Sosipolis (nickname)

Pronaos of the Zeus Sosipolis Temple in Magnesia on the meander in the Pergamon Museum , around 220–190 BC In front of it a statue of the magnesian main goddess Artemis Leukophryne

Sosipolis ( Greek  Σωσίπολις ) is an epithet of the Greek god Zeus in magnesia on the meander .

The magnesian cult of Zeus Sosipolis has been around since the turn of the 2nd century BC. It is documented that at this time the creation of a temple for the god designed by Hermogenes is dated. The architecture of the temple is stylistically close to that of the neighboring main temple of Artemis Leukophryne . The floor plan shows it as a prostyle double- sided temple . In the cella there was a base for the statue of Zeus Sosipolis, of which only fragments were found. On the north-western ante of the temple was an inscription containing an extensive festival order.

The festival in honor of Zeus Sosipolis consisted of two parts. The first part was celebrated in the fall, with a previously purchased bull being led through town at the beginning of the sowing season. The priest and priestess of Artemis Leukophryne, Stephanephoros , various other officials, the Hierokeryx , the Thytes and two choirs took part in the procession . The choirs consisted of nine boys and nine girls whose parents were still alive. During the procession the Hierokeryx said a prayer “for the well-being of the city and the country and the citizens and women and children and all who dwell in the city and the country, and for peace and prosperity and fertility of the seeds and other fruits and of the cattle ”, the other participants supported the prayer. The bull was then taken care of for the winter, and the person responsible for this was authorized to request food from the market vendors.

The second part of the festival was celebrated the following summer at the beginning of the harvest. It began again with a procession led by the priests, followed by Stephanophoros with decorated Xoana of the twelve Olympian gods . Furthermore, the gerusia , the officials, elected and drawn Ephebe and the winners of various agons took part in the parade. The procession ended at the altar of the twelve gods, which was in the market square. A wooden hut was set up there and three beds were prepared to entertain Zeus Sosipolis, Artemis Leukophryne and Apollon . The bull that was carried along was then sacrificed by Thytes and the meat was divided among the festival participants according to established rules. In addition to the bull, a ram was sacrificed to Zeus Sosipolis, a goat to Artemis Leukophryne and a goat to Apollo; the sacrifice for Apollon was made on the altar of Artemis Leukophryne. The feast was accompanied by flute, syrinx and kithara music.

literature

• Ludwig Less : Sosipolis 3 . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 4, Leipzig 1915, Sp. 1221-1228 ( digitized version ).
• Walter Pötscher : Sosipolis. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 5, Stuttgart 1975, Col. 285.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Otto Kern : Die Insschriften von Magnesia am Maeander , No. 88  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. = Wilhelm Dittenberger : Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum , 3rd edition, Volume 2, No. 589 ( online at PHI Greek Inscriptions ).  
2. ↑ Martin Persson Nilsson : Greek festivals of religious importance excluding the Attic. Teubner, Leipzig 1906, p. 23 ( digitized version ).