The Athenians too said that Poseidon had flooded the
fruitful
Thriasian plain where Demeter had her sanctuary at Eleusis.
Ancient-greek-cults-a-guide
The votive catalogue lists gifts of Archaic and Classical date from Lindian colonists at Kyrene, Phaselis, Gela, Akragas, and Soloi, all of which are probably authentic dedications.
36
Athena's cult partners
Because her functions overlap with those of Zeus and Poseidon, Athena was often worshiped in tandem with these deities. Poseidon and Athena shared space in the Ionic temple on the Akropolis and at Cape Sounion because of their common interest in the Athenian polis, though the myth of their contest for the land shows that the relationship was one of opposition as well as affinity. At Kolonos in Attica, Poseidon Hippios and Athena Hippia (of horses) had a shared altar in Pausanias' time (1. 30. 4). Athena's interest in horses stemmed not only from her identity as a war goddess, but also from her role as a teacher of crafts and skills. Pindar (Ol. 13. 63-86) is the earliest written source for the story that Athena gave a golden bridle to Bellerophon, which he used to tame Pegasos. In return, he dedicated an altar to Athena Hippia in Korinth, where her worship was focused primarily on the taming and training of horses. Poseidon, on the other hand, was the creator of the horse and the source of its fierce energy and speed. 37
Athena's mythic intimacy with her father Zeus is reflected in many dual cults, particularly those that deal with civic administration, law and justice. In Sparta they shared the titles of Agoraios (of the Marketplace), Xenios (of Strangers), and Amboulios (of Counsel), among others. In Athens, as we learn from the orator Antiphon (6. 45), the Council-chamber or bouleute ? rion contained a shrine of Zeus Boulaios and Athena Boulaia (of Counsel), at which members prayed as they entered. Polieus, Zeus' title as the protector of the city, is the masculine form of Athena's common epithet Polias, while Zeus Phratrios and Athena Phratria shared altars throughout Attica as the patrons of the Athenian kinship groups known as phratries. Athena frequently accompanies Zeus when he appears in his chthonic guise as a serpent. In the fifth century, for example, a sanctuary of Zeus Meilichios and Athena existed at Athens. The same configuration of goddess and serpent companion is to be found in the cult of Athena Itonia (above) and of course in the presence of Athena's serpent familiar, sometimes identified with Erichthonios, on the Athenian Akropolis. 38
Further reading
Deacy and Villing 2001 collects papers on Athena and includes an important study of the Athena sanctuary at Stymphalos by H. Williams and G. Schaus. Chapter 4 of Detienne and Vernant 1991 [1978], originally published in French in 1974, explores the interlocking "domains" of Athena and her rela- tions with Poseidon. Hurwit 1999 includes full coverage of the topography
55
ATHENA
of Athena's cult places on the Athenian Akropolis. Two volumes edited by J. Neils (1992 and 1996) contain papers on the Panathenaic festival, inclu- ding an important article on Athena's peplos by E. J. W. Barber (103-17 in Goddess and polis). On Athena Alea, the work of M. E. Voyatzis (1990, 1998) is indispensable.
56
5
RULER OF ELEMENTAL POWERS
Poseidon
Homer (Il. 15. 184-93) recounts that when the cosmos was divided among the gods, Poseidon received the sea as his lot. Yet his first worshipers probably did not live within sight of the sea. Poseidon was a powerful god among the Mycenaean Greeks, and his cult is strongest among populations established in the Greek world before the so-called Dorian invasion. His status was gradually eroded in the Archaic period, as the process of Panhellenization required that all the gods of the canon be subordinated to Zeus. Little concerned with the spheres of justice, invention, or the arts, Poseidon is in origin a god of elemental, geological forces: life-giving springs, disastrous floods, chasms through which water flows or recedes, and tremors in the earth. Ultimately he ruled the vast and unpredictable sea, causing storms and tidal waves.
He is often found partnered with Demeter, a clue to his probable origin as a deity of fresh water. The most commonly cited etymology of his name recognizes it as a compound: Greek posis or potis, "lord, spouse" is combined with an element of unknown meaning, possibly "earth. "1 Poseidon's name, then, contains the masculine version of the word potnia, or mistress, which is familiar from the Linear B tablets, while he himself appears in the tablets from Knossos and especially Pylos. One of his most widespread cult epithets, Asphaleios (Steadfast), was apparently a euphemism, emphasizing his power to still earthquakes rather than induce them. In both poetry and cult he is Ennosigaios (Earth-Shaker) and Gaieochos (Embracer of Earth). This control over the forces in the earth only occasionally spilled over into agricultural or chthonic, underworld functions, as at Tainaron, where Poseidon hosted an oracle of the dead.
Poseidon was also a god around whom many Greeks shaped their ethnic identities. For the Thessalians, the Boiotians, the people of Trozen, and many others, he was an ancestor, comparable to Zeus in the large number of heroes he sired with mortal maidens. Poseidon was an important amphictyonic deity, which means that his cult was the focus for many federations and leagues, whose shared interests were based sometimes on tribal affinity and sometimes on geographical proximity. According to the Homeric Hymn in
57
POSEIDON
his honor (22. 5), Poseidon is "a tamer of horses and a savior of ships. " Myth made him the father of the horses Areion and Pegasos, while he was honored in many places as Hippios and was a master of chariot races from earliest times. He was the central deity at the Panhellenic sanctuary of Isthmia, worshiped with his consort Amphitrite.
Poseidon Helikonios
The member cities of the Ionian League met annually at the sanctuary of Poseidon Helikonios at the Panionion on the promontory of Mt. Mykale. Very little is left of the sanctuary now, though the foundation of a huge, 18 m Archaic altar has been detected. Also found at the site were a council chamber and a large cave, which must have played a role in the cult. The sanctuary probably never included a temple, yet it was an important symbol of political and cultural identity in the Archaic period. The priests were supplied by the city of Priene. Later the meeting place was moved for safety to a spot near Ephesos. Though this cult was almost certainly brought to Asia Minor when the Ionians migrated to their new homes around the tenth century, there is debate over its source, closely tied to the question of Ionian origins. One school of thought derives Poseidon Helikonios from the city of Helike in Achaia, often cited by ancient authors as a homeland of the Ionians. The Ionians of the Classical period seem to have believed this version, for in response to an oracle, they sent representatives to Helike to ask for sacred objects (aphidrumata) from the ancestral altars. The Achaians' refusal to permit this privilege is said to have caused the famous earthquake and tidal wave that destroyed and engulfed Helike in 373. 2 It is certain that an ancient cult of Poseidon was present at Helike, for Homer (Il. 8. 203-4) mentions offerings to the god from the people of Helike and Aigai. From a linguistic point of view, however, the word Helikonios is better derived from Helikon, the mountain in Boiotia. Though no Poseidon cult on Helikon is attested in historical times, the god had deep roots in Boiotia and such a cult may have largely faded from memory. In any case, Homer is also aware of the worship of Poseidon Helikonios, for he speaks (Il. 20. 403-5) of the bellowing bulls sacrificed to "the Helikonian lord. " According to Strabo (8. 7. 2), some in antiquity took this as a reference to the sacrifices at the Panionia, where the participants read omens if the bull bellowed as it was struck down. 3
On Delos, another Ionian religious center, a large sacrificial feast was held during the month Posideion, which fell during the stormy period of mid- winter. Poseideia, or festivals of Poseidon, seem to have been a regular feature of this month in many Ionian cities, both in the islands and on the coast of Asia Minor. Poseidon's epithets in these places vary, from Helikonios at Sinope to Asphalios (Steadfast) or Themeliouchos (of Foundations) on Delos and Phykios (of Seaweed) on Mykonos. Noel Robertson connects the winter festival to Poseidon's function as a partner of Demeter in fructifying the
58
POSEIDON
fields; alternatively, the timing suggests a propitiation of the god who causes storms at the season when his anger is most evident. 4
Isthmia and Korinth
Poseidon's sanctuary at Isthmia is one of the earliest post-Mycenaean cult places yet identified in the Greek world, having been established at the beginning of the Protogeometric period around 1050. It therefore ranks in age with Olympia and Kalapodi/Hyampolis. Yet for centuries the worship of Poseidon required no temple; the main structures were a platform for dining created in the eighth century, and temporary shelters of which only the post- holes remain. The dominant activity seems to have been sacrifice followed by extensive feasting and drinking. 5 Easily accessible by land and sea, the sanc- tuary was an important meeting place for the people living in the scattered communities that would evolve into the maritime polis of Korinth. In con- trast to Olympia or Delphi, it attracted few dedications of precious metals, such as tripods, and there was less of an emphasis on aristocratic display in the votive practice. In spite of the focus on drinking, dedications of jewelry show that women were active in the worship. Terracotta bulls, animals symbolic of Poseidon, are present from the earliest years, though most of the bones found on the site belonged to sheep, goats, and pigs. The sacrificial area was covered with egg-sized stones that were used in the ritual. Most likely, the participants cast stones at the hapless victim in the moments before its throat was cut. In this way, all present joined in the act of slaughter, just as all would share in the feast. 6
Constructed in the seventh century, the first temple was destroyed in a conflagration around 470. No sign of a statue base was found in the cella, and the temple may have been used mainly as a strongroom for valuable dedications and supplies. Excavation has brought to light the charred remains of storage vessels for oil, chariots, and horse trappings from the cella, while many small valuables came from the area of the east porch, including a tiny golden bull. The exterior wall was coated with stucco and brightly painted with animals and geometric designs, while within the peristyle stood a lovely marble perirrhante ? rion, a water basin used for purification before entering the temple. 7 Its Orientalizing design features a base with four women standing on lions. Outside the temple was a monumental altar over 30 m long. In 582 the Isthmian games were opened to Panhellenic participation, a stadium was added, and the sanctuary continued to grow with the patronage of Korinth and the advantage of placement on a major road. When the Archaic temple burned, it was speedily replaced with a larger Doric temple, which stood until late antiquity. A major category of dedication in this period, second only to the offerings at Olympia in abundance, is armor and weapons, which were displayed so as to be visible from the road.
A number of other gods were worshiped at the sanctuary, including 59
POSEIDON
Amphitrite, Poseidon's consort, and the child-hero Melikertes-Palaimon. The games, with their prize of a pine crown (later changed to wild celery), were said to have originated as funeral games instituted in his honor by Sisyphos. According to the legend, Palaimon and his mother Ino-Leukothea were drowned in the sea, but Ino was transformed into a Nereid, while Palaimon's body was carried to shore by a dolphin. Both mother and son granted mariners' prayers for safety. An interesting and unusual feature of the sanctuary in the Classical period was the pair of underground, man-made caves, designed to serve as dining rooms. One is located near the theater, while the other sits roughly between the theater and the temple of Poseidon and is associated with a nearby altar. Each cave contained couches carved from the earth, and the theater cave also had two kitchen areas. These small rooms, each able to accommodate only five to six people, may have been used in the worship of Melikertes-Palaimon or some other chthonian power. 8
Yet another early Poseidon cult, the source of our earliest images of the god, has been detected in the environs of Korinth. At Penteskouphia a large number of painted terracotta pinakes (tablets) dating to the seventh and sixth centuries were recovered from a votive dump. The location of the sanctuary itself has not been pinpointed, but much can be learned from the tablets. They record dedications to Lord (Anax) Poseidon and often to Amphitrite as well, demonstrating that this cult pairing, so prominent at Isthmia and the Hellenistic sanctuary of Poseidon at Tenos, was already well established in the Archaic period. Amphitrite sometimes receives dedications of her own, and is shown on one pinax with a small worshiper. The divine pair stand facing one another, or ride together in a chariot driven by Poseidon. Other pinakes from this deposit demonstrate Poseidon's patronage not only of seagoing merchants, but also of the potters and painters who helped supply the cargo. Several pinakes show ships, one loaded with pots, while at least twenty-eight illustrate workers using kilns, and the tablets themselves may have been used as proofing pieces in the firing process. Most of the tablets seem to be dedications by men working in the ceramics industry; often the donors made and/or painted the tablets themselves. As a deity of subterran- ean processes and energies, Poseidon was considered the right god to watch over kilns; as a marine deity and ruler of the Isthmos, he guarded a ceramic industry dependent on sea trade. 9
Marine Poseidon
Several of Poseidon's cult epithets are related to his marine function. On Samos he was Epaktaios (on the Coast), at Athens and Rhodes Pelagios (Seagoing), and at Tainaron Pontios (of the Sea). Poseidon's sanctuaries are regularly found at harbors, on promontories, and on islands, while coastal cities too are frequently called Potidaia (Chalkidike) or Poseidonia (Lucania
60
POSEIDON
? Figure 5. 1 Potter and kiln. Votive pinax from Poseidon sanctuary at Penteskouphia, early sixth century. Louvre Museum. Erich Lessing/Art Resource.
in Italy). Storms at sea are attributed to Poseidon, and Herodotus says (7. 192) that he was credited with aiding the Greeks by scattering the Persian fleet in a storm off Artemision. At Geraistos, the only safe harbor along the coast of Euboia and a major port for ships traveling to or from the eastern Aegean, the origin of the festival called Geraistia was traced to a particularly destructive storm, probably the one in which Poseidon drowned the impious Lokrian Ajax. In the Odyssey (3. 176-79), Geraistos was the first safe port of call for ships returning home from the Trojan War; Nestor, Diomedes, and Menelaos sacrificed bulls there to Poseidon for their safe journey. Recent discovery of the remains of the sanctuary at Porto Kastri included a Hellen- istic inscription mentioning an asulon or safe area. Rob Schumacher has pointed out the relationship between Geraistos, Kalaureia, and Tainaron, three coastal yet remote sanctuaries that functioned as retreats for suppliants and fugitives. Various cultic and personal names related to Geraistos, a pre- Greek word of uncertain etymology, are scattered about the Aegean. 10
Poseidon's marine character was apparent in the iconographic tradition, which invariably showed him holding a trident, a fish, or a dolphin. While the trident has usually been explained as a fishing harpoon, the tridents on the early pinakes from Penteskouphia display great variety in shape and size. Scholars have speculated about the possible origin of the trident as a thunder- weapon (given Poseidon's connection with storms at sea) or an Indo-European symbol of kingship. 11
61
POSEIDON
Messenian Poseidon
The Linear B tablets indicate that Poseidon was a highly regarded deity among the Mycenaeans of Pylos. A series of Pylian tablets lists contributions (dosmoi) to various gods among whom Poseidon is the most prominent. Pylos 171 = Un 718 breaks down the community into functional groups listed in order of descending status and offering amounts. The king's contri- bution consists of wheat, wine, a bull, cheeses, a sheepskin, and honey. Similar but smaller gifts are presented by the da ? mos or village, the military leader, and the estate of the worgiones or cult association. Another famous tablet, Pylos 172 = Kn 02, describes ritual actions performed in the shrines of local deities. A shrine of Poseidon is mentioned, to which women bring golden cups. Later in the same tablet, a goddess Posidaeia (apparently a female version of the name Poseidon) receives a golden bowl carried by a woman. 12 The prominence of Poseidon at Pylos is reflected in the Homeric account (Od. 3. 4-11) of Telemachos' visit. When he arrives, the people are offering black bulls to Poseidon on the shore, divided into nine companies of five hundred men each; each company offers nine bulls to the god. Nestor and his sons sit feasting in the midst of their men; Nestor's father Neleus of Iolkos was a son of Poseidon and the founder of Pylos.
In spite of his early importance, Poseidon rapidly lost ground in Archaic Messenia with the rise of the Dorian Spartans. Whereas worship of the god known as Pohoidan (a Lakonian form of the Arkadian Posoidan) continued at Helos and Thouria (Akovitika), in historical times virtually nothing remained of the Pylian cult, while the important sanctuary at Tainaron was controlled by the Spartans. 13 Located at the southern tip of the Mani penin- sula, Tainaron was sacred to the helots, the occupants of Messenia enslaved by Sparta in the eighth and seventh centuries, and dates to before the time of the Messenian wars. Escaped slaves and fugitive helots fled to the sanctuary, where by religious custom they were safe from pursuers. Various late sources speak of the festival known as the Tainaria, which included a three-day feast held on the seashore, and most likely the crowning of Poseidon's cult statue by the helots. Always a wrathful god, he was particularly angry when the ritual laws protecting suppliants were violated. One example long cited as an instance of his wrath was the earthquake that hit Sparta in 464, nearly reducing the city to a pile of rubble. The god was said to be enraged at the Spartans, who had dared to remove fugitive helots from Tainaron and exe- cute them. Though Tainaron has not been excavated, finds of votive bulls and horses in bronze as well as Classical ste ? lai (stone markers) commemor- ating the release of slaves have been reported. Areas set aside for the display of such ste ? lai and for the housing of fugitives are apparent at the site. Over- looking Sternis Bay is a Hellenistic temple, which may have been preceded by earlier structures, to judge from votives found in the area. The most famous feature of the site is the cave oracle of the dead, which the sources describe as
62
POSEIDON
an underground "house" of the gods, into which souls were gathered. This type of oracle was useful in cases where the dead needed to be placated; legend had it that the man who killed Archilochus was sent here by the Pythia in order to propriate the soul of the poet with libations. The actual age of the cave oracle, located at the head of Sternis Bay and fitted with a wall and doorway at the entrance, is unknown. When he visited, Pausanias (3. 25. 5) noted that the cave did not contain a great chasm or other identifi- able entrance to the underworld. 14
Poseidon at Trozen
Poseidon's sanctuary on Kalaureia, a small island off Trozen with one of the best harbors in Greece, lies high above sea level, recalling a scene in the Iliad (13. 10-16) in which Poseidon sits on the highest peak of Samothrace, observing the far away battles at Troy. This place was another well-known refuge, famous for having hosted the orator Demosthenes when he fled from Alexander's successor Antipater in 322. Rather than pollute the sacred ground with the taint of death, Demosthenes took poison inside the temple, then staggered out as it began to take effect. The sanctuary's function as an asylum resulted from its role as the center of an early amphictyony, a league of seven communities in the area. The island's former name Eirene (Peace) probably had to do with the amphictyony as well. Scholars disagree on the purpose and date of the league, but the archaeological remains indicate that the sanctuary was founded by the seventh century at the latest, and acquired a Doric temple in the sixth. 15 Little is known of the ritual there, but Pausanias (2. 33. 2-3) says that Poseidon had a virgin priestess, an unusual arrangement for a male deity.
Trozen itself was unusual in honoring Poseidon as the protector of the city, Poliouchos, and as King, Basileus. He was an important ancestor, having fathered several of the city's heroes including Theseus. The people made the trident an emblem on their coins, while the city itself once bore the name Poseidonia. 16 Trozen's Poseidon cult, like that of Athens, was tied to its Ionic origins. The city fell under the sway of Argos at an early date and became increasingly Dorianized, yet it exported the worship of Poseidon to its colony of Halikarnassos in Karia.
Outside the walls of Trozen was a sanctuary of Poseidon Phytalmios (of Growth). The legend said that the angry god once inundated the crops with seawater until he yielded to prayers and sacrifices. Overlooking this shrine was a sanctuary of Demeter Thesmophoros, established by Poseidon's son Althepos. In recognition of his connection with agriculture, the god was offered aparchai, first fruits from the crops. This facet of Poseidon's personality is unexpected, yet the cult pairing of Poseidon and Demeter is widespread (present in Attica, Argos, Mykonos, and of course, Arkadia). 17 It is likely that Poseidon's flood was originally a freshwater inundation, for as a
63
POSEIDON
god of subterranean forces, he controlled springs and rivers. Having caused a drought at Argos by drying up the springs, he relented and revealed the sources at Lerna to the Danaid Amymone. Aeschylus (Sept. 304-11) names Earth-supporting Poseidon and the rivers, offspring of Tethys, as the deities who pour forth the waters that fructify the earth. Poseidon's waters nourish the plants, yet too much water just as surely destroys them. Thus Poseidon's relationship with Demeter was both intimate and adversarial. Argos had a flood legend according to which Poseidon, angry when the land was awarded to Hera, caused an inundation, and the Argive sanctuary of Poseidon Pros- klystios (of Surging Water) was located beside that of Pelasgian Demeter.
The Athenians too said that Poseidon had flooded the fruitful Thriasian plain where Demeter had her sanctuary at Eleusis. 18
A recently discovered Mycenaean sanctuary on the peninsula of Methana, facing Kalaureia, was unusual in that the finds included rare terracotta chariot groups, helmeted riders, and groups of oxen being driven or ridden. The absence of the female Psi and Phi figurines typically found in Mycenaean shrines, together with this evidence, point to a male deity connected with horses, chariots, and bulls. Thus, Poseidon may already have been the fore- most deity in Trozenia during the Bronze Age. 19
Poseidon Hippios
Onchestos in Boiotia was the site of a renowned Poseidon sanctuary often mentioned by early Greek poets (e. g. Hom. Il. 2. 506). Pindar (Isthm. 1. 52- 54) calls this Poseidon seisichtho ? n, earthshaker, and hippodromios, the patron of horse races (the latter epithet is also the name of a Boiotian month probably connected with the god). Like many sanctuaries of Poseidon, this one did not possess a temple at first, though one was added in the sixth century. The early sources speak of a sacred grove, and there must have been facilities for the races Pindar mentions. The Homeric Hymn to Apollo (3. 230-38) describes a curious custom of the shrine:
There the new-broken colt burdened with drawing the lovely chariot gets its breath; and the driver, though skillful, jumps to the earth from the car and walks. For a while the horses, lacking a driver, rattle the empty car along. If they break (or, if he brings) the chariot in the wooded grove, they care for the horses, but tilting the chariot they leave it. For such from the first was the holy rule (hosie ? ). They pray to the Lord, and the chariot is kept as the god's share.
There is no agreement on the meaning and context of the actions described; the ritual may have involved a driver leaping from the moving car and allow- ing the horses to career into the grove. If the chariot was wrecked, it was left in the grove as a dedication to the god. On the other hand, if the amended
64
POSEIDON
reading is correct, the poet may be referring to a ritual law requiring that any chariot driven into the grove be forfeit to the god. The only certain point is that Poseidon is here celebrated in his guise as the master of horses and chariot racing. 20 This role as horse god looms as large in the cult of Poseidon as his marine aspect, and supports the idea that Poseidon originally had more to do with fresh water and horses (often connected in Indo-European and Greek thought) than with the sea. 21
Another Boiotian tradition about Poseidon was preserved in the lost epic poem Thebais. In the territory of Haliartos was the spring Telphousa, where Poseidon, in the form of a horse, mated with the goddess Erinys. She in turn produced the wondrously swift horse Areion, whose name refers to his superiority, and Poseidon presented the horse as a gift to Kopreus, king of Haliartos. 22 This story finds a doublet in Arkadia, and given that both Erinys and Poseidon are Mycenaean deities, it may well have originated in the Bronze Age.
The Boiotian worship of Poseidon is tied to that of Thessaly, the ancient home of the Boiotoi. Thessaly and Boiotia were the strongholds of the Minyans, a legendary clan whose patron deity was Poseidon. Among their heroes were his twin sons, Neleus (founder of Pylos) and Pelias, the king of Iolkos. The descendants of Neleus also had ties to the cult of Poseidon in
Figure 5. 2 Bronze Poseidon from Livadhostro Bay (Boiotia), c. 470. Inscribed to the god. Ht 1. 18 m. Athens, National Archaeological Museum. Bildarchiv Foto Marburg.
? 65
POSEIDON
Athens and the Ionian migration. Little information is available about the Thessalian cult, but as in Boiotia, it seems to have focused on Poseidon's rule over horses. A Thessalian legend told how the god created the first horse, Skyphios, by smiting the rock with his trident; Poseidon's widespread cult title Hippios (of the Horse) is connected with this story, as are the equestrian contests conducted for the god and the Thessalian sanctuary of Poseidon Petraios (he of the Rock). This sanctuary is still undiscovered, but it lay somewhere in the vale of Tempe, once a lake drained by the god when he smote the mountains with his trident and made an outlet for the river Peneios. 23 In a seminal paper, Marcel Detienne compared Poseidon's mastery of all things equestrian with the rival powers of Athena. Though both are concerned with horses and their training, he concluded, Athena's sphere tends more toward the driver's skill and strategy, while Poseidon governs the uncanny energy of the animal itself. 24
Arkadian Poseidon
An important center of Poseidon's cult was landlocked Arkadia, where he, not Zeus, was considered the father of Demeter's daughter, the mistress of the underworld. His sanctuaries were concentrated in the central plains and valleys around Orchomenos, Kaphyai, Methydrion, and Mantineia, poorly drained areas subject to flooding. 25 At Mantineia, Poseidon was a civic god and his trident adorned the shields of the citizens, while late inscriptions show that calendar years were reckoned by the names of his priests. Like Zeus Lykaios, Poseidon Hippios had an inviolate area in his sanctuary out- side Mantineia where no human being was permitted to tread; according to legend, a mere woolen thread marked the boundary of the sacred area. When the hero Aipytos cut this thread, he was blinded by a miraculous wave of seawater. Arkadia was a great repository of traditions about the births of the gods; one such legend, tied to a spring in the territory of Mantineia, said that Rhea fooled the murderous Kronos by telling him she had given birth to a horse, and gave him a foal to eat instead of the infant Poseidon, who was sheltered in a lambs' pen. 26
In most regions of Greece, we encounter a belief in Poseidon as the creator of the first horse or as the sire of miraculous steeds such as the winged Pegasos, who was the offspring of Poseidon and Medousa. In Arkadia, the god himself becomes a horse, as in the Mantinean birth legend and the myths attached to the city of Thelpousa. Here, Demeter Erinys sought to escape the lustful Poseidon by transforming herself into a mare, but he became a stallion and mated with her. The offspring of this union were a goddess whose name was kept secret (presumably the Arkadian equivalent of Kore) and the divine horse Areion. Pausanias, our source for most of this information, speaks of the sanctuary of Demeter outside Thelpousa, but does not elaborate on the cult of Poseidon here, except to say that he had the title of Hippios. Similarly
66
POSEIDON
at a cave sanctuary outside Phigaleia in the Neda river gorge, the cult myth recounted the coupling of Demeter and Poseidon in the shape of horses, specifying that their daughter was the goddess known as Despoina (Mistress). Poseidon Hippios also had an altar at the important sanctuary of the Mistress at Lykosoura. 27 Here Poseidon is hardly a god of the sea, and his cults are presumably least changed from their Mycenaean antecedents (just as Arkadian Posoidan is the dialect form closest to Linear B). The few references to his marine nature are due to Panhellenizing influences during the Classical period and later.
Athenian Poseidon
Athens and Trozen shared a myth according to which Athena and Poseidon disputed ownership of the land. 28 In the lore of cities bordering the Saronic Gulf, Poseidon figures in a number of these contests; tellingly, he is never the winner. At Trozen, the contest ended in a truce under which the territory was shared, while at Athens, the story went that the victorious Athena produced an olive tree on the Akropolis as a token of her claim, while Poseidon struck the rock with his trident, creating a "sea. " The nature of this sea is unclear, though Pausanias (1. 26. 5) describes it as a well with salt water, enclosed within the walls of the Classical Erechtheion. He also notes an altar on which sacrifices to both Poseidon and Erechtheus were made. The story of the conflict between Poseidon and Athena seems to be closely related to that of the early war between Athens and Eleusis, in which the earth-born Athenian king Erechtheus, prote? ge? of Athena, battled Eumolpos, the Eleusinian leader and son of Poseidon. Athens was victorious when Erechtheus sacrificed his daughters to save the city, but he himself was struck by Poseidon's trident and hidden under the earth. 29 By the fifth century, Poseidon had taken the name of his antagonist as a cult epithet, an arrangement comparable to that between Apollo and Hyakinthos at Amyklai. In both cases the cults of Olympian gods were superimposed on those of earlier indigenous deities, and the earlier figures were transformed into heroes killed by the gods and worshiped side by side with them. 30
Poseidon was an important deity in Archaic Eleusis, consistent with his usual close cult relations to Demeter. Eleusis possessed a cult of Poseidon Pater (Father), and a priest of the Kerykes served Poseidon Prosbaterios (of the Approaches) and Themeliouchos (Upholding the Foundations). It is likely that all these epithets have to do with Poseidon's role vis-a`-vis Demeter as a fructifying deity of water and flooding. That Poseidon's role in Athenian cult has much to do with the relations between Athens and Eleusis is likewise demonstrated in the festival known as the Skira, when the Athenian priests of Poseidon, Athena, and Helios walked to a sanctuary near the boundary with Eleusis. 31
Poseidon had other cults in Attica, but the most important was at the 67
POSEIDON
promontory of Sounion, where a temple was added c. 490 and rebuilt under Perikles. The Athenians held a quadrennial festival with boat races, and the vigor of the Archaic cult is attested by at least twelve kouroi (statues of idealized young men) found buried in a pit east of the temple. 32 The earliest cult at Sounion, however, probably belonged to the hero Phrontis, the steers- man of Menelaos buried there according to Homer (Od. 3. 276-85). In spite of the apparent antiquity of his cult, Poseidon was not a significant presence in Attica compared with Zeus, Demeter, Apollo, Dionysos, and of course Athena.
Further reading
Gebhard 1993 and Morgan 1994 summarize the development of sacred space at Isthmia from the eleventh century. Robertson 1984 demonstrates Poseidon's role as a god of fructifying waters and partner of Demeter. Schu- macher 1993 discusses the function of Poseidon's sanctuaries as places of asylum. Chapter 6 of Pache 2004 is devoted to Melikertes-Palaimon.
68
6
MISTRESSES OF GRAIN AND SOULS
Demeter and Kore/Persephone
Demeter's origins as a grain goddess must lie in the Neolithic period with the advent of agriculture. Her name contains the Greek word for "mother," but whether the initial syllable means "earth," "grain," or something else has long been debated. Homer had little interest in Demeter and none in her relationship with Kore (the Maiden), though Persephone appears in epic poetry as the bride of Hades. The queen of the dead (Attic Pherephatta) has a non-Greek name and must have been in origin a deity separate from Demeter's daughter. Even after the two were firmly and inextricably identified, they were often paradoxically represented in cult as two distinct personages. Eleusinian iconography and terminology, for example, juxtaposed Thea, the underworld goddess, with Kore, the daughter. The Greeks avoided pro- nouncing or inscribing the ominous name Persephone in cult contexts, replacing it with Kore or other euphemisms, though such caution was less often exercised by the poets. Demeter and Kore were frequently worshiped together under such names as the Two Goddesses, the Thesmophoroi, or the Great Goddesses.
Demeter sanctuaries tended to be scattered in neighborhoods rather than centralized, probably because they were used for local celebrations of the Thesmophoria, Demeter's main festival. In spite of their crucial role in the prosperity of the city, Demeter and Kore rarely functioned as civic gods. Exceptional were Thebes, where Demeter's sanctuary occupied prime civic space on the Kadmeia, and certain cities of Sicily and Magna Graecia, where the two goddesses were dominant presences in the pantheon. In the Greek West, Kore/Persephone herself was sometimes the more prominent partner of the two, and played an important role in the social construction of marriage and the rites leading to adulthood for women and men. In keeping with Kore's significance as the archetypal bride, the western colonies saw the core of the myth as the theogamy of Persephone/Kore and Hades, rather than the reunion of Demeter and Kore after the latter's abduction, which was the focus of the famous Eleusinian Mysteries.
69
DEMETER AND KORE/PERSEPHONE
Thesmophoria
The most widespread festival of Demeter and Kore, and one of the most popular of all Greek rites, was the women's festival known as the Thesmo- phoria. The term thesmos means "that which is laid down," hence laws, rites, or revered customs. As the presiding deities, the two goddesses were called Thesmophoroi (Bringers of the Divine Law) because the introduction of grain cultivation was considered the origin of civilized life. Some scholars believe that the "things laid down" are to be understood in a much more literal sense, as the dead piglets deposited during the central rite of the festival. Still, the epithet unquestionably conveys the respect in which the goddesses were held, as do other cult titles such as Megalai Theai (Great Goddesses) and Hagnai Theai (Pure Goddesses). Each year, normally in late summer or early fall, married Greek women gathered in the local Demeter sanctuary, often called the Thesmophorion. Although celebration of the festival was generally not centralized, one sanctuary might be more heavily frequented than the rest. Most had a few modest cult buildings or a simple shrine called a megaron rather than an elaborate temple, but they are relatively easy to identify as sanctuaries of Demeter and Kore by the objects left behind: ceramic table- ware; water jars; terracottas of the goddesses or their votaries, often carrying a piglet; pig bones; numerous lamps for the nocturnal parts of the rites; and the remains of ritual meals.
Literary evidence for the exclusion of males is plentiful. Herodotus (6. 134) tells how the Athenian general Miltiades attempted to enter a restricted building (megaron) in the sanctuary on Paros - perhaps to meddle with the "untouchable" things there - and as a result of divine anger was stricken with a fatal case of gangrene. Xenophon says (Hell. 5. 2. 29) that the men of Thebes kept clear of the Kadmeia while the women were performing the rites there, going so far as to hold the boule ? (council) in the agora rather than its usual place on the akropolis. Men's dedications are often found at these sites, so we know that their exclusion was not complete. Demeter sanctuaries were apparently used for a number of different observances throughout the year, only some of which involved ritual gender segregation. 1
The sacred objects used and acts performed during the Thesmophoria were kept secret. We hear of ritual dances, processions, and special foods, particularly bread. The Delian celebration, held in the late summer month of Metageitnion, involved an event called the Megalartia (Large Loaves), and bread seems to have played an important role in the celebrations at Korinth (below). 2 Only one source, a scholiast on Lucian (Dial. meret. 2. 1), describes the ritual in detail, and his version refers to Attic custom. He writes that piglets are cast into the "chasms of Demeter and Kore" in honor of Eubouleus, a herdsman whose swine were swallowed in the abyss when Hades abducted Kore (Eubouleus reappears as a deity in Eleusis). After an unspecified period, the rotted remains of the piglets are brought up from the chasms (also called
70
DEMETER AND KORE/PERSEPHONE
aduta, innermost chambers, and megara, chambers) by ritually pure women, laid on the altars, and mixed with the seed grain to ensure a good harvest. The scholiast says that pine branches and phallic shapes made of wheat dough are used the same way, all given as thank offerings for the generation of crops and the procreation of people.
The ritual deposition of piglets was probably widespread; piglets were cast into megara at Potniai in Boiotia, and excavations of Demeter and Kore sanctuaries at Knidos and Priene have uncovered such pits. At Eleusis, several deep shafts, which probably served this function, were found around the porch of the so-called Telesterion. 3 Apparently, the story of Kore's rape was the mythic foundation for the ritual; the piglet is also symbolic of the female genitals, and the piglets falling into the earth to be resurrected with the grain repeat the descent and ascent of Kore. Thus the Thesmophoria and the Eleusinian Mysteries shared the same myth, interpreted in different ways. Kevin Clinton has suggested that the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, usually thought to recount the origin of the Mysteries, is primarily an aetiological account of the Thesmophoria. 4
The Attic Thesmophoria was a three-day festival held a few weeks before the ploughing and sowing of the fields; we also hear of such festivals cele- brated as early as midsummer (Thebes) and lasting as long as ten days (Sicily). Women gathered in the sanctuaries, bringing supplies of food and setting up tents as temporary accommodations. As part of the proceedings, the women engaged in sex-talk (aischrologia) and ritual mockery. This seems to have been a mainstay of the goddesses' segregated worship; its mythic explanation is that when Demeter was grieving for Kore, scurrilous jokes and gestures caused her to smile. 5 The sex-talk was the verbal equivalent of the piglets, pine branches and phallic shapes handled by the participants; the women's heightened awareness of their own sexuality and reproductive ability was powerful (therefore it could be deployed to aid the growth of crops) yet dangerous to male prerogatives (therefore its unfettered expression was limited to the festival context). 6
The first day of the Athenian festival was called Anodos (Ascent), perhaps with reference to the women's retrieval of material from the chasms. The second day was the Nesteia (Fasting), a day when no public business or sacri- fice was conducted in the city. The last day was called Kalligeneia (Beautiful Offspring), making clear the connection between agricultural bounty and women's fertility. This was probably a feast day, presided over by leaders (archousai) elected from each deme. It is clear from Isaeus' speeches (3. 80, 6. 49-50, 8. 19) that citizen matrons organized and attended the festival, but the sources conflict on the question of whether slaves and prostitutes could be present and in what capacities. Aristophanes' Women at the Thesmophoria draws a vivid tableau of male suspicion and female revelry during the Thesmophoric ritual, which he sets on the Pnyx, in the same meeting place used by the Athenian assembly. Excavation in this area uncovered a few
71
DEMETER AND KORE/PERSEPHONE
terracottas and lamps consistent with a sanctuary of Demeter and Kore, but not enough material to confirm the existence of a Thesmophorion. 7
Demeter, Kore, and the agricultural year
As one might expect, many festivals of Demeter and Kore were tied to the annual cycle of grain cultivation. Barley and wheat were the staple crops, sown during the fall in most Mediterranean lands. Great anxiety surrounded the fateful question of when to plough and sow, for the farmer must plant late enough to coincide with the fall rains, yet early enough to allow the shoots to become established before the onset of winter cold. 8 Therefore the most important festivals and rituals connected with grain cultivation are clustered around sowing time.
As usual, we are best informed about the Attic year. Early in Pyanopsion (October/November), the Proerosia or pre-ploughing sacrifices took place in the demes, including Eleusis. In conjunction with the Proerosia there were at least three sacred ploughings, one at Skiron, one in the Rharian plain of Eleusis, and one in Athens. The Thesmophoria, with its ritual preparation of the seed, followed soon after. During the next month, Poseideion (December/ January), the grain sprouted and began to grow. By the time of the Haloa at the winter solstice, it became evident whether the farmers had chosen their sowing dates wisely. Epigraphic evidence from the fourth century (IG II2 1672. 124, 144) shows that huge amounts of firewood were used, probably for the bonfires typical of solstice ritual. At this point in the year, the grain was quiescent because of the cold; only the returning heat of the sun could bring it to fruition. Ancient accounts of the Haloa are late and confused, but it is clear that like the Thesmophoria, the festival involved a link between human and vegetable fertility. 9 Temporarily flouting the rules of behavior for respectable females, women gathered at Eleusis drank wine, engaged in sexual banter, and handled pastries shaped like male and female genitals.
In Anthesterion (February/March) the Lesser Mysteries took place just as the grain stalks entered their prime phase of growth, celebrated in the Chloaia (Greening festival). This was probably the main festival of Demeter Chloe? , though she also received a sacrifice at the harvest. Perhaps surprisingly, the main harvest observance, known in Attica and some Ionian cities as the Thargelia and in other Greek lands as the Thalysia, had early ties to Apollo and Artemis rather than Demeter. Homer (Il. 9. 533-35) thinks of thalusia as first fruit offerings to Artemis, and Apollo was the patron of the Thargelia, but by the Hellenistic period Theocritus (Id. 7. 31-38) describes the Thalysia on Kos as a Demeter festival. On the other hand, we know that Demeter was an important figure in the harvest folklore of Greek peasants, who sang songs to her as they reaped. The Kalamaia (Straw festival), probably held in the mid-summer month of Skirophorion, was an Attic/Ionian celebration of the threshing and winnowing. This was also the month of the Skira, a poorly
72
DEMETER AND KORE/PERSEPHONE
understood festival celebrated by married women who temporarily abstained from sex. Like the Thesmophoria, it was celebrated at a number of sites in Attica. 10 Finally, the Eleusinian Mysteries were held in Boedromion (Sep- tember/October), about a month before the ploughing and sowing began once more, renewing the agricultural cycle.
The Eleusinian Mysteries
For a thousand years, people traveled to the small town of Eleusis in Attica in order to experience something profound, something that soothed their fears of death and enhanced their lives immeasurably. This most prestigious of mystery cults must have begun as a local rite open only to the people living nearby, but gradually it accommodated ever-larger numbers, including slaves and foreigners. Many secrets still surround the cult, for its hundreds of thousands of initiates kept their promise not to reveal what took place within the sanctuary. Still, a surprising amount is known from archaeological investigation of the once-inviolate precinct, the assertions of hostile Christian Fathers (which must be read with caution), and other scattered bits of information. The Eleusinian Mysteries had an important public component, and contemporary sources addressing this aspect of the rites, including inscriptions and vase paintings, are numerous.
In spite of the plentiful data (or perhaps because of it), many scholarly controversies surround the Mysteries. Debate centers on the date at which the Eleusinian cult was incorporated into Athenian religion (from the beginning, or not until the sixth century? ), the relationship between the cult and the Homeric Hymn to Demeter (to what extent does the latter reflect an "Eleusinian" perspective? ) and the significance of the Mycenaean remains found in the sanctuary (do they point to continuity of the cult from the Bronze Age? ). The early Mycenaean Megaron B, located beneath the later Demeter temple or Telesterion, was distinguished from nearby houses by its stepped porch and the remains of frescoes within; Mycenaean figurines were found in the vicinity. Yet its function is not clearly established; it may have served as an elite residence, a cult building, or both. A curved Geometric wall outside Megaron B could be either the remains of a Geometric Demeter temple or a retaining wall added to the still-standing Bronze Age structure. In any case, the earliest unequivocal evidence of the cult are the massive eighth- century terrace and a wall enclosing the whole area, with a sacrificial pyre full of broken figurines, pottery, and ashes at the entrance. 11
Eleusis lies at the edge of the Thriasian plain, the "bread basket" of Attica; it was bound to be of interest to the emerging polis. 12 Legend tells of a war between the two towns when Erechtheus was king at Athens and Eumolpos, the first celebrant of the Mysteries, at Eleusis. The resulting settlement left financial control of the cult entirely in Athenian hands, while ritual respon- sibilities were shared between two aristocratic families, the Eumolpidai of
73
DEMETER AND KORE/PERSEPHONE
Eleusis and the Kerykes of Athens. The chief priest of the Mysteries, the Hierophant (Revealer of Sacred Things) was always a Eumolpid, while the Keryx (Herald) and Dadouchos (Torchbearer), other important officials, were both Kerykes.
Athena's cult partners
Because her functions overlap with those of Zeus and Poseidon, Athena was often worshiped in tandem with these deities. Poseidon and Athena shared space in the Ionic temple on the Akropolis and at Cape Sounion because of their common interest in the Athenian polis, though the myth of their contest for the land shows that the relationship was one of opposition as well as affinity. At Kolonos in Attica, Poseidon Hippios and Athena Hippia (of horses) had a shared altar in Pausanias' time (1. 30. 4). Athena's interest in horses stemmed not only from her identity as a war goddess, but also from her role as a teacher of crafts and skills. Pindar (Ol. 13. 63-86) is the earliest written source for the story that Athena gave a golden bridle to Bellerophon, which he used to tame Pegasos. In return, he dedicated an altar to Athena Hippia in Korinth, where her worship was focused primarily on the taming and training of horses. Poseidon, on the other hand, was the creator of the horse and the source of its fierce energy and speed. 37
Athena's mythic intimacy with her father Zeus is reflected in many dual cults, particularly those that deal with civic administration, law and justice. In Sparta they shared the titles of Agoraios (of the Marketplace), Xenios (of Strangers), and Amboulios (of Counsel), among others. In Athens, as we learn from the orator Antiphon (6. 45), the Council-chamber or bouleute ? rion contained a shrine of Zeus Boulaios and Athena Boulaia (of Counsel), at which members prayed as they entered. Polieus, Zeus' title as the protector of the city, is the masculine form of Athena's common epithet Polias, while Zeus Phratrios and Athena Phratria shared altars throughout Attica as the patrons of the Athenian kinship groups known as phratries. Athena frequently accompanies Zeus when he appears in his chthonic guise as a serpent. In the fifth century, for example, a sanctuary of Zeus Meilichios and Athena existed at Athens. The same configuration of goddess and serpent companion is to be found in the cult of Athena Itonia (above) and of course in the presence of Athena's serpent familiar, sometimes identified with Erichthonios, on the Athenian Akropolis. 38
Further reading
Deacy and Villing 2001 collects papers on Athena and includes an important study of the Athena sanctuary at Stymphalos by H. Williams and G. Schaus. Chapter 4 of Detienne and Vernant 1991 [1978], originally published in French in 1974, explores the interlocking "domains" of Athena and her rela- tions with Poseidon. Hurwit 1999 includes full coverage of the topography
55
ATHENA
of Athena's cult places on the Athenian Akropolis. Two volumes edited by J. Neils (1992 and 1996) contain papers on the Panathenaic festival, inclu- ding an important article on Athena's peplos by E. J. W. Barber (103-17 in Goddess and polis). On Athena Alea, the work of M. E. Voyatzis (1990, 1998) is indispensable.
56
5
RULER OF ELEMENTAL POWERS
Poseidon
Homer (Il. 15. 184-93) recounts that when the cosmos was divided among the gods, Poseidon received the sea as his lot. Yet his first worshipers probably did not live within sight of the sea. Poseidon was a powerful god among the Mycenaean Greeks, and his cult is strongest among populations established in the Greek world before the so-called Dorian invasion. His status was gradually eroded in the Archaic period, as the process of Panhellenization required that all the gods of the canon be subordinated to Zeus. Little concerned with the spheres of justice, invention, or the arts, Poseidon is in origin a god of elemental, geological forces: life-giving springs, disastrous floods, chasms through which water flows or recedes, and tremors in the earth. Ultimately he ruled the vast and unpredictable sea, causing storms and tidal waves.
He is often found partnered with Demeter, a clue to his probable origin as a deity of fresh water. The most commonly cited etymology of his name recognizes it as a compound: Greek posis or potis, "lord, spouse" is combined with an element of unknown meaning, possibly "earth. "1 Poseidon's name, then, contains the masculine version of the word potnia, or mistress, which is familiar from the Linear B tablets, while he himself appears in the tablets from Knossos and especially Pylos. One of his most widespread cult epithets, Asphaleios (Steadfast), was apparently a euphemism, emphasizing his power to still earthquakes rather than induce them. In both poetry and cult he is Ennosigaios (Earth-Shaker) and Gaieochos (Embracer of Earth). This control over the forces in the earth only occasionally spilled over into agricultural or chthonic, underworld functions, as at Tainaron, where Poseidon hosted an oracle of the dead.
Poseidon was also a god around whom many Greeks shaped their ethnic identities. For the Thessalians, the Boiotians, the people of Trozen, and many others, he was an ancestor, comparable to Zeus in the large number of heroes he sired with mortal maidens. Poseidon was an important amphictyonic deity, which means that his cult was the focus for many federations and leagues, whose shared interests were based sometimes on tribal affinity and sometimes on geographical proximity. According to the Homeric Hymn in
57
POSEIDON
his honor (22. 5), Poseidon is "a tamer of horses and a savior of ships. " Myth made him the father of the horses Areion and Pegasos, while he was honored in many places as Hippios and was a master of chariot races from earliest times. He was the central deity at the Panhellenic sanctuary of Isthmia, worshiped with his consort Amphitrite.
Poseidon Helikonios
The member cities of the Ionian League met annually at the sanctuary of Poseidon Helikonios at the Panionion on the promontory of Mt. Mykale. Very little is left of the sanctuary now, though the foundation of a huge, 18 m Archaic altar has been detected. Also found at the site were a council chamber and a large cave, which must have played a role in the cult. The sanctuary probably never included a temple, yet it was an important symbol of political and cultural identity in the Archaic period. The priests were supplied by the city of Priene. Later the meeting place was moved for safety to a spot near Ephesos. Though this cult was almost certainly brought to Asia Minor when the Ionians migrated to their new homes around the tenth century, there is debate over its source, closely tied to the question of Ionian origins. One school of thought derives Poseidon Helikonios from the city of Helike in Achaia, often cited by ancient authors as a homeland of the Ionians. The Ionians of the Classical period seem to have believed this version, for in response to an oracle, they sent representatives to Helike to ask for sacred objects (aphidrumata) from the ancestral altars. The Achaians' refusal to permit this privilege is said to have caused the famous earthquake and tidal wave that destroyed and engulfed Helike in 373. 2 It is certain that an ancient cult of Poseidon was present at Helike, for Homer (Il. 8. 203-4) mentions offerings to the god from the people of Helike and Aigai. From a linguistic point of view, however, the word Helikonios is better derived from Helikon, the mountain in Boiotia. Though no Poseidon cult on Helikon is attested in historical times, the god had deep roots in Boiotia and such a cult may have largely faded from memory. In any case, Homer is also aware of the worship of Poseidon Helikonios, for he speaks (Il. 20. 403-5) of the bellowing bulls sacrificed to "the Helikonian lord. " According to Strabo (8. 7. 2), some in antiquity took this as a reference to the sacrifices at the Panionia, where the participants read omens if the bull bellowed as it was struck down. 3
On Delos, another Ionian religious center, a large sacrificial feast was held during the month Posideion, which fell during the stormy period of mid- winter. Poseideia, or festivals of Poseidon, seem to have been a regular feature of this month in many Ionian cities, both in the islands and on the coast of Asia Minor. Poseidon's epithets in these places vary, from Helikonios at Sinope to Asphalios (Steadfast) or Themeliouchos (of Foundations) on Delos and Phykios (of Seaweed) on Mykonos. Noel Robertson connects the winter festival to Poseidon's function as a partner of Demeter in fructifying the
58
POSEIDON
fields; alternatively, the timing suggests a propitiation of the god who causes storms at the season when his anger is most evident. 4
Isthmia and Korinth
Poseidon's sanctuary at Isthmia is one of the earliest post-Mycenaean cult places yet identified in the Greek world, having been established at the beginning of the Protogeometric period around 1050. It therefore ranks in age with Olympia and Kalapodi/Hyampolis. Yet for centuries the worship of Poseidon required no temple; the main structures were a platform for dining created in the eighth century, and temporary shelters of which only the post- holes remain. The dominant activity seems to have been sacrifice followed by extensive feasting and drinking. 5 Easily accessible by land and sea, the sanc- tuary was an important meeting place for the people living in the scattered communities that would evolve into the maritime polis of Korinth. In con- trast to Olympia or Delphi, it attracted few dedications of precious metals, such as tripods, and there was less of an emphasis on aristocratic display in the votive practice. In spite of the focus on drinking, dedications of jewelry show that women were active in the worship. Terracotta bulls, animals symbolic of Poseidon, are present from the earliest years, though most of the bones found on the site belonged to sheep, goats, and pigs. The sacrificial area was covered with egg-sized stones that were used in the ritual. Most likely, the participants cast stones at the hapless victim in the moments before its throat was cut. In this way, all present joined in the act of slaughter, just as all would share in the feast. 6
Constructed in the seventh century, the first temple was destroyed in a conflagration around 470. No sign of a statue base was found in the cella, and the temple may have been used mainly as a strongroom for valuable dedications and supplies. Excavation has brought to light the charred remains of storage vessels for oil, chariots, and horse trappings from the cella, while many small valuables came from the area of the east porch, including a tiny golden bull. The exterior wall was coated with stucco and brightly painted with animals and geometric designs, while within the peristyle stood a lovely marble perirrhante ? rion, a water basin used for purification before entering the temple. 7 Its Orientalizing design features a base with four women standing on lions. Outside the temple was a monumental altar over 30 m long. In 582 the Isthmian games were opened to Panhellenic participation, a stadium was added, and the sanctuary continued to grow with the patronage of Korinth and the advantage of placement on a major road. When the Archaic temple burned, it was speedily replaced with a larger Doric temple, which stood until late antiquity. A major category of dedication in this period, second only to the offerings at Olympia in abundance, is armor and weapons, which were displayed so as to be visible from the road.
A number of other gods were worshiped at the sanctuary, including 59
POSEIDON
Amphitrite, Poseidon's consort, and the child-hero Melikertes-Palaimon. The games, with their prize of a pine crown (later changed to wild celery), were said to have originated as funeral games instituted in his honor by Sisyphos. According to the legend, Palaimon and his mother Ino-Leukothea were drowned in the sea, but Ino was transformed into a Nereid, while Palaimon's body was carried to shore by a dolphin. Both mother and son granted mariners' prayers for safety. An interesting and unusual feature of the sanctuary in the Classical period was the pair of underground, man-made caves, designed to serve as dining rooms. One is located near the theater, while the other sits roughly between the theater and the temple of Poseidon and is associated with a nearby altar. Each cave contained couches carved from the earth, and the theater cave also had two kitchen areas. These small rooms, each able to accommodate only five to six people, may have been used in the worship of Melikertes-Palaimon or some other chthonian power. 8
Yet another early Poseidon cult, the source of our earliest images of the god, has been detected in the environs of Korinth. At Penteskouphia a large number of painted terracotta pinakes (tablets) dating to the seventh and sixth centuries were recovered from a votive dump. The location of the sanctuary itself has not been pinpointed, but much can be learned from the tablets. They record dedications to Lord (Anax) Poseidon and often to Amphitrite as well, demonstrating that this cult pairing, so prominent at Isthmia and the Hellenistic sanctuary of Poseidon at Tenos, was already well established in the Archaic period. Amphitrite sometimes receives dedications of her own, and is shown on one pinax with a small worshiper. The divine pair stand facing one another, or ride together in a chariot driven by Poseidon. Other pinakes from this deposit demonstrate Poseidon's patronage not only of seagoing merchants, but also of the potters and painters who helped supply the cargo. Several pinakes show ships, one loaded with pots, while at least twenty-eight illustrate workers using kilns, and the tablets themselves may have been used as proofing pieces in the firing process. Most of the tablets seem to be dedications by men working in the ceramics industry; often the donors made and/or painted the tablets themselves. As a deity of subterran- ean processes and energies, Poseidon was considered the right god to watch over kilns; as a marine deity and ruler of the Isthmos, he guarded a ceramic industry dependent on sea trade. 9
Marine Poseidon
Several of Poseidon's cult epithets are related to his marine function. On Samos he was Epaktaios (on the Coast), at Athens and Rhodes Pelagios (Seagoing), and at Tainaron Pontios (of the Sea). Poseidon's sanctuaries are regularly found at harbors, on promontories, and on islands, while coastal cities too are frequently called Potidaia (Chalkidike) or Poseidonia (Lucania
60
POSEIDON
? Figure 5. 1 Potter and kiln. Votive pinax from Poseidon sanctuary at Penteskouphia, early sixth century. Louvre Museum. Erich Lessing/Art Resource.
in Italy). Storms at sea are attributed to Poseidon, and Herodotus says (7. 192) that he was credited with aiding the Greeks by scattering the Persian fleet in a storm off Artemision. At Geraistos, the only safe harbor along the coast of Euboia and a major port for ships traveling to or from the eastern Aegean, the origin of the festival called Geraistia was traced to a particularly destructive storm, probably the one in which Poseidon drowned the impious Lokrian Ajax. In the Odyssey (3. 176-79), Geraistos was the first safe port of call for ships returning home from the Trojan War; Nestor, Diomedes, and Menelaos sacrificed bulls there to Poseidon for their safe journey. Recent discovery of the remains of the sanctuary at Porto Kastri included a Hellen- istic inscription mentioning an asulon or safe area. Rob Schumacher has pointed out the relationship between Geraistos, Kalaureia, and Tainaron, three coastal yet remote sanctuaries that functioned as retreats for suppliants and fugitives. Various cultic and personal names related to Geraistos, a pre- Greek word of uncertain etymology, are scattered about the Aegean. 10
Poseidon's marine character was apparent in the iconographic tradition, which invariably showed him holding a trident, a fish, or a dolphin. While the trident has usually been explained as a fishing harpoon, the tridents on the early pinakes from Penteskouphia display great variety in shape and size. Scholars have speculated about the possible origin of the trident as a thunder- weapon (given Poseidon's connection with storms at sea) or an Indo-European symbol of kingship. 11
61
POSEIDON
Messenian Poseidon
The Linear B tablets indicate that Poseidon was a highly regarded deity among the Mycenaeans of Pylos. A series of Pylian tablets lists contributions (dosmoi) to various gods among whom Poseidon is the most prominent. Pylos 171 = Un 718 breaks down the community into functional groups listed in order of descending status and offering amounts. The king's contri- bution consists of wheat, wine, a bull, cheeses, a sheepskin, and honey. Similar but smaller gifts are presented by the da ? mos or village, the military leader, and the estate of the worgiones or cult association. Another famous tablet, Pylos 172 = Kn 02, describes ritual actions performed in the shrines of local deities. A shrine of Poseidon is mentioned, to which women bring golden cups. Later in the same tablet, a goddess Posidaeia (apparently a female version of the name Poseidon) receives a golden bowl carried by a woman. 12 The prominence of Poseidon at Pylos is reflected in the Homeric account (Od. 3. 4-11) of Telemachos' visit. When he arrives, the people are offering black bulls to Poseidon on the shore, divided into nine companies of five hundred men each; each company offers nine bulls to the god. Nestor and his sons sit feasting in the midst of their men; Nestor's father Neleus of Iolkos was a son of Poseidon and the founder of Pylos.
In spite of his early importance, Poseidon rapidly lost ground in Archaic Messenia with the rise of the Dorian Spartans. Whereas worship of the god known as Pohoidan (a Lakonian form of the Arkadian Posoidan) continued at Helos and Thouria (Akovitika), in historical times virtually nothing remained of the Pylian cult, while the important sanctuary at Tainaron was controlled by the Spartans. 13 Located at the southern tip of the Mani penin- sula, Tainaron was sacred to the helots, the occupants of Messenia enslaved by Sparta in the eighth and seventh centuries, and dates to before the time of the Messenian wars. Escaped slaves and fugitive helots fled to the sanctuary, where by religious custom they were safe from pursuers. Various late sources speak of the festival known as the Tainaria, which included a three-day feast held on the seashore, and most likely the crowning of Poseidon's cult statue by the helots. Always a wrathful god, he was particularly angry when the ritual laws protecting suppliants were violated. One example long cited as an instance of his wrath was the earthquake that hit Sparta in 464, nearly reducing the city to a pile of rubble. The god was said to be enraged at the Spartans, who had dared to remove fugitive helots from Tainaron and exe- cute them. Though Tainaron has not been excavated, finds of votive bulls and horses in bronze as well as Classical ste ? lai (stone markers) commemor- ating the release of slaves have been reported. Areas set aside for the display of such ste ? lai and for the housing of fugitives are apparent at the site. Over- looking Sternis Bay is a Hellenistic temple, which may have been preceded by earlier structures, to judge from votives found in the area. The most famous feature of the site is the cave oracle of the dead, which the sources describe as
62
POSEIDON
an underground "house" of the gods, into which souls were gathered. This type of oracle was useful in cases where the dead needed to be placated; legend had it that the man who killed Archilochus was sent here by the Pythia in order to propriate the soul of the poet with libations. The actual age of the cave oracle, located at the head of Sternis Bay and fitted with a wall and doorway at the entrance, is unknown. When he visited, Pausanias (3. 25. 5) noted that the cave did not contain a great chasm or other identifi- able entrance to the underworld. 14
Poseidon at Trozen
Poseidon's sanctuary on Kalaureia, a small island off Trozen with one of the best harbors in Greece, lies high above sea level, recalling a scene in the Iliad (13. 10-16) in which Poseidon sits on the highest peak of Samothrace, observing the far away battles at Troy. This place was another well-known refuge, famous for having hosted the orator Demosthenes when he fled from Alexander's successor Antipater in 322. Rather than pollute the sacred ground with the taint of death, Demosthenes took poison inside the temple, then staggered out as it began to take effect. The sanctuary's function as an asylum resulted from its role as the center of an early amphictyony, a league of seven communities in the area. The island's former name Eirene (Peace) probably had to do with the amphictyony as well. Scholars disagree on the purpose and date of the league, but the archaeological remains indicate that the sanctuary was founded by the seventh century at the latest, and acquired a Doric temple in the sixth. 15 Little is known of the ritual there, but Pausanias (2. 33. 2-3) says that Poseidon had a virgin priestess, an unusual arrangement for a male deity.
Trozen itself was unusual in honoring Poseidon as the protector of the city, Poliouchos, and as King, Basileus. He was an important ancestor, having fathered several of the city's heroes including Theseus. The people made the trident an emblem on their coins, while the city itself once bore the name Poseidonia. 16 Trozen's Poseidon cult, like that of Athens, was tied to its Ionic origins. The city fell under the sway of Argos at an early date and became increasingly Dorianized, yet it exported the worship of Poseidon to its colony of Halikarnassos in Karia.
Outside the walls of Trozen was a sanctuary of Poseidon Phytalmios (of Growth). The legend said that the angry god once inundated the crops with seawater until he yielded to prayers and sacrifices. Overlooking this shrine was a sanctuary of Demeter Thesmophoros, established by Poseidon's son Althepos. In recognition of his connection with agriculture, the god was offered aparchai, first fruits from the crops. This facet of Poseidon's personality is unexpected, yet the cult pairing of Poseidon and Demeter is widespread (present in Attica, Argos, Mykonos, and of course, Arkadia). 17 It is likely that Poseidon's flood was originally a freshwater inundation, for as a
63
POSEIDON
god of subterranean forces, he controlled springs and rivers. Having caused a drought at Argos by drying up the springs, he relented and revealed the sources at Lerna to the Danaid Amymone. Aeschylus (Sept. 304-11) names Earth-supporting Poseidon and the rivers, offspring of Tethys, as the deities who pour forth the waters that fructify the earth. Poseidon's waters nourish the plants, yet too much water just as surely destroys them. Thus Poseidon's relationship with Demeter was both intimate and adversarial. Argos had a flood legend according to which Poseidon, angry when the land was awarded to Hera, caused an inundation, and the Argive sanctuary of Poseidon Pros- klystios (of Surging Water) was located beside that of Pelasgian Demeter.
The Athenians too said that Poseidon had flooded the fruitful Thriasian plain where Demeter had her sanctuary at Eleusis. 18
A recently discovered Mycenaean sanctuary on the peninsula of Methana, facing Kalaureia, was unusual in that the finds included rare terracotta chariot groups, helmeted riders, and groups of oxen being driven or ridden. The absence of the female Psi and Phi figurines typically found in Mycenaean shrines, together with this evidence, point to a male deity connected with horses, chariots, and bulls. Thus, Poseidon may already have been the fore- most deity in Trozenia during the Bronze Age. 19
Poseidon Hippios
Onchestos in Boiotia was the site of a renowned Poseidon sanctuary often mentioned by early Greek poets (e. g. Hom. Il. 2. 506). Pindar (Isthm. 1. 52- 54) calls this Poseidon seisichtho ? n, earthshaker, and hippodromios, the patron of horse races (the latter epithet is also the name of a Boiotian month probably connected with the god). Like many sanctuaries of Poseidon, this one did not possess a temple at first, though one was added in the sixth century. The early sources speak of a sacred grove, and there must have been facilities for the races Pindar mentions. The Homeric Hymn to Apollo (3. 230-38) describes a curious custom of the shrine:
There the new-broken colt burdened with drawing the lovely chariot gets its breath; and the driver, though skillful, jumps to the earth from the car and walks. For a while the horses, lacking a driver, rattle the empty car along. If they break (or, if he brings) the chariot in the wooded grove, they care for the horses, but tilting the chariot they leave it. For such from the first was the holy rule (hosie ? ). They pray to the Lord, and the chariot is kept as the god's share.
There is no agreement on the meaning and context of the actions described; the ritual may have involved a driver leaping from the moving car and allow- ing the horses to career into the grove. If the chariot was wrecked, it was left in the grove as a dedication to the god. On the other hand, if the amended
64
POSEIDON
reading is correct, the poet may be referring to a ritual law requiring that any chariot driven into the grove be forfeit to the god. The only certain point is that Poseidon is here celebrated in his guise as the master of horses and chariot racing. 20 This role as horse god looms as large in the cult of Poseidon as his marine aspect, and supports the idea that Poseidon originally had more to do with fresh water and horses (often connected in Indo-European and Greek thought) than with the sea. 21
Another Boiotian tradition about Poseidon was preserved in the lost epic poem Thebais. In the territory of Haliartos was the spring Telphousa, where Poseidon, in the form of a horse, mated with the goddess Erinys. She in turn produced the wondrously swift horse Areion, whose name refers to his superiority, and Poseidon presented the horse as a gift to Kopreus, king of Haliartos. 22 This story finds a doublet in Arkadia, and given that both Erinys and Poseidon are Mycenaean deities, it may well have originated in the Bronze Age.
The Boiotian worship of Poseidon is tied to that of Thessaly, the ancient home of the Boiotoi. Thessaly and Boiotia were the strongholds of the Minyans, a legendary clan whose patron deity was Poseidon. Among their heroes were his twin sons, Neleus (founder of Pylos) and Pelias, the king of Iolkos. The descendants of Neleus also had ties to the cult of Poseidon in
Figure 5. 2 Bronze Poseidon from Livadhostro Bay (Boiotia), c. 470. Inscribed to the god. Ht 1. 18 m. Athens, National Archaeological Museum. Bildarchiv Foto Marburg.
? 65
POSEIDON
Athens and the Ionian migration. Little information is available about the Thessalian cult, but as in Boiotia, it seems to have focused on Poseidon's rule over horses. A Thessalian legend told how the god created the first horse, Skyphios, by smiting the rock with his trident; Poseidon's widespread cult title Hippios (of the Horse) is connected with this story, as are the equestrian contests conducted for the god and the Thessalian sanctuary of Poseidon Petraios (he of the Rock). This sanctuary is still undiscovered, but it lay somewhere in the vale of Tempe, once a lake drained by the god when he smote the mountains with his trident and made an outlet for the river Peneios. 23 In a seminal paper, Marcel Detienne compared Poseidon's mastery of all things equestrian with the rival powers of Athena. Though both are concerned with horses and their training, he concluded, Athena's sphere tends more toward the driver's skill and strategy, while Poseidon governs the uncanny energy of the animal itself. 24
Arkadian Poseidon
An important center of Poseidon's cult was landlocked Arkadia, where he, not Zeus, was considered the father of Demeter's daughter, the mistress of the underworld. His sanctuaries were concentrated in the central plains and valleys around Orchomenos, Kaphyai, Methydrion, and Mantineia, poorly drained areas subject to flooding. 25 At Mantineia, Poseidon was a civic god and his trident adorned the shields of the citizens, while late inscriptions show that calendar years were reckoned by the names of his priests. Like Zeus Lykaios, Poseidon Hippios had an inviolate area in his sanctuary out- side Mantineia where no human being was permitted to tread; according to legend, a mere woolen thread marked the boundary of the sacred area. When the hero Aipytos cut this thread, he was blinded by a miraculous wave of seawater. Arkadia was a great repository of traditions about the births of the gods; one such legend, tied to a spring in the territory of Mantineia, said that Rhea fooled the murderous Kronos by telling him she had given birth to a horse, and gave him a foal to eat instead of the infant Poseidon, who was sheltered in a lambs' pen. 26
In most regions of Greece, we encounter a belief in Poseidon as the creator of the first horse or as the sire of miraculous steeds such as the winged Pegasos, who was the offspring of Poseidon and Medousa. In Arkadia, the god himself becomes a horse, as in the Mantinean birth legend and the myths attached to the city of Thelpousa. Here, Demeter Erinys sought to escape the lustful Poseidon by transforming herself into a mare, but he became a stallion and mated with her. The offspring of this union were a goddess whose name was kept secret (presumably the Arkadian equivalent of Kore) and the divine horse Areion. Pausanias, our source for most of this information, speaks of the sanctuary of Demeter outside Thelpousa, but does not elaborate on the cult of Poseidon here, except to say that he had the title of Hippios. Similarly
66
POSEIDON
at a cave sanctuary outside Phigaleia in the Neda river gorge, the cult myth recounted the coupling of Demeter and Poseidon in the shape of horses, specifying that their daughter was the goddess known as Despoina (Mistress). Poseidon Hippios also had an altar at the important sanctuary of the Mistress at Lykosoura. 27 Here Poseidon is hardly a god of the sea, and his cults are presumably least changed from their Mycenaean antecedents (just as Arkadian Posoidan is the dialect form closest to Linear B). The few references to his marine nature are due to Panhellenizing influences during the Classical period and later.
Athenian Poseidon
Athens and Trozen shared a myth according to which Athena and Poseidon disputed ownership of the land. 28 In the lore of cities bordering the Saronic Gulf, Poseidon figures in a number of these contests; tellingly, he is never the winner. At Trozen, the contest ended in a truce under which the territory was shared, while at Athens, the story went that the victorious Athena produced an olive tree on the Akropolis as a token of her claim, while Poseidon struck the rock with his trident, creating a "sea. " The nature of this sea is unclear, though Pausanias (1. 26. 5) describes it as a well with salt water, enclosed within the walls of the Classical Erechtheion. He also notes an altar on which sacrifices to both Poseidon and Erechtheus were made. The story of the conflict between Poseidon and Athena seems to be closely related to that of the early war between Athens and Eleusis, in which the earth-born Athenian king Erechtheus, prote? ge? of Athena, battled Eumolpos, the Eleusinian leader and son of Poseidon. Athens was victorious when Erechtheus sacrificed his daughters to save the city, but he himself was struck by Poseidon's trident and hidden under the earth. 29 By the fifth century, Poseidon had taken the name of his antagonist as a cult epithet, an arrangement comparable to that between Apollo and Hyakinthos at Amyklai. In both cases the cults of Olympian gods were superimposed on those of earlier indigenous deities, and the earlier figures were transformed into heroes killed by the gods and worshiped side by side with them. 30
Poseidon was an important deity in Archaic Eleusis, consistent with his usual close cult relations to Demeter. Eleusis possessed a cult of Poseidon Pater (Father), and a priest of the Kerykes served Poseidon Prosbaterios (of the Approaches) and Themeliouchos (Upholding the Foundations). It is likely that all these epithets have to do with Poseidon's role vis-a`-vis Demeter as a fructifying deity of water and flooding. That Poseidon's role in Athenian cult has much to do with the relations between Athens and Eleusis is likewise demonstrated in the festival known as the Skira, when the Athenian priests of Poseidon, Athena, and Helios walked to a sanctuary near the boundary with Eleusis. 31
Poseidon had other cults in Attica, but the most important was at the 67
POSEIDON
promontory of Sounion, where a temple was added c. 490 and rebuilt under Perikles. The Athenians held a quadrennial festival with boat races, and the vigor of the Archaic cult is attested by at least twelve kouroi (statues of idealized young men) found buried in a pit east of the temple. 32 The earliest cult at Sounion, however, probably belonged to the hero Phrontis, the steers- man of Menelaos buried there according to Homer (Od. 3. 276-85). In spite of the apparent antiquity of his cult, Poseidon was not a significant presence in Attica compared with Zeus, Demeter, Apollo, Dionysos, and of course Athena.
Further reading
Gebhard 1993 and Morgan 1994 summarize the development of sacred space at Isthmia from the eleventh century. Robertson 1984 demonstrates Poseidon's role as a god of fructifying waters and partner of Demeter. Schu- macher 1993 discusses the function of Poseidon's sanctuaries as places of asylum. Chapter 6 of Pache 2004 is devoted to Melikertes-Palaimon.
68
6
MISTRESSES OF GRAIN AND SOULS
Demeter and Kore/Persephone
Demeter's origins as a grain goddess must lie in the Neolithic period with the advent of agriculture. Her name contains the Greek word for "mother," but whether the initial syllable means "earth," "grain," or something else has long been debated. Homer had little interest in Demeter and none in her relationship with Kore (the Maiden), though Persephone appears in epic poetry as the bride of Hades. The queen of the dead (Attic Pherephatta) has a non-Greek name and must have been in origin a deity separate from Demeter's daughter. Even after the two were firmly and inextricably identified, they were often paradoxically represented in cult as two distinct personages. Eleusinian iconography and terminology, for example, juxtaposed Thea, the underworld goddess, with Kore, the daughter. The Greeks avoided pro- nouncing or inscribing the ominous name Persephone in cult contexts, replacing it with Kore or other euphemisms, though such caution was less often exercised by the poets. Demeter and Kore were frequently worshiped together under such names as the Two Goddesses, the Thesmophoroi, or the Great Goddesses.
Demeter sanctuaries tended to be scattered in neighborhoods rather than centralized, probably because they were used for local celebrations of the Thesmophoria, Demeter's main festival. In spite of their crucial role in the prosperity of the city, Demeter and Kore rarely functioned as civic gods. Exceptional were Thebes, where Demeter's sanctuary occupied prime civic space on the Kadmeia, and certain cities of Sicily and Magna Graecia, where the two goddesses were dominant presences in the pantheon. In the Greek West, Kore/Persephone herself was sometimes the more prominent partner of the two, and played an important role in the social construction of marriage and the rites leading to adulthood for women and men. In keeping with Kore's significance as the archetypal bride, the western colonies saw the core of the myth as the theogamy of Persephone/Kore and Hades, rather than the reunion of Demeter and Kore after the latter's abduction, which was the focus of the famous Eleusinian Mysteries.
69
DEMETER AND KORE/PERSEPHONE
Thesmophoria
The most widespread festival of Demeter and Kore, and one of the most popular of all Greek rites, was the women's festival known as the Thesmo- phoria. The term thesmos means "that which is laid down," hence laws, rites, or revered customs. As the presiding deities, the two goddesses were called Thesmophoroi (Bringers of the Divine Law) because the introduction of grain cultivation was considered the origin of civilized life. Some scholars believe that the "things laid down" are to be understood in a much more literal sense, as the dead piglets deposited during the central rite of the festival. Still, the epithet unquestionably conveys the respect in which the goddesses were held, as do other cult titles such as Megalai Theai (Great Goddesses) and Hagnai Theai (Pure Goddesses). Each year, normally in late summer or early fall, married Greek women gathered in the local Demeter sanctuary, often called the Thesmophorion. Although celebration of the festival was generally not centralized, one sanctuary might be more heavily frequented than the rest. Most had a few modest cult buildings or a simple shrine called a megaron rather than an elaborate temple, but they are relatively easy to identify as sanctuaries of Demeter and Kore by the objects left behind: ceramic table- ware; water jars; terracottas of the goddesses or their votaries, often carrying a piglet; pig bones; numerous lamps for the nocturnal parts of the rites; and the remains of ritual meals.
Literary evidence for the exclusion of males is plentiful. Herodotus (6. 134) tells how the Athenian general Miltiades attempted to enter a restricted building (megaron) in the sanctuary on Paros - perhaps to meddle with the "untouchable" things there - and as a result of divine anger was stricken with a fatal case of gangrene. Xenophon says (Hell. 5. 2. 29) that the men of Thebes kept clear of the Kadmeia while the women were performing the rites there, going so far as to hold the boule ? (council) in the agora rather than its usual place on the akropolis. Men's dedications are often found at these sites, so we know that their exclusion was not complete. Demeter sanctuaries were apparently used for a number of different observances throughout the year, only some of which involved ritual gender segregation. 1
The sacred objects used and acts performed during the Thesmophoria were kept secret. We hear of ritual dances, processions, and special foods, particularly bread. The Delian celebration, held in the late summer month of Metageitnion, involved an event called the Megalartia (Large Loaves), and bread seems to have played an important role in the celebrations at Korinth (below). 2 Only one source, a scholiast on Lucian (Dial. meret. 2. 1), describes the ritual in detail, and his version refers to Attic custom. He writes that piglets are cast into the "chasms of Demeter and Kore" in honor of Eubouleus, a herdsman whose swine were swallowed in the abyss when Hades abducted Kore (Eubouleus reappears as a deity in Eleusis). After an unspecified period, the rotted remains of the piglets are brought up from the chasms (also called
70
DEMETER AND KORE/PERSEPHONE
aduta, innermost chambers, and megara, chambers) by ritually pure women, laid on the altars, and mixed with the seed grain to ensure a good harvest. The scholiast says that pine branches and phallic shapes made of wheat dough are used the same way, all given as thank offerings for the generation of crops and the procreation of people.
The ritual deposition of piglets was probably widespread; piglets were cast into megara at Potniai in Boiotia, and excavations of Demeter and Kore sanctuaries at Knidos and Priene have uncovered such pits. At Eleusis, several deep shafts, which probably served this function, were found around the porch of the so-called Telesterion. 3 Apparently, the story of Kore's rape was the mythic foundation for the ritual; the piglet is also symbolic of the female genitals, and the piglets falling into the earth to be resurrected with the grain repeat the descent and ascent of Kore. Thus the Thesmophoria and the Eleusinian Mysteries shared the same myth, interpreted in different ways. Kevin Clinton has suggested that the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, usually thought to recount the origin of the Mysteries, is primarily an aetiological account of the Thesmophoria. 4
The Attic Thesmophoria was a three-day festival held a few weeks before the ploughing and sowing of the fields; we also hear of such festivals cele- brated as early as midsummer (Thebes) and lasting as long as ten days (Sicily). Women gathered in the sanctuaries, bringing supplies of food and setting up tents as temporary accommodations. As part of the proceedings, the women engaged in sex-talk (aischrologia) and ritual mockery. This seems to have been a mainstay of the goddesses' segregated worship; its mythic explanation is that when Demeter was grieving for Kore, scurrilous jokes and gestures caused her to smile. 5 The sex-talk was the verbal equivalent of the piglets, pine branches and phallic shapes handled by the participants; the women's heightened awareness of their own sexuality and reproductive ability was powerful (therefore it could be deployed to aid the growth of crops) yet dangerous to male prerogatives (therefore its unfettered expression was limited to the festival context). 6
The first day of the Athenian festival was called Anodos (Ascent), perhaps with reference to the women's retrieval of material from the chasms. The second day was the Nesteia (Fasting), a day when no public business or sacri- fice was conducted in the city. The last day was called Kalligeneia (Beautiful Offspring), making clear the connection between agricultural bounty and women's fertility. This was probably a feast day, presided over by leaders (archousai) elected from each deme. It is clear from Isaeus' speeches (3. 80, 6. 49-50, 8. 19) that citizen matrons organized and attended the festival, but the sources conflict on the question of whether slaves and prostitutes could be present and in what capacities. Aristophanes' Women at the Thesmophoria draws a vivid tableau of male suspicion and female revelry during the Thesmophoric ritual, which he sets on the Pnyx, in the same meeting place used by the Athenian assembly. Excavation in this area uncovered a few
71
DEMETER AND KORE/PERSEPHONE
terracottas and lamps consistent with a sanctuary of Demeter and Kore, but not enough material to confirm the existence of a Thesmophorion. 7
Demeter, Kore, and the agricultural year
As one might expect, many festivals of Demeter and Kore were tied to the annual cycle of grain cultivation. Barley and wheat were the staple crops, sown during the fall in most Mediterranean lands. Great anxiety surrounded the fateful question of when to plough and sow, for the farmer must plant late enough to coincide with the fall rains, yet early enough to allow the shoots to become established before the onset of winter cold. 8 Therefore the most important festivals and rituals connected with grain cultivation are clustered around sowing time.
As usual, we are best informed about the Attic year. Early in Pyanopsion (October/November), the Proerosia or pre-ploughing sacrifices took place in the demes, including Eleusis. In conjunction with the Proerosia there were at least three sacred ploughings, one at Skiron, one in the Rharian plain of Eleusis, and one in Athens. The Thesmophoria, with its ritual preparation of the seed, followed soon after. During the next month, Poseideion (December/ January), the grain sprouted and began to grow. By the time of the Haloa at the winter solstice, it became evident whether the farmers had chosen their sowing dates wisely. Epigraphic evidence from the fourth century (IG II2 1672. 124, 144) shows that huge amounts of firewood were used, probably for the bonfires typical of solstice ritual. At this point in the year, the grain was quiescent because of the cold; only the returning heat of the sun could bring it to fruition. Ancient accounts of the Haloa are late and confused, but it is clear that like the Thesmophoria, the festival involved a link between human and vegetable fertility. 9 Temporarily flouting the rules of behavior for respectable females, women gathered at Eleusis drank wine, engaged in sexual banter, and handled pastries shaped like male and female genitals.
In Anthesterion (February/March) the Lesser Mysteries took place just as the grain stalks entered their prime phase of growth, celebrated in the Chloaia (Greening festival). This was probably the main festival of Demeter Chloe? , though she also received a sacrifice at the harvest. Perhaps surprisingly, the main harvest observance, known in Attica and some Ionian cities as the Thargelia and in other Greek lands as the Thalysia, had early ties to Apollo and Artemis rather than Demeter. Homer (Il. 9. 533-35) thinks of thalusia as first fruit offerings to Artemis, and Apollo was the patron of the Thargelia, but by the Hellenistic period Theocritus (Id. 7. 31-38) describes the Thalysia on Kos as a Demeter festival. On the other hand, we know that Demeter was an important figure in the harvest folklore of Greek peasants, who sang songs to her as they reaped. The Kalamaia (Straw festival), probably held in the mid-summer month of Skirophorion, was an Attic/Ionian celebration of the threshing and winnowing. This was also the month of the Skira, a poorly
72
DEMETER AND KORE/PERSEPHONE
understood festival celebrated by married women who temporarily abstained from sex. Like the Thesmophoria, it was celebrated at a number of sites in Attica. 10 Finally, the Eleusinian Mysteries were held in Boedromion (Sep- tember/October), about a month before the ploughing and sowing began once more, renewing the agricultural cycle.
The Eleusinian Mysteries
For a thousand years, people traveled to the small town of Eleusis in Attica in order to experience something profound, something that soothed their fears of death and enhanced their lives immeasurably. This most prestigious of mystery cults must have begun as a local rite open only to the people living nearby, but gradually it accommodated ever-larger numbers, including slaves and foreigners. Many secrets still surround the cult, for its hundreds of thousands of initiates kept their promise not to reveal what took place within the sanctuary. Still, a surprising amount is known from archaeological investigation of the once-inviolate precinct, the assertions of hostile Christian Fathers (which must be read with caution), and other scattered bits of information. The Eleusinian Mysteries had an important public component, and contemporary sources addressing this aspect of the rites, including inscriptions and vase paintings, are numerous.
In spite of the plentiful data (or perhaps because of it), many scholarly controversies surround the Mysteries. Debate centers on the date at which the Eleusinian cult was incorporated into Athenian religion (from the beginning, or not until the sixth century? ), the relationship between the cult and the Homeric Hymn to Demeter (to what extent does the latter reflect an "Eleusinian" perspective? ) and the significance of the Mycenaean remains found in the sanctuary (do they point to continuity of the cult from the Bronze Age? ). The early Mycenaean Megaron B, located beneath the later Demeter temple or Telesterion, was distinguished from nearby houses by its stepped porch and the remains of frescoes within; Mycenaean figurines were found in the vicinity. Yet its function is not clearly established; it may have served as an elite residence, a cult building, or both. A curved Geometric wall outside Megaron B could be either the remains of a Geometric Demeter temple or a retaining wall added to the still-standing Bronze Age structure. In any case, the earliest unequivocal evidence of the cult are the massive eighth- century terrace and a wall enclosing the whole area, with a sacrificial pyre full of broken figurines, pottery, and ashes at the entrance. 11
Eleusis lies at the edge of the Thriasian plain, the "bread basket" of Attica; it was bound to be of interest to the emerging polis. 12 Legend tells of a war between the two towns when Erechtheus was king at Athens and Eumolpos, the first celebrant of the Mysteries, at Eleusis. The resulting settlement left financial control of the cult entirely in Athenian hands, while ritual respon- sibilities were shared between two aristocratic families, the Eumolpidai of
73
DEMETER AND KORE/PERSEPHONE
Eleusis and the Kerykes of Athens. The chief priest of the Mysteries, the Hierophant (Revealer of Sacred Things) was always a Eumolpid, while the Keryx (Herald) and Dadouchos (Torchbearer), other important officials, were both Kerykes.
