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Landscapes of the Greek Myths Landscapes of the Greek Myths Allan Brooks Aetos Press Copyright © Allan Brooks 2014 First Edition 2008 (Published as Myths, Games and Conflict) Revised Edition published 2014 by Aetos Press 36 Moor Lane, Huddersfield, HD8 0QS, UK All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission, in writing, of the publisher. ISBN 978-0-9575846-1-7 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Aetos Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for third-party internet websites referenced in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on these websites is, or will remain, ac- curate or appropriate. www.aetospress.co.uk Contents List of Figures viii List of Maps x Preface xv Practical Notes xvii Introduction Myth and religion in ancient Greek society 1 1 Athens: The foundation myths 5 2 Athens to Thebes 13 Braurona: Artemis, Leto, Orestes, Iphiginia and Callisto 13 Marathon: Pheidippides and Pan 16 Rhamnous: Nemesis, Thetis, Leda and the swan 20 Amphiaraion: Eteocles, Polyneices and Amphiaraos 23 Aulis: Artemis and the sacrifice of Iphiginia 25 Eleusis: Demeter and Persephone 27 Eleutherai: Zeus, Semele and Dionysus 31 Aigosthena: Melampous and Dionysus 34 Plataia: Victory over the Persians 36 Thebes: Cadmus and Oedipus 39 3 Thebes to Delphi 43 Gla: A massive Mycenaean citadel 43 Mount Ptoon: Oracle of Ptoon Apollo 46 Kabeirion: The Sanctuary of the Kabeiroi 48 Thespiai: Narcissus, Echo, Hercules and the Muses 49 v Contents Livadhia: The Oracle of Trophonios 52 Orchomenos: Treasury of Minyas. Temple of the Graces 56 Chaironia: The Lion monument 60 Davlia: Tereus, Prokne and Philomela 62 Arachova and Mount Parnassos: Deucalion and Pan 64 Delphi: The Sanctuary of Pythian Apollo 67 4 Northwest Greece: Aitolia, Akarnania and Epiros 72 Evinos river: Hercules, Deianeira and Nessus 75 Kalydon: Atalanta and the Kalydonian boar hunt 76 Pleuron: Hercules, Achelous and the Cornucopia 79 Thermon: The spiritual centre of Aitolia 81 Stratos: The capital of ancient Akarnania 82 Nikopolis: Antony and Cleopatra 85 Oiniadai: Alcmaeon and the Furies 91 The Oracle of the Dead: Orpheus and Eurydice 94 The Acheron Gorge: The entrance to the underworld 98 Dodona: The Oracle of Zeus 98 5 Corinth and the Isthmus 101 Corinth Canal: Periander and Nero 101 Ancient Corinth: Sisyphus, Asopos, Jason and Medea 103 Acrocorinth: Aphrodite, Bellerophon and Pegasus 107 Isthmia: Poseidon, Ino and Melikertes 110 Perachora: The Sanctuary of Hera 112 6 Corinth to Olympia 116 Sikyon: Prometheus and Pandora 116 Aigira: The Sanctuary of Tykhe 122 Kalavrita railway: The Vouraikos gorge 123 Nestani: Birth of Poseidon. The Golden Hinds of Artemis 124 Mantinea: The Sanctuary of Horse Poseidon 127 Arcadian Orchomenos: Ancient theatre and temples 130 Langathia: Atalanta, the Arcadian huntress 131 The river Ladon: Poseidon and Demeter. Pan and Syrinx 133 The Erymanthos valley: Hercules and the Centaurs 134 Megalopolis: The largest theatre in mainland Greece 135 Lykosoura: Despoina and Pan 136 vi Contents Mount Lykaion: The Sanctuary of Zeus 139 Gortys: The Sanctuary of Asklepios 141 7 Olympia and Ilia 145 Olympia: The greatest sanctuary of the Greek world 145 Ancient Elis: The Olympian athletes’ training ground 153 Typaneai: Homeric Aipy 154 Alifera: Birth of Athena 156 Bassae: The Temple of Apollo Epikourios 159 Phigalea: An unexcavated Classical city 160 Lepreo: The Argonauts and the women of Lemnos 162 8 Corinth to the Argolid 165 Palaia Epidavros: The Sanctuary of Aphrodite 165 Troizen: Theseus and Hippolytus 168 Methana: The volcano at Kaimeni Chora 172 Ancient Epidavros: Asklepios and his family 173 Nauplio: Nauplios and Palamedes. The Kanathos spring 176 The Argive foundation myths: Danaus and Perseus 180 Tiryns: The Labours of Hercules 184 Mycenae: Atreus, Thyestes, Agamemnon and Orestes 188 Midea: The third Mycenaean citadel of the Argolid 192 Argive Heraion: The Sanctuary of Hera 194 Argos: Danaus, Melampous and Bias 197 Nemea: Hypsipyle and Opheltes 201 Lerna: Hades, Dionysus and the underworld 206 9 Messenia and Lakonia 208 Ancient Pylos: Nestor’s Palace 209 Nestor’s Cave: Hermes and Apollo 214 Ancient Messene: The Sanctuary of Asklepios 218 Sparta: Menelaus, Helen, Castor and Polydeuces 225 Amyklai: The Sanctuary of Hyakinthos 236 Tegea: The bones of Orestes 238 Chronology 241 Bibliography 244 Index 246 vii Introduction Myth and religion in ancient Greek society The Greek myths described the ancient Greeks’ beliefs about their gods, their history, their ancestry and the nature of society itself. The Greek pantheon was large and complex and there is a large body of myth de- scribing the gods’ origins, their lives and their relationships with humanity. Another group of myths was concerned with the nature of society. These provided justifications for the form of social order, descriptions of rites of passage from childhood into the adult world, genealogies linking a ruling family to a hero or god and the foundation myths of the communities themselves. There were also myths to explain the formation of the landscape, myths describing the intervention of the gods in famous battles and myths that were shadows of genuine early history. Finally there are the stories of the heroes, superhuman figures who, as a group, lay somewhere between gods and men. These myths were often pan-hellenic but also told of local heroes venerated only within their own community. While the heroic myths were set in a pre- vious golden age this was not an unknown dateless past. It was thought to be a period of just a few generations that came to an end shortly after the events of the Trojan War, itself the most important mythical event of the Mycenaean period. The word myth originally simply meant story and did not have the modern connotation of something fictitious. Transmitted first orally and later in epic poetry, the myths were a fundamental element of ancient Greek religion and the standard explanatory device in divine matters. Religion for the Greeks was embedded within their society rather than the preserve of an organised church with a priesthood, sacred texts and a body of belief. The modern division between secular and religious life did not exist. The organisation of religious events, the great festivals and games, was in the hands of the civil authorities and, under democ- 1 Introduction racy, the general assembly. Each city-state organised its affairs as it thought fit and this extended to wide local variations in belief. Thus with no centralised church and no single creed there could be no mean- ing to the idea of heresy. In fact, the only real religious crime possible was sacrilege, but this would be seen as breaking the rules of society rather than a separate religious offence. Other concepts alien to Greek religion were those of Heaven and Hell in the later, Christian, sense. The heavens were for the gods alone. The underworld was not a place of punishment but the dwelling place of the “shades of the dead”. The souls of the dead were thought to dwell there as mere shadows with no real existence. A place of punishment, known as Tartarus, did exist but only a very few, guilty of the most terrible crimes, were imprisoned within. Tantalos, who cooked his own son and served him as a meal for the gods, was punished there for eternity (see Chapter 7). The Greek pantheon was already largely in existence by Mycenaean times. In its fully established form there were twelve principal gods; Zeus, Hera, Athena, Artemis, Apollo, Poseidon, Demeter, Dionysus, Aphrodite, Hephaistos, Hermes and Ares, perceived as dwelling on Mount Olympus. They were in fact the third generation of deities. The primary myth of the birth of the gods begins with Mother Earth, Gaia or Ge, emerging from Chaos, the empty and infinite space that existed be- fore creation. She gave birth to her son Uranus (Ouranos), and by him she bore the Titans, the Cyclopes and the Hecatonkheries, the hundred- handed giants. Uranus was deposed by Kronos, one of the Titans. Kronos in his turn was deposed by his son Zeus (see Chapter 2). Zeus and his two brothers, Hades and Poseidon, then divided control of the world by lot. Zeus obtained the heavens, Poseidon the sea and Hades the underworld. The earth was to be shared by all three. The Olympian gods were thought to have human form and many human attributes, both virtues and vices. They were born, had relation- ships and produced children. There is therefore a long list of minor gods from this extended family, often with important roles (for example see Nemesis, Chapter 2). The Greeks’ anthropomorphic view of their gods meant that they were often shown as interfering or meddling in human affairs. Jealousy was a frequent motive for their actions and they also showed favouritism. Hera’s jealousy over Zeus’s affairs was the theme of many of the most potent myths. It was her actions that denied Hercu- les the kingdom of Mycenae. This anthropomorphism extended to physical frailties; Hephaistos was born lame. Each of the major gods also had specific powers or spheres of influence, indicated by the vari- ous epithets attached to their names. For example Apollo was 2 Introduction worshipped at Bassae (Chapter 7) as Apollo Epikourios, the Helper, and in Argos (Chapter 8), as Apollo Lykios, the Wolf-god. Often the epithet refers to a place, for example Apollo Ptoios, that is Apollo of Mount Ptoon (Chapter 3), and may simply reflect a community’s need to dif- ferentiate their god from their neighbours’. While the complete world of minor deities, heroes and sundry mythological creatures is incredibly complicated, this complexity does not prevent an understanding of the relationships between the Greeks and their gods.
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