Saviour Gods and Soteria in Ancient Greece

331 Pages·2022·3.212 MB·English

by  Theodora Suk Fong Jim

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Saviour Gods and Soteria in Ancient Greece
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,30/12/2021,SPi
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,30/12/2021,SPi
Saviour Gods and Soteria
in Ancient Greece
THEODORA SUK FONG JIM
1
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3
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Preface
Thisbooktacklesthecontroversialnotionofsoteriaandthebewilderingplurality
ofgodscalled‘saviour’asalensthroughwhichtoexplorelargerissuesconcerning
Greek polytheism. The idea camefrom a then newly published inscription from
AegaeinAeolisinEpigraphicaAnatolica2009,whichspeaksambiguouslyofacult
ofanunidentified‘Saviour’goddess(Soteira)ontheonehand,andofanewcultof
SeleucusIandAntiochusIas‘Saviours’(Soteres)ontheother.Fromthisarisesa
series of intriguingquestionsnever tackled before: whoisthis‘saviour’goddess?
What did it mean to call a divinity Soter or Soteira? What was the relationship
betweenkingsandgodssimilarlycalled‘saviour’inGreekantiquity?Theelaborate
textfromAegaeisonlyoneamongseveralthousandinscriptionsscatteredallover
theGreekMediterraneanwhichattesttoasimilarphenomenon.Thelanguageof
‘saving’ is ubiquitous in the Greek world and especially in the Greeks’ dealings
with theirgods,yetitscentralityinGreekreligion haslongbeenobscuredbyits
later prominence in Christianity. This book investigates what it meant to be
‘saved’andtheunderlyingconceptofsoteriainancientGreece.Yetitgoesbeyond
Greek religious vocabulary and cult epithets to investigate the lived religious
experienceandthoughtworldoftheGreeks.
InscriptionssuchastheonefromAegaeconstitutethemostimportantsource
forthisproject.Iwasfirstintroducedtotheartofepigraphyasagraduatestudent
atOxford,andinthecourseofwritingthisbookIhavecometoappreciatemuch
morefullyitsimportancetohistorians.Thisisespeciallytruewhenstudyingthe
religious sensibility and lived experience of the Greeks, which, of all aspects of
ancientGreekreligion,Ihavealwaysfoundmostgripping.Yetthematerialforthe
book is not restricted to inscriptions on stone; it also includes archaeology,
numismatics,prose,andpoetry,andthetopicreachesbeyondClassicalantiquity
toearlyChristianity.Thesearchforsomeoftheleastknownarchaeologicalsites
has led me up lonely hilltops in Arcadia and down dangerous highways in
modern-dayTurkey.Thetime-spancoveredbythesesourcesisalsolong;indeed
longerthanIoriginallyintended.Inthecourseofresearchitbecameclearthatthe
subject of soteria cannot be restricted neatly to the Classical and Hellenistic
periods, but must embrace what came both before and after it. The result is a
study which spans from the late Archaic period to the early centuries of
Christianity,thoughthefocusremainsonClassicalandHellenisticGreece.
The writing of this book was completed in the Department of Classics and
Archaeology at the University of Nottingham thanks to a period of research
leave, after I first started it in the Department of History at Lancaster
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University. Various other institutions have also provided valuable facilities and
stimulating environments for research: the British School at Athens, the Sackler
Library at Oxford, and the Fondation Hardt at Geneva have all been superb in
providingthenecessaryresourcesandintellectualstimuli.In2020myvisittothe
Center of Hellenic Studies, Harvard, had to be postponed owing to the global
healthcrisis;neverthelessIamgratefultotheCHSforitsgeneroussupportwith
electronicresourcesandfortheopportunitytojointheirlivelyvirtualcommunity.
Iwouldneverhavefoundthecourage to tackle such acomplexsubjecthad it
not been for the unfailing support and exacting standards of Robert Parker:
I could not have hoped for a wiser and kinder teacher in my life. The reviewers
ofOxfordUniversityPressaremostperceptiveintheirobservationsandinsights.
JanBremmer,EmilyKearns,BarbaraKowalzig,andTeresaMorganhavereadpart
or the bulk of the manuscript at various stages of its preparation and provided
valuable comments. Bruno Currie, Lindsay Driediger-Murphy, Gunnel Ekroth,
John Ma, and Shane Wallace kindly discussed with me specific issues. I am
gratefultoallofthemforgenerouslysharingtheirtime,knowledge,andexpertise,
and for challenging me to bring this book to a higher standard. For technical
support,IthankSergioQuinteroCabelloforproducingthemapswithgreatskill.
Friends in various parts of the world have been pillars of support in the back-
ground:theyallknowwhotheyare.
ThegreatestanddeepestdebtsIoweandcanneverrepayaretomyfamily:to
myparentsforunconditionalsupportandthefreedomtotakethepathlesstaken,
to my sisters for all that they have done heroically, and to the little ones I wish
Icouldbringwithme.ThisbookisdedicatedwithlovetomyfamilyandtoFaye,
whois26asIwrite.
S.F.Jim
February2021
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List of Illustrations
Coverillustration:VotiverelieftoAsclepiusfromthesouthslopeoftheAthenianacropolis,
Athens, Acropolis Museum, NM 1341 (© Acropolis Museum, 2012, photo by Socratis
Mavrommatis).
1. Marblerelief,AsklepeionatEpidauros,ArchaeologicalMuseumofAsklepeion,
inv.28(EphorateofAntiquitiesofArgolida,©HellenicMinistryofCulture
andSports/ArchaeologicalResourcesFund). 61
2. VotivestelefromCyzicus,CollectionChoiseul-Gouffier,Paris,muséedu
Louvre,MA2850(©RMN-GrandPalais(muséeduLouvre),photobyHervé
Lewandowski). 86
3. GraffitoofanelephantinEl-Kanais,Egypt,I.Kanais9bis(afterA.E.P.Weigall,
TravelsintheUpperEgyptianDeserts,Edinburgh,London,1909,pl.31;
A.Bernand,LePaneiond’El-Kanaïs,Leiden,1972,pl.54.1). 97
4. VotiverelieftoAsclepius,fromthesouthslopeoftheAthenianacropolis,
Athens,AcropolisMuseum,NM1341(©AcropolisMuseum,2012,photoby
SocratisMavrommatis). 101
5a. MarblecolumninRasEl-Soda,Egypt,BibliothecaAlexandrinaAntiquities
Museum,BAAM,inv.25788(©BibliothecaAlexandrinaAntiquitiesMuseum,
photobyMohamedMounir). 102
5b. MarblefootinRasEl-Soda,Egypt,BibliothecaAlexandrinaAntiquities
Museum,BAAM,inv.25789(©BibliothecaAlexandrinaAntiquities
Museum,photobyMohamedMounir). 103
6. MarblestatuetteofHygieiafromEpidaurus,Athens,NationalArchaeological
Museum,NM272(©HellenicMinistryofCultureandSports/Hellenic
OrganizationofCulturalResourcesDevelopment). 105
7. Mapofsaviourgods,Archaicperiod. 121
8. ArchaictempleofAthenaSoteiraandPoseidon,ViglainArcadia(photoby
author,reproducedbythepermissionoftheEphorateofAntiquitiesofArcadia.
©HellenicMinistryofCultureandSports/ArchaeologicalResourcesFund,
N.3028/2002). 123
9. MapofAthenaSoteira. 124
10. MapofjointcultsofZeusSoterandAthenaSoteira. 125
11. Mapofsaviourgods,c.479–400. 127
12. Mapofsaviourgods,fourthcentury. 128
13. MapofApolloSoter. 130
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14. MapofDionysusSoter. 131
15. MapofHeraclesSoter. 132
16a. Mapofsaviourgods,Hellenisticperiod. 133
16b. MapofsaviourgodsinmainlandGreeceandAsiaMinor,Hellenisticperiod. 134
16c. MapofsaviourgodsinHellenisticEgypt. 135
17a. Mapofsaviourgods,Romanperiod. 137
17b. MapofsaviourgodsinmainlandGreeceandAsiaMinor,Romanperiod. 138
18. MapofZeusSoter. 146
19. MapofArtemisSoteira. 148
20. MapofKoreSoteira. 149
21. MapofDioscuriSoteres. 155
22. MapofAsclepiusSoter. 160
23. RectangularstatuebaseinhonourofPtolemyISoter,Egypt,CPI605. 185
24. LimestoneplaqueinhonourofPtolemyIandBereniceIasTheoiSoteres,in
themodernvillageofKomEl-AhmarinMiddleEgypt,CPI323. 186
25. RectangularlimestoneslabdedicatedtoPtolemyV,CleopatraI,andthe
TheoiSoteres,provenanceunknown,CPI584. 209
Disclaimer:Theauthorhasmadeeveryreasonableefforttoclearpermissionsfortheuseof
Fig.3, the elephant graffito in El-Kanais, which was first published in A. E. P. Weigall,
TravelsintheUpperEgyptianDeserts(Edinburgh,London,1909),pl.31,andsubsequently
reprintedinA.Bernand,LePaneiond’El-Kanaïs(Leiden,1972),pl.54.1.Unfortunatelythe
original publishing house, William Blackwood and Sons, is no longer in operation and
cannotbecontacted.Theauthorwouldliketoaskanyrights-holdersofthisimagetogetin
touchshouldanyissuescometolight.