The Kouretes and Zeus Kouros: A Study in Pre-Historic Sociology

Abstract

Ἰώ, μέγιστε Κοῦρε, Χαῖρέ μοι, Κρόνιε. The opening words of the Hymn to Diktaean Zeus recently found at Palaikastro instantly arrest attention. Zeus the Father of Gods and Men is invoked by a title that to our unaccustomed ears sounds strange and barely reverent.