Ioannis Mitsios

Acropolis 702 votive relief has often been interpreted as depicting Hermes with the three Graces, or Hermes with the three daughters of Kekrops. Most scholars identifying the female figures with the Graces fail to provide an identification for the young boy, while those identifying them with the Aglaurids identify the young boy with Erichthonios or Erysichthon. I suggest that the young boy depicted in the scene is Keryx, while I provide specific identification for each of the daughters of Kekrops, the first female as Aglauros, the second as Pandrosos and the third as Herse.

Kekrops was a diphyes and ‘mixanthropic’ hero, with his upper part in the form of a man and his lower part in the form of a snake. This paper examines the positive aspects of Kekrops’s diphyes and hybrid nature, by employing an interdisciplinary approach, taking into account the literary, epigraphic, iconographic and topographical evidence, as well as the historical and ideological context of the classical period. Special attention is paid to the association of Kekrops with snakes and the ideology of autochthony.

This paper offers a new and innovative reading of two fragments of Sophilos: a) Athens, Nat. Mus. Akr. 585a and b) Athens, Nat. Mus. Akr. 585b. By employing a holistic approach—taking into consideration the literary, iconographic, epigraphic, and topographic evidence—I suggest that the bearded male figure may be the river god Kephisos (who is depicted as a king of Attica) and that the two heroines (Pandrosos and Aglauros) are depicted as Nymphs.

According to the literary tradition, when the city of Athens was threatened by plague and famine, the daughters of the Athenian king Leos and Hyakinthos sacrificed themselves for the salvation of the city. There is no denying that the brave and patriotic act of the daughters of Leos —also known as the Leokorai— and the daughters of Hyakinthos —also known as the Hyakinthids— made the Athenian heroines the ideal role models for every Athenian citizen. Demosthenes (60.29) attests that the self-sacrifice of the daughters of Leos, served as the mythological paradigm for the men of the tribe of Leontis fallen at war. The selection of these heroines to represent their tribe shows the power and extent of this mythological motif as a patriotic theme. Diodorus (17.15.2) tells us that the Athenian general and politician Phocion used the brave act of the self-sacrifice of the daughters of Hyakinthos urge rival politicians to do their patriotic duty and hand themselves over to Alexander in order to save the city.

In this paper the phenomenon, context and impact of the voluntary sacrifice of the mythical Athenian heroines during times of pandemics, plagues and famine will be examined, taking into consideration the literary, epigraphic and topographic evidence, in close relation to the historical and ideological context of the classical period. The ultimate aim of the study is to relate the brave sacrificial act of the mythical virgins during the mythical pandemics to the current historical pandemic and the plague of Athens during 430 B.C. and furthermore emphasize the importance of the brave act of women for issues of Gender and Identity, further extending the research scope to the Anthropological Studies.

The ancient city-state (or polis) of Athens was contiguous with the region known as Attica, a large, triangular peninsula extending southeastward from the Greek mainland into the Aegean Sea. In the western angle of Attica, on a coastal plain surrounded by four mountains (Hymettos, Pentelikon, Parnes, and Aigaleos), lay the city itself. Although the modern city has thickly spread up the slopes of the mountains as well as to the sea, the study of Athenian topography concentrates on the monuments, buildings, and spaces of the ancient urban core, an area roughly 3 square kilometers surrounding the Acropolis and defended in the Classical period by a wall some 6.5 kilometers in length. Athens is the ancient Greek city that we know best, and it is unquestionably the Greek city whose art, architecture, literature, philosophy, and political history have had the greatest impact on the Western tradition and imagination. As a result, “Athenian” is sometimes considered synonymous with “Greek.” It is not. In many respects, Athens was exceptional among Greek city-states, not typical: it was a very different place from, say, Thebes or Sparta. Still, the study of Athens, its monuments, and its culture needs no defense, and the charge of “Athenocentrism” is a hollow indictment when one stands before the Parthenon or holds a copy of Sophocles’ Antigone. This article will refer to the following periods in the history of Athens and Greece (the dates are conventional): late Bronze, or Mycenaean, Age (1550–1100 BCE); Dark Age (1100–760 BCE); Archaic (760–480 BCE); Classical (480–323 BCE); Hellenistic (323 –31 BCE); and Roman (31 BCE–c. 475 CE).

The doctoral thesis examines the iconography and cult of heroes on the Acropolis of Athens from the late archaic to the classical period. The contribution to the research is based on an interdisciplinary methodology and approach, taking into consideration the literary and epigraphic sources in close relation to the iconographic (sculpture, vase-painting), cultic and topographic evidence, aiming at holistic and exhaustive coverage of the subject. The multi-level examination of the topic in relation to the ideology of autochthony of the classical period aims at putting our research subject into a wider context of modern academic fields, such as identity and gender studies.After the introductory chapter, where the history of research and methodology are presented, follows the book structure. The book consists of six chapters (divided into sub-chapters), as well as a concluding chapter, an appendix with the epigraphic sources and a catalog with pictures. The first five chapters deal with the examination of the heroic figures who received cult on the Acropolis of Athens, while the sixth chapter examines the topography, the cults and the iconography of Erechtheion, and the iconography of the archaic Parthenon. The division of the first five chapters into sub-chapters, examining the literary, topographic and iconographic evidence, aims at a holistic coverage of the subject in all of its aspects. It has to be noted that for the very first time all the mythological motifs related to the heroes and heroines of the Acropolis are examined, while special emphasis is put on iconographic depictions deriving from the Acropolis of Athens itself.The first chapter examines the Aglaurids (Aglauros, Herse and Pandrosos)- daughters of Kekrops, two of them (Aglauros and Pandrosos) received cult on the Acropolis of Athens. More specifically, their possible cult during the archaic period- as Nymphs, as well as the later addition of Herse are discussed, while new iconographic identifications are proposed. Next follows the examination of Erechtheus, the oldest heroic figure according to the literary sources, as well as the relevant figure of Erichthonios. In terms of Erechtheus, his problematic depictions on the iconography of the archaic period are stated, while new iconographic depictions are suggested for the classical period. In the third chapter the figure of Kekrops is examined, while his depiction on the iconography of the archaic period is questioned. The forth and fifth chapters examine the less popular heroic figures of Pandion and Boutes. The possible connection of Pandion with the festival of Pandia is argued, a fact which possibly had an impact on his popularity. In terms of Boutes, besides his problematic appearance in the literary sources and the iconography, his archaic origins are argued, while new iconographic identifications are suggested for the classical period. The examination of the plethora of cults and iconography of the Erechtheion, as well as the iconography of archaic Parthenon, in the sixth chapter, help us to to understand the autochthonous (and sometimes kourotrophic) context of the heroic figures worshiped on the Acropolis of Athens.In the final chapter, the concluding remarks, as well as all the new research proposals are presented- such as new iconographic identifications, questioning or rejections of previous iconographic depictions, as well as the connection of mythological motifs and ideologies with previous historical periods. In the appendix, all the inscriptions included in the foregoing text are presented. Finally, photographs of all of the examined iconographic depictions are presented in a catalog, as well as the topographic plans of the sanctuaries and the areas of worship.