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[German version] (ἱερόδουλοι; hieródouloi, ἱεροὶ δοῦλοι; hieroì doûloi). Literally, ‘temple slaves’; in ancient life they were, first, persons who (like land) were the property of a temple but not cultic personnel, second, persons who were donated as slaves (and often as cultic personnel) to the temple, and third, slaves who achieved partial or complete freedom through transfer to a deity (sacred  manumission). In modern terminology the holy prostitutes stand in the foreground ( Prostitution), as attes…

[German version] (Ἀρέστωρ; Aréstōr). Son of Phorbas, great-grandson of Argus [1], father of Argus [2] by Mycene (Hes. fr. 246; Pherecydes FGrH 3 F 66 f.). The Argives are called Arestoridae after him (Kallim. h. 5,34). Another version of his lineage is that he is the son of Ecbasus, the grandson of Argus [1] and father of Pelasgus and Io (Charax FGrH 103 F 13, 15). The variants demonstrate that he is the product of systemizations of family trees rather than an actual independent character [1]. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography Ed. Meyer, Forsch. zur Alten Gesch., 1, 92-94.

[German version] (Ἀγαθὸς Δαίμων, also Agathodaímōn). As ‘good deity’ a deity of blessing especially of private worship, often connected with Agathe  Tyche (Ἀγαθὴ Τύχη) [1], as guardian of individual visitors of the oracle in the sanctuary of Trophonius (Paus. 9,39,5); where Agathos Daimon (AD) is specified this does not happen uniformly. In Greek households AD was given a gift of pure wine after each meal (Aristoph. Equ. 105-107; cf. Vesp. 525), had home altars [2] in the Hellenistic period and could…

[German version] (Ἑλλωτίς; Hellōtís). Epiclesis of  Athena in Marathon and Corinth, as well as the name of a goddess in Crete identified with  Europe [2]. In Marathon a sanctuary (Ath. 15,22,678b; schol. Pind. Ol. 13,56ad) and sacrifices (LSCG 20) are attested; the epithet is derived from a local swamp (Greek hélos). In Corinth the festival of Hellotia is celebrated for Athena H. with an agon (Pind. Ol. 13,40, according to schol. ad loc. a torch race of young men); the aetion derives the cult either from Athena capturing Pegasus (Greek heleín) and bridling him here - more commonly as…

[German version] (βασιλίννα; basilínna, ‘queen’) is the designation for the wife of the Athenian  Archon Basileus (‘king’) who is considered to be the democratic successor in the sacred duties of the king (Aristot. Ath. Pol. 3 on the origin; 57 on the duties). She must be a citizen of Athens and a virgin at the time of marriage. Her sacred duties include secret rites in the Dionysus cult, particularly at the Anthesteria, which she conducts with the gera(i)rai (‘aged women’ or ‘venerable women’). In the context of these rites, she is given to  Dionysus as wife. More impor…

[German version] (τὰ Γενέσια; tà Genésia). Name of a Greek family festival in honour of a dead ancestor (Hdt. 4,26). In Athens, it became ─ allegedly at Solon's instigation ─ a public festival of the dead, the celebrations of which on the 5th Boedromion also included a sacrifice to  Gaia (Philochorus FGrH 328 F 168). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography F. Jacoby, Γενέσια. A forgotten festival of the dead, in: CQ 38, 1944, 65-75.

[German version] In the tradition set by Virgil I. is the only son of  Aeneas and  Creusa of Troy, progenitor of the Roman gens Iulia; in Troy he is called Ilus, later Ascanius (Aen. 1,267f.). The name Ascanius for a (usually the eldest) son of Aeneas first appears after Homer (in Homer two confederates of the Trojans have this name, Hom. Il. 2,862 from Ascania in Phrygia; 13,790), both in founding legends (Hellanicus FGrH 4 F 31; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 1,54,2), which rule out his arrival in Italy, as in the account of A…

[German version] (Ἀκιδαλία). Venus is called Acidalia mater (Verg. Aen. 1,270, according to Serv.) after a spring at Orchomenus, where the goddess bathed with the Charites. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

(ἀμβροσία; ambrosía, ‘immortal’). [German version] [1] One of the Hyads One of the Hyads. They are daughters of Atlas and Pleione, they cared for the child Dionysus (Pherecydes FGrH 3 F 90) either in Nysa (Hyg. Fab. 182) or in Thrace, from whence they flee from Lycurgus to Thetis; except for A. (Asclepiades FGrH 12 F 18); Ge (Gaea) supposedly changed them into a vine (Nonnus, Dion. 21,17). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) [German version] [2] Nourishment of immortality The nourishment of immortality, comparable to the amṛta of Indian mythology. Gods use it as food and as a cosmetic (H…

[German version] (Ἀρκείσιος; Arkeísios). Father of Laertes (Hom. Od. 4,755), grandfather of Odysseus (Od. 14,182). Son of Zeus (Ov. Met. 13,144; Schol. Od. 16,118) or of Cephalus (who gave his name to the Cephallenians) and a she-bear ( árktos), who transformed herself into a woman (Aristot. fr. 504 Rose). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography L. Radermacher, Mythos und Sage bei den Griechen, 21938, 264.

(Ἀγκαῖος; Ankaîos). [German version] [1] Son of Lycurgus of Tegea Son of Lycurgus of Tegea, brother of Epochus (Paus. 8,4,10), father of Agapenor (Hom. Il. 2,609). An Arcadian, the strongest hero after Hercules; his weapon is the double-axe (Apoll. Rhod. 2,118; bipennifer Ov. Met. 8,391). He participates in the Argonauts' campaign (Apollod. 1,163 f.) and in the Calydonian hunt, where he is torn apart by the boar (Apollod. 1,68; Paus. 8,4,10; Ov. Met. 8,315; 391-402). His death was portrayed by Scopas in the gable of the temple of Athena Alea (Paus. 8,45,7). Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) …

[German version] (ἀνθρωποφαγία/ anthrōpophagía, ‘the eating of humans’) appears in ancient myths and ethnographical reports. It was something that took place, in contrast to the here and now, either in the past or on the borders of the known world among ethnic groups who did not share the same basic values of Greek culture. It is also identified, in Dionysian myths, as the crossing of the limits in  ecstasy [1; 2]. In this structure, ancient reports coincide astoundingly with those of the modern age [3]. The Cyclops  Polyphemus, who is generally portrayed in the ‘Odyssey’ as the…

[German version] (Ἐπώνυμος; Epṓnymos), also eponym or eponymous hero, refers to a mythical character, whose name was given to a tribe, a town or settlement, or another group of people, or a mountain range. The Greek word eponymos in the sense of ‘name giving’ is particularly well documented in references to the heroes of the ten Attic phyles, whose images were displayed on the agora (decree in And. 1,83; Paus. 1,5,1); in the (passive) sense of ‘name bearing’, it is evident from Aesch. Supp. 252 for this very phenomenon ( Pelasgus). The phenomenon is as old as the earliest references …

[German version] (Ἀκανθώ). In the catalogues of divine homonyms (Cic. Nat.D. 3,54; Arnob. Adv. nat. 4,14) mother of the fourth Helios, the father of the Rhodian eponyms Ialysus, Cameirus, Lindus. The catalogues are the result of an attempt to unify the various mythical traditions: behind this activity lies local Rhodian epic. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH)

[German version] [1] Precious stone According to Theophr. De lapidibus 31 [1.68], a precious stone ( gemma) named after the river of the same name in Sicily (today's Carabi or Canitello), and which, along with 11 others, adorned the official escutcheon of the High Priest Aaron (Ex 39,10-13) [2.204 f.]. According to Plin. HN 37,5, King Pyrrhus of Epirus owned a specimen whose naturally occurring streaks ( maculae) depicted Apollo and the nine Muses. According to Plin. HN 37,139-142, the achates and its many variants, whilst having decreased in value owing to ma…

(Καρμάνωρ; Karmánōr). [German version] [1] Cretan seer A Cretan seer and priest of purification, as such closely connected with  Apollo, the god of ritual purification, and with Delphi, his centre of cult worship. He purifies Apollo and Artemis after the killing of the snake  Python (in Tarrha, Phaestus or Dion on Crete, Paus. 2,30,3; Euseb. Praep. evang. 5,31); in his house Apollo loves the nymph Acacallis who becomes mother of the founding heroes of the Cretan city Elyrus (on the myth of abandonment …

[German version] [1] 9th of the 10 Attic phylae (Αἰαντίς; Aiantís). The 9th of the 10 Attic phylae, dating from the phyle reforms of  Cleisthenes (Hdt. 5,66). Named after the hero  Ajax [1], son of Telamon, king of  Salamis. In the 4th cent. BC it included four paralia demes as well as one   asty- and one mesogeia deme ( Phalerum and  Aphidna), which, on account of their size, each represented one trittýs. In 307/6 BC, the A. gave none of its demes to the new Macedonian phyles, but later gave one each to the  Ptolemais,  Attalis and  Hadrianis. In the case of the mesogeiatrittýs of A., there is e…

[German version] I. Greek-Roman antiquity Katabasis (κατάβασις/ katábasis, ‘descent’, more precisely εἰς ᾍδου κ., ‘descent into the Underworld’; pl. katabáseis; since Isoc. Or. 10,20, cf. Hdt. 2,122,1). Katabasis is, as a specific form of the voyage into the other world, the (mythological) narration or (ritual) staging of a voyage into the Underworld, with the purpose of either finding a particular inhabitant (a dead person, a deity, or a monster), or gaining knowledge of the future (guarded by the subterraneans)…

(Ἀθήνη/Ἀθηνᾶ; Athḗnē/ Athēnâ). [German version] A. Etymology and Origin Central Greek polis deity, daughter of Zeus and Metis, born from her father's head, virginal patron of war, crafts and female work (Hom. Hymn. Ven. 7); her common epithet, Pallas, is understood to mean ‘girl’ (Chantraine s.v. παλλακή). The Romans identified her with  Minerva (Etruscan, Menrva), the Greeks with numerous Eastern deities, for instance the Lycian Maliya [1], the Egyptian  Saïs (Hdt. 2,28), the Ugarite  Anat or the Palmyrene Allat. Like many Eastern goddesses, she …

[German version] [1] Name of a goddess associated with agrarian wealth in the imperial period Name of a goddess associated with agrarian wealth ( karpophóros) in the imperial inscriptions of Lesbos and Aegae; identified with Agrippina I and II (as Θεὰ Αἰολὶς Σεβαστή; Theà Aiolìs Sebastḗ, IG XII suppl. 134). She corresponds to the Αἰοληία θεά ( Aiolēía theá) mentioned in Alc. fr. 129 LP, who was worshipped together with Zeus and Dionysus Omestes in the main Lesbian sanctuary at Messa. Graf, Fritz (Columbus, OH) Bibliography L. Robert, Recherches épigraphiques V. (Inscriptions de L…