Synnaos Theos

Synnaos Theos ( ancient Greek σύνναος θεός ) was the god who shared the temple ( naos ) of a deity with this during the Hellenistic period . The Synnaos Theos could be both a god and a deified person. A mortal dwelling with a god was already described by Homer . The idea behind Synnaos Theos manifested itself in other terms in the early ruler's cult . Arsinoë II. And Ptolemy II. Were worshiped as adelphoi theoi in the cult of the sibling gods . Demetrios I. Poliorketes received honors as a guest ( xénos ) in the Athena temple in Athens . The first actual evidence comes from an inscription for Attalus III. Philometor Euergetes. The decree of the city of Pergamon stipulates that the king will be introduced as Synnaos into the temple of Asclepius . A five cubits tall cult statue ( Agalma ) is said to “stand on spoils of war in the temple of Soter Asclepius, so that he might be Synnaos of God”. The inscription goes back to approx. 138-133 BC. Dated.

Synnaos Theos is often used for groups of traditional deities, for example Isis and Serapis . In Egypt it is also used for other groups of gods. In literary terms, the term appears for the first time in Strabo and Cicero . Cicero uses the term in Latin in his derisive comments to Caesar , who sought divine honors.

literature

• C. Robert III. Phillips: Synnaos Theos. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 11, Metzler, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-476-01481-9 , Sp. 1156 f.
• Arthur Darby Nock : Synnaos Theos . Harvard Studies in Classical Philology (HSCP) 41, 1930, pp. 1-62.
• Simon RF Price : Rituals and power: the Roman imperial cult in Asia minor . Cambridge 1986. ISBN 0-521-25903-7 .
• Dirk Steueragel : Synnaos Theos, Images of Roman Emperors in Greek Temples . In: Divine Images and Human Imaginations in Ancient Greece and Rome. Ioannis Mylonopoulos (Ed.), Series: Religions in the Graeco-Roman world, Volume 170, Leiden 2010. ISBN 978-90-04-17930-1 .

Individual notes

1. ↑ Homer, Odyssey 7.80.
2. ↑ C. Robert III. Phillips: Synnaos Theos. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 11, Metzler, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-476-01481-9 , Sp. 1156 f.
3. ↑ Haritini Kotsidu : Timē kai doxa. Honors for Hellenistic rulers in the Greek motherland and in Asia Minor with special consideration of the archaeological monuments. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 2000, KNr 222.
4. ↑ Strabo, 7,7,12.
5. ↑ Cicero, epistulae ad Atticum , 12.45.3; 5.186-188.
6. ↑ C. Robert III. Phillips: Synnaos Theos. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 11, Metzler, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-476-01481-9 , Sp. 1156 f.