Artemis and her cult

447 Pages·2015·8.77 MB·English

by  Ruth Marie Léger

ARTEMIS AND HER CULT

by

RUTH MARIE LÉGER

A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF
PHILOSOPHY

Department of Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology
School of History and Cultures
College of Arts and Law
University of Birmingham
April 2015
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ABSTRACT

This thesis provides a first attempt to bring together archaeological and literary sources
from two main Artemis sanctuaries in the hope of contributing to building a clearer
picture of her cult. First Artemis’ character is described as that of a mother of the gods, a
goddess of wilderness, animals and hunt; a goddess of birth, infants and children (and
young animals); as well as a goddess of youths and marriage: rites of passage.
These descriptions are followed by a section that provides an up-to-date account of the
archaeological record of the sanctuaries of Artemis Orthia at Sparta and Artemis Ephesia
at Ephesus. For comparison with those the site of Athena Alea at Tegea is brought in.
These three accounts are a full study of the architectural development and the range of
artefacts in different materials. In the analysis, the different characters of Artemis are
further explored by looking at the aspects of her cult through the archaeology relating to
the cult and the rites of passage taking place at the sites. These rites of passage are
reconstructed by using the literary accounts.
The conclusion is a description of Artemis and her cult based on the character of this
distinctive goddess through archaeological and literary evidence.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to start by thanking my supervisor, Ken Wardle, for his guidance, patience
and encouragement, for seeing and believing in my full potential. His support and that of
the ladies at the kitchen table has been unending. My colleagues in the Department and
beyond have been very valuable for discussions on research topics, giving advice and
feedback at all stages of this project.
The College of Arts and Law at the University of Birmingham funded the necessary
research visits to the British School at Athens and Ephesus for which I am grateful.
During these visits the staff and archaeologists at museums and sites throughout Greece
and Turkey were helpful and patient with all my questions and searches for artefacts,
making sure I could study everything I needed. I would also like to thank Michael
Kerschner and Erik Østby for sharing their research before publication.
Thanks are also due to my friends in both the UK and back home, without your support
and friendship I could not have done this. You have kept me sane in the process of writing
(up) this thesis. Whether it was with a chat, a cup of tea, or simply being there, you truly
are amazing. It is thanks to you guys that I can finally say: it has been written.
Finally, I would like to thank my family. First of all my Mam, who also accompanied me
during some of the fieldwork, for giving me her valuable insight, never ending support
on so many levels and most of all her belief in my abilities. There were moments where
I doubted myself, but you always manage to bring back my confidence. Lastly to my
brothers, Jesse and Jethro, for being part of this process and encouraging me to follow my
dreams, never doubting I could do this; you helped make me what I am.
CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................1
2. ARTEMIS ................................................................................................................22
3. ARCHAEOLOGY RELATED TO CULT ACTIVITY ...........................................51
4. COMMON FEATURES ........................................................................................177
5. CULT ACTIVITY..................................................................................................220
6. ARTEMIS AND HER CULT ................................................................................263
BIBLIOGRAPY ............................................................................................................271
LIST OF TABLES AND ILLUSTRATIONS

Thesis

Table 1: identification of the goddess at Sparta………………………………………..11
Table 2: foundation myths for Artemis Ephesia sanctuary…………………………….16
Table 3: Spartan lead figures in conjunction with pottery and their dates……………..82
Appendices
Appendix 1: A summary of the three main Attic cult sites for Artemis ............................1

Appendix 2: Votive objects found at Artemis Orthia, Sparta. ...........................................6

Appendix 3: Votive objects found at Artemis Ephesia, Ephesus. ...................................18

Appendix 4: Dawkins’ 1910 and 1907 excavation plans. Dawkins 1929 .......................30

Appendix 5: Modern overview of Artemis Orthia site, Sparta ........................................32

Appendix 6: Comparison of dating by Dawkins and Boardman. ....................................34

Appendix 7: Inscripton by Soixiadas Arikrateos .............................................................35

Appendix 8: Table of masks found at Artemis Orthia, Sparta. .......................................36

Appendix 9: Examples of the masks from the Spartan Museum of Archaeology………42
Appendix 10: Wrinkled masks: same or different category? ..........................................44
Appendix 11: The origin of masks. .................................................................................45

Appendix 12: Lead figurines. ..........................................................................................47
Appendix 13: Plans of the different phases of the architecture at the site of Artemis
Ephesia. ......................................................................................................................... 50
Appendix 14: Modern overview of Artemis Ephesia site, Ephesus. ...............................55
Appendix 15: Ephesian Coins (BCE unless otherwise stated). .......................................56
Appendix 16: Artemis Ephesia statues and their features tabled based on plate numbers
Fleischer 1973. ............................................................................................................... 61
Appendix 17: Plans of the temple of Alea Athena, Tegea ..............................................65
Appendix 18: The legend of Telephos. ...........................................................................68
Appendix 19: Votive objects found at Alea Athena, Tegea ............................................70
Appendix 20: Common features at sanctuaries of Artemis at Sparta, Ephesus, Brauron
and Athena at Tegea ...................................................................................................... 82
Appendix 21: krateriskoi depicting clothed females .......................................................94
Appendix 22: krateriskoi depicting naked females .........................................................97
Appendix 23: krateriskoi depicting musical instruments ................................................98
Appendix 24: krateriskos showing a bear-like figure ...................................................100
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Approach…………………………………………………………………………3
1.1.1 Source Material……………………………………………………………….6
1.2 Introduction to the sites………………………………………………………….10
1.2.1 Artemis Orthia……………………………………………………………….11
Evidence………………………………………………………………………...13
1.2.2 Artemis Ephesia……………………………………………………………..15
Evidence………………………………………………………………………...15
1.2.3 Artemis Brauronia…………………………………………………………...17
Evidence………………………………………………………………………...18
1.2.4 Alea Athena………………………………………………………………….19
Evidence………………………………………………………………………...19
1
Why study Artemis? Throughout my PhD I have been asked this question many times.
The short answer is, to better understand her worship. This is difficult; Artemis, as a
principal Greek deity, was worshipped at a wide variety of places with different names,
characters and functions. Researching when, where and how the cults of Artemis took
form both materially and socially, it will become possible to understand her worship a
little better. She is at the same time a virgin who aids women in childbirth, a fierce
huntress who fosters wild beasts, and a bloodthirsty deity who both nurtures the young
and demands their sacrifice. Moreover, the goddess for whom young girls danced at
Brauron and the goddess of Ephesus are clearly distinctive, but both are called Artemis.
Her different appearances can only be explained and examined after close analysis of
various Artemis cults and the various ideas attached to those cults. This thesis will look
at the context of three cult sites, the worship, the setting and the offerings to examine the
nature of Artemis’ cult.
My research into the cult of Artemis started off during my Masters year at Utrecht
University, the Netherlands.1 Looking into the three main cults of Artemis in Attica:
Brauron, Halai Araphenides and Mounichia,2 initiated the plan to research more Artemis
sanctuaries, her cult and the rituals taking place.3 In cultic life, women played a significant
role and they held the most important offices. In contrast, Artemis’ cult was by no means
exclusive to women. This research is developing into a modern account of the cult of
Artemis and the different sanctuaries where rites of passage for boys and girls are attested.
Of particular interest is what these cults have in common and what their differences are.

1 Léger 2011.
2 A summary of these three cults can be found in 1.
3 Following Morgan 1996: 45, ritual may be defined as a means of transmitting cultural regulations about
ethical relationships within the community and between humans and the divine. It centres on performance,
rehearsing a series of defined and meaningful acts.
2
As Burkert mentioned in his account on Greek religion, Artemis did not only enjoy the
most widespread cults, but she was also one of the most distinctive and oldest deities
known.4 These aspects result in the following questions: What was the role of Artemis in
Greek society and how does this relate to Greek religion?
My aim is to understand the relationship between cult and community and the ways in
which the rituals differ in different Artemis cults. My hypothesis is that the existence of
a cult was an expression of identity which should become clear in the architecture and
archaeological evidence. By identifying the archaeological sites as cultic and by exploring
the associated rituals we can reconstruct a part of the community that is otherwise
invisible.5 Studying Artemis throughout the Greek world will enable me to widen my
field of research and create a complete account of this goddess within ancient religion.

1.1 Approach

The Oxford Dictionary defines cult as: ‘a system of religious veneration and devotion
directed towards a particular figure or object’. Cult practice can be defined and contrasted
in terms of material remains and the literary tradition. A cult site needs votives and/or an
offering place to qualify as such. Other possible actions that might refer to rituals and that
are of sacred significance are the public display of wealth, the use of specific symbolism
in architecture as well as in iconography, and the use of a distinctive set of architectural
features. The former may consist of terracotta or stone figurines, iron, bronze or ivory
pins, other jewellery, weapons, full-sized or miniature bronze tripods, miniature terracotta

4 Burkert 1985: 149.
5 There are, amongst others, several publications on this topic: Farnell 1896, Nilsson 1941, Dietrich 1974,
Burkert 1985, Bremmer 1994, Ogden 2007, and Mikalson 2010.
3