Greek Heroine Cults (Wisconsin Studies in Classics)

129 Pages·1995·79.02 MB·English

by  Jennifer L. Larson

Greek Heroine Cults
/
WISCONSIN STUDIES IN CLASSICS
Greek Heroine Cults
General Editors
Richard Daniel De Puma and
Barbara Hughes Fowler
Jennifer Larson
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The University of Wisconsin Press
JNDIANA UNIVERSrTY
LIBRARIES
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Contents
Figures and Tables Vll
Preface IX
Acknowledgments XI
Orthography and Abbreviations X 111
Introduction to Greek Heroine Cults 3
Familial Context 4
Heroines Outside a Familial Context 8
The University of Wisconsin Press Tombs and Cult Places 9
114 North Murray Street Cult Activities 13
Madison, Wisconsin 53715
Heroization Stories 16
Heroine and Nymph 18
3 Henrietta Street
London WC2E 8LU, England Words for Heroine 21
Summary 24
Copyright © 1995
The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
1. Heroine Cult in the Political and Social Organization
All rights reserved
of Attica 26
3 5 4 2 The Deme Calendars 27
The Deme Eponymoi and Associated Cults 35
Printed in the United States of America The Orgeones 37
The Heroines on the Acropolis: The Daughters of
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data V Q/' -.l Kekrops 39
n....l....-:-\
Larson, Jennifer Oennifer Lynn)
Greek heroine cults / Jennifer Larson. 2. Heroines in Votive Reliefs 43
eV
256 p. em. - (Wisconsin studies in classics) n The Totenmahl Reliefs 43
Includes bibliographical references and mdex. J The Archaic Lakonian Reliefs 50
ISBN 0-299-14370-8 ISBN 0-299-14374-0 (pbk.)
Other Heroic Reliefs 52
I. Heroines-Cult-Greece. 2. Hero worship-Greece.
3. Greece-Religion. I. Title. II. Series. Terracottas 54
BL795.H47L37 1994 Iconography and Heroic Cult 55
292.2' 13-dc20 94-11044 A Comparison: The Hero Stones of India 56
v
Contents
3. Heroines and the Heroic Family 58
Myth and Ritual 60
The Family of Asklepios 61
The Dioskouroi and the Leukippides 64
The Dioskouroi and Helen 69
Family Groups at Eleusis 70
The Heroic Family and the Foundation of the Polis 71
Figures and Tables
4. Heroines in Individual Familial Relationships 78
Husband and Wife in Cult 78
Other Pairs 84
Brother and Sister 86
Mother and Son 89
Father and Daughter 96 FIGURES
1. Totenmahl relief, Attica (fourth century B.C.) 45
5. Independent Heroines 101 2. Totenmahl relief, Piraeus (ca. 400 B.C.) 46
Sacrificial Virgins 101
3. Totenmahl relief, Attica (late fourth century B.C.) 47
Euripides and Two Patterns of Human Sacrifice 103
4. Totenmahl relief, Boiotia (ca. 300 B.C.) 48
Groups of Sisters 109
5. Heroine relief(?), Lesbos 50
The Heroine as Other: Amazons and Aliens 110
6. Archaic Lakonian relief, Chrysapha (Sparta) 51
Artemis and Cult Heroines 116
7. Horseman relief, Cumae (fifth century B.C.) 53
Kourotrophic and Hospitality Figures 121
Ino 123
TABLES
Sibyls and Priestesses 125
Historical Figures 128 1. Heroic monuments in Megara and surrounding area. 12
2. Summary of heroic cults associated with wrongful death. 142
6. The Wrongful Death of the Heroine 131
The Substitute Avenger 133
Rape and Wrongful Death 135
Wrongful Death as Cult Aetion 138
Wrongful Death and Politics 141
Appendix: Catalogue of Cult Heroines 147
Notes 160
Bibliography 205
Index 215
VI
VB
Preface
Like all scholarship in Greek religion, this work relies on a very wide
range of sources, many of which are quite late. The lateness of certain
lexicographers, mythographers, and historians does not necessarily
impugn their reliability, however, since they are usually collecting and
compiling earlier material.
Wherever possible I have relied on traditions tied to specific loca
tions, because the information that a tomb of a certain heroine existed
at location X is unlikely to have been fabricated by a late author.
Pausanias is especially helpful in recording local variations in myth and
cult, and since this study cites him extensively, I should include a few
remarks concerning his reliability. Christian Habicht has shown that
Pausanias, contrary to the beliefs of an earlier generation of scholars,
did not sim ply compile his travelogue from other authors. Instead, it is
I
possible to demonstrate that he was quite consistent about visiting sites
in person, and often went out of his way to see antiquities in obscure
villages. Another characteristic which endears Pausanias to the student
of Greek religion is his keen interest in antiquities. He consistently
seeks out the oldest as the most interesting, almost completely neglect
ing monuments and dedications later than 150 B.C.2
My organization is partly determined by the diverse nature of the
sources. Chapter 1 deals primarily with the body of epigraphic evi
dence from Attica and shows how heroine cult is present at every
organizational level of Attic society. Chapter 2 discusses the icono
graphic evidence for heroine cult in votive reliefs and terracottas. Since
we have many heroic reliefs from fourth-century Attica, the period of
the epigraphic evidence, I am able to draw a parallel between the
secondary status of heroines in both ritual calendars and iconography.
In Chapters 3 to 6 I draw on a combination of sources which I describe
as antiquarian. These include Pausanias, Strabo, and Plutarch as well
as a number of historians, mythographers, lexicographers, et alii. In
IX
Preface
many cases I am able to match their information about various heroine
cults with archaeological evidence. For example, Herodotus' account of
the Hyperborean Maidens is supplemented by the excavation of their
Mycenaean tombs, and various accounts of Alexandra/Kassandra are
supplemented by the discovery of her shrine in Lakonia. Chapters 3
and 4 are a more detailed discussion, using this antiquarian evidence,
of the phenomenon of "familial context" in the organization of heroic
Acknowledgments
cult. First I examine the cults in which the heroic family appears as a
group; then I move on, in Chapter 4, to look at specific familial rela
tionships in cult. Chapter 5 examines heroines who exist outside a
familial context. Here I include a discussion of the cults of sacrificial
virgins and their relationship to the sacrifice plays of Euripides, as well
as an examination of cult heroines associated with Artemis. Chapter 6
I would like to begin by thanking those whose support and encourage
deals with the gender differences present in the aetiological narratives
ment allowed me to finish this project, especially my colleagues Polly
associated with a specific cult type, the heroic cult stemming from
Hoover and Christina Clark and my family. My courses with Barbara
wrongful death.
Fowler nurtured my interest in Greek religion and provided inspira
Finally, the Appendix provides a reference list of cult heroines with
tion. Paul Plass offered guidance and helpful advice at every stage;
their most important citations. I hope this book will stimulate further
John Bennet and Jeffrey Wills read earlier versions of some chap
research on the origins and function of heroic figures in myth and cult,
ters and provided useful comments. Jeffrey also gave me some much
a topic that is crucial to our understanding of ancient Greek culture.
needed help with computer problems. I also thankJane Schulenburg,
Laura McClure, and Barry Powell. Thanks are due to the National
Museum in Athens, the Staatliche Museum in Berlin, and the Mytilene
Museum for permission to use photographs. Finally I would like to
thank Gregory Nagy, whose close reading of the manuscript saved me
from many errors. It goes without saying that any infelicities remain
ing are entirely my own. The Graduate School of the University of
Wisconsin generously provided a semester of financial support. This
work is dedicated to Robert Larson.
x XI
Orthography and Abbreviations
Most Greek names and words in this book are directly transliterated,
with the following exceptions. Authors, titles of ancient works, and
many place names retain the Latinized spelling for consistency with the
usage of reference works and libraries. Latinized forms of proper
names which have become very familiar in English (Oedipus, Apollo)
are also used. Since I would like this book to be accessible to all who are
interested, I transliterate Greek words wherever possible. In a few
cases involving epigraphic and textual issues, this was not advisable,
but I have tried to confine these instances to the notes. Translations of
Greek quotations are provided throughout.
Where euphony permits, I use "heroic figure" and "heroic cult" as
inclusive terms, rather than the more cumbersome "hero or heroine"
and "heroine or hero cult."
Some reference works and other books to which I refer often are
cited according to the abbreviations below. Other works have a full
citation the first time they are used in each chapter and thereafter are
cited by the author and year of publication: Pozzi and Wickersham
(1991) 1-15. I have followed the system of abbreviations in N. G. L.
Hammond and H. H. Scullard eds., Oxford Classical Dictionary2 (Oxford
1970). Periodical abbreviations follow L'Annee philologique or, if not
included there, the American Journal of Archaeology.
Brelich, EG: A. Brelich. 1958. Gli eroi greci. Rome.
Brelich, Paides: A. Brelich. 1969. Paides e parthenoi. Rome.
Burkert, GR: W. Burkert. 1985. Greek Religion. Cambridge,
MA.
Burkert, HN: W. Burkert. 1983. Homo Necans: The Anthro
pology of Ancient Greek Sacrificial Ritual and
Myth. Berkeley and Los Angeles.
Burkert, SH: W. Burkert. 1979. Structure and History in
Greek Mythology and Ritual. Berkeley and Los
Angeles.
Xlii
Orthography and Abbreviations Orthography and Abbreviations
Calame: C. Calame. 1977. Les choeurs de jeunes filles en Roscher: W. H. Roscher. 1884-1937. Ausfiihrliches Lexi
Grece archai"que. Vol. 1. Rome. con der griechischen und romischen Mythologie.
Dowden: K. Dowden. 1989. Death and the Maiden. Lon Leipzig.
don. Schachter, CB: A. Schachter. 1981. The Cults of Boiotia. BICS
Farnell, Hero Cults: L. R. Farnell. 1921. Greek Hero Cults and Ideas Suppl. 38. 3 vols. London.
of Immortality. Oxford. SEG: Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum.
FGrH: F. Jacoby. 1923-. Fragrnente der griechischen SIG3: W. Dittenberger. 1915-24. Sylloge Inscrip
Historiker. Berlin. tionum Graecarum. Leipzig.
Harrison, Prolegomena: J. Harrison. 1922. Prolegomena to the Study of Wide, LK: S. Wide. 1893. Lakonische Kulte. Leipzig.
Greek Religion. 3rd ed. Cambridge.
J.
Harrison, Themis: Harrison. 1912. Themis: A Study of the Social
Origins of Greek Religion. Cambridge.
IG: Inscriptiones Graecae.
Kearns: E. Kearns. 1989. The Heroes of Attica. BICS
Suppl. 57. London.
LSS: F. Sokolowski. 1962. Lois sacrees des cites
grecques: Supplement. Paris.
LSCG: F. Sokolowski. 1969. Lois sacrees des cites
grecques. Paris.
Lyons: D. Lyons. 1989. Heroic Configurations of the
Feminine in Greek Myth and Cult. Diss. Prince-
ton.
Nagy, BA: G. Nagy. 1979. The Best of the Achaeans: Con
cepts of the Hero in Archaic Greek Poetry. Bal-
timore and London.
Nagy, GMP: G. Nagy. 1990. Greek Mythology and Poetics.
Ithaca and London.
Nagy, PH: G. Nagy. 1990. Pindar's Homer. Baltimore and
London.
Nilsson, GF: M. Nilsson. 1906. Griechische Feste. Leipzig.
Nilsson, GGR3: M. Nilsson. 1967. Geschichte der griechischen
Religion. 3rd ed. Munich.
Nilsson, MMR: M. Nilsson. 1927. The Minoan-Mycenaean Reli
gion and Its Survival in Greek Religion. Lund,
Leipzig, Paris, Oxford.
Pfister: F. Pfister. 1909-12. Der Reliquienkult im Alter-
tum. Giessen.
RE: A. Pauly and G. Wissowa. 1922-. Real
Encyclopaedie der classischen Altertums
Wissenschaft. Stuttgart.
Rohde: £. Rohde. 1925. Psyche: The Cult of Souls and
Belief in Immortality Among the Ancient Greeks.
London and New York.
XIV XV
Greek Heroine Cults
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