Raz jeszcze o grobie Dzeusa na Krecie

Abstrakt

According to the author, the legend about Zeus' grave was probably created as early as VIII or VII centuries BC, being a part of the common tomb cult in Early Greece. In this time the Mycenaean tholos graves began to be considered as tombs of the Greek heroes and gods. However, some Greeks raised an objection to the new form of the tomb cult. The belief in Zeus' grave was regarded as downright blasphemy by Epimenides (VII/VI century BC) and brought censure upon the Cretans for being liars. This is reflected not only in Callimachean Hymnus to Zeus (vv. 8-9), but also in a lost poem of Epimenides (probably in his Theogony). A fragment of this poem has been preserved in two Syriac commentaries to the Apostle Acts (17, 28). The English translation of these Syriac sources runs as follows: “The Cretans carved a tomb for thee, O Holy and High, / Liars, noxious beasts, evil bellies, / For thou didst not die, ever thou livest and standest firm / For in thee we live and move and have our being”. This fragment may been restored in the following shape:

Τύμβον ἐτεκτΥναντο σέϑεν, Κύδιστε, Μέγιστε,
Κρῆτες ἀεὶ ψεῦσται, κακὰ ϑηρία, γαστέρες ἀργαί.
᾽Αλλὰ γὰρ οὐ σὺ ᾽ϑάνες, ζώεις δὲ καὶ ἵστασαι αἰεί,
῎Εν σοι καὶ ζῶμεν καὶ κινύμεϑ᾽ ἠδὲ καὶ ἐσμέν.

Both the second and the fourth verses were quoted by St. Paul, the former as an excerption from a poem of the Cretan seer, the latter as an anonymous quotation. Two remaining lines are convincingly restored on the basis of both Syriac translations. The attribution of this tetrameter to Epimenides, the well known Cretan prophet, poet and politician, seems certain. Thus some verses of the Callimachean Hymnus to Zeus had to be modelled on Epimenides' version of the birth-story of the Greek principal god. They contain an exact imitation of the prophet's words: “The Cretans always Liars” (Κρῆτες ἀεὶ ψεῦσται) and the same arguments:

(1)both poets (i.e. Epimenides and Callimachus) reproached the Cretans for the lie;
(2) both think congruently that the alleged Zeus' grave in Crete was a basic reason for arising the popular opinion on the lying character of the Cretans;
(3) both deny the supposed death of Zeus;
(4) both believe in the immortality of the god;
(5) both criticize the different traditions, referring to the authority of a god (Zeus in the Callimachean hymn) or a hero (Minos in Epimenides' poem).

Callimachus of Cyrene follows silently Epimenides, summarizing the same arguments, which permit him to reject the common version of the Zeus' birth-story in Crete. He also records some of Epimenides' aetiological tales, e.g. on the Omphalian Plain and the Mountain Panacra.