Zeus#Zeus Velchanos

Welchanos (Greek Ϝ ελχανός ) is an epithet of the Greek god Zeus in Crete.

According to one inscription to Zeus Welchanos the hard Welchania ( Ϝ ελχάνια ) was celebrated in honor of the city Lyktos. Representations of Zeus Welchanos found on coins that were minted in Phaistos, they show a youthful God, who sits in a pasture or holds down a cock between her knees. It is assumed that it is Welchanos is an ancient Minoan fertility god who was later identified with the Greek Zeus. The ancient lexicographer Hesychius of Alexandria leads the epithet in his lexicon prescribed as Gelchanos ( Γελχανός ) and connects it explicitly here with Zeus ( " Welchanos: Zeus at the Cretans ").