Apolo Smintheus y dos cultos de Herakles

Abstract

The phenomenon of Apollo's association with field and cattle needed an explanation. There is a tendency to connect the cult-name Smintheus (as Parnopios or Nomios) with an aboriginal character of Apollo as a peasant-god, who became lastly, as the god of Delphoi, Apollo the Archer, the musician and physician god. But this evolutionary process would be going against all plausibility. If we try to explain cult-names and aetiological legends dealing with field or cattle, we must take as its starting point Apollo's aboriginal character as an IndoEuropean magician-god, connected with Scandinavian Odinn.