divine epiphany in lucian's account of the oracle of alexander of abonuteichos

Divine Epiphany in Lucian's Account of the Oracle of Alexander of AbonuteichosAuthor(s): MATTHEW DICKIESource: Illinois Classical Studies, Vol. 29, Diving Epiphanies in the Ancient World (2004), pp.159-182Published by: University of Illinois PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23065346 .

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9

Divine Epiphany in Lucian's Account of the Oracle of Alexander of Abonuteichos

MATTHEW DICKIE

I. Introduction

The aim of this paper is to recapture something of what men who were

convinced that they had experienced the presence of a god felt, did and said.

Discussion of the pattern of responses to which epiphanies gave rise will be based on Lucian's portrayal of the reaction of the people of Abonuteichos

to the emergence before their eyes of the god Asclepius. There are in

ancient literature few more detailed and immediate accounts of the actions

and emotions of persons who felt that they had been in the presence of the

divine than that contained in Lucian's account of the rise to fame and

fortune of the prophet Alexander of Abonuteichos. Lucian's tale is not

exactly a reliable historical document, but it is not wholly devoid of historical worth. There is, after all, incontrovertible evidence, mainly in the form of coins, that Alexander established between 140 and 145 C.E. an

oracular shrine in Abonuteichos, a sea-port on the southern coast of the

Black Sea, and Alexander's place of birth. That his career followed

precisely the path and that the measures he took to set up the oracle were

exactly those that Lucian relates is to be doubted. That does not mean that

Lucian's essay is to be written off in its entirety and condemned as an

exercise in invective and character-assassination.1 In its broad lineaments it

does depict the way in which cults came to be established; it also contains

accurate and detailed information about the operation of the cult founded by

Alexander.2

1 The position of Bompaire 1958: 480-82. For a more balanced assessment, see Lane Fox

1986: 243-44. Branham 1989: 179-210 concentrates mainly on what he believes is the dis

concerting persona that Lucian's narrator assumes in the Alexander. For a sensitive and nu

anced treatment of the evidentiary value of a Lucianic text of a rather different order, the De

Syria Dea, see Lightfoot 2003:209—21. 2 Weinreich 1921: 141. "Wir besitzen nicht viele Schilderungen, die so unmittelbare

Einblicke gewähren in das wirkliche religiöse Leben einer nai'v-glaubigen Masse, in die



160 Illinois Classical Studies 29 (2004)

Granted then that Lucian is hardly a trustworthy witness to the events

leading up to the epiphany in Abonuteichos of the god Asclepius, we can still with some confidence use the story he tells to illustrate the structure

that men in describing an epiphany impose on the tale they tell. Accounts of

epiphanies follow a certain discernible pattern. That is demonstrable. The

literary historian will be content, if he can show what the pattern is. For the social historian matters cannot end there. What he has to settle is the

relationship between the narrative and the reality it purports to portray.

Unless he is prepared to come to grips with the problem, there is not very

much to be said about the emotions and actions to which epiphanies gave rise. I shall argue that what writers such as Lucian describe is the pattern of learned responses to be witnessed in those who had persuaded themselves

they had been in the presence of the divine.

II. The Story told by Lucian

According to Lucian, Alexander, had as a youth been the lover and protege

of a doctor who practiced magic (5). After the doctor died, Alexander teamed up with a man called Cocconas. The pair went around putting on

performances of magic to fleece the rich. In Pella in Macedonia they acquired a large tame snake and decided with its help to establish an oracle

(6-9). The place they settled on was Abonuteichos, since those who dwelt

in its hinterland were simple-minded, excessively credulous and fearful of

the divine; they were in fact so fearful of the divine that if a man appeared amongst them accompanied by a piper or a castanet-player and then

proceeded to use a sieve to practice divination, they gaped open-mouthed at him as though he were a god.3 That is to say the people who lived in the

vicinity of Abonuteichos were so inclined in their fearful credulity to see the hand of the divine in everything that they were prepared to view the

least regarded of all seers, the kookiv6h<xvti.<;, as a divine being.4 Before

setting up shop in Abonuteichos, Alexander and his partner contrived to

religiöse Psyche der Armen im Geiste, die rettungslos der ungemein geschickt inszenierten

Epiphanie des Gottes und dem faszinierenden Einfluss seines Propheten erliegen, ais die

Lukianische." 3

Lucian, Alex. 9: o & AAfijav&poi; eiiitaXiw Ta o'Ckoi TTpouKpiKCK, ieycov õirep älT]0c? f|v, upõc züv toioutuv ipxtF Kai žirixetprpiv dvöpcõiruv 6elv uax«ov Kai fiXiSiuv tiõv

utio6€5o;i£vcov, o'iou? toüg na^AaYowxc tlvai e<t>aoK€v fmepoiKoöirai; tõ tou 'Apüvou tei-xoc. Õ€uu5a i^ovai; T0O5 iroXXoix; Kai ^Xiöioui;, Kai \iovov el (jjafeiti tic aüA.tiTT)i/ rj Tupuanotrii' fi Kuppkiixnc Kpoxoüirca širayoiiEivc. kookii^ tõ toü Xõyou (lavreuõnevoc, aiiTiKa \ia\a ncuaac Kexil^ÖTac upõc aiiTÕv Kai uoncp Tiva töv žitoupainwi' npoapjinoirai;. 4 See Philostr., VA 6. 11 on old women with sieves attached to them who approach

shepherds and cowherds and cure sick beasts by divination.



Matthew Dickie 161

bury bronze tablets in the temple of Apollo in Chalcedon; their providential discovery would spread the word that Asclepius would come in the

company of his father Apollo to Pontus and take possession of

Abonuteichos. On hearing this, the citizens of Abonuteichos voted to erect a

temple to Asclepius and set to work digging foundations for it (10). Alexander now went ahead to Abonuteichos to herald the arrival of the

divinities. He appeared with flowing locks, wearing a tunic of purple shot

through with white; above it a white himation; in his hands he carried a

sickle in the manner of Perseus, from whom he said he was descended on

his mother's side (11). His arrival in Abonuteichos was a spectacular one:

he burst into the city frothing at the mouth, as though demented and

possessed by a god, an effect achieved, according to Lucian, by chewing the

root of a quince-like plant; the froth around his mouth was taken to be as a

sign of the divine (12).5 Alexander's next move was to bury at night in a

puddle that had formed in the newly-dug foundations of the temple of

Asclepius the egg of a goose into which had been inserted a recently hatched snake. At dawn (ewGtv), Alexander came dashing into the market

place of the town, dressed only in a loin-cloth, though a golden one; he

carried a sickle; his hair, which was allowed to flow free, he tossed

vigorously in the manner of the possessed persons who begged on behalf of

the Mother Goddess (oeiuv qicc tt)v k6ht)u avexov coairep ol trj |ir|tpl

dyeCpovtes te xal evGeaCovteg). He mounted a high altar and pronounced a

makarismos on the city, because it was just about to receive a god in a

strikingly visible form (koci tr|v ttoA.iv e[iaKapi(ev afrciKa paXa Ö€i;o|ievT]v

evapyfi toy 0e6v).6 The whole city, including women, old men and children, had by now gathered to watch the spectacle:7 they were filled with wonder,

they prayed and performed an act of adoration (exeGTiireoav kocI r|üxovto Kal

irpoaeKuvow). Alexander, for his part, uttered expressions that his hearers

could not understand, some Hebrew, some Phoenician, though interspersed

amongst the unintelligible the names Apollo and Asclepius were to be made

out (13). Then he set off at a run for the temple-to-be; reaching the pool of

water and standing in it, he sang in a loud voice hymns addressed to

5 HeHTivemi upooiroioünefoc kvimc Kai dtJjpoC imouiiinAäiiewc tõ oto^ioc piföiox; 6c toOto

unfjpxev aire/, aipouGtou tfjq pa<t>tKfj<; $oxavr\<; tf)V pt(av 6i.afiaorioa(icv(^' toi<; 6e Qäov n

Kai <j>o|3ep6i; eõoKti Kai o atjjpo;. 6 Weinreich 1921: 141 remarks on the religious termini lechnici used here. For 6exeo9ai.

used of receiving a god, cf. Callim., Hymn 5. 138; Diod. Sic. 4. 51. 2; Paus.l. 14. 2; 1. 37.

2; 2.35.4; 7.27.9; Efym. Afagn. s.v. Aejjuov. 7

owõeSpanriKei yap axeõov ftuaoa r| noXig aua YUM!tlCi Kai Ytpoixn Kai uaiõioii;.

Chariton describes in similar terms the way in which all of the citizens of Miletus flocked to

see Callirhoe, whom they imagined to be Aphrodite come amongst them: oiiK direA.eu|>0r| 'tv

tatg olKiaic ovi Tiat8ioy, ou ykpuiv, äXX' ou5' kv toIc Xi(i£Oi, Chariton, Chaer. 3.2. 17.




Asclepius and Apollo, calling on the god to come bringing good luck to the

city (tyivoug te fjõev 'AokAt|iuou Kal 'AitõAAxovoc (aeyaA-r) trj tjiuvfj Kai

eKaXei xov 0e6v t]K€iv tu^t) xfj <xya0fi el; rf)v noliv); that is to say, he

sang a cletic hymn calling on the god to be present and to bring good luck with him.8 At this juncture, Alexander dipped a phiale into the pool and

brought out the egg in which the snake was encased; he told his audience

that he now held Asclepius in his hands; they gazed intently at him to see what was going to happen. What happened was that he broke the egg to let the little snake fall into the hollow of his hand; it then wound itself around his fingers. At this, the spectators called out, greeted the god and

pronounced their city blessed: individually they uttered prayers to the god, asking him for treasures, wealth, health and other goods (aveKpayov ei)0u<; tea! ipnd(0UT0 xov 9eov Kai tt]v nõ/Uv €|iaKapi(ov Kai xavõov eKaaToq

tveuifiTrlato tcõv eüxwv, 0t]oaupoü<; Kai irXoutoug Kai üyieia<; Kai ta aXXa

äya0a altcõv nap '

auroti). Alexander next set out at a run for his house

bringing the lately-born Asclepius with him. The whole crowd followed, now themselves in a possessed and maddened state, a condition brought about by the hopes they entertained (14; irame; evGeoi Kai [xe^Tivotec uttõ

twv eAmõuv).

III. Epiphany Narratives

a) False Epiphany Stories

A story with very much the same narrative-pattern is told in Diodorus Siculus about the deception worked by Medea on Pelias, the king of Iolcus in Thessaly: after transforming her appearance into that of an old woman by

using certain potencies and preparing a hollow statue of Artemis that she

filled with all kinds of special drugs whose effect would be to throw the masses into a state of fearful consternation (õicoK6uao[ievr|v KaTaulriKtiKcõc;

elg õx>mv õeimõainoraav), she entered the town at dawn (qi' rpepa)

carrying the statue; acting as one who was possessed (ev0ea£ouoTi<; 6'

afrrfj;), she commanded the crowd that had gathered to receive the goddess with due reverence (õexeoOai xr|v 0eov eüoeptõt;), for Artemis was present from the Hyperboreans for the good fortune of the whole city and its king (irapelvat. yap aurf]v ef; 'Yireppopewv en' äya0(3 õai|ioui tfj te iroXei Kal

tc5 paoiM); everybody did reverence to the god and performed sacrifices in her honour (irdvtwv õe irpooKuvowTcov Kai xlhuvtuv tt)v 0e6v Guoiaic); the whole city was in a state of possession (Kal to awoXov trie; irolecoq

8 Weinreich 1921: 141 saw that a cletic hymn is referred to. Festugiere 1939a: 231 noted that the text gives in indirect speech the form of the 4hikA.t|oic.



Matthew Dickie 163

äiraor)<; aw0ea(ouar|<;);9 Medea now burst into the royal palace and struck

Pelias and his daughters with such a fear of the divine by the prodigies she

performed as to convince them in their bewilderment (el? õeioiõca|iõva õiaSeoiv €|iPodelv . . . õia tf}<; tepaieia<; eit; toiauxriv Katairir|!;LV

äyayelv) that the goddess was present to make the king and his household fortunate and that he, as the most pious of rulers, had been chosen to

establish her cult in Iolcus and to organize her rites for time without end (4.

51. 1-4). In both stories, a person with some expertise in magic-working enters a

town at dawn in a possessed state and imposes on its credulous and

superstitious inhabitants by performing illusions, persuading them, thunderstruck at seeing what they take to be a god, to receive into their

midst a deity who is going to take up residence amongst them; they are told

that they are blessed indeed to have had a god choose to appear to them and

that great good fortune lies before them; the people, for their part,

experience a mass-possession. The narrative-pattern may be called the

false-epiphany story.

Lucian himself provides a variation on the false epiphany-story form. It

is the story that he says he himself concocted as a piece of theater

(kpaywõow xi trap' enautoO) for the benefit of the gullible fools who were

too late to see the Cynic Peregrinus throw himself on to a pyre, just after the

conclusion of the Olympic Games of 165 C.E., but who wished nonetheless

to hear what had happened:

ciic CTeiõri dvri<t>0r| nev r\ irupct, evgpiaÄev õf cjjepcov eautõv õ npwreüc,

oeio|ioO npötepov Yevo|i€vou oüv (xiiKr|0ji(õ xf)C yf|(;, yuij/ äva.Tn:ä|ieyoc; 4k

|ifor|c xfjc (jjA-oyoc oixolto cc, tov oüpavõv dvGpwiruJTi neyaÄ.ri trj 4)uvfj

Xcyojv, "fXiTrow yav, pcuvco 5' kt; "OAi)(iirov"

eKflvoL (ifv ouv exeOi]TTfoay Kai upoaeKwouv ünocfipiTTomei; (De mort.

Peregr. 39).

When the pyre was kindled and Proteus had hurled himself on to it, a

vulture flew up from the center of the flames and went away towards

heaven, crying out loudly in a human voice: "I have left earth; I go to

Olympus." They were struck with astonishment and with a frisson of fear

performed an act of reverence.

The story Lucian tells is told in such a way as to convince the gullible fools for whom he has made it up that they have narrowly missed being in

the presence of a god. It is the earthquake accompanied by a roaring and

rumbling of the god that are a sign of the divine presence. When Hecate is

9 For sacrifices performed when a god is believed to have appeared in a town, cf. Chariton,

Chaer. 3. 2. 15.




about to appear to Aeneas and the Sibyl of Cumae, her arrival is signaled by the ground beneath their feet rumbling and by a movement of the tree-clad

mountain-ridges.10

b) Stories of True Epiphanies

Roughly the same narrative-pattern is to be seen in Ovid's account in the

Metamorphoses of the epiphany of Asclepius on the occasion of the Roman

delegation to that city to bring the god to Rome. There are terrifying manifestations: the marble floor of the temple and its gilded pediments shake and a snake rears up within the temple and looks around, its eyes

flashing with fire. The crowd is fear-struck, but the priest recognizes the

signs for what they are and calls on those present to conduct themselves

properly, both in word and thought; he then prays to the god on behalf of

those who have witnessed his appearance. The crowd responds

appropriately:

territa turba pavet: cognovit numina castas

evinctus vitta erines albente sacerdos.

en deus est, deus est! animis linguisque favete,

quisquis adest! dixit, sis, o pulcherrime, visus

utiliter populosque iuves tua sacra colentes!

quisquis adest, visum venerantur numen, et omnes

verba sacerdotis referunt geminata piumque Aeneadae praestant et mente et voce favorem (15. 675-82).

Fear held the terrified crowd: the priest with his chaste hair tied with a

white fillet recognized the divine. He said: "Behold, here is the god, here

is the god. Be careful what you think and say, whoever you are who are

present. May the sight that we have had of you, most fair one, be attended

by good and may you help the peoples who worship you." Whoever was

present, did reverence to the god; all of them repeated the words the priest had uttered, while the sons of Aeneas imposed a pious restraint on their

words and thoughts.

Stories about men realizing that they have been in the presence of a

god necessarily do not take quite the same form as those in which the arrival of the god is heralded by the shaking of buildings and subterranean

rumblings, but thereafter the narrative pattern is very much the same. In

Odyssey 3, wonder (Ga^pot;) strikes the assembled company when the being

10 Verg., A en., 6. 256-57: sub pedibus mugire solum et iuga coepta moveri / silvarum. See

also Callim., Hymn. 2. 1-7; Verg., Aen. 3. 90-93; Ov., Met. 9. 782-84; Stat., Theb. 7.64-60. On shaking and roaring as signs of the imminent arrival of a god, see Weinreich 1929: 200 56.



Matthew Dickie 165

they had assumed to be Telemachus' companion Mentor disappears in the

form of a bird, whereupon Nestor takes Telemachus by the hand to declare

that Telemachus' having a god as his escort is proof in his eyes that

Telemachus will not turn out to be some sorry coward (371-79). Nestor now prays to the goddess asking her that she be well disposed and bestow

fame on himself, his offspring and his wife; on the morrow he will sacrifice a heifer to her, after sheathing its horns in gold:

&\hx, ävaoaa 'lXt)0l, õiõwGi õe (ioi kXeo<; soGXov,

aÜTW Kat naiõeaoL Kai alõoifl itapaKOLTi (Horn., Od. 3. 380-81)."

My lady, may you be benign and grant goodly fame to myself, my children and my wife.

c) Stories About Human Beings Mistaken for Gods

In Acts, when Paul and Barnabas come to the Roman colony of Lystra, Paul

bids a man crippled from birth to get to his feet. He jumps up and walks

around, which moved the masses to say in their local tongue that gods in the

likeness of men had come down to them; Paul they called Hermes and

Barnabas Zeus. The priest of the precinct of Zeus that was on the outskirts

of the city brought bulls and wreathes to the city-gates, since he wished to

join the masses in performing a sacrifice (14:8-13). In two Greek novels, Chariton's Chaereas et Callirhoe and Xenophon

of Ephesus' Ephesiaca, and in one Roman novel, Apuleius'

Metamorphoses, the hero and/or the heroine are, because of their beauty,

mistaken for gods and worshipped as such.12 It should be acknowledged that the novels of Xenophon and Chariton are not completely independent creations, but one is either dependent on the other or both depend on a

common source. In Chariton's novel, when the beautiful hero and heroine

appear in public for their marriage, wonder (Galipot;) lays hold of everbody on seeing what looked to be Artemis amongst a crowd of hunters; many of

those present performed an act of adoration (irpooeKuvrioav); as for the hero,

Chaereas, everybody looked in awe (e9ai>|iaCov) at him and pronounced

Callirhoe blessed (ejiaKapiCoy).'3 When Callirhoe is to be brought by sea

11 Horn., Od. 3. 419-20: &4>p' tol npokioTa 0t<3v XXaoao[i"M\\vr\v, ii |ioi evap^fn; t^Xöe

0eoü eg 8aVta 0aA.ei.av. For appeals to gods who have appeared in an epiphany to be benign,

cf. Ap. Rhod., Argon. 2. 693: dAA' '£Xt|0l ava!;, 'Uri0i <t>aav0eii;; Eur., 77"270-71: o5 uovtCai;

Tiat AtuKO0€ai;, vetõv cjiüXa^, õcairota IlaAaX|iov, ilea); rptv ytvoO; Chariton, Chaer. 2. 3.

6: OnxcOfit i'o; oiv o Aiovuoioc dvcpõrioev la((jc g5 'A<t>poõtTTi, Kai en '

cxvcxOg)

4>aveir|?. 12 On the motif in novels of humans mistaken for gods and for speculation on its origin, see

Kenney 1990: 117. 13 1.16.1.




from a sanctuary outside Miletus to be married in the city itself, the sailors who are to take her are seized by fear, as they are convinced that it is

Aphrodite herself who is about to embark on their vessel. They respond by

rushing en masse towards Callirhoe in an act of adoration:

lõõvTCq oi vaOxoa 6eL|icm KaxeoxeGrioay, w<; tf|<; 'A^poõiirn; autfji; €pXOH6vri<;, "tva enPfj, Kai (jpp.r|oav äSpooi. irpooKuufiaai.

The masses in Miletus itself were convinced that Callirhoe was a Nereid who had appeared from the sea or, taking their lead from the sailors, a goddess; they gathered around the Temple of Concord, where the

wedding was to take place and cried out that Aphrodite was marrying

(iravtet; ouv avepoipav f] 'A^poõuri yotfie!), when Callirhoe scanned the

crowd with her eyes (3. 2. 14-17). Another public appearance in Miletus, a funeral for Chaereas, at which the satraps of Ionia and Caria were present, drawn by tales of Callirhoe's beauty, leads to some persons turning away from her, unable to stand the brilliance of her beauty, and performing an act

of adoration (irpoo£Kwr|aav); the satrap of Caria collapses on the ground

open-mouthed (äxavf)<; Kateneoev) and has to be carried away by attendants

(4. 1. 9). Later in the tale, eunuchs bring Callirhoe into the presence of the Persian queen without forewarning her; the queen jumps up from her couch

under the impression that Aphrodite is standing over her and performs an act of adoration (npooeKwriaev); a eunuch, seeing that the queen is quite dumbfounded (yofjoac; rr]v £kttXt)5lv aüxf|<;), explains who Callirhoe is (5. 9.

1-2). Xenophon in his Ephesiaca, in introducing the hero of the novel,

Abrocomes, says that he was such a splendid youth that the citizens of

Ephesus looked on him as a god and that some of them even performed acts

of adoration in his presence and prayed to him (npooelxov õe wc; 9ew xcõ

[if ipaKLor Kai e laiu tiõt| tl vee oi Kat irpoo€Kiivr)oav lõovteq Kai

irpoor|!ji;avTo 1. 1. 3). As for the heroine, Anthia, her beauty as a fourteen

year old girl was such that when dressed as a huntress for a procession from

Ephesus to the sanctuary of Artemis, it caused men to perform acts of

adoration to her as though she were Artemis; when she was seen the crowd

acclaimed her with a variety of cries: some in their astonishment declared that she was the goddess and others that she was the creation of the

goddess; but all performed acts of adoration in her honour, addressed

prayers to her and pronounced her parents blessed:

noAAaKic aüiTii' enl toü Te^ei/oui; lõövxei; 'Eijieoioi npooeKuvrioav cög "ApTSfHV. Kai tot' ouv 64>06iar|<; äve|3ör|oe to irXrjOog, Kal floav uouaAai tTapa twv 0€U(isvwv ((juvai, twv jiev utt' 6khA.^€(o<; tt)v 9e6v elvai XeyovTcov, \€>v & aAAr|u timx fmo Tfj<; 0eoO neTroi.r)H€vr|v Tipoar|üxoyTO 8e naiaeq Kai irpoaeKuvouv Kai toOc yovelc; eiiaKapifoy (1. 2. 7).



Matthew Dickie 167

When Abrocomes and Anthia land on Rhodes, the Rhodians gather and

are thunderstruck by their beauty; not one of the spectators is not moved:

some declare that it is a visit to their city of gods, while others perform acts of adoration; their name quickly spreads throughout the community; public prayers are directed at them, many sacrifices are offered to them and a

festival celebrating the divine sojourn is enacted:14

to KaAAoq züv muõcov KataireirXriYOTei;, Kai oõk eativ ooxic t<5v

lõovTcov napf|A.06 oicoirüv äXX' oi (iff 'etayov EiriÕTtyuav aiolwv Beüv, oi 6k irpoaeKVUow Kai npooriuxovto. taxu õe õt' oA.t|i; Tfjq nöAeajq

5L6U6(|)OiTiiK6t to ow^ta 'A|3p0KÖ(i0U Kai ' AvBiaq. eireüxomai õe avxolQ

ÕT)|iooia Kai Suoiat; re Güouai itoÄAac Kai eopTT)i' ayouoi ttjv eiuöripiai'

ocfrcwv(l. 12. 1-2).

Abrocomes and Anthia are brought to Tyre by the leader of a band of

pirates. Again their beauty causes astonishment; those who see them

imagine that they are gods and pronounce the pirate leader blessed for

having slaves such as they:

mvzet; exeSau^aKeoau to KaAAog, Kal avGpcoiroi fictpfiapoi priuw itpotepov

Tooautriv lõõvteg füpopcjnau Geoix; f^opiCoi* etvoa toik; pXfnoiifuoui;,

6|iaKapi.Cov õe ibv "Ai(/uproi> oioug oiKftat; KeKtri pivot; (2. 2. 4).

In Apuleius' Metamorphoses, Psyche, the youngest of the three

daughters of a king and queen, is so remarkably beautiful that citizens and

strangers make their way to see her; dumbstruck in amazement over her

beauty they move their right hand to their lips as though performing an act

of adoration to Venus herself:

multi denique civium et advenae copiosi, quos eximii spectaculi rumor

studiosa celebritate congregebat, inaccessae formonsitatis admiratione

stupidi et admoventes oribus suis dexteram primore digito in erectum

pollicem residente ut ipsam prorsus deam Venerem venerabantur

religiosis adorationibus (4. 28. 3).

14 The text reproduced is that of Papanikolaou 1973.1 have omitted from my paraphrase what

is conjecture.




IV. Elements in the Epiphany Narrative: Astonishment and Fear

Those who hear Alexander proclaim the imminent arrival of the god are

struck by amazement (€te0r|TTeoav Lucian., Alex. 13); the fools who are

more than eager to believe Lucian's tall story about Peregrinus' translation

into a god behave in exactly the same way; they too are struck by

amazement (eteGriireaav Lucian., De mort. Peregr. 39). In epiphany

narratives the appearance of the god or of a person mistaken for a god is

regularly met with wonder and fear: wonder lays hold of those who at Pylos have witnessed Mentor disappearing in the form of a bird (Horn., Od. 3.

372); the signs that signal the arrival of Asclepius in his temple at

Epidaurus strike the assembled crowd with terror (territa turba pavet Ov.,

Met. 15. 675), while the sailors who are to take Callirhoe to Miletus are seized by fear (õfL^axi Kateoxe0r|oav), convinced that Aphrodite is to board

their ship (Chariton, Chaer 3. 2. 14); those who see Chaereas and Callirhoe are overcome by astonishment that even leads to physical collapse

(Chariton, Chaer. 1. 1. 16, 4. 1. 9, 5. 9. 1-2), as are those who catch sight of Abrocomes and Anthia (Xen., Eph. 1. 2. 7, 2. 2. 4) and those who see

Psyche (Apul., Met. 4. 28. 3). Those who believe that they have been in the presence of a god are

regularly portrayed being struck by amazement, even to the point of

collapsing and falling to the ground. The assumption that the sight of a

divinity is such an overwhelming experience that it leads to physical and mental collapse can be illustrated from an incident in Chariton's Chaereas and Callirhoe in which Chaereas catches sight in a temple of Aphrodite of a statue of his lost beloved; it is set beside the cult-statue of the goddess. He

is so overcome by the experience that he faints. A female attendant hastens

towards him with some water to revive him; she assumes that the

appearance of the god has completely overcome him:

©dtppei, T6KV0V Kai aÄA.ou<; itoAi.oi)C T) 9tõ<; Eiri<|>avr)c yap «jti

Kai Õ6LKVU01U 6aUTT)V evapywi; (3. 6. 4).

Be of good cheer, my son; the goddess has caused consternation in many others, for she is in the habit of making appearances and showing herself

clearly.

Her assumption is an understandable one, since Chaereas' response is

exactly what literature assumes that those who have seen a god will do.15

15 Cf. Chariton, Chaer 2. 3. 6: 0€<xaojievo<; ouv 6 Alovuöio? avcfkntacv iXccoc cTtk, w 'A<t>po6iTTi, Kai cu' ayaScji (ioi 4kxi^ut|<;. Kocramircovra 6c avxbv f|Sr| Aeuväi; mreA«pc; Corp. Herm. 1. 7-8: fiitovTog taOta eui uAttoixx xpow <Htg5itt)oc (ioi <3oxe he Tpqieiv afrroü tt]i> l6cav ... 6c kv cku^ci (iou ovxog, <|>t)at iraJ.iv qioi; Apul., Met. 11.7. 1:



Matthew Dickie 169

V. nPOSKYNHSIS

At Olympia, Lucian's gullible audience perform an act of adoration

(irpootKwow uTTocJ)plttovt€(; Peregr. 39), convinced that they had just

missed seeing Peregrinus' translation into the divine, so to do the

superstitious and simple-minded people of Abonuteichos when they hear of the imminent arrival of a god amongst them {Alex. 13). The inhabitants of Iolcus do exactly the same thing when they see, as they think, a goddess coming into their town (Diod. Sic. 4. 51. 3), as do those who see Chaereas and Callirhoe (Charit. Chaer et Call. 1. 1. 16, 3. 2. 14, 4. 1. 9, 5. 9. 1) and

again Abrocomes and Anthia (Xen. Ephes. 1. 1.3,2.7). Ovid in his account of the epiphany of Asclepius at his temple in Epidaurus uses the verb

venerari to describe the response of those present to the god. It is to be

imagined that Ovid refers to the same ritual response to an epiphany as do

Lucian, Diodorus Siculus and the novelists Chariton and Xenophon. But

what was it that people did when they performed a upooKuvipic and, more

particularly, what do those authors who portray the reaction of men to the

appearance of a deity have in mind when they write of acts of

TTpOOKWTlOlC?16 The term upooKuveiv is used to refer to a certain category of reverential

actions.17 Gods receive trpooKwrioic as do men who are honored as gods;

particularly powerful men may receive it.'8 The etymology of the term

suggests that the basic meaning is "to direct a kiss towards someone." It

does not follow that kissing was an integral part of all actions described as

irp00Kuvr|06L(;. The term may well have been used to characterize

particularly reverential actions in which a kiss was not attempted. Context

does suggest that kissing was very often part of irpooKuvr|oi.<;.'9 There is no

Latin caique for the term. Latin has to make do with the more general

terms, adorare, venerari and salutare.20 There were a number of ways in

which the kiss of respect might be delivered: it might be bestowed more

Persico, which is to say falling on the ground at the feet of the party

numen invictum in se recessit. nec mora, cum somno protinus absolulus pavore et gaudio ac

dein sudore nimio permixtus exurgo summeque miratus deae potentis lam claram

praesenliam. 16. Clauss 1999,90, 120, 333 assumes that irpoaKurnioic; means falling to the knees.

17. There is a good discussion of the term with bibliography in Pulleyn 1997,191-94.

18. Ärist. Rhet. 1361 a36 holds that directing upooKuwioeu; at men as a mark of honor is a

barbarian custom. 19. Cf. Dio Cass. 65.5.2: Kai. irpooKuvounefciK irpög mwwv, of oteele ou6c <}>lXfjoal notf

r|6«d<; r|0€^riofv. 20. Cf. Nep. Con. 3.3: necesse esi enim, si in conspectum veneris, venerari te regem (quod

TTpoaKuniaiy illi vocanl).




honored; it might be given on bended knee with the head lowered to the

ground;21 the extended right hand or foot or even the breast of the person honored might be kissed as a form of TipooKwr)oi,c;22 finally, a person

performing a TrpooKuvr|oi<; might kiss his own hand. There is some reason to

suppose that irpoaKÜvr)OL<; very often took this form, at least in the High Roman Empire, and possibly earlier also.23 A character (Archias) in the

pseudo-Lucianic Demosthenis encomium, sent to arrest Demosthenes, who

had taken refuge in the sanctuary of Poseidon at Calauria, reporting back on

his failure to accomplish his mission, says that he had supposed Demosthenes' putting his hand to his mouth was done as an act of

trp00Ki)vr|0Li; when what Demosthenes was doing was taking the poison that

he had concealed about his person (49).24 It was natural that Archias should

imagine that Demosthenes was going to perform some religious ritual, since

Demosthenes had told him that he would follow him voluntarily from the

temple, after addressing the god (toy 0eov irpooeLiruv). It follows that a

man, seeing someone putting his hands to his lips on leaving a temple,

might naturally assume that he had witnessed an act of irpooKUvriaic;. There

are indications that in Roman North Africa in the middle of the second

century AD men on passing a temple might be expected to kiss their hands

as an act of reverence: Apuleius declares his accuser so scorned religion that he thought it wrong on passing a shrine to bring the hands to the lips in a kiss.25 Somewhat later, perhaps at the end of the third century AD,

Minucius Felix in the Octavius says that his friend Octavius had reproached him for doing nothing to correct the fault when a friend of both of them on

passing a statue of Serapis brought his hand to his lips in a kiss; it was a fault that the superstitious masses were wont to commit.26 Minucius now

attempts to persuade Caecilius of the error of his ways and of the

superiority of Christianity to the superstitious practices he had previously followed. The passage rather suggests that bringing the hand to the lips in a

kiss on being confronted with something connected with the divine was a

common pagan ritual gesture.

At an earlier date, Romans on performing the gesture had turned

themselves around to the right.27 Pliny the Elder testifies to the practice.28 It

21. Dio Cass. 62.2.4,68. 18.2. 22. Lucian, Nigrin. 21 (cf. Nekyom. 12); Dio Cass. 59. 27. 1. 23. So Neil 1901,28; Pulleyn 1997, 191-94. 24. tea! TiV X€^Pa T<? OTO^aTi npooayayõvrog oiiScv aJA' irpooKui>elv imeA«(xpavov. 25. Apol. 56: sifanum aliquodpraetereat, nefas habet adorandigratia manum labris

admovere.

26. Oct. 2.4: Caecilius, simulacro Serapidis denotato, ut vulgus superstitiosus solet, manum ori admovens osculum labiis pressit.

27. The evidence for the ritual is collected by Appel, 1909, 213-14.



Matthew Dickie 171

is impossible to say whether the practice had fallen into desuetude by Apuleius' day or whether he and Minucius Felix just omit mention of it. The ritual of turning to the right on greeting the gods in npooKÜvrioK; goes

back at least to the end of the third century BC;29 Plutarch credits Numa

with having taught the Romans the ritual.30 The act of adoration may have

taken a variety of forms. Vitellius' covering his head, whenever he came

into Claudius' presence, and falling prostrate to the ground, after he had

turned himself round, as though doing reverence to a god, is, to judge by

Suetonius' comment on Vitellius' amazing ingenuity in raising adulation to new levels likely to have been an unusual and extreme form of adoration.31

It is clear from tales about Camillus and Marcellus performing the ritual

that it could be carried out standing up.32 In Marcellus' case, his horse had

wheeled round as he led his troops towards the enemy; lest his soldiers

interpret the event as ominous, Marcellus brought the horse completely

round while making obeisance to the Sun, as though that is what he had intended to do all along. Plutarch calls the act of obeisance a irpooKUvriOK;

and remarks that it was the custom of the Romans to turn round on

performing a irpooKWTioic;.33 Since Marcellus used the horse's reins to bring

it round, he necessarily will have had only one hand free. It is reasonable to

suppose that Plutarch imagined him kissing his right hand in the direction

of the sun.

Prayer might be accompanied by irpooKwr)oi<;. Whether irpooKuvrioic

was always part and parcel of prayer the evidence does not allow us to

decide. Lucian, speaking about Indian prayer rituals, does remark that

Indians, in contrast to Greeks, do not think that a prayer is incomplete, if the

hand is not kissed.34 The implication of the remark is that prayers in

Lucian's day were accompanied by irpooKwrioie and that the upooKuvrpic

consisted in kissing the hand.35 The terms are very often coupled in the

Greek of the Imperial Age.36 To judge from Valerius Flaccus, the ritual

28. HN 28.25: in adorando dextram ad osculum referimus totumque corpus circumagimus,

quod in laevum fecisse Galliae religiosius credunt.

29. Plaut. Cure. 70: si deos salutas, dextrovorsum censeo.

30. Plut. Num. 14. 7-8.

31. Suet. Vitell. 25.5:

32. Camillus: Liv. 5. 21.6; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 12. 16.23; Plut. Cam. 5. 7; Marcellus: Plut.

Marc. 6.6.

33. Cf. Plut. Quaest. Rom. 267b.

34.Sall. 17:oi!>x dootrep tf|V xeip<* KÜoaiTec f|you(i€9a žwreXf) fmtõv dual ff]v

35. It is difficult to tell from Pulleyn 1997,190-94, what he thinks the relationship was

between prayer and upoaKwriaii;. 36. Joseph AJ 10.29. 7; Lucian VH 2.47, Gall. 9.




occurred after the prayer had been uttered: Jason, after addressing a prayer to the Moon, kisses the ends of his hands in an act of obeisance.37

So what then do Lucian, Diodorus Siculus and the novelists Charition and Xenophon have in mind when they write of irpooKiW|aei<; being

performed by those who feel that they are in the presence of a deity? The

question can be rephrased: what, if no further indications are given, are we to understand by a reference to ttpookuvt]oi<; in Greek prose of the High

Roman Empire? That there was in reality no one set response to a divine

epiphany is virtually certain. Aeneas and Anchises, for instance, are

portrayed falling to the ground (summissi petimus terram) outside the

temple of Apollo on Delos when the god signals his arrival by an

earthquake and a roaring and a rumbling that emanates from the tripod after

the temple-doors have opened of their own accord (Verg. Aen. 3.93). When

in Apuleius' Metamorphoses Psyche appeared in public, the response of the

persons who saw her and supposed her to be a goddess was quite different:

they brought their right hands to their mouths with the thumb upright and the index finger resting on it, as though they were paying their respects to Venus herself.38 The evidence that we have suggests in the High Roman

Empire TipooKÜyrioLi; consisted for the most part in performing the gesture that Apuleius describes. That should mean that when Lucian writes of

TTpooKuvr)oic, if there are no further indications, what we should understand

is a bringing of the right hand to the lips in a kiss.

VI. Acclamation

What the people of Abonuteichos are said to have done when they saw the

newly-born Asclepius make his appearance was to cry out (dveKpayov),

greet the god (ipird(ovTo toy Geov), pronounce their city blessed (t?|v ttoA.iv

€(iaK<xpifov) and utter personal prayers to the god (kcci xavõov eKaotog

evetriHTTlaTO iwv euxwv). Lucian uses the phrase aveKpocyov eüGug on two

other occasions for a spontaneous acclamation.39 When a crowd of poor men hear that the Cynic Peregrinus is going to distribute his inherited wealth, they cry out immediately, acclaiming him "The one philosopher, the

37. 8.44: sic ait etprimis supplex dedit oscula palmis. 38. Apul. Metam. 4. 28. 3: inaccessaeformonsitatis admiratione stupidi et admoventes

oribus suis dexteram primore digito in erectum pollicem residente eam ut ipsam prorsus deam Venerem religiosis venerabuntur adorationibus.

39 For discussion of dwxKpaCau and other verbs of acclamation and the acclamation in the Lucian, De mort. Peregr., see Robert 1965: 215 n. 4; 1982: 55 n.19.



Matthew Dickie 173

one patriot, the one true follower of Diogenes and Crates."40 We may

conclude then that Lucian means us to understand that the people of

Abonuteichos cried out acclaiming the god. The same pattern is to be seen

in Chariton, when Aphrodite, as they imagine, casts her gaze on them, all of

Milesians are moved to cry out: "Aphrodite marries."41 Acclamations on

the part of the crowd (dyep6r|oe to nA.f|0o<;) greet the appearance of Anthia

in Ephesus (Xen., Eph. 1. 2. 7). Indications exist in the epigraphic record

that acclamations prompted by the epiphany of a god were a standard

response to his appearance: there is the cry of the people of Stratoniceia in

Caria when Zeus Panamaros appeared in 39 B.C.E. to intervene against the

Parthians, preserved in an inscription of around 200 C.E.:

<=u 0€ dvapoüv[Twv] nfyaXfl tfj tJjajvrj Meyav duai Aia Ilavdjiapov (I.

Straton. 10.13).42

And they cried out with a great voice, "Great is Zeus Panamaros."

VII. Greeting the God

Greeting ((biraCeoGou) a god goes hand in hand with npooKÜvriaic.43

npooKwriOLC may even constitute part of what is meant by ao7Ta(€o9ai when

used of greeting a god.44 'AoirafeoSai used of greeting a god probably meant uttering the words So in the second half of the second century C.E. we find the people of Sidyma in Lycia clapping their hands and

uttering the words xalpe 'AttoAAwv as a greeting (doirdonaxi) whenever

they enter a cave at Lopta associated with the god:

6lõ Kai Kpot€LV ao[€]iTaon<m

Xatpe ' AttöXXcov õ ty Aöirxcov

eloepxonevoi 4>uvoüfiev {JAMII. 174. 68-70; SEG 50. 1356. 68-70).45

40 Lucian, De mort. Peregr. 15: touto (i? tikouo€i> o 6fj|ao<;, Trei^r)Te<; avflpconoi. Kai irpoc

õiai>o|jä<; KexrpoTti; dweKpayov füGuq 'iva 4a^oao4>ou, tva (JilXototplv, era Aioyevout; Kai

Kpatiyuoc; CriXcotiV. Cf. Lucian, Phal. 1.11. 41

Chariton, Chaer. 3. 2. 17. 42 For the verb dvapodv in acclamations, see Robert 1965:215 n. 14; 1982: 55 n. 19.

43 Cf. Poll. 15. 1. 6: oil povov raOc 8eoüi; dairdoaivro Kai ttju yfjv upooKuvnaaicv, Kaöäwep

«mv eöoi; Tote aAloi; dvOpoSirout;. 44

Lucian, speaking of the prayers that Indians address to the Sun at dawn, says that they do

not think kissing the hand makes the prayer complete, but greet (doitdCovmi.) the Sun with

dancing (Salt. 17). 45 SEG 50. 1356 reproduces the text of Merkelbach 2000: 115-25. Chaniotis 1988: 190-93

suggests line 68 should read: KpotoOutei; enSaiian. But an fmxojia is an incantation and not a

greeting.




They did so because not so long before a woman, who wished to spy

on the god, had silently entered the cave. She had as a result been turned into stone as a warning to spies. It is certainly the case that the epiphany of a deity moves those who witness the appearance of the god to say x^pe: the

epiphany of Arpoi; in Aristophanes' Equites draws from the Chorus the words:

Xoctp', o5 (kcntaC twi/EAAiiwoi'' Kai aoi £iuv^aipo^ev rpeiq (1333).46

In Callimachus' Hymn 5, Athena's imminent appearance is announced and the chorus of maidens is told to receive the goddess with words of good omen, with prayers and with ululations, which leads to Athena's being greeted with the word xa^Pe and being asked to take care of Argos (137— 40). The chances are then that something quite specific is meant by r|o™Covto tõv 0e6v: the Abonuteichans are to be understood to utter the

greeting, xaipe, and perhaps to declare that they shared in rejoicing in the

presence of the god.

VIII. The MAKAR1SMOS

The blessing that Alexander pronounces on Abonuteichos, because it is to

receive a striking manifestation of the divine presence, and the immediate

response of the Abonuteichans to the epiphany, which is to pronounce their

city blessed, have parallels in other epiphany narratives. Nestor comes very close to pronouncing Telemachus blessed when he realizes it is Athena who has been his escort (Horn., Od. 3. 376-78). There is another class of

epiphanies besides those in which a god chooses to manifest himself either

to his worshippers or those whom he especially favours in which the

recipient of the experience is proclaimed happy and blessed: they are the

epiphanies in which a god is induced by magical means to show himself. The preface to an astral-herbal compendium that purports to have been

composed in the first century C.E. by one Thessalus the Philosopher, and an incident in Porphyry's Life of Plotinus describe such epiphanies.47 In the

preface to the astral-herbal, Thessalus explains how Asclepius had dictated the book to him, after having been summoned by a high priest from

Egyptian Thebes (Diospolis). What Thessalus saw was so startling to him that he suffered a physical and mental collapse (kcu €Kluo|aevou toC

46 The passage was ably analyzed by Kleinknecht 1939: 58-69. Landfester 1967: 94-96 insists with some reason that the epiphany is not of Afjioc, but of ipxaiai.'A8f|ucu. See also Horn 1970: 5,27. In fact, the language of epiphany is used of both entities. I am indebted to W. J. Slater for the reference to Kleinknecht. 47 The text of the De virtutibus herbarum cited is that of Friedrich 1968.



Matthew Dickie 175

oo(iato<; Kod zt\q õia tõ Trapaõo^ov trjg Beat;)- At this point, the god stretched out his right hand and pronounced a makarismos (12):

co paKapLS, napa 0e(£ xuxcoi' rupfie 0eaaaXe, npoLOVTO? 6e tou xpövou Kai yvo)o06VT(oi' tüv owv eiuTeuypaTtov cj? 9eov avGpwiroi oe

0pr)aK€Ü<a>oixnv.48

O blessed one, Thessalus who has been granted honour in the presence of

the god; as time goes on and your successes become known, men will

worship you as a god.

Porphyry has a similar story to tell about an epiphany that Plotinus had

experienced in Rome (Porph., Plot. 10): an Egyptian priest, asked Plotinus whether he would like to see his familiar daemon; Plotinus assented; when

the daemon was summoned, it was no mere daemon who appeared but a

god (kAt|9€vt(x õe etc; autoij/icw toy õcujiova Geov eX0eiv kcu (if| toü

õai|iovQv eli/ai yevoix;), whereupon the Egyptian declared:

[i(XKapio<; ei 0€ov tyuv töv õaijiova Kai ou tou ixt>anevoi) yevouc; tov

owovtol.

You are blessed for you have as your attendant spirit a god and not a being

from a subordinate category.

Those who had looked on or been looked on by a Roman Emperor in

the flesh were called blessed. Such makarismoi have their origins in the

practice of pronouncing blessed those who had seen a god and in the

conviction that to have seen or been seen by a god brought blessings in its

train.49 The belief that the Emperor as a deus praesens brought prosperity to

those who had seen or been seen by him is first attested in the reign of

Augustus.50 Ovid, in a poem in which Maximus Cotta is thanked for having sent three silver statues of Augustus, Tiberius, and Livia to him in his exile

in Tomi, pronounces a blessing on those who have seen the gods in person

and not just in the form of a likeness:51

48 The makarismos has been reconstructed on the basis of the Latin translation of the

fourteenth century. The Greek of Paris, cod. Gr. 41 is: 6 (iaK(xpi.oc trapa 0«i> tcp exoiri

QtaaaXt. The Latin has: o beate Thessale, transeunte tempore et cognitis studiis tuis

honorabunt te homines sicut deum. 49 Cf. Ov., Pont. 2. 2. 91-92: felices, quibus, o, licuit spectare triumphos / et ducis ore deos

aequiparente frui. Galasso 1995: 175 compares Mart., Sped. 10. 6. 1-2: felices, quibus

urna dedit spectare coruscum /solibus Arctois sideribusque ducem. 50 Clauss 1999 holds that eagerness on the part of the populace for the presence of a god

contributed to the cult of the emperors as gods. 51 In a later poem written after the death of Augustus, Ovid speaks of praying to the statues

each day at dawn in his house in Tomi and offering them incense; by then busts of




felices illi, qui non simulacra, sed ipsos,

quique deum coram corpora vera vident (Ov., Pont. 2. 8. 57-58).

Happy are they who see not likenesses but the true selfs and who face-to

face see the true bodies of the gods.

The immediate context of Ovid's makarismos is a prayer on the part of the

poet in which he dwells on the advantages of having a god present in person

rather than just his likeness (51-62).52 A panegyric on the accession of Constantine as Caesar leaves no room for doubt that those who saw the new

Caesar were blessed, precisely because he was a deus praesens. Constantine

was in Britain in 305 C.E. when he was elevated to the position of Caesar. That enables the panegyricist to pronounce a makarismos on Britannia:

O fortunata et nunc omnibus beatior terris Britannia, quae Constantinum

Caesarem prima vidisti (Pan. Lat. 6. 9. 1).

Britannia, how fortunate you are and more blessed than all other lands to

have been first to see Constantine as Caesar.

The panegyricist proceeds to dilate on the natural advantages of Britain

(9. 2-3), before asking the gods why new divinities always come down to earth from the furthermost parts of the world: Mercury and Liber showed

themselves as present gods to the peoples of the earth, in one case from the

Nile and in the other amongst the Indians:

di boni, quid hoc est quod semper ex aliquo supremo fine mundi nova

deum numina universo orbi colenda descendunt?53 sic Mercurius a Nilo,

cuius fluminis origo nescitur,54 sic Liber ab Indis prope consciis solis

orientis deos se gentibus ostendere praesentes (9. 4).

Those who pronounce makarismoi do so in the conviction that the

person they call blessed currently enjoys or is about to enjoy some great

good. If it was the custom to pronounce makarismoi on those who have

experienced or are about to experience an epiphany, it follows that to have

seen a god was thought to be a blessing that brought benefits in its train. The most straightforward statement of the notion is to be found in

Callimachus' Hymn to Apollo, where we learn that the god only shows

Germanicus and Drusus had been added to the gallery {Pont. 4. 9. 105-12). On the cult paid the emperor in private households, see Gradel 2002: 198-212. 52 Cf. esp. 52: praesentis aliquidprosit habere deos. 53 For descendere used in appeals to deities to appear, cf. Hor., Carm. 3. 4. 1,21.7. Norden 1913: 148 classifies descende (Hor., Carm. 3. 21. 7) as one of the verbs used at the

beginning of prayers calling on the god to appear. 54 Cf. Cic., Nat. D. 3. 56: quartus (sc. Mercurius) Nilo patre, quem Aegyptii nefas habent nominare.



Matthew Dickie 177

himself to the good and that those who have looked on him may expect to

be the recipients of great benefits:

(õnöM.coi' ou ttocvtl (|)aeiv€Tai, &XX' ötu; £o9ä.6i;' ög niv Lõtl, neya<; oöto<;, ö<; oik tõe, Xuõg eKetvoq.

õi)/ö(j.€0'; g3 'EKaepye, Kai tooo^eS' ouiroie Xltol (9—11).

Apollo does not appear to everyone, but to whomseover is good; who sees

him, this one will be great, who does not see him, that one will be of no

consequence. We shall look upon you, Far-Worker, and we shall never be

of no consequence.

The temple-attendant who hastens to the aid of Chaereas, after he has

fainted, tells him to be of good cheer, since those to whom Aphrodite shows herself in her temple are attended by good fortune.55 Valerius Maximus

says of the rare appearances made by Asclepius in the form of a snake in

Epidaurus that these appearances were never without great benefit to the

Epidaurians.56 Behind the prayer with which the priest of Asclepius in Ovid's Metamorphoses addresses the deus praesens, asking that his

appearance be attended by good fortune (sis, o pulcherrime, visus / utiliter

15. 678-79) is the idea that the sight of a god brings benefits to those who have experienced it.

IX. Prayer and Sacrifice

We learn that the Abonuteichans resort to prayer, first when they are told

that they are about to receive a god and then when they see the god make

his appearance (Lucian, Alex. 13, 14). In Ovid's Metamorphoses, the priest of Asclepius at Epidaurus takes the lead in praying to the deus praesens on

behalf of the worshippers; they for their part respond by expressions of veneration for the deity and by repeating his prayer (15. 678-79). Nestor both promises a sacrifice to Athena and prays to her, after realizing he has

seen her (Horn., Od. 3. 380-84). The people of Iolcus honour the deity that

has entered their city with sacrifices (Diod. Sic. 4. 51. 3), while the priest of

Zeus at Lystra brings bulls to the gates of the city, so that there can be a

communal sacrifice (Acts 14:13). Some of the people of Ephesus on seeing Abrocomes are moved both to perform acts of adoration and to pray to him

(Xen., Eph. 1. 1.3), while the appearance on Rhodes of Abrocomes and

55 Chariton, Chaer. 3. 6. 4: dXA.' dya0oü (ieyaXou tout' eau oivetov.

56 1. 8. 2: si quidem is anguis, quern Epidauro raro, sed numquam sine magno ipsorum bono visum in modum Aesculapii venerati fueranl, per urbis celeberrimas partes mitibus

oculis el leni tractu labi coepit triduoque inter religiosam omnium admirationem

conspectus.




Anthia gives rise to public prayers and sacrifices and to a festival

celebrating the eiuõrpia or sojourn of the gods in Rhodes (Xen., Eph. 1. 12.

1-2). Prayer and sacrifice are hardly to be separated. Prayers could be

offered to the gods without sacrifices necessarily being performed, but it

will very often have been accompanied by sacrifice.57 It is difficult to

believe, on the other hand, that a sacrifice could take place without a prayer

being offered up. The form that prayers take in the aftermath of an epiphany reflect the

meaning with which epiphanies were invested. Those who had witnessed the epiphany of a god were predisposed to believe that the god had singled them out for special favor, although they could not be altogether sure that

the god was pleased that he had been seen or that his appearance was not a

sign of his anger. Prayers to the god in these circumstances represent an

attempt to capitalize on one's good fortune in having seen a god. The way

in which the desire to capitalize on the experience of the epiphany is given expression varies: the inhabitants of Abonuteichos in their greed pray to be

able to discover buried treasures and for wealth and health {Alex. 14); the

prayer of Asclepius' priest is less crassly put, but in essence amounts to the

same thing (Ov., Met. 15. 678-79). The prayers of both parties reflect the conviction that seeing a god, in whatever form he may appear, is a

harbinger of good fortune.

X. Epiphany and Initiation

Descriptions of coming into contact with the divine have a good deal in common with descriptions of the experience of initiation into the mysteries.

In both cases there is a shattering and transforming revelatory experience.

Induction into the mysteries characteristically causes terror and wonder.58

Seeing a god is an equally disturbing experience, leading on some accounts

to the; mental and physical collapse of the individual. Although the

experience of being inducted into the mysteries may be terrifying and

disturbing, those who have undergone it are nonetheless set apart from

other men: they will enjoy good fortune in this life and the next. They may, in consequence, have a makarismos pronounced over them, precisely

57 Pulleyn 1997 in his study of prayer in Greek religion rather overstates the case in

insisting that prayer was accompanied by sacrifice. 58 oi Tfioüneuoi . . . 5e Kai õeiKvuneucov xüv iepüv wpooexouai-v r]6r| (xera (jiopou Kai aia)TTTi<; (Plut., De. prof. virt. 81b); eita upo tou t£j.ou<; auioö ta õeiva iravca, <t>piKTi Kai tpo(xog Kai Lõpcõq Kai fla^po; (Plut., fr. 178 Sandbach). Further examples in Richardson 1974: 306.



Matthew Dickie 179

because of the revelatory experience they have undergone.59 Those who

have been privileged to see a god are also believed to be marked out from

other men, not because of any spiritual transformation they have undergone,

but because of the successes they will enjoy in this life. For that reason they

too are pronounced blessed.

There must at some level have been a feeling that the revelations

granted initiates in the mysteries and divine epiphanies were closely related.

It is the case that divine epiphanies conjured up by magical means require the same kind of preparations prescribed for initiation in the mysteries: the

magical formularies lay down a period of ritual abstinence,

characteristically lasting for three or seven days, preceding the revelation.60

In one formulary, in fact, a person who has enjoyed a revelation of the

divine is told that if he wishes to share that experience with another, he must ensure that his fellow-initiate remain pure for seven days and refrain

from bathing.61

XI. Conclusion

It is undoubtedly the case that writers portraying men who believed that

they had come into contact with the divine follow a set form. There is first

of all astonishment and/or fear, then there is a gesture of adoration

(npooKuio|oig), which goes hand in hand with a greeting being extended to

the god; the god may next be acclaimed; someone present may pronounce

the persons who have had the experience blessed; finally, there are prayers

59 Horn. Hymn Dem. 480; Pi. fr. 137a Snell; Soph. fr. 837 Radt. On makarismoi pronounced on those who have seen the mysteries, see Norden 1913: 100 n. 1; Dirichlet 1914: 62-64;

Festugiere 1956: 79-82; Dodds 1960: 75; Richardson 1974: 313-14; Burkert 1987: 93.

Closely related to such makarismoi are the the makarismoi pronounced over those who have

had a revelatory vision as, for instance, those who through their understanding of the stars

are able to see the divine (Corpus Hermeticum fr. VI. 18 Festugiere).

60PGM 1. 55-56, II. 148-50, III. 304, IV. 26, 54-55, 785, 1099-1100, 3207. PGMl. 290

92 spells out what this may mean: Kai airfx<Vf navzw |iuaapwv itpay^Twi' Kal

nääri? lx9U0<t)aY"ltC Kal uamy; auvoixnac. Smith 1978: 180 takes ayituav to mean that the

priest commands Thessalus to fast for three days; that is to restrict the meaning of äyveuf iv

too much. The Latin translation has: praecipiens mihi esse purum et mundum per triduum.

61 PGM IV. 733-36: caw & OeAgq Kal am^utatr) xpifa«00ai mote xa Afyoixeva fKfivw

(iõfow ouv oot aKOuei.i', awayvfuera aoi { finepac Kal diroax«J0ai. enij/üxuv Kal

paXavctou. Lucius, about to be initiated at Cenchreae into the mysteries of Isis is first given

a ritual bath and then told by the priest he should refrain from eating animal flesh and

drinking wine for ten days (sacerdos... praecepil, decern continuis illis diebus cibariam

voluptalem cohercerem neque ullum animal essem et invinius essem. Apul. Met. 11. 23. 2).

Cf. Hopfner 1974:1. 862: "Auch iiber die verschiedenen Arten dieser Reinigung liegen viele

einzelne Nachrichten vor, und auch hierin steht der Zauber in enger Verbindung mit dem

offiziellen Kult, besonders der chthonischen Mächte und dem Mysterienwesen."




and sacrifices. There will be those who believe that the presence of such a

pattern is warrant for denying that a reality is described; in their view, literature has a self-generating life of its own that stands apart from the

world in which men live. The truth cannot be as simple as that. It can be

taken for granted that in antiquity many men were prepared and conditioned

to believe that they might come into contact with a god.62 There is nothing spontaneous about their response to the experience: it belongs to the same

learned cultural pattern as the experience itself. Men knew what signs the

gods gave of their presence. With that awareness in mind they could easily persuade themselves that unusual lights or rumbling noises were proof that

a god had come to visit them. They were furthermore ready to believe that

seeing a god was a shattering experience, precisely because they had heard

it was just that. They were appropriately overwhelmed. But they also knew that the god required expressions of extreme respect and reverence, so they

did what was appropriate in the circumstances and expressed adoration.

They might also be moved to acclaim the god. At the same time, they knew that the gods only showed themselves to those whom they favored and that

they were lucky and privileged to have seen the god. The appropriate response in the circumstances was to acclaim the god, pronounce

themselves or their city blessed, perform sacrifices and pray to the god to

bestow blessings on them. Lucian's portrayal of the response of the

onlookers to the epiphany of Glycon, the newly-born Asclepius, is at one

level conventional in form, but at the same time it brings to life both what was said and done when an epiphany occurred and gives us an insight into

what went on in the minds of men when they felt that they had been in the

presence of the divine.

University of Illinois at Chicago

62 See Lane Fox 1986: 102-67.



Matthew Dickie

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divine epiphany in lucian's account of the oracle of alexander of abonuteichos

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