Ancient World

Hymn to Dictaean Zeus

The Hymn to Dictaean Zeus, also known as the Hymn of the Couretes, is an Ancient Greek celebratory song in praise of the god Zeus. It is preserved on an ancient limestone stele, four fragments of which were discovered in May 1904 during excavations in Roussolakkos near Palaikastro on the eastern coast of the Greek island of Crete. The hymn invokes Zeus as the "greatest kouros", worshipped as a fertility god who welcomes the young initiates at the annual festival at his birthplace Mount Dicte. The stele, whose discovery made it possible to locate the temple of Dictaean Zeus already known from classical writings, is now on display in the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion.

Also on this shelf

See also

• ▸Gender archaeology
• ▸Egoyomi
• ▸Gabriele Judica

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