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[781] The connexion of Zeus “τερπικέραυνος” with the phenomena of a volcanic district has been thought to allude to the violent electrical disturbances which often accompany eruptions. Ἄριμα is said to be a volcanic region in Kilikia, or, according to others, in Mysia, Lydia, or Syria. The latter name suggests Aram, the native name of Syria. Evidently Arima or the Arimoi are best located in mythland. A, perhaps following Ar., gives “Εἰναρίμοις”, and so Virgil must have read, Aen. ix. 716 “‘durumque cubile Inarime Iovis imperiis imposta Typhoeo.’” The metaphor of lashing reappears in the story of the defeat of Typhoeus by Zeus in Hes. Theog. 857, where he is described as a monster with a hundred snake's heads spitting fire, the son of Gaia and Tartaros. So also Pindar, in a magnificent passage of Pind. Pyth. i., where his birthplace is given as Kilikia, but his prison as beneath Cumae and Aetna.

The Iliad, edited, with apparatus criticus, prolegomena, notes, and appendices. Walter Leaf. London. Macmillan. 1900.

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hide References (3 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (3):
    • Hesiod, Theogony, 857
    • Pindar, Pythian, 1
    • Vergil, Aeneid, 9.716
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