Zeus : a study in ancient religion - Warburg Institute

of the thunderbolt 775
Friend Flowers and Flower Lore London 1883 i. 72 f., 164 ff. , 343 collect the names of
flowers associated in the Germanic area with thunder or thunder-gods : e.g. in Germany
the orpine is Donnerkraut, the ground-ivy Donnerrebe, the stonecrop or houseleek
Domierbart (cp. English Jo-harbe, Jubard, Jupiter's Beard (J. Britten—R. Holland
A Dictionary of English Plant-names London 1879 ii. 280, 281, 282), Yxtx\ch. Joubarbe
(P. Sebillot Le Folk-lore de France Paris 1906 iii. 472, 495, 507)), the fumitory Donner-
flug, the field eryngo Donnerdistel, and a tangled vegetable growth Donnerbesen [stipra
p. 642 f.); in Denmark the burdock is tordenskreppe ; in Norway the aconite is Thor-hat
and Thor-hjalm ; on Dartmoor the Potentilla Tormentilla, a plant used as a febrifuge,
was Thor-?nantel (a corruption oitorinenlil) ; in Somerset the ox-eye daisy is dun-daisy or
thunder-daisy. P. Sebillot op. cit. iii. 472 adds French parallels : in the Walloon district
the wild poppy is caXled Jleur du tSni (at 'L\tge),Jleur di tSnir, tonir, tonoire and placed
in the timbers of the roof, while on the festival of the Assumption (Aug. 15) bunches of
St-John's-wort called Djhtjleur du tdnir are blest and sprigs of it thrown on the fire to
keep off lightning ; in Beam a plant with a yellow flower named periglade, ' lightning,' is
treated in the same way ; etc.
The reason for such names is sometimes obscure, but often turns on a fancied resem-
blance in colour, sound, shape, etc. H. Friend op. cit. i. 72 says :
' The Thistle again was
sacred to Thor, its blossom being supposed to receive its bright colour from the lightning,
from which it consequently protected the person or building placed under its guardian-
ship.' J. Britten—R. Holland A Dictio7iary of English Plant-names 'London 1884 iii. 468
note that Silene inflata is called Thunderbolts at Higham in Kent, ' where the children
snap the calyxes, which explode with a slight report.' Eid. ib. adopt a similar explanation
of the fact that in west Cumberland the Stellaria Holostea is known as the Thunner-
floiver. Eid. op. cit. 1879 ii. 305 :
' Papaver j^Z/d'aj-..." About Wooler [in Northumber-
land] it was wont to be called the Thunder-flower or Tightnitigs ; and children were afraid
to pluck the flower, for if, perchance, the petals fell off in the act, the gatherer became
more liable to be struck with lightning ; nor was the risk small, for the deciduousness of
the petals is almost proverbial." Bot. E. Bord., p. 31.'
Various plants were named after Zeus or lupiter. Aios 01/^05 = some sort of pink, perhaps
Dianthus inodorns, 'carnation' (Theophr. hist. pi. 6. i. i, 6. 6. 2, 6. 6. 11, 6. 8. 3 and
ap. Athen. 680 E, Nik. ap. Athen. 684 B, Hesych. and Souid. s.v., Plin. nat. hist. i\. 59
and 67 lovis llos). Atoj /SciXayos yxs^ya^dy—Caslanea vesca, 'chestnut' (Theophr. hist,
pi. 1. 12. I, 3. 3. 1, 3. 3. 8, 3. ID. I, Dioskor. i. 145 p. 137 Sprengel : see also
Hermippos