Zeus - A Study in Ancient Religion - Vol III Part II

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ZEUS A STUDY IN A N C I E N T R E L I G I O N

V O L U M E III PART II

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS L O N D O N : BENTLEY

HOUSE

NEW YORK, TORONTO, BOMBAY CALCUTTA, MADRAS: MACMILLAN TOKYO: MARUZEN COMPANY LTD AH rights reserved

A STUDY IN A N C I E N T R E L I G I O N

BY

A R T H U R B E R N A R D COOK, LITT.D. VICE-PRESIDENT OF QUEENS* COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF CLASSICAL ARCHAEOLOGY

VOLUME III

Z E U S GOD OF THE D A R K SKY ( E A R T H Q U A K E S , CLOUDS, WIND, DEW, R A I N , M E T E O R I T E S ) vs aX\o/ca /xeV ireAei cu$/oios, aXXo/ca 8' vet THEOKRITOS 4. 43

PART II APPENDIXES AND INDEX

Cambridge: at the University Press

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN

APPENDIX P. FLOATING ISLANDS. Floating islands have not yet been made the subject of any monograph1. But examples of them are given by Sen. nat. quaestt. 3. 25. 7 ff., Plin. nat. hist. 2. 209, and the anonymous author de aquis mirabilibus 37 ff. (formerly identified with Sotion (Phot. bibl. p. 145 b 28 ff. Bekker) and printed under that name by A. Westermann IlAPAAO3OrPA$OI Brunsvigae 1839 p. 183 ff., but better edited as Paradoxographi Florentini anonymi opusculum de aquis mirabilibus by H. Oehler Tubingae 1913 and cited as such in W. Christ Geschichte der griechischen Litteratur^ Miinchen 1920 ii. 420 f.). Fact and fable are so blended in their accounts that individual cases call for separate consideration: (1) Aiolos Hippotades lived on a floating island (Od. 10. 3 7rXa>r# eVi j/^Vw as explained by Aristarchos ap. schol. H.M.Q.T.V. Od. 10. 3, Apollon. lex. Horn. p. 132, i8f., Eustath. in Od. p. 1644, 5 i f f , cp. Hesych. s.v. TrXoor?/, Phot. lex. s.v. TrXwroi', Favorin. lex. p. 1523, i8f., Souid. s.v. n-Xtor)) vfjcros, Zonar. lex. s.v. TrXomy, and W. W. Merry ad loc.\ which was perhaps originally regarded as an island of souls (supra p. 109). On it see further K. Tiimpel in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. i. 1032 ff. (2) The Homeric Planktai were beetling rocks against which the waves broke. No birds could pass them in safety. Even the doves that brought ambrosia to Zeus always lost one of their number, and another had to be sent by him in its stead. Never yet had any ship escaped these rocks, for billows of salt water and blasts of destructive fire overwhelmed ships and crews alike. The Argo alone, on its voyage frQrn Aietes, had passed them, being sent past in safety by Hera for lason's sake (Od. 12. 59—72, 23. 327). There is no question here of clashing rocks, between which Odysseus must go (schol. Pind. Pyth. 4. 370). The poet, anxious to eliminate incredible marvels (supra ii. 989), has substituted wapd for did (62 -rrapep^erai, 69 TraperrXa, 72 irapfirf^fv} and left US to suppose that the danger lay in being dashed against the rocks, not in being crushed between them. Nevertheless the name nXayjcrai used of them by the blessed gods (61) implies that they were originally conceived as 'Wandering' rocks, and the sinister phrase dXXa re KOL TO>V alev cKpaipeirai Xis irerpr) (64) looks like a reminiscence of the clashing motif. The Kyaneai (first in Soph. Ant. 966 or Hdt. 4. 85) or Symplegades (first in Eur. Med. 431) of the Argonauts' adventure were two living rocks which rushed together, rolling faster than the winds (Pind. Pyth. 4. 208 ff). As early as s. v B.C., if not earlier, they were located on the Thracian Bosporos (Soph. Ant. 966 f. and Hdt. 4. 85) at the entrance to the Euxine (Eur. I.T. 124f.), where they formed 1

Unless we concede the name to such articles as those by Mary Johnston ' Floating islands, ancient and modern' in the Classical Weekly 1925—-1926 xix. 58, L. R. Shero ' The Vadimonian Lake and floating islands of Equatorial Africa ' ib. 1933—1934 xxvii. 51 f., J. W. Spaeth ' More floating islands' ib. p. 78, R. M. Geer ' Floating islands once more' ib. p. 152 or to such chapters as those of A. Breusing ' Nautisches zu Homeros. 6. TTAflTHI 6 N I N H C H T in the Jahrb. /. class. Philol. 1886 xxxii. 85—92 and E. Hawks The Book of Natural Wonders London 1932 pp. 192—198 ('Disappearing Islands'). C. III. 62

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Appendix P

the mouth of the Pontos (Theokr. 22. 27 f., Nikeph. Greg. hist. Byz. 5. 4 (i. 134 Schopen)). Apollonios of Rhodes tells how the Argonauts on their outward voyage were warned by Phineus of the two Kyaneai, which were not firmly fixed with roots beneath but constantly clashed together amid boiling surf, and advised by him to send a dove in advance (Ap. Rhod. 2. 317 ff.); how they acted on his advice and saw the rocks shear off the tail-feathers of the bird; how they themselves making a desperate dash just got through, thanks to the helpful hands of Athena, with the loss of the tip of their stern-ornament; and how the rocks thenceforward were rooted fast and remained motionless (ib. 2. 549 ff.—a fine piece of writing). It should be observed that Apollonios is careful to distinguish the Kyaneai or Plegades, as he terms them (Ap. Rhod. 2. 596, 2. 645, and Kavvov KriW frag. 5. 4 Powell ap. Cramer anecd. Par. iv. 16, i ff. and Tzetz. in Lyk. Al. 1285), from the Homeric Planktai. For it is only on the return voyage that he works in an allusion to the Planktai, which are described as having surge at their bases and flame at their tops (Ap. Rhod. 4. 786ff., 924 ff.) in obvious reference to the Lipari Islands (cp. Ap. Rhod. 3. 41 f. dXX' 6 pev (sc. Hephaistos) e'y ^aAKewva KOI tiK^iovas r/pt /3e/3?7K«, vrjcroio TrXayKrJ)? evpvv /JLV^OV with schol. ad loc.\ Many of the Greeks, however, identified the Kyaneai or Symplegades of the Bosporos with the Planktai (so first, perhaps, Hdt. 4. 85, then Asklepiades (? of Myrleia: see G. Wentzel in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. ii. 1629) ap. schol. Od. 12. 69 and other vedtrepoi (schol. Eur. Med. 2) listed by O. Jessen in Roscher Lex. Myth. iii. 2546). And sundry Roman poets, placing Scylla in Sicilian waters, associate her with clashing rocks (Ov. met. 7. 62 ff.) called Symplegades (Ov. her. 12. 121) or Cyaneae (luv. 15. 19 f.). The right conclusion is drawn by O. Jessen loc. cit., viz. that both the Planktai and the Kyaneai or Symplegades presuppose the ancient popular belief in a doorway to the Otherworld formed by clashing mountain-walls (T. Waitz Anthropologie der Naturvolker Leipzig 1864 iv. 166 the Mexican dead 'hatte aneinander schlagende Berge...zu passiren,' Jiilg 'liber die griechische Heldensage im Wiederscheine bei den Mongolen' in the Verh. d. 26. Philologenversamml. in Wiirzburg 1869 p. 64 in the Mongolian saga of Gesser Chan bk 4 'Von da weiterhin kommst du zu einer andern Verwandlung, namlich zu zwei an einander schlagenden Felswanden; um zwischen denselben durchzukommen, musst du selbst ein Mittel ausfindig machen,' E. B. Tylor Primitive Culture* London 1891 i. 347 f. the Karens of Burma 'say that in the west there are two massive strata of rocks which are continually opening and shutting, and between these strata the sun descends at sunset,' ib. i. 348 f. in an Ottawa tale losco and his friends after travelling eastward for years reached the chasm that led to the land of the Sun and Moon; as the sky rose, losco and one friend leapt through, but the other two were caught by the sky as it struck the earth, A. Leskien—K. Brugman Litauische Volkslieder und Marchen Strassburg 1882 p. 550 in a Slovenian tale the hero's mother 'stellt sich krank und will Wasser von zwei zusammenschlagenden Felsen, die aber keine Felsen, sondern Teufel sind, und nur um Mitternacht zwei Minuten schlafen,' ib. p. 551 in a similar Slovak tale the mother 'stellt sich krank und verlangt...das Wasser des Lebens und des Todes, das unter zwei Bergen ist, von denen der eine um Mittag, der andere um Mitternacht sich erhebt und gleich wieder zufallt,' ib. in a similar tale from Little Russia the mother 'stellt sich krank und schickt den Sohn...nach heilendem und belebendem Wasser zu den zusammenschlagenden Bergen,' W. R. S. Ralston Russian Folk-tales London 1873 p. 235 f. cites stories of the

Floating Islands

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same type. In one 'the hero is sent in search of "a healing and a vivifying water," preserved between two lofty mountains which cleave closely together, except during "two or three minutes" of each day...."Prince Ivan spurred his heroic steed, flew like a dart between the mountains, dipped two flasks in the waters, and instantly turned back." He himself escapes safe and sound, but the hind legs of his horse are caught between the closing cliffs, and smashed to pieces. The magic waters, of course, soon remedy this temporary inconvenience.... In a similar story from the Ukraine, mention is made of two springs of healing and life-giving water, which are guarded by iron-beaked ravens, and the way to which lies between grinding hills. The Fox and the Hare are sent in quest of the magic fluid. The Fox goes and returns in safety, but the Hare, on her way back, is not in time quite to clear the meeting cliffs, and her tail is jammed in between them. Since that time, hares have had no tails,' M. Caster Rumanian Bird and Beast Stories London 1915 p. 2636". in a Rumanian tale Floria, sent to fetch the Water of Life and the Water of Death, was helped by a lame stork, which went straight to the mountains that knock against one another, waited—at the advice of a swallow—till noon when they rest for half an hour, then plunged into their depth and filled two bottles, but lost his tail as the mountains closed furiously upon him. And that is why storks have no tails, J. G. von Hahn Griechische und albanesische Marchen Leipzig 1864 ii. 46 in a Greek tale from Syra (supra ii. 1004 ff.) the girl Moon, helped by the bird Dikjeretto, fetched the Water of Life from a spring in a mountain which opened at midday, but had to cut off a piece of her dress that was caught by the closing cleft, ib. ii. 280 f. in another tale from Syra, akin to the group noted by Leskien and Brugman ( = von Hahn's nineteenth formula ' Schwester- oder Mutter-Verrath oder Skyllaformel'), the hero's mother feigns illness and craves for the Water of Life (aQavaro i/epd): the young man is directed by an old dame, in reality his Fate (fjrav T) TI>X>] TOV iraiftiov), to a mountain which opens every day at noon and contains many springs; he is guided to the right one by a bee, ib. ii. 283 f. in a variant from Vitza in Epeiros the prince's elder sister pretends to be ill and sends him for the Water of Life, which a lame crow obtains from a mountain that opens and shuts, ib. i. 238 in a tale from the Zagori district of Epeiros a prince, to win Goldylocks, must needs fetch the Water of Life from a mountain which opens only for a moment and then shuts to with a snap; he gets it from a helpful raven, who brings it to him in a gourd, ib. ii. 194 f. in another tale from Zagori the hero, to win the king's daughter, has to obtain the Water of Life from a mountain which opens and closes again with the speed of lightning; he borrows the wings of a helpful eagle and escapes with filled gourd, R. Kohler in the Gott. Gel. Anz. 1871 ii. 1403 f. no. (^} = id. Kleinere Schriften Weimar 1898 i. 367 f. in a modern Greek tale a king's son sets out to find for his sick father the Water of Immortality (T aQa.va.To vepo) 'welches sich am Ende der Welt hinter zwei hohen Bergen befindet, die nach Art der Symplegaden immer auseinandergehen und wieder zusammenstossen 1 ' p.-.ebensq bei Sakellarios No. 8. Vgl. auch Wenzig Westslaw. Marchenschatz S. 148]. On the Water of Life see further A. Wiinsche Die Sagen vom Lebensbaum und Lebenswasser Leipzig 1905 pp. 90— 104 ('Das W7asser des Lebens als Zauberbrunnen in den Marchen der Volker'), J. Bolte—G. Polivka Anmerkungen zu den Kinder- u. Hausmarchen der Briider Grimm Leipzig 1915 iii. 394—401 ('Das Wasser des Lebens')). A seafaring people might naturally conceive of such a portal as a pair of floating rocks or islets. Thus in a Greenland tale the hero Giviok 'continued paddling until he came in sight of two icebergs, with a narrow passage between them; 62—2

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Appendix P

and he observed that the passage alternately opened and closed again. He tried to pass the icebergs by paddling round outside them, but they always kept ahead of him; and at length he ventured to go right between them. With great speed and alacrity he pushed on, and had just passed when the bergs closed together, and the stern-point of his kayak got bruised between them' (H. Rink Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo Edinburgh—London 1875 p. I58f.). It would, however, be unsafe to infer from this tale that the Planktai were 'an early attempt to reproduce some sailor's story of the floating icebergs' (W. W. Merry on Od. 12. 61) and that the Kyaneai or Symplegades presuppose a dim recollection of icebergs in the Black Sea (cp. for the facts E. H. Minns Scythians and Greeks Cambridge 1913 p. 6). Both alike are but mariners' versions of the gateway to the Otherworld. See further F. Wieseler commentatio de Cyaneis sive Symplegadibus Gottingae 1879 pp. i—20, O. Jessen 'Planktai 3 in Roscher Lex. Myth. iii. 2540—2548, Sir J. G. Frazer in his ed. of Apollodoros London—New York 1921 ii. 355—358 (Append, v 'The Clashing Rocks'), Miss J. R. Bacon The Voyage of the Argonauts London 1925 p. 79 f. (3) As knowledge of the Mediterranean increased there was a tendency to put the clashing rocks further and further afield. Close to the Ceraunian mountains were two rocks which clashed together as often as any trouble threatened the natives (Dionys. per. 394 ff. tvda pov "iKoicrOe /j,ep.opfjL(vov, oirnodi Stcrcrat d&Tadees irKa>ov(Tiv dkrjfMoves elv dAi Trerpat, | as Averts1 A/z/3poo"i'as fTretfrrjfuo'fv, ais evi QaXXei \ jjAtfcos avroppi^ov opo^vyov f'pvos ekair/s, \ TreTprjs vypOTropoto aKporarois §€ | alerov ddprjcrrjre Trape8pr)