Zeus : a study in ancient religion - Warburg Institute

yio The spear of Zeus
head of Zeus with his double axe, stands aloof on the right, his leg
supported on a rock and his arm thrown up in astonishment at the
result of his blow\ Behind Thalna is a pomegranate-tree^ with an
eagle* perched upon it; behind TJianr, a bay-tree. The back of
the handle shows the face of Aphrodite, with a flower* in her hair,
surrounded by leafage and flanked by a couple of doves. It will be
^ His pose recalls on the one hand that of Hephaistos on a black-figured amphora in
the Louvre (no. E 852, infra § 9 (h) ii (9)), on the other hand that of Hermes in the east
pediment of the Parthenon {infra § 9 (h) ii (^)).
2 Gerhard op. cit. iii. 68 takes it to be 'eine Myrtenstaude,' noting that the fruit of the
myrtle resembles a small pomegranate.
3 Id. ib. says ' mit darauf sitzender Taube,' but admits that the hooked beak is a
difficulty. The suggestion of myrtle and dove would hardly have been made, had it not
been for the erroneous notion that Thalna was a sort of Aphrodite (Turan).
* Gerhard op. cit. iii. 69 :
' eine Rose.'