DOI chapter:
Division B: The city of Hadrian and the district of the Ilissus, from the Serapeion to the stadion
DOI chapter:Section XI
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61302#0402
230
MYTHOLOGY AND MONUMENTS
DIV. B
Pausanias now crosses to the left bank. The exact site of the
temple of Artemis Agrotera, which he first mentions, is not
known. No doubt the cult of the goddess in this particular
aspect of the huntress had existed from very early times, but from
the date of the battle of Marathon her great festival on the 6th of
Boedromion was kept as a day of special thanksgiving for the great
victory. In fact she was worshipped less as Huntress (Agrotera)
than as Bringer of Help (Boedromios), a frequent aspect of
her brother Apollo. Tradition said that Miltiades had vowed to
the goddess as many she-goats as he should kill enemies, but as
the number slain was excessive, he compounded with her for a
yearly sacrifice of five hundred.100 The sacrifice was attended with a
military pomp conducted by the polemarch. The number of goats
sacrificed seems always to have been occasion for remark. Aris-
tophanes alluded to it in the Knights™· When Cleon proposes a
sacrifice of one hundred oxen to “ the goddess,” the sausage-seller
outbids him-
“ And named two hundred, and proposed a vow
Of a thousand goats to-morrow to Artemis.”
yElian mentions the number as three hundred. Not only is there
abundant literary evidence, but the festival is mentioned in several
inscriptions;102 it was one of those in which the Ephebi took part.
One inscription reads thus—“ They conducted the procession to
Artemis Agrotera, and offered the commemorative sacrifice in
accordance with the decree.” Another reads—“ They conducted
the procession under arms in honour of Artemis Agrotera.”
On the bronze coinage of Athens a type of Artemis—which
is presumably the Agrotera—appears. She wears a short chiton,
holds a spear in her raised right hand, her left is outstretched,
near her a hound.
Pausanias makes no mention of a temple of Demeter at Agrae,
but it is known beyond a doubt that one existed. This is one,
and perhaps the strongest, argument of the supporters of the
“ Enneakrounos episode ” theory. They hold that the temple
already described (p. 93) was the Eleusinion at Agrae. Reasons to
the contrary have already been stated. It is certainly strange that
Pausanias gives no account of the Agrae precinct, but then he was
apt to shirk details about Eleusinian cults. A few of the passages
proving the existence of the Agrae Eleusinion may be cited.103
The term “ Agrae ” is thus defined :—“A district outside the city
of Athens, where the lesser mysteries of Demeter are celebrated
MYTHOLOGY AND MONUMENTS
DIV. B
Pausanias now crosses to the left bank. The exact site of the
temple of Artemis Agrotera, which he first mentions, is not
known. No doubt the cult of the goddess in this particular
aspect of the huntress had existed from very early times, but from
the date of the battle of Marathon her great festival on the 6th of
Boedromion was kept as a day of special thanksgiving for the great
victory. In fact she was worshipped less as Huntress (Agrotera)
than as Bringer of Help (Boedromios), a frequent aspect of
her brother Apollo. Tradition said that Miltiades had vowed to
the goddess as many she-goats as he should kill enemies, but as
the number slain was excessive, he compounded with her for a
yearly sacrifice of five hundred.100 The sacrifice was attended with a
military pomp conducted by the polemarch. The number of goats
sacrificed seems always to have been occasion for remark. Aris-
tophanes alluded to it in the Knights™· When Cleon proposes a
sacrifice of one hundred oxen to “ the goddess,” the sausage-seller
outbids him-
“ And named two hundred, and proposed a vow
Of a thousand goats to-morrow to Artemis.”
yElian mentions the number as three hundred. Not only is there
abundant literary evidence, but the festival is mentioned in several
inscriptions;102 it was one of those in which the Ephebi took part.
One inscription reads thus—“ They conducted the procession to
Artemis Agrotera, and offered the commemorative sacrifice in
accordance with the decree.” Another reads—“ They conducted
the procession under arms in honour of Artemis Agrotera.”
On the bronze coinage of Athens a type of Artemis—which
is presumably the Agrotera—appears. She wears a short chiton,
holds a spear in her raised right hand, her left is outstretched,
near her a hound.
Pausanias makes no mention of a temple of Demeter at Agrae,
but it is known beyond a doubt that one existed. This is one,
and perhaps the strongest, argument of the supporters of the
“ Enneakrounos episode ” theory. They hold that the temple
already described (p. 93) was the Eleusinion at Agrae. Reasons to
the contrary have already been stated. It is certainly strange that
Pausanias gives no account of the Agrae precinct, but then he was
apt to shirk details about Eleusinian cults. A few of the passages
proving the existence of the Agrae Eleusinion may be cited.103
The term “ Agrae ” is thus defined :—“A district outside the city
of Athens, where the lesser mysteries of Demeter are celebrated