ARTEMIS CULT 2

ARTEMIS was the Olympian goddess of hunting and wild animals, and the protectress of women and girls.

This page describes her cult in the north-western Peloponnese. She had numerous shrines in the hills of Arkadia and Akhaia, the most important of which were arguably her temples at Patrai and Lake Stymphalos. She was commonly worshipped throughout the region as a lake goddess--the deity who provided fowlers and fishermen with a bountiful catch.

Several of the images below portray the goddess as Artemis Agrotera "Huntress"--a bow-drawing representation popular in the Peloponnese.

CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES

CULT IN ELIS (SOUTHERN GREECE)

Strabo, Geography 8. 3. 12 (trans. Jones) (Greek geographer C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :
"The whole country [of Elis] is full of temples of Artemis, Aphrodite, and the Nymphai, being situated in sacred precincts that are generally full of flowers because of the abundance of water."

I. ELIS Main Town of Elis

Pausanias, Description of Greece 6. 23. 8 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :
"The way from the gymnasium [at Elis in Elis] to the baths passes through the Street of Silence and beside the sanctuary of Artemis Philomeirax. The goddess is so surnamed because she is neighbor to the gymnasium."

II. OLYMPIA Village & Sanctuary in Elis

Pausanias, Description of Greece 5. 14. 5 :
"My narrative will follow in dealing with them the order in which the Eleans are wont to sacrifice on the altars [of Olympia]. They sacrifice to Hestia first, secondly to Olympic Zeus . . . thirdly to Zeus Laoitas (of the People) and to Poseidon Laoitas . . . Fourthly and fifthly they sacrifice to Artemis and to Athena, Goddess of Booty, sixthly to the Worker Goddess . . . There is another altar of Athena near the temple, and by it a square altar of Artemis rising gently to a height. After the altars I have enumerated there is one on which they sacrifice to Alpheios and Artemis together. The cause of this Pindar, I think, intimates in an ode, and I give it in my account of Letrinoi."

Pausanias, Description of Greece 5. 15. 4 - 8 :
"Outside the Altis [at Olympia], but on the right of the Leonidaion, is an altar of Artemis Agoraia (of the Market) . . . [another] altar of Artemis stands on the right as you return from the Portico that the Eleans call the Portico of Agnapts . . .
After re-entering the Altis by the processional gate there are behind the Heraion (Temple of Hera) altars of the river Kladeus and of Artemis; the one after them is Apollo's, the fourth is of Artemis surnamed Kokkoka, and the fifth is of Apollo Thermios . . . why Artemis is surnamed Kokokka I could not discover . . .
In front of the door of the Town Hall is an altar of Artemis Agrotere (Huntress)."

Pausanias, Description of Greece 5. 17. 3 :
"In the temple of Hera [at Olympia] . . . [statues of] Apollo and Artemis stand opposite each other."

Pausanias, Description of Greece 5. 19. 5 :
"[Amongst the images depicted on the chest of Kypselos dedicated at Olympia was a winged Artemis :] On what account Artemis has wings on her shoulders I do not know; in her right hand she grips a leopard, in her left a lion."
[N.B. A similar representation of Artemis can be found on the extant Francois vase.]

III. SCILLUS (SKILLOS) Village in Elis

Pausanias, Description of Greece 5. 6. 5 :
"Xenophon was banished [from Athens] and having made Skillos [in Elis] his home he built in honor of Artemis Ephesia (of Ephesos) a temple with a sanctuary and a sacred enclosure. Skillos is also a hunting-ground for wild boars and deer."

IV. PISA Village in Elis

Pausanias, Description of Greece 6. 22. 1 :
"One sees traces of a sanctuary of Artemis, surnamed Kordax [at Pisa in Elis] because the followers of Pelops celebrated their victory by the side of this goddess and danced the cordax, a dance peculiar to the dwellers round Mount Sipylos [in Lydia]."

V. LETRINI (LETRINOI) Village in Elis

Strabo, Geography 8. 3. 12 (trans. Jones) (Greek geographer C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :
"Near the outlet of the river [the River Alpheios in Elis] is the sacred precinct of Artemis Alpheionia or Alpheiose (for the epithet is spelled both ways), which is about eighty stadia distant from Olympia. An annual festival is also celebrated at Olympia in honor of this goddess as well as in honor of Artemis Elaphia and Artemis Daphnia. The whole country [of Elis] is full of temples of Artemis, Aphrodite, and the Nymphai, being situated in sacred precincts that are generally full of flowers because of the abundance of water . . . In the temple of Artemis Alpheionia are very famous paintings by two Korinthians, Kleanthes and Aregon : by Kleanthes the Capture of Troy and the Birth of Athene, and by Aregon the Artemis Borne Aloft on a Gryps (Griffin)."

Pausanias, Description of Greece 6. 22. 8 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :
"In my time were left a few buildings [in Letrinoi], with an image of Artemis Alpheiaia in a temple. Legend has it that the goddess received the surname for the following reason. Alpheios fell in love with Artemis, and then, realizing that persuasive entreaties would not win the goddess as his bride, he dared to plot violence against her. Artemis was holding at Letrinoi an all-night revel with the Nymphai who were her playmates, and to it came Alpheios. But Artemis had a suspicion of the plot of Alpheios, and smeared with mud her own face and the faces of the Nymphai with her. So Alpheios, when he joined the throng, could not distinguish Artemis from the others, and, not being able to pick her out, went away without bringing off his attempt.The people of Letrinoi called the goddess Alpheiai because of the love of Alpheios for her. But the Eleans, who from the first had been friends of Letrinoi, transferred to that city the worship of Artemis Elaphiaia (of the Deer) established amongst themselves, and held that they were worshipping Artemis Alpheiaia, and so in time the Alpheiaian goddess came to be named Elaphiaia. The Eleans, I think, called Artemis Elaphiaia from the hunting of the deer (elaphos). But they themselves say that Elaphios was the name of a native woman by whom Artemis was reared."

VI. HELOS Village in Elis

Strabo, Geography 8. 3. 25 (trans. Jones) (Greek geographer C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :
"Helos, some call it a territory in the neighborhood of the Alpheios [river in Elis] ... a marsh in the neighborhood of Alorion, where is the temple of Artemis Heleia (of the Marsh), whose worship was under the management of the Arkadians, for this people had the priesthood."

VII. SELINUS R. (SELINOS) River in Elis

Strabo, Geography 8. 7. 5 :
"The Selinos River . . . that flows in Ephesos past the Artemision, and [is the name] also of the river in the Eleia [Elis] of today that flows past the plot of land which [the historical] Xenophon says he bought for Artemis in accordance with an oracle."

CULT IN ACHAEA (SOUTHERN GREECE)

I. PATRAE (PATRAI) Main Town of Achaea (Akhaia)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 4. 31. 7 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :
"The name Laphria [of Artemis] spread [from Kalydon in Aitolia] to the Messenians and to the Akhaians of Patrai."

Pausanias, Description of Greece 7. 18. 8 - 13 :
"On the acropolis of Patrai [in Akhaia] is a sanctuary of Artemis Laphria. The surname of the goddess is a foreign one, and her image too was brought in from elsewhere. For after Kalydon with the rest of Aitolia had been laid waste by the Emperor Augustus in order that the Aitolian people might be incorporated into Nikopolis above Aktion, the people of Patrai thus secured the image of Laphria. Most of the images out of Aitolia and from Akarnania were brought by Augustus' orders to Nikopolis, but to Patrai he gave, with other spoils from Kalydon, the image of Laphria, which even in my time was still worshipped on the acropolis of Patrai. It is said that the goddess was surnamed Laphria after a man of Phokis, because the ancient image of Artemis was set up at Kalydon by Laphrios, the son of Kastalios, the son of Delphos. Others say that the wrath of Artemis against Oineus weighed as time went on more lightly (elaphroteron) on the Kalydonians, and they believe that this was why the goddess received her surname. The image represents her in the guise of a huntress; it is made of ivory and gold, and the artists were Menaikhmos and Soldas of Naupaktos, who, it is inferred, lived not much later than Kanakhos of Sicyon and Kallon of Aegina. Every year too the people of Patrai celebrate the festival Laphria in honor of their Artemis, and at it they employ a method of sacrifice peculiar to the place. Round the altar in a circle they set up logs of wood still green, each of them sixteen cubits long. On the altar within the circle is placed the driest of their wood. Just before the time of the festival they construct a smooth ascent to the altar, piling earth upon the altar steps.The festival begins with a most splendid procession in honor of Artemis, and the maiden officiating as priestess rides last in the procession upon a car yoked to deer. It is, however, not till the next day that the sacrifice is offered, and the festival is not only a state function but also quite a popular general holiday. For the people throw alive upon the altar edible birds and every kind of victim as well; there are wild boars, deer and gazelles; some bring wolf-cubs or bear-cubs, others the full-grown beasts. They also place upon the altar fruit of cultivated trees. Next they set fire to the wood. At this point I have seen some of the beasts, including a bear, forcing their way outside at the first rush of the flames, some of them actually escaping by their strength. But those who threw them in drag them back again to the pyre. It is not remembered that anybody has ever been wounded by the beasts."

Pausanias, Description of Greece 7. 19. 1 - 20. 1 :
"Between the temple of Laphria and the altar stands the tomb of Eurypylos. Who he was and for what reason he came to this land I shall set forth presently; but I must first describe what the condition of affairs was at his arrival. The Ionians who lived in Aroe, Antheia and Mesatis had in common a precinct and a temple of Artemis surnamed Triklaria, and in her honor the Ionians used to celebrate every year a festival and an all-night vigil. The priesthood of the goddess was held by a maiden until the time came for her to be sent to a husband.
Now the story is that once upon a time it happened that the priestess of the goddess was Komaitho, a most beautiful maiden, who had a lover called Melanippos, who was far better and handsomer than his fellows. When Melanippos had won the love of the maiden, he asked the father for his daughter's hand. It is somehow a characteristic of old age to oppose the young in most things, and especially is it insensible to the desires of lovers. So Melanippos found it; although both he and Komaitho were eager to wed, he met with nothing but harshness from both his own parents and from those of his lover. The history of Melanippos, like that of many others, proved that love is apt both to break the laws of men and to desecrate the worship of the gods, seeing that this pair had their fill of the passion of love in the sanctuary of Artemis. And hereafter also were they to use the sanctuary as a bridal-chamber. Forthwith the wrath of Artemis began to destroy the inhabitants; the earth yielded no harvest, and strange diseases occurred of an unusually fatal character. When they appealed to the oracle at Delphoi the Pythian priestess accused Melanippos and Komaitho. The oracle ordered that they themselves should be sacrificed to Artemis, and that every year a sacrifice should be made to the goddess of the fairest youth and the fairest maiden. Because of this sacrifice the river flowing by the sanctuary of Triklaria was called Ameilikhos (Relentless). Previously the river had no name. The innocent youths and maidens who perished because of Melanippos and Komaitho suffered a piteous fate, as did also their relatives; but the pair, I hold, were exempt from suffering, for the one thing that is worth a man's life is to be successful in love.
The sacrifice to Artemis of human beings is said to have ceased in this way. An oracle had been given from Delphoi to the Patraians even before this, to the effect that a strange king would come to the land, bringing with him a strange divinity, and this king would put an end to the sacrifice to Triklaria. When Troy was captured, and the Greeks divided the spoils, Eurypylos the son of Euaimon [received a chest containing an image of Dionysos which drove him mad] . . . Going up to Delphoi he inquired of the oracle about his illness. They say that the oracle given him was to the effect that where he should come across a people offering a strange sacrifice, there he was to set down the chest and make his home. Now the ships of Eurypylos were carried down by the wind to the sea off Aroe. On landing he came across a youth and a maiden who had been brought to the altar of Triklaria. So Eurypylos found it easy to understand about the sacrifice, while the people of the place remembered their oracle seeing a king whom they had never seen before, they also suspected that the chest had some god inside it. And so the malady of Eurypylos and the sacrifice of these people came to an end, and the river was given its present name Meilikhos. Certain writers have said that the events I have related happened not to the Thessalian Eurypylos, but to Eurypylos the son of Dexamenos who was king in Olenos, holding that this man joined Herakles in his campaign against Troy and received the chest from Herakles. The rest of their story is the same as mine . . . The people of Patrai have no tradition of a Eurypylos save the son of Euaimon, and to him every year they sacrifice as to a hero, when they celebrate the festival in honor of Dionysos . . .
The surname of the god [Dionysos] inside the chest [brought from Troy by Eurypylos] is Aesymnetes (Dictator), and his chief attendants are nine men, elected by the people from all the citizens for their reputation, and women equal in number to the men. On one night of the festival the priest carries the chest outside. Now this is a privilege that this night has received, and there go down to the river Meilikhos a certain number of the native children, wearing on their heads garlands of corn-ears. It was in this way that they used to array of old those whom they led to be sacrificed to Artemis. But at the present day they lay aside the garlands of corn-ears by the goddess, and after bathing in the river and putting on fresh garlands, this time made of ivy, they go to the sanctuary of the Dictator. This then is their established ritual, and within the precincts of Laphria is a temple of Athena surnamed Panakhaian. The image is of ivory and gold."

Pausanias, Description of Greece 7. 20. 7 :
"As you leave the market-place of Patrai, where the sanctuary of Apollon is, at this exit is a gate . . . Opposite the marketplace by this exit is a precinct and temple of Artemis Limnatis (the Lady of the Lake)."

Pausanias, Description of Greece 7. 22. 11 :
"Not far from the city of Patrai is the river Meilikhos, and the sanctuary of [Artemis] Triklaria, which no longer has an image."

II. AEGIUM (AIGION) Village in Achaea

Pausanias, Description of Greece 7. 24. 1 :
"By the market-place at Aigion [in Akhaia] is a temple shared by Apollon and Artemis in common; and in the market-place there is a sanctuary of Artemis, who is represented in the act of shooting an arrow."

III. AEGEIRA (AIGEIRA) Town in Achaea

Pausanias, Description of Greece 7. 26. 3 :
"The Hyperesians [of Hyperesia or Aigeira in Akhaia] gave their city its present name of Aigeira from the goats (aiges), and where the most beautiful goat, which led the others, crouched, they built a sanctuary of Artemis Agrotera (the Huntress), believing that the trick against the Sikyonians was an inspiration of Artemis . . . The sights of Aegeira worth recording include . . . a temple of Artemis, with an image of the modern style of workmanship. The priestess is a maiden, who holds office until she reaches the age to marry. There stands here too an ancient image, which the folk of Aigeira say is Iphigeneia, the daughter of Agamemnon. If they are correct, it is plain that the temple must have been built originally for Iphigeneia."

IV. PHELLOE Village in Achaea

Pausanias, Description of Greece 7. 26. 11 :
"The district round Phelloe [in Akhaia] is well suited for the growth of the vine; the rocky parts are covered with oaks, the home of deer and wild boars. You may reckon Phelloi one of the towns in Greece best supplied with flowing water. There are sanctuaries of Dionysos and of Artemis. The goddess is of bronze, and is taking an arrow from her quiver. The image of Dionysos is painted with vermilion. On going down from Aegeira to the port, and walking on again, we see on the right of the road the sanctuary of Agrotera (the Huntress), where they say the goat crouched."

V. PELLENE Town in Achaea

Pausanias, Description of Greece 7. 27. 4 :
"Above the temple of Athena [at Pellene, Akhaia] is a grove, surrounded by a wall, of Artemis surnamed Soteira (Saviour), by whom they swear their most solemn oaths. No man may enter the grove except the priests. These priests are natives, chosen chiefly because of their high birth . . . Near the sanctuary of Apollon is [another] temple of Artemis, the goddess being represented in the attitude of shooting."

CULT IN ARCADIA (SOUTHERN GREECE)

I. MEGALOPOLIS Main City of Arcadia (Arkadia)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 30. 6 :
"The government offices of Megalopolis, six rooms in number. In one of them is an image of Artemis Ephesia (or Ephesos)."

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 30. 10 :
"[In the] sanctuary of Zeus, surnamed Soteiros (Saviour) [at Megalopolis] . . . [is a statue of] Zeus is seated on a throne, and by his side stand Megalopolis on the right and an image of Artemis Soteira (Saviour) on the left. These are of Pentelic marble and were made by the Athenians Kephisodotos and Xenophon."

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 31. 1 :
"Carved in relief before the entrance [of the temple of Demeter in Megalopolis] are, on one side Artemis, on the other Asklepios and Hygeia (Health)."

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 32. 4 :
"There is also in this district [of Megalopolis] a hill to the east, and on it a temple of Artemis Agrotere (Huntress) this too was dedicated by Aristodemos [historical leader]."

II. MT. ARTEMISIUS (ARTEMISIOS) Mountain in Arcadia

Pausanias, Description of Greece 2. 25. 3 :
"Above Oinoe [in Argos] is Mount Artemisios [on the Argive-Arkadian border], with a sanctuary of Artemis on the top. On this mountain are also the springs of the river Inakhos. For it really has springs, though the water does not run far."

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 6. 6 :
"The second road is less broad than the other, and leads over Mount Artemisios [in Arkadia]. I have already made mention of this mountain, noting that on it are a temple and image of Artemis, and also the springs of the Inakhos. The river Inakhos, so long as it flows by the road across the mountain, is the boundary between the territory of Argos and that of Mantineia."

III. Near ORCHOMENUS (ORKHOMENOS) Town in Arcadia

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 5. 11 :
"There is a sanctuary of Artemis, surnamed Hymnia (Of Hymns), standing on the borders of Orkhomenos [in Arkadia], near the territory of Mantineia. Artemis Hymnia has been worshipped by all the Arkadians from the most remote period. At that time the office of priestess to the goddess was still always held by a girl who was a virgin. The maiden persisted in resisting the advances of Aristokrates, but at last, when she had taken refuge in the sanctuary, she was outraged by him near the image of Artemis. When the crime came to be generally known, the Arkadians stoned the culprit, and also changed the rule for the future; as priestess of Artemis they now appoint, not a virgin, but a woman who has had enough of intercourse with men."

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 13. 1 :
"In the territory of Orkhomenos [in Arkadia], on the left of the road from Ankhisiai, there is on the slope of the mountain the sanctuary of Artemis Hymnia (Of Hymns). The Mantineans, too, share it . . . a priestess also and a priest. It is the custom for these to live their whole lives in purity, not only sexual but in all respects, and they neither wash nor spend their lives as do ordinary people, nor do they enter the home of a private man. I know that the 'entertainers' of Artemis Ephesia (of Ephesos) live in a similar fashion, but for a year only, the Ephesians calling them Essenes. They also hold an annual festival in honor of Artemis Hymnia. The former city of Orkhomenos was on the peak of a mountain . . . Near the city is a wooden image of Artemis. It is set in a large cedar tree, and after the tree they call the goddess Kedreatis (the Lady of the Cedar)."

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 12. 5 :
"In addition to the roads mentioned there are two others, leading to Orkhomenos [in Arkadia]. On one is what is called the stadium of Ladas, where Ladas practised his running, and by it a sanctuary of Artemis."

IV. PHENEUS (PHENEOS) Town in Arcadia

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 14. 5 :
"The legend is that Odysseus lost his mares, traversed Greece in search of them, and on the site in the land of Pheneos [in Arkadia] where he found his mares founded a sanctuary of Artemis, calling the goddess Heurippa (Horse-finder), and also dedicated the image of Poseidon Hippos (Horse)."

V. MT. CRATHIS (KRATHIS) Mountain in Arcadia

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 15. 8 :
"Passing the sanctuary of the Pythion Apollon [near Aegeira in Akhaia] you will be on the road that leads to Mount Krathis. On this mountain is the source of the river Krathis . . . On Mount Krathis is a sanctuary of Artemis Pyronia (Fire-goddess), and in more ancient days the Argives used to bring from this goddess fire for their Lernaian ceremonies."

VI. LUSI (LOUSOI) Village in Arcadia

Callimachus, Hymn 3 to Artemis 233 ff (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd B.C.) :
"For thee [Artemis] surely Proitos [mythical King of Argos] established two shrines, one of Artemis Kore . . . [in] the Azanian hills; the other he founded in Lousa to Artemis Hemere (the Gentle), because thou tookest from his daughters the spirit of wildness."
[N.B. The daughters of Proitos were driven mad by Dionysos, but cured by Melampos at Lousoi.]

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 18. 8 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :
"When I was there not even ruins of Lousoi [in Arkadia] remained. Well, the daughters of Proitos were brought down by Melampos to Lousoi, and healed of their madness in a sanctuary of Artemis. Wherefore this Artemis is called Hemerasia (She who soothes) by the Kleitorians."

VII. AZANIA Hills in Arcadia

Callimachus, Hymn 3 to Artemis 233 ff (trans. Mair) (Greek poet C3rd B.C.) :
"For thee [Artemis] surely Proitos [mythical King of Argos] established two shrines, one of Artemis Kore (Maidenhood) for that thou dist gather for him his maiden daughters, when they were wandering over the Azanian hills; the other he founded in Lousa to Artemis Hemere (the Gentle)."
[N.B. The Azanian shrine was probably one of those described in the region by Pausanias below.]

VIII. STYMPHALUS (STYMPHALOS) Town in Arcadia

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 22. 7 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :
"In Stymphalos there is also an old sanctuary of Artemis Stymphalia, the image being of wood, for the most part gilded. Near the roof of the temple have been carved, among other things, the Stymphalian birds. Now it was difficult to discern clearly whether the carving was in wood or in gypsum, but such evidence as I had led me to conclude that it was not of gypsum but of wood. There are here also maidens of white marble, with the legs of birds, and they stand behind the temple. Even in our own day the following miracle is said to have occurred. The festival of Artemis Stymphalia at Stymphalos was carelessly celebrated, and its established ritual in great part transgressed. Now a log fell into the mouth of the chasm into which the river descends, and so prevented the water from draining away, and (so it is said) the plain became a lake for a distance of four hundred stades.They also say that a hunter chased a deer, which fled and plunged into the marsh, followed by the hunter, who, in the excitement of the hunt, swam after the deer. So the chasm swallowed up both the deer and her pursuer. They are said to have been followed by the water of the river, so that by the next day the whole of the water was dried up that flooded the Stymphalian plain. Hereafter they put greater zeal into the festival in honor of Artemis."

IX. ALEA Village in Arcadia

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 23. 1 :
"After Stymphalos comes Alea . . . The sanctuaries of the gods here are those of Artemis Ephesia (of Ephesos) and Athena Alea."

X. CAPHYLE (KAPHYE) & MT. CNACALUS (KNAKALOS) Village & Mountain in Arcadia

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 23. 3 :
"The Kaphyatans [Kaphye, Arkadia] have a sanctuary of the god Poseidon, and one of the goddess Artemis, surnamed Knakalesia. They have also a mountain called Knakalos, where every year they celebrate mysteries in honor of their Artemis."

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 23. 6 :
"About a stade distant from Kaphye is a place called Kondylea, where there are a grove and a temple of Artemis called of old Kondyleatis. They say that the name of the goddess was changed for the following reason. Some children, the number of whom is not recorded, while playing about the sanctuary found a rope, and tying it round the neck of the image said that Artemis was being strangled. The Kaphyans, detecting what the children had done, stoned them to death. When they had done this, a malady befell their women, whose babies were stillborn, until the Pythian priestess bade them bury the children, and sacrifice to them every year as sacrifice is made to heroes, because they had been wrongly put to death. The Kaphyans still obey this oracle, and call the goddess at Kondyleai, as they say the oracle also bade them, Apankhomene (the Strangled Lady) from that day to this."

XI. TEUTHIS - TEUTHIA Village on the Border of Arcadia & Elis

Strabo, Geography 8. 3. 11 (trans. Jones) (Greek geographer C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :
"In this town [Teuthia in Elis] is the temple of Artemis Nemydia."

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 28. 6 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :
"There are also at Teuthis [in Arkadia] sanctuaries of Aphrodite and Artemis."

XII. SCIAS (SKIAS) Village in Arcadia

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 35. 5 :
"Thirteen stades from Megalopolis is a place called Skias [in Arkadia], where are ruins of a sanctuary of Artemis Skiatis, said to have been built by Aristodemos the tyrant."

XIII. ZOITEA Village in Arcadia

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 35. 7 :
"In Zoitea [in Arkadia], however, there still remains a temple of Demeter and Artemis."

XIV. Near TRICOLONI (TRIKOLONOI) Village in Arcadia

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 35. 8 :
"Descending from Krounoi [a spring near Trikolonoi in Arkadia] for about thirty stades you come to the grave of Kallisto, a high mound of earth, whereon grow many trees, both cultivated and also those that bear no fruit. On the top of the mound is a sanctuary of Artemis, surnamed Kalliste (Most Beautiful). I believe it was because he had learnt it from the Arkadians that Pamphos was the first in his poems to call Artemis by the name of Kalliste."

XV. LYCOA (LYKOA) Village in Arcadia

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 36. 7 :
"Under the fringe of the mountain [Mainalos] are traces of a city Lykoa [in Arkadia], a sanctuary of Artemis Lykoe (of Lykaon), and a bronze image of her."

XVI. ACACESIUM (AKAKESION) Village in Arcadia

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 37. 1 :
"From Akakesion [in Arkadia] it is four stades to the sanctuary of the Mistress [Despoine]. First in this place is a temple of Artemis Hegemone (Leader), with a bronze image, holding torches, which I conjecture to be about six feet high. From this place there is an entrance into the sacred enclosure of Despoine (the Mistress) . . .
[Inside the enclosure] by the side of [the statue of] Demeter stands [a statue of] Artemis wrapped in the skin of a deer, and carrying a quiver on her shoulders, while in one hand she holds a torch, in the other two serpents; by her side a bitch, of a breed suitable for hunting, is lying down."

XVII. PHIGALIA Village in Arcadia

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 39. 5 :
"Phigalia [in Arkadia] lies on high land that is for the most part precipitous, and the walls are built on the cliffs. But on the top the hill is level and flat. Here there is a sanctuary of Artemis Soteira (Saviour) with a standing image of stone. From this sanctuary it is their custom to start their processions."

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 41. 4 :
"Some twelve stades above Phigalia [in Arkadia] are hot baths, and not far from these the Lymax falls into the Neda. Where the streams meet is the sanctuary of Eurynome, a holy spot from of old and difficult of approach because of the roughness of the ground. Around it are many cypress trees, growing close together. Eurynome is believed by the people of Phigalia to be a surname of Artemis . . . On the same day in each year they open the sanctuary of Eurynome, but at any other time it is a transgression for them to open it."

XVIII. ORESTHASIUM (ORESTHASION) Village in Arcadia

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 44. 2 :
"On the right of the road are some noteworthy remains of the city of Oresthasion [in Arkadia], especially the pillars of a sanctuary of Artemis, which still are there. The surname of Artemis is Hiereia (Priestess)."

XIX. TEGEA Town in Arcadia

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 47. 6 :
"There is at Tegea a [sanctuary of Artemis] . . . Their story about Artemis, the same as is called Hegemone (Leader), is as follows. Aristomelidas, despot of Orkhomenos in Arkadia, fell in love with a Tegean maiden, and, getting her somehow or other into his power, entrusted her to the keeping of Khronios. The girl, before she was delivered up to the despot, killed herself for fear and shame, and Artemis in a vision stirred up Khronios against Aristomelidas. He slew the despot, fled to Tegea, and made a sanctuary for Artemis."

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 53. 1 :
"The images of Apollon, Lord of Streets, the Tegeans say they set up for the following reason. Apollon and Artemis, they say, throughout every land visited with punishment all the men of that time who, when Leto was with child and in the course of her wanderings, took no heed of her when she came to their land. So when the divinities came to the land of Tegea, Skephros, they say, the son of Tegeates, came to Apollon and had a private conversation with him. And Leimon, who also was a son of Tegeates, suspecting that the conversation of Skephros contained a charge against him, rushed on his brother and killed him. Immediate punishment for the murder overtook Leimon, for he was shot by Artemis. At the time Tegeates and Maira sacrificed to Apollon and Artemis, but afterwards a severe famine fell on the land, and an oracle of Delphoi ordered a mourning for Skephros. At the feast of the Lord of Streets rites are performed in honor of Skephros, and in particular the priestess of Artemis pursues a man, pretending she is Artemis herself pursuing Leimon."

Pausanias, Description of Greece 8. 53. 11 :
"On the left of the road as you go from Tegea to Lakonia there is . . . a sanctuary of Artemis, surnamed Limnatis (Lady of the Lake), with an image of ebony. The fashion of the workmanship is what the Greeks call Aiginetan. Some ten stades farther on are the ruins of a temple of Artemis Knakeatis."

SOURCES

GREEK

• Callimachus, Hymns - Greek Poetry C3rd B.C.
• Strabo, Geography - Greek Geography C1st B.C. - C1st A.D.
• Pausanias, Description of Greece - Greek Travelogue C2nd A.D.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A complete bibliography of the translations quoted on this page.