Athena Polias

Athena Polias:

In Athens, the cult of Athena Polias was an incredibly important religious faction. Athena was the patron goddess of Athens, and Athena Polias was the incarnation of Athena as protector of the polis. The high priestess of Athena Polias was one of the oldest and most distinguished female offices in Athens. This position was mainly held by a woman from the noble family of the Eteoboutadae, and the high priestess exerted considerable influence religiously and politically. The Eteoboutad clan believed that they were one of the first founding families of Athens and used the position of Athena Polias to create great prominence for their households. From the end of the fifth century BC to the second century AD epigraphic evidence (inscriptions on statues and tombstones) identifies that twenty-five priestess roles were held by woman of the Eteoboutadae. Festivals- Chalkeia, priestess of Athena Polias would set wrap for the weaving of Athenas new peplos. –Skira festival, walked beside the priest of Poseidon and priest of Helios. Old temple of Athena.

Lysimache:

Priestess of Athena Polias at the end of the fifth and into the fourth century BC. Represents the earliest attested statue of a priestess on the Athenian Acropolis. Marble base for the statue of Lysimache found west of the Parthenon. Lysimache, one of the first identifiable priestesses from Athena Polias, had a very powerful brother Lysikles, who was secretary of the treasury from 416/415 BC. Such a link may be evidence of how the priestess position could have been used to exert power and influence throughout the Acropolis and Athenian religion. Added to this is that citizen girls of high status were chosen annually to serve as kanephoroi, arrehephoroi and ergastinai for Athena Polias and took part in the Panathenaic procession. Having the chance to put your daughter forward for such a position highlights her elevated birth and purity, increasing a family’s chance of marrying her to a rich and respectable citizen. Inscription reads:

[Lysimache] daughter of Drakontides and lived for [eighty eight] years. [In all for]ty-four years [she served] Athena and saw four generations of children. [Lysimache,] mother of [---]es of Phyla. [Demetrios] made [the sculpture].