Sandrine Huber – Didier Laroche, Athena at the Gates of Delphi? Athens, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, International Conference « Ancient Phokis: New Approaches to its History, Archaeology and Topography », 30 March – 01 April 2017 (original) (raw)
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Conference Ancient Phokis 30.3.-1.4.2017, DAI Athens: Abstracts
Phokis is known today mainly for the oracular sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi, to a lesser extent for another oracular shrine of Apollo, the one at Abai, which is most probably to be identified with the sanctuary of Kalapodi. The land of the Phokians delineated by these two oracular sanctuaries comprised multiple poleis whose names are attested in the literary and epigraphical record. At the same time, there are many sites with extant archaeological remains, which had been partly always visible or which came to light mainly through the investigations of the Ephorates of Fthiotida, Phokis and Boiotia. In recent years, the historical as well as the archaeological research has contributed to a better understanding of the Phokians. The conference aims to bring together scholars working on thearchaeological material and on the historical record, with a focus on the historical period, thus stimulating a re-evaluation of topographical, archaeological and historical questions.
The paper addresses the Panhellenic sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi and several Greek city-states' dedications, gifted to the god. The offerings varied from small objects, such as vases, tripods, statues etc., to whole building constructions such as the so-called treasuries. They constituted a special religious and above all political symbol, and conveyed, given the time as well as the polis that made the dedication, a special political message for the visitors of the sanctuary. By examining the dedications of Syracuse and Athens at the Delphic sanctuary in the early 5 th century BCE1, the present study focuses on two different political claims in the late Archaic and early Classical periods of Greece; "Panhellenism" and "Imperialism", both supported by the concept of opposing to the hateful Other, especially the Barbarian. On the one hand, Syracuse, a Corinthian colony, through its dedications to Apollo in the early 5 th century, aimed at promoting the identity of a polis that constituted a vital part of Greece, as the Syracusans managed to defeat the barbarian Carthaginians and Etruscans in almost the same period during which the united forces of mainland Greece defeated the barbarian Persians and made later on the proper dedications at Delphi. On the other hand, Athens, from the last decade of the 6 th century to the 460's, projected constantly, through its dedications, its self-definition as the defender of the "Panhellenic" rights and interests, and specifically as the restorer of the military and political freedom to the still en-
Mnemotopographic Traces and Monumental Reference to Athenian Pasts on Delos
Journal of Greco-Roman Studies (The Korean Society of Greco-Roman Studies), 2021
【Abstract】Building from the understanding the power relations are very often the product of retroactive projections, this paper intends to underline how the forms of Athenian collective Memory that supported the city's control of the sanctuary of Apollo on Delos, were evidenced materially. Indeed material is essential for the communication of any notion of shared past amongst cultural groups. In the cases highlighted below, it becomes clear that as traditions relating to Athenian involvement in the very origins of religious life on the island, would have been made manifest in various statues/monuments and their cultic consumption. Working from the successful application of Peircean notions of index, icon and symbol in relation to material memory cultural by Jones (2007), I shall highlight how, and in what manner, these physical media would have constructed a conceptualized past for Delos for which Athenian control in the Classical era was but a natural continuation.
Inscriptions and their Uses in Greek and Latin Literature, 2013
Delphi represents an exceptionally interesting and difficult research topic for any modern scholar interested in the history, institutions, and historical role of an ancient Greek cult place, combining as it does a complex and puzzling archaeological site, hundreds of inscriptions of many different kinds, and an immense amount of information from literary sources from all ages. This complicated and fascinating picture is the direct result of the history of the sanctuary itself and of the role it played in many periods of ancient Greek history. As the seat of the most important oracle of the ancient Mediterranean world, Delphi was the crossroads of several cultures and the place where a great deal of more or less reliable geographical information and cultural experiences were gathered and shared. As the seat of important monumental dedications, Delphi was the place where the Greeks celebrated through collective offerings events such as their victories in the Persian Wars, the end of the Phokian occupation of the sanctuary in 346 bc, the rebuilding of the temple of Apollo, or the averted threat of the Celtic invasion in 278 bc. 2 Here, more than anywhere else, the Greek states left monumental and written traces of their military successes (in most cases won over other Greeks, as deplored by Plu., or, more particularly, of their economic flourishing, and solemnly marked their being a part of the Hellenikon through the participation in the Pythian Games and the consecration of thesauroi. 3 1 I am here paraphrasing Steiner (1993) 174. 2 On the monuments consecrated at Delphi in those specific circumstances, see Gauer (1968);
Erga-Logoi. Rivista di storia, letteratura, diritto e culture dell'antichità, 2023
The advances that have taken place in recent decades in the investigation of the ritual and topographical structure of the Sanctuary of Delphi have brought to light strong correspondences with the narrative structure of the Proem of Parmenides. These correspondences, of a ritual, topographical and narrative nature, could be a sign that Parmenides’ hymn was composed to be performed in a civic and religious festival of ancient Elea that followed the model of the Theophania of Delphi. In this paper I present the signs and evidence in favour of this thesis, which implies not only a revision of the traditional interpretations of the Proem, but also the possibility of using it as historical evidence to improve our knowledge of the religious festivals held at Delphi. According to this interpretation, the Proem would not describe a katabasis or an anabasis, but the epidemia or arrival of Apollo at Delphi from the land of the Hyperboreans. The narrator would be Apollo (and not Parmenides), and the itinerary of his journey, that of the places and stations of the Theophania procession. This reading also offers a consistent interpretation of the sculptures and inscriptions found in the Insula II of Velia. It is quite likely that the pholarchoi were priests of Apollo, whose ritual consecration took place at the festival for which Parmenides’ hymn was composed.
Ancient repairs and preventive architectural measures in the site of Delphi
Ancient architectural restoration in the Greek World. Proceedings of the international workshop held at Wolfson College, Oxford, 2021
A. Perrier, « Ancient repairs and preventive architectural measures in the site of Delphi », dans J. Vanden Broeck-Parant, T. Ismaelli (éd.), Ancient architectural restoration in the Greek World. Proceedings of the international workshop held at Wolfson College, Oxford, Rome : Quasar (2021), p. 57-65.