Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 31/1. (2011)
Articles
The Iconography of the Antique Hero in the Balkan Area 165 single mounted male personage, and, on the other hand, the Dioscuri, for the reliefs which represent two affronted Riders (Tudor 1976, 50). The Dioscuri (from Greek Dioskouroi) are the twin brothers of Hellen, known as well as Tyndarides (according to their Laconian origin, as son of king Tyndareus), or as Anakes at Argos and Athens, being called as well Castor and Pollux, or Castor and Polydeuces. These latter designations indicate an Indo-European origin, which has been assimilated with the Laconian one during historical times (LIMC, III, sv. Diokouroi). The term Dioscuri (sons of Zeus) indicates, on the other hand, an Ionian origin, being attested on an inscription from Théra, dated at the end of the 8th century ВС-beginning of the 7th century BC. In the Homeric hymn (33) they have the role of aiding shipwrecked sailors (LIMC sv. Dioskouroi), receiving thus sacrifices for favourable winds (Merriam-Webster’s, sv. Dioscuri). Their invocation when on sea in times of troubles already signals a connection with the deities knows as Kabiri, worshiped in the island of Samothrace (LIMC sv. Dioskouroi, 58-59), in Lacedaemonia - in the festival called Dioscuria -, and Asia Minor, especially in Phrygia, and in Macedonia and in other parts of northern, as well as southern Greece. It is also interesting to note that no profane had the right to name or to speak of them (Blawatsky 1892,66). The Kabiri are said to have been worshipped by Phoenician sailors, as they were protectors of all mariners, especially when at sea, and they appeared in the form of St. Elmo’s fire, that is as fireballs on the mastheads of the ships. Later, they have been identified with the constellation of Gemini, and in Rome came to be known as the Castores, and as the ‘horse-tamers’. The Dioscuri are often referred to as the ‘horseman gods’, and are described as riding on white horses (Gardner 2003, 140). In Roman myths, they appear as participants in the battle from Regilla Lake, together with the Romans, being the ones which announced the victory (Grimal 2003, sv. Dioscuri). Their mounted representation is connected with their athletic and warfare activities, although this iconographical feature imposes in Greek oriental world as a particular trait, especially after the poet Alcée of Lesbos evoked the twins as mounted youth who came to rescue the sailors (Lobel-Page, 1955, frag. 34, 5-6). Their maritime functioned might be connected with their status as tutelary heroes of a state devoted to commercial and economical expansion, possible Argos (Farnell 1921, 183). Another important fact related to the Dioscuri what needs to be mentioned is their occasional identification with the Kabeiroi of Samothrace, a prevalent idea beginning with the 3rd century BC. As L. R. Farnell (1921, 184) points out, there is no identity or similarity in their iconography or their name: the first were chthonian spirits, generally imagined as an elder and a younger deity, being designated as ‘The Great Gods’, while the Dioscuri were known as ‘Lords’. Nevertheless, one similarity might be their ability to protect and save sailors, leading thus to their mixture, as it is suggested by one shrine consecrated to the Kabeiroi during Hellenistic times, with a priest designated with as ДюокотЗрсои Kaßeiptou (Dioskouroi Kabeiroi). From the neighbourhood island Suros came coins which depict two youth twins surmounted by stars and leaning on spears, but entitled 0etou Kaßeiwu (Theoi Kabeiroi). Moreover, the Dioscuri are mentioned with a new title 0eoi MeyáXoi (Theoi Megaloi), given to them in public cults from Arcadia or Attica and a certain tendency to combine with the Mother of Gods or with Demeter (Farnell 1921, 188), as is the case of a mutilated relief from Stoboi, a Paeonian city in Macedonia. On this relief are represented the Dioscuri on horseback with the usual oval hats and between them a goddess standing with nimbus and torch, identified as Demeter (Farnell 1921, 220). Though the evidence regarding the presence of the Dioscuri in the regions of the Black Sea is not abundant, we mention a coin of Istros type, dated to approximately 300 BC, showing two young male heads,
