurelius, L. Verus,
Commodus(IilIustratep. i35no. 2oL.Verus[AI0CKATeBAT]0Y KYPPHCTHN
with mint-mark A in exergue), Hunter Cat. Coins iii. 134 f- Antoninus Pius, M. Aurelius,
L. Verus, Commodus, Eckhel Doctr. num. vet.''' iii. 260 f., Rasche Lex. Num. ii. 1167 f.
Trajan, Antoninus Pius, M. Aurelius, L. Verus, Suppl. ii. 350 M. Aurelius, Head Hist,
num? p. 777.