Zalmoxis
ZALMOXIS was the founder, possibly legendary, of a priestly line of succession closely linked with kingship of the Getae and the Dacians, the northernmost Thracian peoples of the ancient world. Whether he is a figure of legend or of history is moot, as are questions of his religious functions. Associated both with priesthood and with kingship, he was divinized and became the object of a widespread cult among both northern and southern Thracian peoples.
Name
The name Zalmoxis is attested by ancient authors from Herodotus and Plato (fifth-fourth centuries BCE) to Diodoros of Tyre (second century CE) and Jordanes (sixth century CE). Herodotus spells the name Salmoxis; Strabo gives it as Zamolxis. The genuine form, however, is Zalmoxis, support for which is found in such Thracian names as Zalmodegikos and Zelmutas and in numerous composites formed with -zelmis, -zelmos, and -selmios. Zamolxis is only a metathesis, frequent since Strabo (first century BCE), with no parallels in Thracian onomastics.
Porphyry (third century CE) explains the etymology of Zalmoxis through the Thracian word zalmos ("skin"; Gr., dora), and in supporting this thesis he offers an etiologic legend that tells of the covering of Zalmoxis at birth with a bearskin (Life of Pythagoras 14–15).
This is a free page. This page contains 201 words. This
article contains 2,859 words (approx. 10 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Article with our Zalmoxis Access Pass.
