Greek city-state patron gods

Ancient Greek temples were dedicated to a certain deity. A typical temple would have a statue inside. An altar would be placed outside, upon which offerings would be placed as sacrifices to the city's patron deity. The Parthenon is a famous example of an Ancient Greek temple.

Athena and Apollo are among the most common choices of patron gods of the ancient Greek cities.[1]

Examples of city-state patron gods

  • Athens worshipped Athena, the goddess of wisdom, as a patron city-state god.[2] The designation of Athena as patron of Athens occurred during the Great Panathenaea in 566 B.C., potentially coinciding with construction of the Altar of Athena Polias.[3] An epithet of Athena commonly referred to as Athena Alea, served as patron of the cities of Alea, Mantinea and Tegea.
  • Sparta worshipped Athena as their patron goddess, under the epithet "Athena Poliachos" (Athena Protector of the City). [4] However, Apollo was widely worshipped in the most important religious celebrations in the polis. [5]
  • Elis and Olympia had Zeus as their city god. The statue of Zeus at Olympia was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.[6]
  • Syracuse, as with Athens, worshipped Athena. Reference to Athena can be seen on their city-state banner.[7]
  • Thespiae was a city/state that worshiped Eros. Due to this, the Thespian hoplites would bear the crescent moon symbol on their shield, the crescent moon was "the lunar Aphrodite". The was a bull's foot. Another name for Dionysus was Axios Tauros, which translates as 'worthy bull'.[8]
  • Corinth chose Poseidon, lord of the sea, as their city-state patron god.[9]
  • The patron god of Thebes was Dionysus, also called Bacchus and Iacchos. Dionysus' mother, Semele, was a Theban princess. Sophocles includes in his play Antigone an ode to Dionysus, the guardian of Thebes; in that ode Dionysus is claimed to have Thebes as his most honored city.[10]
  • Megara worshipped Apollo as their patron god, and as such, he is lauded by the poet Theognis of Megara in his collection of works Theognidea as guardian of the city.[11]
  • The polis of Argos was dedicated to the worship of Hera.[12]
  • The island city-state of Samos, in the Aegean Sea, worshipped Hera too as their patron.[13]
  • Rhodes was a city on an island, which built the Colossus of Rhodes, a giant statue, in honor to their patron god, Helios.[14]
  • Both Eretria and Epidauros worshipped Apollo as their patron god. Eretria, as Apollo Daphnephoros; and Epidauros as Apollo Maleatas (Apollo's son, Asklepios, was also worshipped at Epidauros).[15]
  • The patron god of the city of Miletus, in Asia Minor, was Apollo. The sanctuary and oracle of Didyma, devoted to Apollo, was within Miletus' territory.[16]
  • The patron goddess of Ephesus, also in Asia Minor, was Artemis, who had been identified with an oriental mother goddess, like Cybele.[17] The Temple of Artemis, or Artemision, in Ephesus was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
  • The city of Cnidus, in Asia Minor, worshiped Aphrodite as their patron.[18]

Notes

  1. ↑ Cole 1995, p.300
  2. ↑ Buckley 2010, p. 103
  3. ↑ Buckley 2010, p. 110
  4. ↑ Cartledge 2002, p. 309
  5. ↑ Peterson 1992
  6. ↑ Connolly & Solway 2001
  7. ↑ Hansen 2006
  8. ↑ Rhodes 2007
  9. ↑ Kearns 2009
  10. ↑ "Antigone". Sophocles. Translated by Robin Bond.
  11. ↑ Zhou 2010, pp.76-77
  12. ↑ Burkert 1985, p. 139
  13. ↑ Cole 1995, p.295
  14. ↑ Connolly & Solway 2001
  15. ↑ Cole 1995, p.300
  16. ↑ Cartledge 2011, p.40
  17. ↑ Fine 1983, p.128
  18. ↑ Cole 1995, p.295

References

  • Buckley, Terry (2010). Aspects of Greek History: 750-323 BC. London: Routledge. ISBN 9780415549776.
  • Burke rt, Walter (1985). Greek Religion. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674362810.
  • Cartledge, Paul (2002). Sparta and Livonia: A Regional History 1300-362 BC. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0415263565.
  • Cartledge, Paul (2011). Ancient Greece: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199601349.
  • Cole, Susan Guetel (1995). Hansen, Mogens Herman, ed. Civic Cult and Riv Duty. In "Sources for the Ancient Greek City-State: Symposium August, 24-27 1994, Acts of the Copenhagen Polis Centre". Kg l. Dansk Deliberateness Sealskin. ISBN 9788773042670.
  • Connolly, Peter; Sol way, Andrew (2001). Ancient Greece. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199108107.
  • Fine, John V.A. (1983). The Ancient Greeks: A Critical History. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674033116.
  • Yearns, Emily (2009). Ancient Greek religion: A source book. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 1405149280.
  • Lawson, John Schubert (2012). Modern Greek Folklore and Ancient Greek Religion. A Study in Survivals. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107677036.
  • Michelson, Jon (2009). "Ancient Greek religion"
  • Ostler, Nicholas (2005). "Empires of the World: A Language History of the World"
  • Peterson, Michael (1992). Cults of Apollo at Sparta: The Hyacinth, the Dairymaid and the Karnataka. ABM Homers. ISBN 9179160271.
  • Price, Simon (1999). "Religions of the Ancient Greeks"
  • Zhou, Unique (2010). Festivals, Feasts, and Gender Relations in Ancient China and Greece. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107665507.
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