Zeus : a study in ancient religion . es on the turf beneath a great plane-tree, coolwater bubbling up at their feet, the air ringing with a chorus of cicalas, andblossoms of ag7ius castus perfuming the whole place^. It is reasonable to sup-pose that the Zeus of our reliefs had a precinct adjoining this sacred spot. Andthe supposition squares well with sundry further considerations. To the north,and close at hand, lay the vast temple of Zeus Olympios^ begun by Peisistratos,continued by Antiochos iv Epiphanes, and ended by Hadrian. Zeus indeed hadbeen established here from time immemorial. They


Zeus : a study in ancient religion . es on the turf beneath a great plane-tree, coolwater bubbling up at their feet, the air ringing with a chorus of cicalas, andblossoms of ag7ius castus perfuming the whole place^. It is reasonable to sup-pose that the Zeus of our reliefs had a precinct adjoining this sacred spot. Andthe supposition squares well with sundry further considerations. To the north,and close at hand, lay the vast temple of Zeus Olympios^ begun by Peisistratos,continued by Antiochos iv Epiphanes, and ended by Hadrian. Zeus indeed hadbeen established here from time immemorial. They say, writes Pausanias, thatDeukalion built the old sanctuary of Zeus Olympios, and in proof that Deukaliondwelt at Athens they point to a grave not far from the present temple^. If earlygraves were to be seen in the vicinity, we might look to find the cult of a chthonianZeus^ who would be readily brought into connexion with the powers of sub- ii. 4. II pi. 63, 814, A. Michaelis in the A7i7t. d. Inst. 1863 xxxv. 314 f., 328, Lebas—. Fig. 949. Reinach Voyage Arch. p. iiof. pi. 122, Reinach R^p. Reliejsxx. 360 no. i, Inscr. Gr, I no. 245. ^ A. N. Skias ILvix^oKoX eis t7)v ^AdrjvaiKrju Toiroypa(piav pp. 13—16 (=*Eorrfa 1894p. 292), id. in the UpaKT. dpx- fT. 1893 p. 123. 2 Plat. Phaedr. 230 B-c. 3 Paus. i. 18. 8. ^ A. N. Skias in the IIpa/cT. dpx. er. 1897 p. 81 ff. suggests that the small Ionic temple Zeus Met lie hi OS 1119 terranean springs. Pliny, or his authority, was probably^ thinking of the site,when he remarked : At Athens during a rainy summer Enneakrounos is colderthan the well in the garden of Zeus, but in dry seasons the latter is freezing-cold 2. More than that. Midway between the Kallirrhoe-bar and the Olympieionare the foundations of a small temple built in Roman times and subsequentlytransformed into a Christian church^. This little edifice perhaps marks the veryground where Zeus Meilichios was worshipped^. on the Ilissos (J. Stuart—N. Revett The Antiq


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