Olbia Cults II. G.M. Hirst 1903

The Cults of Olbia.
II
Author(s): G. M. Hirst
Source: The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 23 (1903), pp. 24-53
Published by: The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies
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THE CULTS OF OLBIA.
PART 11.
(Continued froom Vol. XXII., p. 267).
Aphrodite.
NEITHER literature nor coins bear any witness to the cult of Aphrodite
at Olbia, but we have an inscription 1 which is of the highest interest.
['A po]a1'qt EV7rXolat
[ Ioor]jeos IIoo-Leleov
xapto-Tpt ov.
This inscription is of the first century after Christ; Posideos the son of
Posideos is no doubt the same individual who dedicated offerings at Neapolis 2
to Zeus Atabyrios, Athene Lindia, and 'AXtXXet v~o-ov [gESeovrt1]. Boeckh :
conjectures him to have been a Rhodian, no doubt because of the dedications
to Athene Lindia and Zeus Atabyrios, and also because Aphrodite Euploia
was worshipped at Cnidus.
This inscription is most important, because the ,pithet Erw'hooa is so
very rare. Pausanias 4 in describing the temple to Aphrodite built by Conon
in the Peiraeus, near the sea, in honour of his naval victory off Cnidus, says
there were three temples of Aphrodite at Cnidus: verarov 8' 7)v Kvt'av
ol 7roXXot, KviL8tot ar& 1 KaXovo-wv Ei'rXotav.5 Pausanias does not say
that Conon's temple at the Peiraeus was dedicated to Aphrodite EiVrwhoa, but
an inscription discovered in the Peiraeus makes this probable. (We have
no epigraphic authority for the title EVirrXota as early as the time of
Conon). The inscription 6 reads-
'Apyeios ' Ap7etov Tptco[pvoctos]
o-rpaTr771o-as erbi TrL /Hetpa[taL]
'Appo8C1Tt EbrwXolat 7[ xI ?ryaaOe ?]

LWeOIJ7CEV.
1 Latyschev, i. 94. 5 Note that Farnell (Gk. Cults, ii. p. 689)

o Latyschev, i. 242, 243, 244. supports the view that the Cnidian statue by
4 C.I.G. ii. 2103 b. Praxiteles represented Aphrodite E?,rAota.
4 i. 1, 3. 6 C.I. A. ii.3 1206.
THE CULTS OF OLBIA. 25
The Argeus here mentioned was archon 97-96 B.C.' Besides this
inscription and the one at Olbia, there are only two others where this title
of Aphrodite occurs. One,s from Aegeae in Cilicia, 1st century B.c., is a
dedication to Aphrodite EwXhota together with Poseidon 'Ao-dXeioo . The
other is from Mylasa,9 probably of later date ; it refers to iepevi 'A poG&'ry
EdTrXolag. Many cognate titles, however, are known from inscriptions, e.g.
at Troezen an inscription 10 of the 3rd century B.c. speaks of rTa, 'A po8t'ag
Ta, d PdCCao--ae', and at Panticapaeum, in an inscription of the Roman period,"
we find Aphrodite NavapXkI and Poseidon wo-Iveoo side by side.12

The word EYTTAOI is found on a gem which represents Eros riding on
a dolphin.'3 Compare with this the inscription on a lamp shaped like a
boat ~4 with the words, EirXota XafP3 e Tv 'HXtoo'kparev. 5 Welcker 10
quotes with approval Schneidewin's emendation of Archilochus 17
7roXXah' 8' EdTrXoocpov EwrwXoilq 4Xo Ev 47rXTeyeo--Ctv

OEo'a.-pevo 7yXvKcEpov v6o-rov.
A more detailed consideration of Aphrodite under this aspect would be
out of placee here: see Farnell, vol. ii, p. 636-7; 689 et seq.
Aphrodite 'A rdTrovpoI.
As the inscription to Aphrodite EirwXota is of late period, reference

must be made to inscriptions from other places on the North Euxine which
refer to the worship of Aphrodite.
The oldest inscription of Sarmatia,"s dating from the early part of the
5th century B.C., is a dedication to
EE-:APATOPO
i.e. Aphrodite 'Awrrrovpoq. This was found near the river

Phanagoria a late inscription 19 refers to Aphrodite 'AMwarovptd
are two that refer to this cult at Panticapaeunm; one, perhaps 1s
B.C., 20contains the words
7 Notice Farnell's curious error (Greekin aCults,

chariot, 'A ppoI'rTs. Hroo-E8cY&vos. IvUOoxic
ii. p. 733) in dating this inscription in KaAos.
the latter
part of the fourth century B.c. 13 CU.I. . 7309, on which Boeckh comments,
s C.I.G. 4443, 'pertinuit ad navigationem in pelago amoris.'
o Mover. ial Bi3atoO. Z~uipvs, 1875, 14 p.
C.IG. 8514.
50;
B.C.H. v. 1880, 108; xii. 1888, 30. 15 Is it worth while to note, in view of the
10 Collitz, Dial.-Inschr. 3364 b, 1. 14.
supposition that Posideos was a Rhodian, that
1t Latyschev, ii. 25. the head of the sun appears on this lamp ? ' in
12 For this connection with Poseidonextrema
comparenavicula caput radiatum Solis, quale
esse fS
Paus. vii. 24, 2, 7rpbs OaAac'o vs 'Aeppo8aLrs solet
epbin nummis Rhodiorum ' (Boeckh).
Iv Aiyy hp al er' ab-rb Ioa etsvos, and also
16 Gr. a6tterlehre, ii. p. 706.
Compte Rendu 1881, 134-5 ; 1877, 24617 etZcitschr.f.
seq. d. Alterth. 1845. S. 166.
with the Atlas, Plate v. No. 1, where 1s
Aphro-
C.LaG. ii. 2133, Lat. ii. 469.
dite appears with a dolphin on a vase. C.I.ii.G.
19 Lat. 352.
7390, gives the inscription on a black2ofigured
Lat. ii. 19.
vase in which Poseidon appears with a female
26 G. M. HIRST
(zv3EOK[av Tv
Xry[v] 'A poS[e]'ry
[p]ov /a8feov'cylt.
This 'Aritrovpov is re
>avaryopiaT vi), 'A poT
Panticapaeum inscription
One from Phanagoria 22
ApapXo $Kv9e&
'vOEqlcev 'Abpo8
Oipavpt? 'A'nraTr
apXo7rov
Aeoncwov Boo-'7
Kat \O 6083O771.
For this aspect of Aph

relying on this inscripti
seem to have differed fr
of the worship of Aphr
the clan 24; in which co
representations of Aphr
Tauric Chersonese, one o
later. Farnell 25 regards
of the married life of th
this as additional eviden
the North Euxine ? It m
calendar called 'Awarovpe
As to the monumental
saying (p. 705) that we h
dite as the goddess of th
genuine the relief upon
quoted. This relief repr
quite out of keeping w
knew no other way of d
the figure of Ares for t
and without the inscri
'Awarotpm?.' Steph'ani,
as a representation of A
about because he conside
21 Lat. ii. 28. 25 GC. Cults, ii, p. 656 et seq.

22 Lat. ii. 349, C.I.G. 2120. Another, Lat. iv. 26 See references in Pauly-Wissowa, under
419 (fourth century B.C.). Apaturion. I. p. 2680. One of the Olbian
23 Gr. Myth. i. p. 378. months had this title, Lat. i. 28.
24 The word 'Anadrovpos is of course derived 27 Compte Rendu, 1859, p. 126. Atlas, plate
from the Ionic festival of the Apatouria. iv. No. 1, Farnell Gk. Cults, ii. p. 686, note.
terms. He describes the relief as

chiton, himation, and veil, seated o
the spectator. Two kids gambol bel
of the generative power. That th
presence of Eros behind her, and a
says, is represented in her characte
he refers to a vase representing Aph
Aphrodite 'Arr'-rovpov, and compa
as I should regard Apatouros and P
of these types of Aphrodite would
It is perhaps worth noting that t
as a proper name in inscriptions
others in an Olbian one of the fifth
of so early a date.29
Aphrodite Obpavza.
One other title of Aphrodite mu

it occurs in two inscriptions of Phana
later ones of Panticapaeum.31 It may
these inscriptions (ii. 347) the title
Herodotus may be quoted, who say
of the special deities worshipped b
Artimpasa; though, if we are rig
period was little affected by Scythi
else, the reference has little poin
of the Eastern goddess in the Gree
notes that the worship of the godd
places which had connection wit
Milesian colony. It may be worth
traces the origin of the cult of
Sinope; and the cult of Aphrodite
similar way.
In summing up the evidence for t
be admitted at once that we have n
inscription to Aphrodite EirkXota.
cult was of some importance at O
Aphrodite 'Aard'rovpoq was prevalen
the number of representations o
the Tauric Chersonese, helps to conf
28 Compte tRendu, 311871, Lat. ii. 19, 28. plate v. No. 3, and
p. 138, 184. 2 Gk. Cults, ii. p. 629.
2' Lat. iv. 28 a. "1 3Mus. du P. K. i. 59.
30 Lat. ii. 343, 347, iv. 419.
28 G. M. HIRST
Artemis.
The evidence for the cult of Artemis at Olbia is of an exactly opposite

kind to that for Aphrodite; in the case of Arteinis we have testimony from
coins, but none from inscriptions. The type is not a very common one on
Olbian coins. There is an example in the British Museum (No. 16) which
has a head of Artemis on the obverse, and a quiver with strap on the
reverse. This seems to be similar to the coin given by Pick.34 Three
are given in the Berlin catalogue, Nos. 128-130, not unlike the above.
De Koehne 5 gives six, but four of these have been sometimes recog-
nized as Demeter; the reverse is a dolphin or a sea-eagle, or both, and
there seems to be no special reason for supposing that the head on the obverse
is that of Artemis.
Before considering at all the mass of literary material relating to the
cult of Artemis on the North Euxine, the inscriptions referring to it had
better be mentioned. There is one from Phanagoria of the fourth century
Bc."C6 which begins
, X i cftoqUbocv
,.evoicketrye ?vEO'qpCE
II ' Ia e K To 1V aol
v? 0ab"
'ApT6/tL 'AypoTe'pat.
With this may be compared the silver coin of Phanagoria, of the first century
B.C., which has on the obverse a head of Artemis Agrotera.37 At Pantica-
paeum we find an inscription of the fourth century B.C. to Artemis 'Eoeo-et",
which is interesting as again showing the connection of Panticapaeum
with Asia,38 and at Tanais there is one of Roman period, beginning 9ea
'ApTr/4tt e 6o 'eeo"o.39
More interesting, perhaps, are the two inscriptions from Chersonesus,40 at
which place, as we have already seen, Artemis held the position of city-
goddess, and appears on the coins wearing the mural crown.41 The first
inscription, which is of third or second century B.C., is fragmentary, but
contains the words Tav IlapO'vov, and the second, which is a very long
decree, has at 1. 24 the words a 'th r'avTrd Xepo-ovaaotTcv 7npo-TraTOo'-a
HapOE'vo(, which have already been quoted in comparison with the title
Apollo IIpooraqTT. Further down we have a reference to the lHapevev a
held in honour of Artemis, 1. 48:
MEOXOat Tat f OVXa)t icai TCOt /JLCat a-Tebav-

wo-at Ato favTov 'Ao~-Xa'7ro8topov Xpvo-E6t
a-TE~dovwt IapOevelotE dEv T t 7roLw'7rtt,
34 Die Antiken Mliilnzen Nord- Griech clands,

i. 1. Plate X. No. 6. "rOET ~e vo/. CovUOLv al 7rFxoaaL KLt 'v3ipaS '3q OEWV
UdXo'ra &*yovo-tv l rp.r.
'5 loc. cit. pp. 62, 63. 39 Lat. ii. 421.
36 Iat. ii. 344. 40 Lat. i. 184, 185.
37 Brit. Mus. Cat. Pontus, p. 3, P1. I. 6. 41 See Berlin Catalogue under Chersonesus,
38 Lat. ii. 11, Dittenberger, Syll,2 No. 326,
and note especially Taf. i. 6.
see also, Paus. 4. 31. 8. 'Ecptcav 8~e 'Ap-reTlz
and 1. 51 ,
oTTaO0?7ev & 'abvTOD KcaO elco1 va XaXlKa Ea'v-
orrXov E-v Tat a'cpowrrXet 7rapt 7bOv 7ra IIlapOlv-

ov RPopv KaLt T7v Ta0 v XEpo-ovdo'ov.
An inscription from the Tauric Chersonese 42 dated probably about 150

B.C. contains the formula of the oath taken by magistrates:
1-tptco Ala FIavy AXtOv Hap0Evov Oeobv 'OX-

vu7riov9 4al 'OXvtrrwav.
So we have abundant evidence, even without the literature, for the para-
mount importance of the cult of Artemis at Chersonesus.
The story of the legendary connection of Artemis with the Tauric
Chersonese presents many difficulties. To quote Herodotus first: he says 4
that the Tauri sacrifice shipwrecked persons to the Virgin, 7T7v & 8a\alova
Taq 7V Ty vovo-t X'yovo-t aV;o1 Taopot 'ILyeveLav 7 A 'yaLptvovol elvat,

on which Stein's comment is ' arro'1 Taipot, nicht die Hellenen.'
Farnell44 thinks that the worship of the Tauric Artemis was aboriginal
in Attica, and that in any case it cannot have come from the Black Sea
originally, as the cult of Brauron points to a very early period, and the Crimea
was opened to Greek civilization at a comparatively late time. The worship
of Artemis under this aspect seems to have been connected with a very
primitive type of idol, and with a vague legend of bloodshed, so he thinks
that when the early settlers of the Crimea spread the story of the cruel rites
of the native goddess, the similarity of sound in the name of the peninsula
and the cult-name at Brauron (probably TavporrdXoo) caused the identifica-
tion. Iphigeneia, he thinks, was a local cult-name of Artemis, and he quotes
Pausanias,45 'ApTr'LLto drr7-/CX?)t1v) 'Iotyevela doLr'Tv l7pEpY ; also Hesychius, s.v.
'ILtyevieta" " "APTElt.

However, there is some slight verbal inconsistency, at all events, between
this view and that put forward by Farnell himself on the first and second
pages of vol. ii.-that the cult of Artemis can be traced back to a prehistoric
period, and is found in all the chief places of prehistoric Greek settlement;
from which, and from certain most primitive features of the cult, he infers
that it was 'an aboriginal inheritance of the Greek nation.' Then he speaks
of its diffusion through the various streams of Greek colonization-' it was
implanted at an early time . .. in the Tauric Chersonese.' According to
Professor Ridgeway 46 traces of Mycenaean culture have been found along the
shore of South Russia. Would it not then be an admissible conjecture that
the barbarous goddess of the Crimea was the lineal descendant of the Artemis
worshipped by the inhabitants of the same district in the Mycenaean Age,
and that the Brauronian Artemis was the descendant of the same divinity in
Greece proper ? Thus we could account for the resemblances between the
42 Quoted by Farnell, Gk. Cults, ii. 567 from 4" Greek Culls, ii. 452, 3.
Revue des tucldes Grecques, 1891, p. 338. 45 ii. 35, 1.
43 iv. 103. 4 Early Age of Greece, vol. i. p. 182.
30 G. M. HIRST
two cults. The influence

of Iphigeneia would have
less primitive, in confir
Chersonese, as we have
his mythical connection
no doubt affected in the
We may judge, then, t
at Olbia, even though
quoted. Perhaps, too, we
have had some share of
tutelary deity.
A thene.
Athene may be taken next, as the only other female deity for whose
worship at Olbia we have any evidence; though her cult has no connection
with that of the four preceding goddesses, who are all, under some of their
various aspects, more or less linked. There are no inscriptions from Olbia
that mention the name of Athene, and only two from the North Euxine district
--a dedication to Athene OTretpa at Chersonesus 47 of the fourth century B.C.,
and the dedication to Athene Lindia from Neapolis.48 However, this has a
certain connection with Olbia, as the dedicator is Posideos the son of
Posideos, whom we may conclude to be the same as the man who made the
dedication to Aphrodite EirrXota at Olbia.
But Athene and the Gorgon are frequent types on the Olbian coins. It is
quite likely that the type of Athene had a commercial rather than a religious
origin, since Olbia traded especially with Athens, and the Athenian coins
would be familiar at Olbia, as through so large a part of the Greek world.
Indeed, it is not improbable that the absence of very early coins of Olbia is
due to the use of Athenian money, and (perhaps a little later) of the Cyzicene
staters, as the regular circulating medium of Olbia, and that the large cast
bronze pieces, to which we shall soon refer, were intended to supply snmall
change for home use.49 We have some interesting evidence of the money in
use at Olbia from an inscription given by Latyschev.50 The inscription, which
dates from the beginning of the fourth century B.C., is a decree of the people
of Olbia for regulating the sale of gold and silver. After decreeing that
there shall be free importation and exportation of xpvalov drio-yov 1)
apryvpLov derira-'yov, the inscription proceeds:
7rore'(,v 86 & ai to' at wrdrra 7 7irp9 'O o iTOvopt( a

r r7i 7rOXEeoS, 7rp0 7r1 X , v Kat t 70T p-
vptoz' 7" 'OX3OwOX v.
47 Lat. iv. 82. quite, vol. i. p. 157.

48 Lat. i. 243. 1o Lat.,i. 11.
49 Cp. Lenormant, La Mounaie danls l'Anti-
From this it is clear that there wa

(though gold coins must have come in
another inscription 51 speaks of 1000
conjectured that the copper money w
is mentioned first, and not in order
silver at the beginning. A little furt
we have :
To 6 Xpvl-'ov 7rwXetv Kat i veirO

oraTripa T7v) KUvtrib V 'vecKa TO
T7rpov Kat pL77e a~tC7epov trl?77

ov, 'z-c tXXo Xpvo"ov '7 rrTotT)l
a7rav Ica~ apryvptov r~r -orrltwCov

cveto-Oat cq b v aXX'XovU 7rstOco
From the special mention of the C

they were the coins in commones
period of the most active intercour
earlier one, before the Peloponnesi
height in the time of Herodotus-and
medium of exchange at Olbia in the
A head of Athene is one of the comm
coins; upon which Prof. Percy Gardn
interesting comment :--' A counter-m
it is current at some place where it w
coin passed at some Athenian facto
knowledge of the commercial history
would have been so competent to giv
trade, but so little about Olbia and th
is hardly a trade-reference bearing up
Scythians 52 of oKc di rrto-4tTr OWtErri
At all events most numismatists ag
are among the earliest of Olbian co
pieces 54 has a very archaic head of A
head that appears on several of the o
later.
The British Museum catalogue do
head of Athene, and the Berlin collec
of late period, though from the very
admirable catalogue, it is frequently
which the editor would assign any g
of the cast pieces, similar to that qu
struck coins (p. 61). Of these, No. 1
51 Lat. i. 12. These5" need not

De Koehne assigns themnecessarily
to the beginning
have been coins of Olbia, but
of the fifth century may
or even earlier. have been
from Panticapaeum or4 Pick, P1. viii. 1.
Cyzicus.
,5 Herod. iv. 17.
32 G. M. HIRST
by Pick.55 It has a head

The two coins immedia
also to have heads of A
No. 36 in Pick seems to
in the Berlin collection. The obverse of the Berlin coin shows a head
of Pallas, with a branch as counter-mark; on the reverse is a shield an
No. 37 in Pick probably represents Athene also; the reverse ty
shield.
This is the principal numismatic evidence for the cult of Athene at

Olbia; but the famous medallion found in the North Euxine district,51 now
in the Hermitage, and representing Athene Parthenos may be also mentioned.
It probably came straight from Athens.
No place in the North Euxine district occurs in the register of Athene-
cults given by Farnell, but he says 7-' As in the earliest times we find the
worship of Athena in very various parts of the Greek world, we can con-
clude that she was a primitive Hellenic divinity of the " Achaean " period, and
originally worshipped also by the Dorian and Ionic tribes, or adopted by
them in their new settlements.' And we know that Athene was worshipped
at Miletus, the mother-city of Olbia.5s We should of course expect to find
Athene held in honour at Miletus, which prided itself on being a colony of
Athens, and Miletus in turn would be very likely to transmit the cult to its
own colony Olbia, where it would receive a stimulus, if any were needed
from the commercial relations between Olbia and Athens.
The Gorgoneion which appears on Olbian coins raises questions oi
considerable difficulty, both in regard to the type and the deity with which
it is connected. The story that Athene herself slew the Medusa is not very
early in date; Hesiod does not mention it, and Euripides appears to be the
first literary authority for it.59 Farnell traces the origin of the story to
Athene's interest in Perseus. Furtwangler (in Roscher's Lexicon) states
that Athene does not appear on the monuments wearing the Gorgoneion
earlier than the seventh century, and thinks there is no earlier literary
evidence than this that Athene wore it as a badge, or of its use as an
element of terror.60 Of course the date for the proved association of Athene
with the Gorgon is early enough to allow us to regard the Gorgoneion on
Olbian coins as an emblem of Athene; but another view would associate it
with Apollo. M. Homolle,61 in an article on a Gorgon found on the base of' a
statue at Delos, which he explains as a simple da'rorpo~atov, thinks that a
close relation existed between Apollo and the Gorgon, and quotes Homer
Iliad xv. 229, 308, (referring to Apollo's use of the aegis), and Macrobius,
i. 17. 67. The latter author, in describing a statue of Apollo at Hierapolis
5. P1. x. 17. 60 He regards the two references to the Gor-

goneion in the Iliad. (xi. 35-6, v. 741) as in-
16 Myth. and Monmm. of Ancient Athens,
Harrison and Verrall, p. 454. terpolations.
57 Gk. Cults, i. p. 259. 61 Bull. Corr. Hell. xii. (1888), p. 471.
s8 Herod. i. 19. P1. xii.
.5 lon, 987 et seq.
says s'Sumnnisque ab humeris gorg

tegit scapulas.' M. Homolle remark
emblems of Apollo, and cites as ex
this seems hardly conclusive, as it
fish-type) occurs on coins of Olbia
whose obverse type is a head of D
decided, but the fact that on the
are Athene and the Gorgon (includ
that appears on the latest of these
in guiding us to asseciate the Gorg
than with Apollo. If we have b
FiG. 7.--BrO,oNzE COIN OF OllAA N
influence in the adoption of Athe

another indication in the same direction.
The consideration of the type of the Gorgoneion pfesents equal difficulties.
It seems to have been borrowed from the East about the end of the eighth
or beginning of the seventh century B.C.; the earliest example known is a
plaque from Cameiros of the seventh century."2 The early Gorgons were
all of the hideous type, which passed through a period of transition before a
beautiful type was elaborated. A series of bronzes discovered on the
Acropolis at Athens illustrates these changes; the middle type began at
Athens before 480 B.c."3 It is found on the Euxine before 450 B.c. in the
valley of the Kuban.64 This type grew common in the second half of the
62 Daremberg-Saglio, Fig. 3633. 'I Compte lRendu, 1877, P1. ii. 1, and
63 Daremb.-Sagl., Fig. 3639.
I.S.-VOL. XXIII. II
34 G. M. HIRST
fifth century."5 It shou

from the Kuban is found
Gorgons were found at Ker
type. of Gorgon's head ap
in the fourth; the calm styl
Notwithstanding, howeve
type of Gorgon, I have nev
coin given by Pick,68 ca
the support of Professor
a private letter) that the
for the type, though he sug
seems well worth consider
FIG. 8.-BRONZE COIN OF O
heads of nymphs given

cannot fail to be struck b
large coin of Olbia. Examin
on a coin of Syracuse,69
another on a coin of Cyzi
61 See Berlin
J.H.S. Catalogue, p. 19.1892,
xiii. A specimen has been p. 236
238, Fig. 10. added to the British
(note that Museum collection
here since Fig
to the
century). sixth
the publication of the catalogue of Olbian coins,
and is given in the accompanying Fig. 7.
66 Antiq,du Bosp. Cimm. P1. xxi.
67 An example 69of Types of the
Greek Coins,beautiful
P1. vi. 22. h
wings, is given70 ibid.
in P1. vii, 35.
Compte end~e,
28, p. 147. 71 ibid. P1. x. 46,
68s oc, cit. P1. viii. 4. It is given in the
THE CULTS OF OLIA. 35
heads antd that on the Olbian coin

identification of the latter as a nym
impossible assignation of the type t
tion of the similar example in the
Obverse. Reverse.
Female head facing, with flying h!air OABIH,': Eagle on Dolphin, 1. head
and bead necklace, of good style. turned to r. with outspread wings.
-E 172 Below r or similar letter.74
It will at once be noted that von Sallet in the Berlin catalogue (published
1888) only describes this type as a female head; though the year before in
describing this coin 7 he calls it 'a good specimen of the very rare large cast
coins or tokens of Olbia with the female head (Gorgo?) and eagle, of fine style.'
It seems fair to conclude from this that in the catalogue von Sallet gives up his
doubtful -attribution of the previous year. It is also worth noting that he
puts this coin hetween No. 1, described as follows (No. 3 in Pick) :-
Obverse. -Reverse.
Gorgoneion facing, of archaic style, APIX with eagle r. which with out-
with tongue protruded.'( stretched wings stands on dolphin.
iE l7.~.
anMd No. 3 (No. 2 in Pick):-
Obvenrse. Reverse.
Gorgoneion facing, of archaic style, APIX in the open spaces of a wheel

with tongue protruded. with four spokes.
(Nos. 4-12 are smaller coins, with more or less similar types.)
If this arrangement is to be regarded as chronological (an unc
point, from the scarcity of dates in the catalogue, already alluded t
surely the attribution of the type to the Gorgon becomes impossibl
least improbable. It is unlikely that two heads of such wholly di
types could be in circulation at the same moment in the same ci
be recognized as representing the same object. It should be not
the Berlin catalogue describes a coin which does not appear in
illustrations (No. 13):-
Obverse. Reverse.
Gorgoneion, tongue not protruded, of OA . I Eagle with raised wings on

old style. dolphin, 1. .4E 11.
No. 14 is similar.
72 On the coins bearing full-face coin as 'Tdteheads

de Miduse,ofd'un style pinus
Nymphs, the representatives moderne
of aet very
avec une large
belle expression.'
class, see Gardner, loc. cit. p. 154. 75 Zeitschr. f. Num. xiv. 1887, p. 5.
3 Note the occurrence of the town-name in 76 Op. similar coin (not the same) in accom-
this form. panying Fig. 8.
7 De Koehne (p. 35, No. 6) describes a similar
.2
36 G. M. HIRST
All the above-mentione

coin, a silver one of rathe
logue, No. 36 :
Obverse. ]ererse.
Gorgon's head facing, apparently OABIO over a dolphin, 1. telow

without protruded tongue.7" KPI uR 2.
Note also that De Koehn
third century (which is not
from its position in the Be
of regarding the beautiful
of earlier date, as a Gorgon
Zeus.
The consideration of the cult of Zeus at Olbia must not be deferred

longer. At Olbia it seems essential to take Apollo first, and Demeter has
a claim to the second position, and then it is most convenient to treat of the
other female deities in close connection; so that this seems the place where
Zeus may properly be considered. Farnell ' may be referred to for some
general remarks as to the absence from the monuments of Zeus of distinctive
cult-attributes, for his cult was Hellenic pre-eminently, and not local. So
we do not expect to have at Olbia titles of such special interest in the case of
Zeus as in that of some other gods, though there is at any rate one striking
exception in the case of Zeus "OX/3tow.
The first Olbian inscription which bears the name of Zeus is Lat. i. 12, a
decree granting 1000 gold pieces and a statue to Kallinikos the son of
Euxenos (dated by Latyschev in the fourth century B.C.) which ends: d 80 ow
AdL twOTIpL. The name of Zeus EoCnjp also occurs in two other inscriptions
of Olbia, but one so is of the second century after Christ, and the other s1 is
a mere fragment.
Lat. i. 91 is a dedication to Zeus owr?tp by a private individual of
EaXaptcT?7ptov v7rep Epipvrl7 Katl a TlpaS
With this may be compared an inscription from Chersonesus.2 (second

century after Christ) where some one whose name is lost
To TELXO WK0d?Ur/CVo-ev dcEK TCv 1t(,V

Att rTaiptai%;rEp avTOi Kata ij9 ;7T6Xew
El)UTaOEt'aq.
77 Is this the same coin as Pick's example, so Lat. i. 91,

P1. x. 10? s1 Lat. i. 92.
78 Given by De Koehne, loc. cit. pi 42 No. 82
3. Lat. i. 202.
9 Gk. Cults, i. p. 121, 61.
There is one from Panticapaeum 83

joined with "Hpa :?Wre'pa;84 it is of
is made
7brrp paorLXA'c Tetpdvov elKqq9.s
There is a fragmentary inscription of the third century B.C. to Zeus

'EXev06ptog,86 a well-known cult-title of Zeus, though not occurring else-
where in the North Euxine district.
The name of Zeus Baa-LXev occurs in an inscription given by Latyschev 87
and assigned by him to the third century B.C. :
[6 i'8,tpov] E'pa.o-lpitov A?.p7rpiov Att Bao-aXe

[acpe6rcki] e"verv Kat evvola9 'rvT EL9 a7brtvO.
A tower is dedicated to Zeus HoXtdpXrg, in an inscription given by

Latyschev,s9 assigned by him to the second century after Christ. Farnell 90
says ' (?) third century B.C.' without explaining his reason for the date.
This is the only instance he gives of this title, but the cognate one of Zeus
Hoxtej occurs in many places, notably at Athens. The cult expressed the
union of the State.
Perhaps, however, the most interesting title of Zeus for the present
enquiry is that of 'OXplog, which occurs in an inscription given by Latyschev 91
and assigned by him to the reign of Septimius Severus, 193-211 A.D. It is
a decree in honour of Kallisthenes,
lepeZbq 86 7yevO/.evoq 70 p OP06o-T&To 707r

7r6Xew9 (ico v Y eod V0 'O lov.
This title receives rather curious treatment fr'om Farnell. He says92

Not only was Zeus the guardian of kingship, but also the protector of the
family property, and worshipped as Zeus Kr?Trto9. . .. This worship was
especially Attic; we find the similar cults of Zeus hov'o-ato in Sparta
(Paus. iii. 19. 7) and Zeus "OXtoq in Cilicia.' For this latter he quotes an
inscription, circa 200 B.C., given by Canon Hicks :- 9
Adt 'OX31i lepeki Te;Kpog TapKvdptog.
But this is apparently explained by Canon Hicks himself as referring to

the priest-kings of Olba, and rather as a local than descriptive epithet. The
13 Lat. ii. 29. hAes, see Pauly-Wissowa, Rcal.-Encycl. iii.

* Cp. the dedication to Athene .7retpa at 'p. 82, and especially Mr. Grcenwell's article,
Chersonesus, fourth century n. c., Lat. iv. 82. J.IL.S. vol. ii. p. 78.
I- Note that Farnell does not quote any ofs9 Lat. i. 101.
the above inscriptions in his geographical no Gk. Cults, i. 1p. 161.
register. 91 Lat. i. 21.
*~ Lat. iv. 458. :" Gk. Culls, i. p. 55.
8j i. 105. 93 J. IH.S. 1891, p. 226.
8s For other references to cult of Zeus 13ar,-
38 G. M. HIRST
only other reference giv

from Olbia at all) is C.I.G
KdXXtGLroq 'r7ep T70

Ixotcp eXapto-ryptov
on which Boeckh's cornm
mentioned inscription i
scriptive epithet, and jus
both Olbia and Olba it m
play upon the meaning o
on Lat. i. 24, 'Zev "OX
again can hardly be corr
seen that Apollo was the
more exact to say: "OX/3
Olbia.95
The above titles of Zeus are all that occur in Olbian inscriptions, but
one from Neapolis 96 may also be quoted :
Atl 'Ara/3vpot IlIoo-ieo Iloot6&ov xaPtoi-TrYov.

This Posideos is no doubt the same man who made the dedication to
Aphrodite EirhXota at Olbia. Atabyron was a mountain in Rhodes '? oib 0
Zebc 'AvraO3ptoq (Steph. Byz.). Athene was worshipped with Zeus Atabyrio
at Agrigentum.97 Preller-Robert 98 quote Pindar, 01. vii. 87 :
Ze 6 "'r 7ep v&croto-tv 'A?ap3vplov FPeo)v.
The coins of Olbia which have Zeus as type are neither very nulmerous
nor very interesting. The first given by Pick is Plate xi. No. 3, apparently
the same coin as No. 125 in the Berlin catalogue. On the obverse is a
laureate head of Zeus; on the reverse is a sceptre ending like a spear below,
above, in a lily (or lotus ?).
This reverse type is rather curiously described by De Koehite L' as
:Fleche, la pointe en bas,' but the object certainly does not inuch resemble
an arrow in Pick's plate. De Koehne also says that the coin probably
represents Zeus Soter, but gives no reason for the identification. Nos. 126,
127, in the Berlin catalogue are similar; it is to be assumed from their
arrangement both here and in Pick that they are of somewhat late dat
The next coin given by Pick 100 has a very fine head of Zeus as the obverse
type, and on the reverse an eagle with outspread wings, both apparently i
(Gr. Myth.) IF. 67. Olbios datc probably at the und of the first
95 See Brit. Mus. Cat. ofJ Coi.s, Lycaonia,
century ,.c. and the beginning of the next.
p. Ivi. note, "'OxBLos, a well-known epithet 96
ofLat. i. 242.
I7 Velcker, (r. G. ii. 282, Polyb. xi. 27,
Zeus, would mean (1) the god of prosperity, (2)
the god of Olba,' [or in this case of Olbia].6 G-). Mth. i.' 136.
' The abstract idea of prosperity is representedl
9 loc. cit. 1p. 59.
I ) PI. xi. 4.
by the concrete god Zeus Olbios.' The coins
of Olba with throne and thunderbolt of Zeus
TIHE CULTS OF OLBIA. 39
rather high relief. Coin No. 5 is similar to (thoug
63 in the Berlin Catalogue, which only differs from
caduceus as counter-mark on the cheek of Zeus, who
type. The reverse type is an eagle. Coin No. 6 shows
of the head of Zeus. Several Imperial coins repres
described by De Koehne, but only one 101 appears in
obverse is a seated figure holding a sceptre, on the re
of Fortune, with a horn of plenty and a rudder. Per
De Koehne to identify the type as Zeus: it is desc
Berlin catalogue (No. 134).103
IHe"~ mes.
Hermes may be considered next, as he appears both in inscriptions and

on coins of Olbia. Hermes and Apollo were often worshipped side by side,
as a brother-pair-Apollo as mouthpiece and prophet of Zeus, Hermes as
his outstretched right hand; and so the two stood together in streets and
before doors-Apollo as 'AyveteV, Hermes as 'Evi6&or.104 So we should expect
to find some testimony to the cult of Hermes at Olbia, where Apollo held
such a high position. He was the god of trade, markets, and commerce,
both by land and sea; therefore a statue of Hermes 'Ayopaioa (whom we shall
find mentioned in two Olbian inscriptions) stood in the market-place of every
important town.
The earliest inscription found at Olbia referring to Hermes is of the
third century B.C.,1?5 and begins:
[NtcI8po],poo Atovvalov [ryvpvao-]tapX2lo'aa

[r'v vi]bv (?) Atovo-tov 'Epp{[t] ica' 'HpacXei.
This would appear to be a dedication to Hermes in his character of dyc7vto.10'l

Hermes Agoraios was the god to whom the aediles (yropav6po.) of
Olbia made offerings. Two of these dedicatory inscriptions have come down
to us.107 It is worth while to quote Latyschev's description of the carving
above the first of these inscriptions: 'Super titulo Fortunae rota incisa est,
infra manu admodum rudi Mercurii protome, dextra marsupium tenentis,
sinistra caduceum, utrimque foliola e quibus id, quod ad dextram spectanti
est, caput humanum in medio incisum habet.' The end of the inscription
may be quoted-after the names of the 'yropavpot :
'Epp "'Ayopale Av4'90,av NeiK v apyvpCav

VTE \T7 70X V; eo7aliaS al Kat
Cvar6v ?eiaq.
101 De Koehne, loc. cit. 1). 88. '14 Preller-Robeit, Gr. Myth. i1. 385.
102 P1. xi. 22. 105 Lat. iv. 459.
10 If the attribution to Zeus is accepted, (16 For references to other places where
might it be considered as a representation ofHermes and Heracles appear together, see
Zeus "OxPBos, in consideration of the reversePreller-Rtobert, i. 1. 415. 11. 4.
type '! 107 Lat. i. 75. 76.
40 G. M. HIRST
The second inscription o

vo/Lot. Both are of quite
Two coins representing
the Berlin collection. Bo
a petasos as obverse type
badly struck ; if the coin
little more than the low
and more distinct than in No. 33. No. 33 has also a branch as counter-
mark behind the head. Both these coins have a winged caduceus as rever
type.
There is another coin which may be referred to here, that of the Scythian
king Inismeus, given by Pick,"09 with a turreted female head (Tyche of
Olbia) as reverse type. It is described by De Koehne 110 as having a
bearded head of Hermes on the obverse, but the type has none of the
characteristics of Hermes, and it is more likely to be a portrait of the
king Inismeus. De Koehne assigns this coin to the period of the recon-
struction of Olbia, i c., between 60 B.C. and 193 A.D.
Puseidon.
Strictly speaking, Poseidon can hardly claim to be considered as having

a cult at Olbia at all, as no inscriptions bear his name, and it is doubtfull
whether he is represented on the coins. However, there is an interesting
inscription ifrom Panticapaeuin,111 in which HIavTraXcwv vavapxoq imakes a
dedication
IIoo-tSo~v 6coto`d[w]t Ical 'Ahpo$tinlt NavapxC8t,
onil which Latyschev's comment is,-' Dei et deae epitheta, quae in titulo
leguntur, primum hic videntur innotuisse.' This connection of Poseidon with
Aphrodite has already been referred to under Aphrodite EiwrkXota.
De Koehne 112 gives two coins which he considers represent Poscidon.
The first (No. 43) lie describes as follows :
Obverse. R'eversc.
Tete de Poseidon. Hache, Gouryte, Carquois.
He admits, however, that the head might be identified as Zeus. But surely
the presence of the battle-axe and bow in case on the reverse makes its
identification as the Borysthenes more likely.11I
The other coin quoted by De Kochne (No. 44) appears to be that givcli
by Pick (P1. ix. 24). It is thus described by De Koehne :
"I 1'. x. 32. 33. See also De Kochnic, luc. ciU. "' Lat. ii. 25.
i. p. 66. 112 loc. cit. p. 44. 45.
P P1. xii. 9. 113 This is apparently the coin given by Pick,
11no loc. cit. i. 71. PI. ix. 32.
Obverse. Reverse.
Tfte de Poseidon, a gauche. OABI. Dauphin, at gauche, en bas,

o.
If it were not for the dolphin on the r

taken for the river-god, (and indeed th
Berlin catalogue, No. 66) as the forehead,
indistinct. But as the series of Borysthen
in case as reverse type, it seems possib
His cult would be likely to be of some im
was a maritime town, and because in loni
chief place.114
Dionysus.
There is no doubt about the right of Dionysus to a place among the

cult-deities of Olbia, as we have Herodotus' 1"5 authority for the fact of the
celebration of his mysteries there, for through this came about the death of
the Scythian king Scyles.
Also there is an inscription referring to the Dionysia at Olbia, the decree
in honour of Kallinikos 116 already referred to, which concludes:-
"rv 8 or-r'4avov AvayopevOi7vaL

70iT AtVVOL'OtE e TV c O~eTrpot.
This decree is assigned by Latyschev to the fourth century B.c. The name
of Dionysus also occurs in two Panticapaeum inscriptions.17 The latter is
especially interesting; it consists of the words,
Atovv`'o(O[t]
'A]peIot.
This title of Dionysus was only known before from an Orphic hymn (30. 4);
Latyschev dates the inscription, (which was found in 1892); in the fourth
century B.C.
It is perhaps surprising that Dionysus does not appear on Olbian coins;
but on the vase-paintings found in this region Dionysus and Ariadne and
kindred subjects are of frequent occurrence."is
114 Among other references may be, givelt colonists seem to have carried the worship ol'
Herod. i. 148, Paus. vii. 24. 5, (Frazer's note), the Phrygiam Bacchus (Sabazius) to Olbia.
Mitth. d. Arch. Inst. 10. (1885), p 32, Bull. Hence Olbia itself was called afB'a or Zavi'a,
Corr. Hell. 13. (1889), p. 279. (Peripl. P. Eux. p. 151) '-surely a most impirob-
11.5 Herod. iv. 78, 79.-an important passage able derivation.
in many ways, illustrating as it does the high 11" Lat. i. 12.
degree of Greek civilization attained at Olbia, ":7 Lat. ii. 18, iv. 199.
and the impression it produced on the Scythian 118 Compte Rendu (passim) and Antig. Bosp.
king. Rawlinson (ad. loc.) says, ' The Milesian Cimm. e.g. P1. lx.
42 G. M. HIRST
Ares.
The claim of Ares to a pl

the well-known passage of H
brushwood and the worship
is by no means certain that t
more like a savage sword-wo
that Ares was a, special obje
not follow that such was t
inscriptions which refer to Ar
However, there is some nu
are given in the Berlin catal
FIG. 9.-BRONZE COIN OF OLBIA IN THE BERLIN MUSEUM.
Ares as a reverse type. The first of these coins, No. 136, is reproduced here
(Fig. 9).120 The reverse is thus described in the Berlin catalogue:
OABIOTT OAEITWN. Ares, standing, r., left hand leaning on lance.
A in field to left.
There is a bust of Geta on the obverse; the other two Berlin coins are
similar. This coin De Koehne 121 thinks represents the temple-statue of
Achilles Pontarches, but there does not seem any ground for the assignation.
Another coin given by Pick,1'2 which does not appear in the Berlin catalogue,
is also assigned to Achilles by Do Koehne, but the figure, which is standing
and holding a lance, seems rmore likely to be Ares. It looks like the copy of
an archaic statue. The reverse type of this coin is a caduceus. These coins
are all of late period.
Helius.
There is some very interesting numismatic evidence for the existence

of this cult at Olbia. Coin No. 114 123 in the Berlin Catalogue is thus
described :-
Obverse. Rteverse.
Head of Helios, facing, with rays. OA above two fore-parts of horses
iE 5. set back to back.
119 Herod. iv. 59, 62. It appears in Pick's plates (xii, i.).
120 The cast froml which this photograph was l' Loc. cit. i. p. 84.
made, was obtained through the kindness of12* P1. xi. 21.
Di. HI. Dressel, of the Royal Museum at Berlin, 123 Nos. 115, 116 are similar.
as were others referred to below.
This coin is given by Pick; 124 it is app

Sallet comments that these coins show t
Olbia. De Koehne 125 also describes them
record we have of a cult of Helios her
introduced from Sinope to Olbia; as a
Helios, and on another coin a head wit
occurs as counter-mark.128 It would seem
was introduced from Rhodes,'29 the spec
have an apparent instance of the intimat
at a rather later period in the inscriptio
been so often referred to. Another pr
between Rhodes and Olbia is the fact tha
the latter city stamped with the name
have been found in almost every part of t
them cannot be pressed.
There are no Olbian inscriptions which
there is one from Panticapaeun 131 of lat
of 41 A.D., both of which relate to the m
these the same formula occurs.-
viro ca, PIv, HXLov.

For this formula Latyschev 133 compares an inscription from Thermae in
Aetolia,2"3 which also refers to the manumission of a slave.
The Dioscuri.
Head 135 says that the worship of the Dioscuri was very prevalent on
the shores of the Euxine. We have two pieces of evidence for the existence
of the cult at Olbia. One is a marble tablet, on which is a fragmentary
inscription of the third or second century B.c.11s Above the inscription
arc the two caps of the Dioscuri, and half a star, with apparently the remains
of another half. The other is a coin, given by Pick (P1. X. 31), of which
there are two examples in the Berlin Catalogue (No. 67, 68). The reverse
of this coin shows a dolphin between the caps of the Dioscuri, and above a
124 P1. ix. 31. 130 Biictsensch iitz, Besitz und Erwerb, p.
125 loc.cit. ,p. 58, 59. 422-4. See Inscr. Graec. Insul. Maris Acg.
'26 Note that the Berlin catalogue gives a i. p. 175, (appendix on Rhodian jar-handles),
coin, No. 32, with Heracles as a reverse type, and also an exhaustive article by Becker, (Mlanmyes
' over the head a small round counter-mark with Grdco-Borw. vol. i. 1,. 416).
youthful Helios-head with rays.' 131 Lat. ii. 54.
127 Mionnet. Suppl. iv. p. 574, 131. 132 Lat. ii. 400.
128 British Museum Catalogzue, 'Pontus,' P1. 133 i. 98.
xxii. 15 (date circa. B.c. 290-250). 134 Dittenberger, Syll. ii. 837 (2nd edit.).
129 But note the possible adoptioil from Si- 135 Historia Numorum, p. 235, (under Istros).
nope of the eagle standing on fish, as reverse 136 Latyschev, i. 18, C.LIG. ii. add. p. 1000.
type, referred to under Demeter. No. 2083. b.
44 G. M. HIRST
large star. De Koehne

nection of the Dioscu
gives several coins of
appear very frequently
From their connection w
we should naturally exp
marble and the coin supp
T'he lacbigri.
The Cabiri must be taken next to the Dioscuri, in view of their close
relationship. A very interesting inscription relating to this cult at Olbia
was discovered in 1897.138 It is on a base of white marble, and is assigned
by Latyschev to the second century B.C. It is as follows:-
E8Ioro, ' Aplortwvoo

'ErtcKpdarT(v) N tlcpdrTov
Oeot9 ro E6i dlapoplapducy[t]

(epo-a/tevov.
This is the only mention of the cult of the Cabiri at Olbia, and apparently
in the whole North Euxine district, so it is of special importance. A cult of
the Cabiri at Miletus is known,1'3 apparently in the temple of the Didy-
maean Apollo, and it may have come to Olbia fr'om the mother city; or
direct from Samothrace, as the form of the inscription (0eo v ro l Ev a apo-
Opdatc[tK]) would suggest. We have seen that Demeter, Hermes, and
Dionysus, and possibly the Dioscuri, were all objects of cult at Olbia, and as
these deities were bound up with the Samothracian worship it is natural
that a cult of the Cabiri should be found there also.
A sklepios.
There are two pieces of evidence for the existence of' a cult of Asklepios
at Olbia. The first is merely incidental,-the reference in the Protogenes
decree 140 to 'TOv [wv'p/yov] 'E,-tBavplov, from which it has been supposed that
there was a temple of Asklepios near by, which gave its name to the tower.
The other,-the bas-relief found at Olbia, and referred to by De Koehne 141
is more important. Mr. Rouse 142 conjecturally suggests that the seated
t7 loc. cit. p. 57. 141 loc. cit. p. 7. The relief is given by

1"s Lat. iv. 27. Note that Latyschev thinks
Uvarov, t1echerchcs sur les Antiquitis cde Irc
Russic miridionalc, 120, Taf. 13.
the absence of the (v) in the 2nd. line is the stone-
cutter's error, as it would be unusual for the 14" G0reek -Votive Offerings, 1). 20. Mr. Rouse
uncle's name to be omitted, is here tbollowing the author of the article Heros
'(. C.L G. 2882. in Roscher's Lexicon (i. 2571), who suggests the
140 Lat. i. 16, B, 46. attribution of the relief to Achilles.
figure in this relief is Achilles. But

impossible; on the wall hangs the re
apparently dedicated as a votive offeri
of regarding Asklepios as the subject
this relief as the most important work
two items of evidence seem enough to
a, place among the cult deities of Olb
Apollo would make probable even witho
We have two inscriptions from th
Asklepios; one, of Roman period, from
the decree shall be placed
Ev 7rt lepWe 70oi 'AqKXamrtof
The other is from Panticapaeum,"45 and
(0e03 'Aa-cXrLrte 3 W-oTpLrpt at eVepyr6Ty

T~?7 7pda'reTav avEo-T3oa-T STpaTo78 fkov
MCeveo7pT7tTOV.
A hille/cs Ponmtaarhes.
The question as to whether the cult of Achilles Pontarches at Olbia was

of Greek or Scythian origin has been already discussed in the Introduction;
it remains now to deal with the epigraphic and other evidence for the exist-
ence of the cult at Olbia. Dion Chrysostom 'n is the literary authority for
this; he says:-roVTrov [i.e. Achilles] ,ahv rhp b repcv~p q TLt/IWAC, Kal vPWo rTOP
Ev dE '- v7106 7 'AxtXX6o9 KaXoV/IEP?7 "tpvvTat, 'TOP 8 E'V 7 706Xet, WcrTE

ovie dicovetv vrep ovSeoovs iXXov tOeXovo- tv 'O)Ljpov. Kaa 7rdXXa OVKeTL
oao&( \Xdl iAovrve9 &T h T \ .46o-1otv otiKe Troit p8ap8apotqv ogU9 TyP, y7e
'IJXd a O iyob 7rdvrce to-ao-tv aro 0rrd4aTrov. It is not quite clear whether
Dio here means by ' the island of Achilles' Leuke or Berezan, a small island
at the mouth of the Borysthenes. Escher 47 and Fleischer 14 both take
the view that Berezan is meant,'49 and it seems on the whole more likely.
There was, of course, also a temple on the island of Leuke. Leuke and
Berezan have constantly been confused, both by ancient and modern writers,
with each other, and with the SpPov " 'AXtXXAdw,--a narrow tongue of land
south of Olbia and the mouth of the Borysthenes, with its west end in the
sea, and its east in a bay, and only joined to the mainland by a narrow strip
143 See Mr. Rouse himself, loc. cit. p. 210- Achilleus.

212, on the custom 'of dedicating models of 1"4 In Roscher's Lex. s.v. Achilleus.
the diseased part. . . Votive eyes. . . make nup "4 This is the view of Koehler, but Latyschev
two-fifths of the whole number. Next to the thinks Leuke is meant (op. cit. i. p. 167). It
eye comes the trunk.' should be noted that C.I.G. 2. 2076 (=Lat. i.
'4 Lat. i. 189. 77), which Fleischer quotes as being found on
1"4 Lat. ii. 30.
Berezan, L.atyschev says is of uncertain attribu-
"~ Orat. xxxvi. 439. M. tion,
147 In Pauly-Wissowa, Real.-Encycl. s.v,
4 6(. ') . HAIRtST
of land in the middle. All thlree places
From so late an author as Dio, of course
antiquity of the cult, except that one of
to be of recent introduction. That Achi
shipped as the tutelary deity of the No
of Alcaeus already quoted. We have n
referring to Achilles, but one very import
in the first century ju ..; and is undoub
was destroyed, i.e. probably 150 years b
question is a decree in honour of Nikera
the citizens from the enemy, and now
the words occur:-E'v T()I . . d.'ayjw r~XL
L7r7roSpoI/i'a.
Though this is the earliest Achilles-ins
a much earlier one from close at hand.
and Hypanis rivers was the Alsos He'cate
of the peninsula now called Kinburn.
west of this point, some fishermen in 1
altar, with the inscription
'AXtXXEi
Ka T7 Ke8pOV.I,)
Latyschev dates this as fourtlh or certainly third century B.C. It is
of great interest, and importance, as indicating that the cult of Achilles on
the North Eulxine was even more widespread than had been thoughit.1" It
would seem that there must have.been a temple, or at least an altar, of
Achilles, at the Alsos Hecates, where he was worshipped probably by fisher-
men, as the tongue of land does not appear to have been inhabited. How-
ever, as the altar was found at some distance out at sea, the sand-bank may
have shifted its position.
We have an inscription of the same date or a little earlier (fourth
century B.C.) From the island of Leuke,I' a dedication by a citizen of Olbia
to Achilles:-
['0 eiva Al]~toarpdro(v) 'AXLXXe i
[Aev/c]0^9? IteSEotL 'OXpto'rroXTr[ll4],
which may be taken as evidence of the existence of the cult in Olbia itself
in comparatively early times.154 Also there was found on the island of Leu
an important decree 155 of the people of Olbia in honour of some person,
apparently an inhabitant of the island, dated by Latyschev at the end of th
fourth or beginning of the third century B.c. A fragmentary proxenos-
150 i. 17. 153 Lat. i. 172.

a51 Lat. iv. 63. 154 For the form of the dedication cp. the
12 Note also a fragmentary inscription from one at Neapolis by Posideos 'AXAXhh? V6oov
Neapolis of the second century i..c.; apparently
a dedication to Achilles (Lat. iv. 191). [peSeorvr]. Lat. i. 244.
"5' Lat, i. 171.
inscription '1 of the same period, foun

some inhabitant of Leuke. But accordin
deserted, and sailors were forbidden to s
it would seem that the persons honour
curators of the temple of Achilles at L
was Louke, it might be inferred that th
people of Olbia.
For the importance of the cult in th
abundant evidence in the series of d
Latyschev,1ss belonging probably to the
These inscriptions, though not foun
Latyschev thinks quite certainly belong
of the formulas to those of undoubtedly
nearly all the names given in these ins
Olbia. Some have thought this series be
it was too small to have had five archo
the games referred to in some of the
contrast between these inscriptions a
belong to the same period, is that
mentioned, whereas in the former it is
in 81, where it is a oQ-7'avor, (given
xapto~Trptoov is omitted. No, 79 ma
inscriptions :-
'Aeyal? T'Xy 'AXtXXe^ foP'dpXrL
oL rrept KaXXtoavlv arL pov or
Myvb8copo HIOVTtKoVoi,
NdBao9 Novnlviov,
'AXtXXeV'e vv(Tr)p#fov,
B a'ayoq 'IJepapdov,
Adaay'oq Kov~alov,
zVrrip T74 7rrOXeow EVTaOla9 Kacl 7r
&avrtov Vyeta9 xaptT-rrptov.
No. 82 is worthy of note, because the dedication is to 'AXtXXet IovTrdpXy

cal 067T8t. A cult of Achilles, Thetis, and the Nereids is known at
Erythrae in Ionia.160
It should be noticed that the name Achilles is of frequent occurrence
at Olbia; twelve instances of it appear in the inscriptions given by
Latyschev.
Whether we have any numismatic evidence for the cult of Achilles at
Olbia is doubtful. De Koehne 16 gives three coins which he thinks represent
1-" Lat. i. 13.

Latyschev quotes Uvarov, (Rech. p. 32). Lat.
157 Scyl. Peripl. 68 ; Arrian. Per. 32 ; Anon. iv. 18, is said actually to have been found among
Peripl. 66; Amm. Marc. xxii. 8, 35; Max. the ruins of Olbia.
Tyr. diss. xx. 7 ; Philostr, Heroic. 20, 35. 160 Dittenberger, Syll.2 600; Michel, Recueil,
'S i. 77-83, iv. 17-19. 839, B. 2, 27.
151" For the dispersion of the stones of Olbia, 161 loc cit. i. p). 84, 85, 88,
48 G(. M. HIRST
Achilles. Two of these w

assigned to Ares. The thir
to be similar to that giv
Koehne describes the rever
OABIOIOAEITWON. Hom
sur une d1dvation et ten
une m et,. Dans le cham
If the object really is a
Achilles, and would be t
coins of Olbia.
Heracles.
The head of Heracles is a not infrequent type on Olbian coins. We

should expect to find him a special object of worship at Olbia, in view of
his connection with the North, familiar enough from Pindar (Olymp). iii.),
with which may be compared the passage where Herodotus says that the
Greeks dwelling about the Pontus relate that Heracles, after taking the
cattle of Geryon, passed through Scythia, and then came de Trv 'TXair,
KaXeo/.Erv, ,yiv,qv" recalling at once Pindar's
7r'st 'vpea 1pfl8atve o7ae'aOe.
Herodotus also relates 16: that in Exampaeus, a. tistrict not far from Olbia,
was shown a, footprint of Heracles; however, throughout Greek lands
Heracles seems to have had attributed to him objects similar to those which
in England are usually assigned to the devil,--the Devil's Arrows, Devil's
Punchbowl, etc.,--so the footprint here has most likely no particular signifi-
cance. His cult was so widespread that we have probably no right to claim
any special local importance for it at Olbia, but his legendary connection with
the North, as in the case of Apollo, would make him seem a fitting object of
worship there.
The epigraphic evidence for the cult of Heracles at Olbia is rather
curious. Latyschev 164 gives an inscription which is carved on a stone very
similar to the gravestones in use at Athens in the fourth century B.C., and
apparently made of Attic marble. It has been thought, therefore, that the
block may have been sent out to Olbia from Athens for sepulchral purposes
and then, having for some reason or other not been thus used, may have been
appropriated to this dedication. The inscription is most fragmentary and
was evidently purposely defaced in antiquity; it is restored thus by
Latyschev:-
[KXedtp3po'roI IHapvraKXov
1v0O]~yce T[O'1 'rtp-
yov] 'H[p]a[KXe]t^
[Ka1 7i] ~rjELt ]
162 iv. 8, 9. that on the other side is an inscription of much

163 Herod. iv. 82. later date, given i. 67.
164 loc. cit. i. 99. It should be said also
Then follows an epigram of six lines, of

'HpdK[X]EE[s], o-t [T]dv8e KXE6o4po
Kat 7ltuOt, rVoTa/4[O1 DT]0w3e [wra]p'
(We have instances of towers being buil

genes decree 16). The inscription 166
mentioned together has already been n
there are signs that it was wilfully dest
might be conjectured that at some tim
abolished at Olbia, and his name upon th
Inscriptions from some other places
name of Heracles.167 One from Pant
begins :--Tov do' 'HparX 'ov0 Kai Et4t r
7rporyovwv /aotX6owv partXd'a Tt/e'ptov
This legendary genealogy would s
emblems of Poseidon and Heracles are f
the Bosporus.'69
With regard to the numismatic evi
Olbia, eight coins bearing his head are g
duced in Pick's plates, and there are th
the British Museum). Pick's examples f
Three coins170 have youthful heads o
types are different, but they are all of
looking to the right; the reverse of eac
Pick are silver, and resemble No. 32
copper, and is similar to Nos. 117, 11
thus described:-
Obver'se. Reverse.
Youthful head of Heracles, with OABIO above a club horizontally

lionskin, r. Two faint round counter- placed. Below EIPI BA. (AE 5).
marks.
Von Sallet thinks that BA on the reverse of this coin perhaps stands for
BaatXelv', either a priest's title, or a reference to the Scythian kings. The
latter seems more likely, in view of the last-quoted inscription from Panti-
capaeum, as other Scythian kings besides those of the Bosporus may have
claimed descent from Heracles.
The other four coins given by Pick 171 have heads of quite a different
style from the preceding, and with differing reverse types. They are all
165 Latyschv, i. 16. 169 Perhaps the dedication from Pant

166 Lat. iv. 459.
paeum (Lat. iv. 200) to Alt revadpx-L sh
167 Lat. i. 245. from Nikita, probably 3rd be compared with this.
century B.C. ; Lat. ii. 24, from Panticapaeum 170 P1. x. 18-20; cp. Berlin Catalogue,
of 4th century B.C. ; and Lat. ii. 350, from 117, 118.
Phanagoria of 2nd century B.C. 171 Pi. x. 21-25; cp. De Koehne, loc. cit.
168 Lat. ii. 41. There are two similar fromp. 48. No. 54.
Phanagoria, ii. 358, 361.
H.S.-VOL. XXIIT. E
50 G. M. HIRST
silver, and the heads on

the left, and more or
No. 21, is a vertical club
No. 22 has a wreath; No
vertical bow in case.172
It is perhaps worth while to note, in discussing Heracles' connection
with Olbia, that the name KaXXlvLKos, which so often occurs in literature
as an epithet of Herakles, appears twice in Olbian inscriptions,173 both of
early date.
The River-god Borysthenes.
We have more numismatic evidence of this cult than of any other

represented on Olbian coins, except that of Apollo; judging from the number
of specimens contained in all the collections, more coins must have been
struck with the head of the Borysthenes upon them than with any other
type. The Berlin collection has 26 out of a total of 126 (besides several.
acquired since the appearance of the catalogue); the British Museum 9 out
of 23; the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge 4 out of 7; and De Koehne,
out of about 160 coins, has 26 (which he assigns to the river Hypanis). This
predominance of the river-god at Olbia is readily explained by the consider-
ation that in South Russia the rivers are by far the most imposing natural
features of the country,17" and as such would be almost certain to become
objects of worship to the early settlers. We know from Herodotus175 that
the Scythians worshipped the Danube. Of the Borysthenes in particular
Professor Percy Gardner 176 says :-' We find traces of a peculiar veneration
paid by the Greek colonists of Olbia to the river Borysthenes, whose head
appears on their coins. This head is clearly modified in type in imitation of
the physiognomy of the Scythians who inhabited the steppes of the river,
and to whose physiognomy it bears a striking resemblance.' These Scythian
characteristics of the coin-types will be easily seen from the accompanying
illustration (Fig. 10). Rivers have such a distinctively local character
that it is particularly easy to personify them. They often appear on coins
in the form of a bull. Can the striding bull, which is the obverse type of
an Olbian coin, be taken as a personification of the river-god ? 177 This
hardly seems likely, in view of the other series of Borysthenes coins, but
the coin is apparently quite late. There is another coin, of Imperial date,
which has a bull as reverse type.178s The series in the illustration belongs to
another type,-' a human figure, with human face and a shaggy beard, but
172 Of these coins De Koehne says, 'Les 176 Transactions of Royal Soc. of Literature,
dernieres pieces de ce type indiquent dej' une vol. xi. second series, p. 174, et seq.
6poque de ddcadence.' 177 Pick, Pl. xi. 23, Berlin Catalogue, 132,
173 Lat. i. 12, 114. De Koehne, loc. cit. p. 84, explains it as refer-
174 Cp. Herod. iv. 47; et seq. and esp. iv. 82, ring to the fact that the wealth of Olbia largely
consisted in cattle.
OoedoLaia8 X-ppp a7'T obK Ei , Xopls re'r WoJa-
178 Pick, P1. xii. 3.
o0s )TE TrohhAA /se-yIlros K( a apsO..bV e hAVTovs.
175 Herod. iv. 59.
with the forehead, horns, and ears of

than the head appears on the coins.
The coinsI80 themselves can be be
accompanying Fig. 10; they are only d
Museum Catalogues by the monogram
river-gods on the obverse are of very dif
The first coin (a) illustrated 181 is n
to have been anxious to get as close to
head slightly humanised. The forehea
are especially bovine. One would su
copying a type from another coin
about it.
The second coin (c) ls shows a head
Scythian type, but the forehead and s
a bIA IN TH BERLIN MUSEUM.
? d f
FI. 10.--BR
bull's ears
river-god
The head o
wholly hu
river-god,
tional and
179 Professo 'sl Pick, P1. ix. 26 (Imhoof-Blumer collec-

Trach. tion). 13. T
archaic coin of Metapontum in Lucania, 182 Pick, ix. 27 (obverse only ; the reverse
Millingen, Anc. Coins of Grk. Cities and Kings, numbered 27, belongs to the third coin (d) in
P1. i. 21. The coin given by Head, Hist. Aturm. the present illustrations), Imhoof-Blumer collec-
p. 63, is not the same. tion. An example is in the British Museum,
1so The casts from which these photographs No. 10, cut on p. 12 (Catal. 'Thrace').
were made were furnished by the kindness of 183 Imhoof-Blumer collection.
Dr. Dressel.
E2
52 G. M. HIRST
that Pick should not hav

distinctive.
The next coin (e) 184 is p
coin is not struck evenly
they were on the die, bu
Scythian, as possible, of
on the coins of Pantica
of Xenophantos, already re
the wounded Scythians o
Russia.'s1 The left-hand f
head in the coins represe
The last (f) of the Bory
tinctly Scythian feature
more like that of the con
All these coins have sim
case,l'7-so the Scythian r
and the obverse and re
special interest possessed
Scythians on the vases,
trayed the men they s
conventional types. It ha
Scythian heads among ot
feeling on the part of th
purely Greek city, at an
These coins are said in t
time of Alexander the
period of more than a c
and Scythians had arisen,
coins. But we should h
continued in some form
measure the prosperity
remembered, too, that o
was Borysthenes. Herodo
of Scyles, and also calls
that they preferred to c
is not found in Herodotus.
184 In the Berlin collection, but not in the

type of the head on the obverse is different from
catalogue; Pick's coin (P1. ix. 28) is similar,
those given ; it is very large, almost filling up
but not the same. the surface of the coin, and the horns cannot
18s Comple L'endu, 1864, p. 142. be seen on the forehead.
186 Berlin Catalogue, No. 93, Pick's coin, Pl, 188 An Olbian inscription foundc in 1900
ix. 29, is not unlike this, but the resemblance (Lat. iv. 460), of the fourth century B.c., refers
is not very close. to archery contests held at Olbia. These must
have been imitated from the Scythians, as
187 The coin given by Pick (P1. ix. 32) already
ioted as being ascribed by De Koehne to Greeks in other places do not seem to have had
Poseidon should probably be assigned to this
them.
series, as the reverse type is the same. The 119 Herod., iv. 18.
The purely Hellenic character o

demonstrated by the facts above pr
local god except the Borysthenes, w
tion, as the neighbouring river is a f
of Greek states. Local colour is supp
and perhaps by the sturgeon; the ot
way distinctive.
G. M. HIRST.

Olbia Cults II. G.M. Hirst 1903

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Olbia Cults II. G.M. Hirst 1903

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The Cults of Olbia.

(Continued froom Vol. XXII., p. 267).

'Appo8C1Tt EbrwXolat 7[ xI ?ryaaOe ?]

1 Latyschev, i. 94. 5 Note that Farnell (Gk. Cults, ii. p. 689)

we find Aphrodite NavapXkI and Poseidon wo-Iveoo side by side.12

7roXXah' 8' EdTrXoocpov EwrwXoilq 4Xo Ev 47rXTeyeo--Ctv

Aphrodite 'A rdTrovpoI.

As the inscription to Aphrodite EirwXota is of late period, reference

i.e. Aphrodite 'Awrrrovpoq. This was found near the river

7 Notice Farnell's curious error (Greekin aCults,

For this aspect of Aph

21 Lat. ii. 28. 25 GC. Cults, ii, p. 656 et seq.

terms. He describes the relief as

One other title of Aphrodite mu

The evidence for the cult of Artemis at Olbia is of an exactly opposite

MEOXOat Tat f OVXa)t icai TCOt /JLCat a-Tebav-

34 Die Antiken Mliilnzen Nord- Griech clands,

orrXov E-v Tat a'cpowrrXet 7rapt 7bOv 7ra IIlapOlv-

An inscription from the Tauric Chersonese 42 dated probably about 150

1-tptco Ala FIavy AXtOv Hap0Evov Oeobv 'OX-

Taq 7V Ty vovo-t X'yovo-t aV;o1 Taopot 'ILyeveLav 7 A 'yaLptvovol elvat,

'ILtyevieta" " "APTElt.

two cults. The influence

7rore'(,v 86 & ai to' at wrdrra 7 7irp9 'O o iTOvopt( a

47 Lat. iv. 82. quite, vol. i. p. 157.

From this it is clear that there wa

To 6 Xpvl-'ov 7rwXetv Kat i veirO

T7rpov Kat pL77e a~tC7epov trl?77

a7rav Ica~ apryvptov r~r -orrltwCov

From the special mention of the C

51 Lat. i. 12. These5" need not

by Pick.55 It has a head

This is the principal numismatic evidence for the cult of Athene at

5. P1. x. 17. 60 He regards the two references to the Gor-

says s'Sumnnisque ab humeris gorg

FiG. 7.--BrO,oNzE COIN OF OllAA N

influence in the adoption of Athe

fifth century."5 It shou

FIG. 8.-BRONZE COIN OF O

heads of nymphs given

heads antd that on the Olbian coin

Gorgoneion facing, of archaic style, APIX in the open spaces of a wheel

Gorgoneion, tongue not protruded, of OA . I Eagle with raised wings on

72 On the coins bearing full-face coin as 'Tdteheads

All the above-mentione

Gorgon's head facing, apparently OABIO over a dolphin, 1. telow

The consideration of the cult of Zeus at Olbia must not be deferred

EaXaptcT?7ptov v7rep Epipvrl7 Katl a TlpaS

With this may be compared an inscription from Chersonesus.2 (second

To TELXO WK0d?Ur/CVo-ev dcEK TCv 1t(,V

77 Is this the same coin as Pick's example, so Lat. i. 91,

There is one from Panticapaeum 83

There is a fragmentary inscription of the third century B.C. to Zeus

[6 i'8,tpov] E'pa.o-lpitov A?.p7rpiov Att Bao-aXe

A tower is dedicated to Zeus HoXtdpXrg, in an inscription given by

lepeZbq 86 7yevO/.evoq 70 p OP06o-T&To 707r

This title receives rather curious treatment fr'om Farnell. He says92

Adt 'OX31i lepeki Te;Kpog TapKvdptog.

But this is apparently explained by Canon Hicks himself as referring to

13 Lat. ii. 29. hAes, see Pauly-Wissowa, Rcal.-Encycl. iii.

only other reference giv

KdXXtGLroq 'r7ep T70

Atl 'Ara/3vpot IlIoo-ieo Iloot6&ov xaPtoi-TrYov.