ATHENA to the right - The Sealings of Aetolian Kallipolis - no 221 (original) (raw)
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A New Athena Polias Votive Inscription from the Phaselis’ Acropolis
2015
This article presents a newly discovered votive inscription found during the course of the 2013 survey conducted at the ancient city of Phaselis and in its territory. The inscription was found where the stairs to the acropolis from the southwest of the theatre end, in front of the west wall of the tower structure give access to the acropolis. This inscription in the Doric dialect, on a limestone block measuring 0.315 x 0.77 x 0.61 m., records a dedication to Athena Polias. The letters 0.03 m. high, exhibit Late Archaic - Early Classical Period features ( - - - - ) and, consequently the inscription can be dated to the Vth century B.C. Phaselis and its Chief Goddess Athena Polias From the earliest times of Athena worship, especially in the Aegean Islands and Hellas, this goddess was the protectress of cities, institutions and mythological heroes and she manifested this function in various ways. In one of the earliest recorded examples she carries the epithet ἐρυσίπτολις (guardian of the cities), and in another example, in a Linear B inscription discovered in the Palace of Knossos on Crete as Atana Potnia (a-ta-na-po-ti-ni-ja), the mistress of the palace. But perhaps the most striking myth relating to this role of Athena is undoubtedly that of the Palladion statue, the reason for the fall of Troy and for defeat in the Trojan War. In this context, Troy could resist the Achaeans for as long as it was protected by the Palladion, but after it was stolen by Odysseus and Diomedes, the city was captured by the Achaeans. Subsequently, Athens, Argos and Sparta, the most powerful Greek cities, as later the city of Rome, in order to obtain Athena’s protection and so to gain legitimization for the expansion of their empires, invented their own myths claiming that the Palladion statue from Troy was brought to their cities. In another myth the Goddess became the protectress of Tegea through giving Medusa’s hair as a protective image to a hero of the city. Athena’s frequently used epithets, Polias (Πολιάς), Poliouchos (Πολιοῦχος), and the epithet the protectress of the Athenians (Ἀθηνᾶ Ἀθηνῶν μεδέουσα), employed as a means of religious propaganda by the city of Athens when it established the Delian League which subsequently evolved into an empire, clearly indicate Athena was regarded as guardian of the cities. Particularly during the Archaic and Classical Periods, it was this aspect of Athena that, politically placed the Goddess amongst the most important of deities with Zeus and Apollo, and she is most commonly found with the epithet Polias. The epithet Polias or similar, refers in particular to the heart of these cities, to their acropoleis, where Athena Polias was usually worshipped. Her temples located on the heights of the cities made her role particularly visible as the main protecting goddess. One of the best examples of this “visibility”concerns the earliest record of the epithet Polias as, although she wasn’t the chief deity of Argos, within the sanctuary of Athena Polias located on Larisa hill an inscription was found which supplies us with the text of a cult regulation which is datable to the VIth century. B.C.. The Anatolian goddess of Malija, equal to Athena (in Lycia), was attested in Hittite texts from IInd millennium B.C.. This goddess worshipped in Lycia, close to the city of Phaselis, is similarly in a relationship with cities and acropoleis. The Inscribed Pillar of Ksanthos dating from the Vth century B.C. records that many acropoleis were seized with the help of Athena ptoliporthos (πτολίπορθος) “Sacker of Cities”. In the same inscription the city of Patara was named together with Malija and it may refer to the Patara of Malija as in the example of the Lindian Athena (Lindos, city of Athena). Moreover, the goddess Malija was named with the epithet Wedrẽñni (regional, municipal) the equivalent of the epithet Polias in Rhodiapolis. During the great colonization movements (750-550 B.C.) the colonists brought the cult of Athena Polias to many Mediterranean cities, as was the case for example for Lindos on the island of Rhodos. As a matter of fact the strongest ties between Lindos and the colonies which Rhodes founded was the cult of Athena. In consequence, these cities offered precious gifts to the Temple of Athena in Lindos as a demonstration of both their veneration of the goddess and of loyalty. According to myth, the city of Phaselis was colonized in 691/690 B.C. by a group under the leadership of Lakios from Lindos and the Athena cult of the mother city was brought to Phaselis. Thereafter the Phaselitai dedicated the helmets and sickles to Athena Lindia upon which was inscribed, “Having taken them from the Solymoi, the Phaselitai offered them to Athena Lindia, when Lakios was the leader of the colonists”. In addition to this, the other evidence concerning the presence of Athena in the city confirms that this deity was the chief goddess of Phaselis. During the Classical, and especially in the Hellenistic Period, depictions of Athena’s owl, of her Palladion and of Athena Promachos are found. As mentioned above, the epithet Polias usually draws attention to a city’s acropolis with the temple of Athena Polias located there. In the case of Phaselis, the find spot of these votive inscriptions, reused in a wall of a tower that was built in defense of the acropolis, provides an additional indication for the localization of Athena’s temple to the acropolis. This temple most probably was on the acropolis where there are the ruins of a columned building and large ashlar blocks possibly indicating the site of a temple; however, due to the dense vegetation and in the absence of excavations, at present this localisation cannot be stated with certainty. Another reference indicating that Athena Polias was the chief deity of the city was the presence of a holy relic in the Temple of Athena, the spear of the hero of the Trojan War Achilles. During his campaign against the Persians, Alexander the Great stayed in Phaselis in the winter of 334/333 B.C. and he left Achilles’ spear in the Temple of Athena at Phaselis. During the Hellenistic Period, Hellenistic Kings were mentioned with the chief deities of the Archaic and Classical periods as were the emperors in Roman Imperial Period. And according with this practice, the boule and demos of Phaselis worshipped Athena Polias together with the deified emperors, known from an honorific inscription for a certain Ptolemaios. Evidence from the Late Roman Period, especially from the IIIrd century A.D., records the Palladeios agons (ἀγὼν Παλλάδειος) were held in the city in honour of the Goddess Athena. Consequently, philological, epigraphic as well as numismatic evidence shows the Goddess Athena was the chief deity of the city of Phaselis from the Archaic Period into the Late Roman Period. As the epithet Polias on this votive inscription indicates, the goddess had a temple which should be located on the acropolis where the holy relic (Achilles’ spear) was kept and where the officials of the goddess conducted their functions. This new votive inscription provides record of the role Athena occupied in this early post-colonisation period of the city’s political and socio-cultural history. Further, it is also a physical document dating from the city’s Late Archaic-Early Classical Period, aiding in the evaluation of both Phaselis and of the wider region’s history of settlement.
An Athena Promachos from the acropolis of Sparta
Sculpture from Arcadia and Laconia, edited by O. Palagia and W. Coulson (Oxford), 1993
Vy'hen Pausanias (3.17.1-3) visited Sparta, he could ηοt coniain his disappointment αt the flatness of the ground ßη what should have been the citadel of α gτeat ciιy: "The Lakedaimonians", he wroιe, "have ηο acropolis of great height like ιhε Kadmeia at Thebes or Larissa at Argos. There are, ho,wevθr, loιry hills ßη ιhθ city, and ιhe most promineni is called Üιe acropolis. The sanctuary of Αιhεηα Poliouchos or Chalkioikos is built here ..."Ι He went οη το say τhat ιhe bronze statue of ιhε goddess rvas made by the local sculpιor Gitiadas rryho rryω also responsible for the bronze reliefs decorating the rryalls of the temple. Giτiadas is thought ω have been active torvards Üιe end of ιhε 6th century B.C. because of his collaboraÜon with þε late archaic sculpior ΚαΙΙοη of Aigina ßη the sancιuary of ΑροΙΙο ατ Amyklai.2 Giτiadω' cult statue is recognised ßη α coin type issued at Sparta ßη ιhe names of Gallienus and Salonina: it shoιvs α Palladion, spear ßη raised right hand, shield ßη lowered left, legs close togeιher, skirt forming horizontal bands.3 Duτing Α. Μ. S/oodward's excavaιrons conducted for ιhε Briτish School at Αýιεηs at ιhε Sparτan acropolis ßη 1925 and Ι926, α varieιy of marble fragmenb came to lighτ ßη ιhe area betryeen ihe souιhwest corner of t}ιe peribolos ιναΙΙ of ýιε archaic sanctuary of Aιhena Chalkioikos and ιhe reιaiιring ryall of the cavea of the theatre, dated by ιhe θxcavator ßο the lst century A.D. Firsι ιο appear ryere ihe fragments of the so-called Leonidas. The torso, parιs of ttιe cresι of his Corinthian helmet, ýιe left leg, Üιe right foot and α fracÜon of ýιe rim of his shield \yere excavated ßη Ι925, ιvhile part of his left urm wε § recovered ýε folloιrying year.o The campaign of 1926 revealed the northern remains of Üιe foundaιions of αη archaic building to ιhε south of the Chalkioikos sanctuary.s These foundations are ηο longer visible. The best part of this building \ryas laιer covered by ιhε reθining ιγαΙΙ of the Roman iheatre. The large number of dedicaÜons to Athena led Woodward tο the conclusion τhαι ßτ ωο was α sanctuary of Aιhena, ιhough ηοτ τhε Chalkioikos. According to Pausanias (3.17.4), ιhε sanctualy of Aιhena Ergane rvas adjacenι to that of the Chalkioikos.6 Bet,,veen this archaic building and the Chalkioikos sanctuary V/oodward found "several small fragments which must have belonged ω αη archaic Αιhεηα of barely tιryo-thirds life-size, including drapery Gig. 8), ραπ of α fooi, α Γιnger and α snake's head, wiýι open mouth coloured red, from her aegis. Among relieffragrnenis from ιhe same ατεα may be menιioned ιwο, each of ιryhich has ρατß of αη Athena-head ßη archaic style Fig. 1. Marble shield fragment (Α), Exterior. Sparta Museum Μ 4860.
Macedonian helmets - The Sealings of Aetolian Kallipolis - nos. 114-116
Macedonian helmets The Sealings of Aetolian Kallipolis - nos. 114-116 Pantos A. Pantos Macedonian helmets are most often depicted on coins , seal stones and other monuments . The Macedonian helmet of the sealing no. 114 of Kallipolis, which may belong to a public seal of the 3rd c. BC. , resembles the two helmets, which were found in a tomb in Prodromi, Thesprotia. These ring stones with a representation of a Macedonian helmet could be given to soldiers. It was assumed that the frequent presence of the Macedonian helmet in Macedonian coins suggests that it was the symbol of the main Macedonian mint, perhaps in Pella. But it is also a fact that all the Hellenistic armies, and not only the Macedonian one, have divisions or even mercenaries "armed in the Macedonian way". (Translation. Initial Publication in "TA ΣΦΡΑΓΙΣΜΑΤΑ ΤΗΣ ΑΙΤΩΛΙΚΗΣ ΚΑΛΛΙΠΟΛΕΩΣ" (Dissertation, University of Athens, 1984-5, in Greek ).
Seleucid anchor - The Seal of Antiochos III. The Sealings of the Aetolian Kallipolis – no. 94
Seleucid anchor - The Seal of Antiochos III The Sealings of the Aetolian Kallipolis – no. 94 Pantos A. Pantos Approximately similar to the sealing of Κallipolis with the Seleucid anchor has been found in the Seleucia on Tigris , as well as in two or three variants in the Orchoi (Uruk) . The difference lies in the existence of the parrot, in addition to the horse's head, and the obviously superior quality of design and engraving on the sealings of Κallipolis. The connection of this seal with Antiochus III, who - as Cato characteristically said (191 BC.) to the Athenians - "epistulis bellum gerit, calamo et atramento militat" (Cato, fr.20) has been developed in the chapter “The History of Kallipolis and the Public Seals in the Archive. The international connections of an Aetolian archont`s family” of my dissertation “The Sealings of Aetolian Kallipolis” (also in: academia.edu). (Translation. Initial Publication in "TA ΣΦΡΑΓΙΣΜΑΤΑ ΤΗΣ ΑΙΤΩΛΙΚΗΣ ΚΑΛΛΙΠΟΛΕΩΣ" (Dissertation, University of Athens, 1984-5, in Greek ).
The Sealings of the Aetolian Kallipolis: The Iconography
The Sealings of the Aetolian Kallipolis: The Iconography. The text "The Sealings of the Aetolian Kallipolis: The Iconography" is a translation of chapter 8 of my doctoral dissertation "The sealings of the Aetolian Kallipolis" (University of Athens, 1984-5). This chapter is divided into three parts: Part A refers to the importance of the sealings of Kallipolis, that is, they are a closed dated group of sealings, and that their art is completely Hellenistic. Part B refers to the theme of the representations on the sealings (gods and heroes, male and female figures, animals, mythical beings, various objects). Finally, in Part C, the relationship between coin types and emblems of public seals is examined.
Hesperia 90.3, 2021
This article discusses 22 marble sculptures from the Agora excavations of 1890–1891 and 1931 to the present. It attributes them to the Temple of Ares (originally the Temple of Athena Pallenis at Pallene) on the basis of their scales, findspots, subject matter, technique, and styles. Both pediments featured Athena, and on the east a young hero, probably Theseus. The metopes showed Theseus's victory over the Pallantids (east) and an Amazonomachy (west). The akroteria comprised a descending wingless female, possibly Hebe, and two Nereids riding dolphins (east), and two Nikai flanking a central female figure, perhaps Iris (west). A coda announces a final, concluding article that will seek to draw together the preceding three in a series.
Pallas, 2016
That Greek gods, or at least the names of Greek gods, spread in the second half of the first millennium BC and the early Christian centuries into regions of Asia Minor where originally they had had no place is a familiar truth. But the detailed process by which this occurred has been little studied. 1 This contribution will confront that problem in relation to a single deity: 2 she has been chosen, of course, because of the nature of this celebratory volume, but is in fact very suitable for the purpose. Pallas' fortunes in Anatolia are interestingly uneven. Some aspects of the phenomenon are straightforward. Athena's presence in the Greek cities of the west and north coasts is entirely predictable and needs no discussion; Greek settlers of course brought Athena with them. If she is more or less prominent from city to city, that variation is no different from what is to be observed on the mainland. Also to be included here are some cities of the southern coast of Lycia which are now recognised to be early Greek foundations: not just Phaselis, with its cult of Athena Polias, but also Melanippion, which displayed documents in the early second c. B.C. in a sanctuary of Athena, 3 and Rhodiapolis, which did the same. Athena is called 'goddess of the Rhodiapolitans' in a Greek text of the Roman period: two earlier Lycian texts from Rhodiapolis speak of a Maliya wedrẽñni, and since Maliya is elsewhere attested as a Lycian calque for Athena it has been suggested that Maliya wedrẽñni is a simple translation of the familiar Greek double name Athena Polias. 4 Less clear is a priesthood of 'Polias and Lindia' at Pompeiopolis in flat Cilicia in the 2 nd /3 rd c. A.D. 5 Pompeiopolis succeeded Soloi, on some 1 An honourable exception is Paz de Hoz, 1997. I thank Peter Thonemann warmly for acute and learned comments on a draft of this article; in particular, my caution about recognising Athena on early Lycian and Aspendian coins is owed to him. 2 de la Nuez, 2009 treats the cults of the west and southern coasts but does not consider the issue of Athena's absences elsewhere which largely interests me here.