DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2532#0037
16
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
Those who would look for the Eleutherion on the road to Mycenae at some distance
from the Heraeum may well point to the phrase avrb Se to lep6v, which immediately
follows Pausanias's words on the Eleutherion, and which, marking this phrase as the
opening of the description of the temple itself, implies that in the passage preceding
it the writer is not yet supposed to have arrived at the sanctuary. Captain Steft'en1
thus supports the view, first expressed by Lolling, that the Eleutherion is to be found
in a well which flows to the present day near the Panagia chapel, near the road which
leads from Mycenae to the Heraeum, and about three quarters of a mile from the latter.
He points out, further, that the form of the name (Eleutherion) is not suited to the
designation of a stream. We at once raise the question, " Why, then, did Pausanias
not use the term Kpyjvrj, which was used for the Eleutherion drinking-fountain by
Hesychius and Eustathius ? " 2 The answer may be that he is here referring to baths,
while the others refer to drinking-fountains ; and that both baths and drinking-foun-
tains were supplied by the water in the stream. But Steft'en would answer this by
maintaining the fact that the stream in question was dry for the greater part of the
year, and thus would not yield water. On the other hand, the well near the Panagia
chapel " on the road " is a branch of the stream which is fed by a basin from which the
shepherds now take their water. This again is supplied by a well with fine old masonry,
a little higher up, about which are grouped ruins of very ancient dwelling-houses. Steiien
surmises that these dwellings belonged to the Heraeum and served for the attendants of
the temple as well as for the freed slaves who drank from the well, of which the special
name was Cynadra. In support of this view we might urge that during our excavations
we were forced to get our supply of drinking-water from a distance, and, finding the
water of this very Panagia well purer and cooler than that of the well in the village
of Chonica, the continuous journeys of the donkeys with water-barrels along the
Mycenae " road" formed one of the many picturesque scenes which lent a peculiar
charm to our day's work. Furthermore, if in identifying the landmarks given by
Pausanias, we arrange our topography on the large scale which we have adopted as
regards Euboea, Acraea, Prosymna, and Asterion, then the Panagia well and stream, on
the very slopes of Euboea, would come within the domain of the sanctuary, and would
not appear too far removed from the temple.
But, on the other hand, we must recall the definite statement of Pausanias, — which,
considering the paucity of his remarks on the great sanctuary, and the numerous remains
and interesting works and records before him, throws this fact into the strongest
relief, — " that the women who minister at the sanctuary employ it (the water of Eleu-
therion) for purifications and for secret sacrifices." Now it seems to me hard to believe,
when we consider the integral part which this water played in the important, nay essen-
tial, functions of the temple, in the rites and ceremonies, by the very nature of the cult,
that we must look for it over a hilly path three quarters of a. mile from the sanctuary
itself." And this doubt is greatly confirmed — nay, becomes almost insurmountable
— when we consider the elaborate system <xf water-works which our excavations have
so clearly laid bare within the sanctuary itself, and which are manifestly in immediate
relation to the Revma-tou-Kastrou. We have here not only cisterns and aqueducts, but
also baths and drinking-fountains, and they form a marked feature of the whole site.
1 Op. cit. pp. 41 and 42.
2 See below, p. 18.
8 Especially when I recall the impatience and irrita-
tion we often experienced at the delay of donkeys and
chatting agoyats in bringing the water over this rough
and hilly path from such a distance.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
Those who would look for the Eleutherion on the road to Mycenae at some distance
from the Heraeum may well point to the phrase avrb Se to lep6v, which immediately
follows Pausanias's words on the Eleutherion, and which, marking this phrase as the
opening of the description of the temple itself, implies that in the passage preceding
it the writer is not yet supposed to have arrived at the sanctuary. Captain Steft'en1
thus supports the view, first expressed by Lolling, that the Eleutherion is to be found
in a well which flows to the present day near the Panagia chapel, near the road which
leads from Mycenae to the Heraeum, and about three quarters of a mile from the latter.
He points out, further, that the form of the name (Eleutherion) is not suited to the
designation of a stream. We at once raise the question, " Why, then, did Pausanias
not use the term Kpyjvrj, which was used for the Eleutherion drinking-fountain by
Hesychius and Eustathius ? " 2 The answer may be that he is here referring to baths,
while the others refer to drinking-fountains ; and that both baths and drinking-foun-
tains were supplied by the water in the stream. But Steft'en would answer this by
maintaining the fact that the stream in question was dry for the greater part of the
year, and thus would not yield water. On the other hand, the well near the Panagia
chapel " on the road " is a branch of the stream which is fed by a basin from which the
shepherds now take their water. This again is supplied by a well with fine old masonry,
a little higher up, about which are grouped ruins of very ancient dwelling-houses. Steiien
surmises that these dwellings belonged to the Heraeum and served for the attendants of
the temple as well as for the freed slaves who drank from the well, of which the special
name was Cynadra. In support of this view we might urge that during our excavations
we were forced to get our supply of drinking-water from a distance, and, finding the
water of this very Panagia well purer and cooler than that of the well in the village
of Chonica, the continuous journeys of the donkeys with water-barrels along the
Mycenae " road" formed one of the many picturesque scenes which lent a peculiar
charm to our day's work. Furthermore, if in identifying the landmarks given by
Pausanias, we arrange our topography on the large scale which we have adopted as
regards Euboea, Acraea, Prosymna, and Asterion, then the Panagia well and stream, on
the very slopes of Euboea, would come within the domain of the sanctuary, and would
not appear too far removed from the temple.
But, on the other hand, we must recall the definite statement of Pausanias, — which,
considering the paucity of his remarks on the great sanctuary, and the numerous remains
and interesting works and records before him, throws this fact into the strongest
relief, — " that the women who minister at the sanctuary employ it (the water of Eleu-
therion) for purifications and for secret sacrifices." Now it seems to me hard to believe,
when we consider the integral part which this water played in the important, nay essen-
tial, functions of the temple, in the rites and ceremonies, by the very nature of the cult,
that we must look for it over a hilly path three quarters of a. mile from the sanctuary
itself." And this doubt is greatly confirmed — nay, becomes almost insurmountable
— when we consider the elaborate system <xf water-works which our excavations have
so clearly laid bare within the sanctuary itself, and which are manifestly in immediate
relation to the Revma-tou-Kastrou. We have here not only cisterns and aqueducts, but
also baths and drinking-fountains, and they form a marked feature of the whole site.
1 Op. cit. pp. 41 and 42.
2 See below, p. 18.
8 Especially when I recall the impatience and irrita-
tion we often experienced at the delay of donkeys and
chatting agoyats in bringing the water over this rough
and hilly path from such a distance.