Agrotera
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Agrotera
- For the genus of crambidae (grass moths) called Agrotera, see List of crambid genera: A, or subfamily spilomelinae.
Agrotera (Gr. Ἀγροτέρα, "the huntress") was an epithet of the Greek goddess Artemis,[1][2][3] and the most important goddess to Attic hunters.[4]
At Agrae[5] on the Ilissos, where she was believed to have first hunted after her arrival from Delos, Artemis Agrotera had a temple, dating to the 5th century BC, with a statue carrying a bow.[6] During the Boedromia, on the seventh day of Boedromion (roughly, the beginning of September), an armed procession would take 600 goats to this temple,[7][8] where they would all be sacrificed by the polemarch in honor of the victory at the Battle of Marathon. This rite derived from a vow made before the Battle of Marathon, which in turn derived from the custom of making a "slaughter sacrifice", or sphagion (σφάγιον), to Artemis Agrotera before a battle. The temple was destroyed in 1778,[4] when the Ottoman forces occupying Athens set about demolishing ancient sites for building material to construct a wall around the city.[9] The ruins of the temple survive today on Ardettou Street, tightly surrounded by modern buildings. There is a ongoing campaign for the expropriation of adjacent buildings and the restoration of the temple<.[10]
Under this name she was also worshiped at Aigeira,[11] Sparta, and elsewhere.[12] The name Agrotera is synonymous with the epithet Agraea, but Eustathius derives it from the town of Agrae.[13][14][15]
This epithet was also sometimes applied to the nymph Cyrene.[16]
References
- ^ Homer, Iliad xxi. 471
- ^ Xenophon, Cynegeticus 6.13
- ^ Bacchylides, 11.37-42
- ^ a b Parker, Robert (2005). Polytheism and Society in Athens. Oxford University Press. pp. 56, 178, 400, 419. ISBN 0-19-921611-8. http://books.google.com/?id=EkXh9roRTC0C.
- ^ a town or district in the southeast of Athens
- ^ Pausanias, Description of Greece i. 19. § 7
- ^ Plutarch, On the Malice of Herodotus 26, 862a
- ^ Aristophanes, in The Knights, places the number of sacrificed goats at 1000, while Aelian records it as 300
- ^ Petropoulos, Thrasy (2006-01-12). "Demolition begins on priceless site". Athens News. pp. A05. http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.print_unique?e=C&f=13211&m=A05&aa=1&eidos=S. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
- ^ http://www.artemisagrotera.org/en
- ^ Pausanias, Description of Greece vii. 26. § 2
- ^ Xenophon, Hellenica iv. 2. 20
- ^ Eustathius, On the Iliad p. 361
- ^ Concerning the worship of Artemis Agrotera at Athens, see Dict. of Ant. s.v. Ἀγροτέρας ζυσία, p. 31.
- ^ Schmitz, Leonhard (1867). "Agrotera". In Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. 1. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. pp. 83. http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0092.html
- ^ Pindar, Pythian Odes 9.6
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1867). "article name needed". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
External links
- ArtemisAgrotera.org - information on the archaeological site of the temple of Artemis Agrotera
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