Themis, a study of the social origins of Greek ... - Warburg Institute

522 Themis [CH.
of the Dike who appears as gate-warden of Hades in the prooemium
of Parmenides 1 .
But to this interesting suggestion there is one obvious objec-
tion. If the winged figure be Dike, she is a duplication. Below,
in the left-hand corner, is a seated figure with hand upraised,
attentive to what goes on above her. Against her is her name
AIKA, Dike. Of the winged figure a simple explanation lies to
hand 2 . The
inscription AIKA is close to a fracture. By supplying
m --o «;
Fig. 146.
the letters evpv we get Eurydike. The figure who turns at the
door is Eurydike herself. Her wings present no difficulty. She
is in Hades and hence is conceived of as an eidolon.
Moreover—and this is for us the important point—in the light
of Eury-dike we understand Dike herself. Eurydike, She of the
Wide-Way, is, like Eurysternos, but the ordered form of Earth
herself, in her cyclic 3 movement of life and death, her eternal wheel
1 Supra, p. 518, note 1.
2
I offered this explanation in the Archiv f. Religiojiswissenschaft, 1909, p. 411,
in a note entitled Dike oder Eurydike. Before his lamented death, Dr Dieterich
wrote acknowledging my suggestion with the utmost courtesy and kindness, but he
pronounced it to his mind 'unwahrscheinlich.'
3
It is perhaps scarcely needful to note that the Greek philosopher never
' escaped from the wheel ;
' revolution was as near as he could get to VEvolution
Creatrice.