Xenios

Xenios ( Greek  Ξένιος or epic Ξείνιος , "foreign") is one of the many epithets of the Olympian god Zeus in Greek mythology .

As Zeus Xenios he was worshiped as the god and protector of guests and hospitality. In many places his own cult associations are dedicated to his veneration, in Rhodes for example under the name "Diosxeniasts" ( Διὸς Ξεινιασταί ). The main sanctuary of the Samaritans , the temple in Garizim , was consecrated to Zeus Xenios under Antiochus IV. Epiphanes .

It is said that a pupil of the sculptor Praxiteles, named Papylos, made a statue of Zeus Xenios.

The Roman form of the name is Iuppiter hospes or hospitalis . Other gods were also given the epithet, such as Apollo , Asklepios , Eros and Poseidon . With the female form Xenia , for example, Athena and Aphrodite could be invoked.

literature

• Otto Weinreich : Xenios . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 6, Leipzig 1937, Col. 522-525 ( digitized version ).

Web links

• Xenios in the Greek Myth Index

Remarks

1. ↑ Among other things, Homer , Ilias 13, 624 f .; Odyssey 9, 270 f .; 14, 283 f .; Pindar , Nemeische Oden 5, 33; Apollonios of Rhodes 2, 1131 f .; 3, 193.
2. ↑ Suda , keyword Ξένιος , Adler number: xi 37 , Suda-Online
3. ↑ Eusebius , Chronicle 2, 126 f.
4. ↑ Pliny , Naturalis historia 36, 34.
5. ^ About Ovid , Metamorphosen 10, 224.
6. ^ For example, Marcus Tullius Cicero , epistulae ad Quintum fratrem 2, 10, 12; per active Deiotaro 18; Pliny, Naturalis historia 36, 34.