Laoitas

Laoitas ( ancient Greek Λαοιτάς ), in the feminine form Laoitis ( Λαοιτίς ), is an epiclesis of the Greek deities Zeus , Poseidon , Hera and Athena , with which they were worshiped in the Zeus sanctuary in Olympia . The meaning of the name cannot be clearly clarified, as a rule it is translated as “protector of the people” (from λαός “people”).

The epiclesis is known from Pausanias' report on Olympia, in which, following the description of the main altar, he lists further altars chronologically according to the sacrifices made during the year. After sacrifices for Hestia and Zeus Olympios, the third place is sacrifices for Zeus Laoitas and Poseidon Laoitas, which are performed on a double altar. Since the passage of the text has only been transmitted corruptly , the mention of a further double altar of Hera Laoitis and Athena Laoitis was made accessible through additions. Without giving nickname the altars are in an at Herodorus traditional Scholion to Pindar Olympien named among the six double altars of Heracles should be set up on the occasion of the foundation of the sanctuary, and were thus counted among the oldest altars of Olympia.

literature

Wilhelm Drexler : Laoitas . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 2.2, Leipzig 1897, column 1833 ( digitized version ).
Jan Gunning: Laoitas. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XII, 1, Stuttgart 1924, Col. 735 f. ( Digitized version ).

Remarks

↑ Jannis Mylonopoulos : Πελοπόννησος οἰκητήριον Ποσειδῶνος. = Sanctuaries and cults of Poseidon on the Peloponnese (= Kernos . Supplément Volume 13, ISSN 0776-3824 ). Center International d'Étude de la Religion Grecque Antique, Liège 2003, p. 137.
↑ Pausanias 5:14 , 4.
^ Ernst Curtius : The altars of Olympia . Publishing house of the Royal Academy of Science, Berlin 1882. p. 29.
↑ Scholion on Pindars Olympia 5, 10 with Herodorus of Herakleia. In: Karl Müller , Theodor Müller , Victor Langlois (eds.): Fragmenta historicorum graecorum , Volume 2. S. 36, Fragment 29.

[1] Jannis Mylonopoulos : Πελοπόννησος οἰκητήριον Ποσειδῶνος. = Sanctuaries and cults of Poseidon on the Peloponnese (= Kernos . Supplément Volume 13, ISSN 0776-3824 ). Center International d'Étude de la Religion Grecque Antique, Liège 2003, p. 137.

[2] Pausanias 5:14 , 4.

[3] Ernst Curtius : The altars of Olympia . Publishing house of the Royal Academy of Science, Berlin 1882. p. 29.

[4] Scholion on Pindars Olympia 5, 10 with Herodorus of Herakleia. In: Karl Müller , Theodor Müller , Victor Langlois (eds.): Fragmenta historicorum graecorum , Volume 2. S. 36, Fragment 29.