What a chore

Welchanos ( Greek Ϝελχάνος ) is an epithet of the Greek god Zeus in Crete .

According to an inscription, the festival Welchania ( Ϝελχάνια ) was celebrated in honor of Zeus Welchanos in the city of Lyktos . Representations of Zeus Welchanos can be found on coins that were minted in Phaistos , they show a youthful god sitting in a willow tree with a cock between his knees. It is believed that Welchanos is an ancient Minoan fertility god who was later identified with the Greek Zeus.

The ancient lexicographer Hesychios of Alexandria lists the epithet in his lexicon as Gelchanos ( Γελχάνος ) and explicitly connects it with Zeus ("Welchanos: Zeus among the Cretans").

literature

Vassiliki Machaira: Ϝelchanos . In: Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC). Volume 000008VIII, Zurich / Munich 1997, pp. 299-300.

Individual evidence

↑ Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 13, 1889, p. 61 ; Martin Persson Nilsson : Greek festivals of religious importance excluding the Attic. Teubner, Leipzig 1906, p. 33 ( digitized version )
↑ Taylor & Francis: Greek coins . P. 170. ( Digitized in the Google book search)
^ Harry Reginald Hall: The oldest civilization of Greece. Studies of the Mycenaean age . Nutt, London 1901. p. 204.
^ Liddell / Scott / Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon

[1] Bulletin de correspondance hellénique 13, 1889, p. 61 ; Martin Persson Nilsson : Greek festivals of religious importance excluding the Attic. Teubner, Leipzig 1906, p. 33 ( digitized version )

[2] Taylor & Francis: Greek coins . P. 170. ( Digitized in the Google book search)

[3] Harry Reginald Hall: The oldest civilization of Greece. Studies of the Mycenaean age . Nutt, London 1901. p. 204.

[4] Liddell / Scott / Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon