Eubuleus

For the Athenian statesman and contemporary of Demosthenes, see Eubulus (statesman).
This marble head, sometimes thought to be the work of Praxiteles, probably depicts Eubuleus

In ancient Greek religion and myth, Eubuleus (Ancient Greek Εὐβουλεύς Eubouleus means "good counsel"[1] or "wise in counsel"[2]) is a god known primarily from devotional inscriptions for mystery religions. The name appears several times in the corpus of the so-called Orphic gold tablets spelled variously, with forms including Euboulos, Eubouleos and Eubolos.[3] It may be an epithet of the central Orphic god, Dionysus or Zagreus,[4] or of Zeus in an unusual association with the Eleusinian Mysteries.[5] Scholars of the late 20th and early 21st centuries have begun to consider Eubuleus independently as "a major god" of the mysteries, based on his prominence in the inscriptional evidence. His depiction in art as a torchbearer suggests that his role was to lead the way back from the Underworld.[6]

  1. ^ Rosemarie Taylor-Perry, The God Who Comes: Dionysian Mysteries Revisited (Algora, 2003), p. 10.
  2. ^ Robin Hard. The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology (2004)
  3. ^ Fritz Graf and Sarah Iles Johnston, Ritual Texts for the Afterlife: Orpheus and the Bacchic Gold Tablets (Routledge, 2007), pp. 5, 13, 123.
  4. ^ Jane Ellen Harrison, Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion (Cambridge University Press, 1908, 2nd ed.) pp. 585–587.
  5. ^ Used as an epithet of Zeus in some inscriptions; J.G. Frazer, Pausanias's Description of Greece (London, 1913), vol. 2, p. 70.
  6. ^ Kevin Clinton, "The Mysteries of Demeter and Kore," in A Companion to Greek Religion (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), pp. 347–353 online. For assertions of his growing importance to scholars, see also Kevin Clinton, "The Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore at Eleusis," in Greek Sanctuaries: New Approaches (Routledge, 1993), p. 113, where Eubuleus is called "a principal god in the Mysteries and co-equal with Triptolemus," and Pierre Bonnechere, "Trophonius of Lebadea: Mystery Aspects of an Oracular Cult in Boeotia," in Greek Mysteries: The Archaeology and Ritual of Ancient Greek Secret Cults (Routledge, 2003, 2005), p. 181.