No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
ARISTODEMUS ‘THE GOOD’ AND THE TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS AGROTERA AT MEGALOPOLIS*
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 April 2016
Extract
Aristodemus, a Phigalian by birth, was tyrant of Megalopolis for around fifteen years in the first half of the third century b.c., possibly from the time of the Chremonidean War (267–262) until around 251, when he was murdered by two Megalopolitan exiled citizens, Megalophanes and Ecdelus, pupils of the Academic Arcesilaus. While giving an account of his violent death, Pausanias, none the less, draws a very positive portrait of him, also mentioning the nickname ‘the Good’ which he probably read on Aristodemus' grave. Pausanias also reports the foundation of two temples by the tyrant, both dedicated to Artemis. At 8.35.5 he locates one of the two temples at thirteen stades from Megalopolis on the road to Methydrion, so to the north. There, he says, is a place named Scias, where there are ruins of a sanctuary of Artemis Sciaditis. At 8.32.4, Pausanias briefly refers to the temple of Artemis Agrotera at Megalopolis. He says only that the sanctuary was on a hill in the south-east district of the polis, and adds that it was dedicated as an ἀνάθημα by the tyrant as well.
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Classical Association 2016
Footnotes
*
I express my deepest gratitude to Dr James Roy, who spent precious time discussing with me Arcadian matters. I also thank CQ's anonymous referee, whose suggestions have helped to improve these pages.
References
1 Paus. 8.27.11 (also saying that Aristodemus was the son of Artylas, later adopted by Tritaeus, an influential citizen of Megalopolis) and 8.49.2. For Polyb. 10.22.1-3, they were named instead Demophanes and Ecdemus. See also Plut. Phil. 1.2-3 and Arat. 5.1; Diog. Laert. 4.31, with U. Wilcken, RE 2 (1896), s.v. Aristodemos 24, col. 924 and Berve, H., Die Tyrannis bei den Griechen , 2 vols. (Munich, 1967), 1.400–1 and 2.712Google Scholar.
2 Paus. 8.27.11 and 8.36.5: cf. Tarn, W., ‘The Arcadian league and Aristodemus’, CR (1925), 104–7Google Scholar. for the motif of the ‘good tyrant’ in the Hellenistic age, see C. Mossé, La tyrannie dans la Grèce antique (Paris, 1969), 152.
3 The epiklēsis is clearly connected to the toponym. For the localization of the temple of Artemis Sciaditis in the so-called ‘Pigadia’, at a little more than 2 km from the agora of Megalopolis, cf. A. Petronotis, Ἡ Μεγάλη Πόλις τῆς Ἀρκαδίας (Athens, 1973), 152; see also M. Jost, Sanctuaires et cultes d'Arcadie (Paris, 1985), 190. On the cults of Artemis in Arcadia, see Jost (this note), 393–5.
4 Paus. 7.26.3 and 11.
5 Paus. 5.15.8, Xen. Hell. 4.2.20 and below: for her cult at the temple of Apollo Hyperteleatas near Phoiniki in Laconia, cf. IG V 1.977. On the Peloponnesian cults of Artemis, and especially of Artemis Agrotera, cf. E.L. Brulotte, ‘The placement of votive offerings and dedications in the Peloponnesian sanctuaries of Artemis’ (Diss., University of Minnesota, March 1994), 16–22, at 22 (Aegeira), 73–4 (Megalopolis), 154 (Olympia), 183–4 (Sparta): see also 94–5 (Scias, on Artemis Sciaditis). He also attributes to Agrotera two temples dedicated to Artemis (without epiklēsis) at Aegion in Achaia and at Epidaurus: the identification is, however, uncertain (Brulotte [this note], 23 with Paus. 7.24.11, and 123 with Paus. 2.29.1). See also E.L. Brulotte, ‘Artemis: her Peloponnesian abodes and cults’, in R. Hägg (ed.), Peloponnesian Sanctuaries and Cults. Proceedings of the Ninth International Symposium at the Swedish Institute at Athens, 11–13 June 1994 (Stockholm, 2002), 179–82, at 182, and now I. Solima, Heiligtümer der Artemis auf der Peloponnes (Heidelberg, 2011), 89–98, at 94–5 on Artemis Agrotera and at 95 on Artemis Sciaditis.
6 Cf. the Banque de Données des Épiclèses Grecques of the CRESCAM (Centre de Recherche et d’Étude des Sociétés et Cultures Antiques de la Méditerranée – Université de Rennes 2: http://www.sites.univ-rennes2.fr/lahm/crescam/infos.php). See also the Cyprus Inscriptions Database, within the SMID Online (Studies in Mycenaean Inscriptions and Dialect: http://paspserver.class.utexas.edu/Cyprus.aspx). On Artemis Agrotera, see also K. Wernicke, RE 2.1 (1895), s.v. Artemis, cols 1378–9, G. Wentzel in RE 1 1 (1894), s.v. Agrotera, cols 906–7, P. Stengel in RE 1 1 (1894), s.v. Ἀγροτέρας θυσία, cols 907–8, and Farnell, L.R., The Cults of the Greek States, vol. 2 (Oxford, 1896), 434 and 562–3Google Scholar and the more recent comprehensive study by T. Fischer-Hansen and B. Poulsen (edd.), From Artemis to Diana. The Goddess of Man and Beast (Copenhagen, 2009). See also N. Richer, La religion des Spartiates. Croyances et cultes dans l'Antiquité (Paris, 2012), 217–20. On the goddess’ epiklēsis, see Mauduit, C., ‘Remarques sur les emplois de l'adjectif ἀγρότερος dans l’épopée et la poésie lyrique’, REG 107 (1994), 47–67 Google Scholar.
7 Cf. Homer, Il. 21.470-1 πότνια θηρῶν, | Ἄρτεμις ἀγροτέρη; Callim. Hymn 3.18 σπαρνὸν γὰρ ὅτ᾽ Ἄρτεμις ἄστυ κάτεισιν. Philostr. Imag. 1.28.6 describes a painting (entitled ‘The Hunter’) of a temple of Agrotera, isolated and close to the forest, which hunters frequented before hunting. Cf. B. Poulsen, ‘The sanctuaries of the goddess of the hunt’, in Fischer-Hansen and Poulsen (n. 6), 401–25, at 404. On the preferred location of Artemis temples outside the polis, cf. J.-P. Vernant, La mort dans les yeux. Figures de l'Autre en Grèce ancienne (Paris, 1985), 17. On Artemis as a goddess of transitions and turning points, also associated with risk and borderlands, and specifically on Artemis Agrotera, see S. Guettel Cole, Landscapes, Gender, and Ritual Space. The Ancient Greek Experience (Berkeley, 2004), 81–2, 180–97, 201, 206, 223.
8 Paus. 7.26.1 and 11 (Aegeira) and 1.19.6 (Agrai). See M. Moggi and M. Osanna in Pausania, Guida della Grecia. Libro VII, L'Acaia (Milan, 2000), 341.
9 On the temple of Torricella, cf. Lo Porto, F., ‘Due iscrizioni votive arcaiche dai dintorni di Taranto’, PP 42 (1987), 39–50 Google Scholar; Guzzo, P.G. and Alessio, A., ‘Santuari e fattorie ad est di Taranto. Elementi archeologici per un modello di interpretazione’, Scienze dell'Antichità 3–4 (1989–90), 363–96Google Scholar; M. Osanna, Chorai coloniali da Taranto a Locri. Documentazione archeologica e ricostruzione storica (Rome, 1992), 31–2; Nafissi, M., ‘Mageirikè skeué e sacrificio nel territorio di Taranto. L'iscrizione arcaica di Torricella’, PP 47 (1992), 132–46Google Scholar; Aversa, F., ‘Contributo agli studi sulle epigrafi arcaiche di Torricella (Taranto)’, StAnt 8.1 (1995), 35–54 Google Scholar; E. Lippolis and M. Nafissi in E. Lippolis, S. Garraffo and M. Nafissi, Taranto (Taranto, 1995), 87–8, 174–5, 246–8.
10 On the temple at Mt. Goulas, see McCredie, J.R. and Steinberg, A., ‘Two Boeotian dedications’, Hesperia 29 (1960), 123–5CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
11 Paus. 1.41.2-3.
12 Cf. Ar. Eq. 660–1, Xen. An. 3.2.12, Arist. [Ath. Pol.] 58.1, Plut. On the malignity of Herodotus 862b, Ael. VH 2.25, scholium on Ar. Eq. 660a. For Hdt. 6.117, the number of Persian dead was thought to be 6,400; according to Plutarch, it was impossible to calculate it.
13 Cf. Xen. Lac. 13.8 and Hell. 4.2.20. See A. van Gennep, The Rites of Passage (London, 1960), esp. 15–25 on the passage of the borders, along with my forthcoming article, ‘The geography of the Spartan sacrifices for war’, to appear in the proceedings of the conference ‘Sacred Landscapes in the Peloponnese from Prehistory to Post-Byzantine Times’ (Sparti, 30 March – 1 April 2012).
14 R. Harman, ‘Viewing Spartans, viewing barbarians: visuality in Xenophon's Lakedaimonion Politeia’, in S. Hodkinson (ed.), Sparta: Comparative Approaches (Swansea, 2009), 361–82, at 371.
15 Plut. Arist. 17.6-10.
16 Vernant, J.-P., ‘Artémis et le sacrifice préliminaire au combat’, REG 101 (1988), 221–39CrossRefGoogle Scholar, esp. 230–3, and P. Ellinger, ‘Artémis, Pan et Marathon. Mythe, polythéisme et événement historique’, in S. des Bouvrie (ed.), Myth and Symbol I. Symbolic Phenomena in Ancient Greek Culture. Papers from the First International Symposium on Symbolism at the University of Tromsø, June 4–7, 1998 (Bergen, 2002), 313–32, at 321–2.
17 As Madeleine Jost implicitly does in Sanctuaires et cultes d'Arcadie (n. 3), 405, while connecting the foundation of the temple by Aristodemus to the military nuances of Agrotera, and also remembering the Spartan sacrifice of a goat on the battlefield.
18 Paus. 8.27.11 and 8.30.7, with Plut. Agis 3.7 (where Acrotatus is not the heir-apparent but the king). For Acrotatus' correct genealogy, see Paus. 3.6.2-6.
19 Paus. 8.27.13-15. Of course, there were other Spartan invasions of Arcadia, both earlier and later, the two countries having a frontier in common. On the reshaping of the borders between Arcadia and Laconia, cf. J. Roy, ‘Finding the limits of Laconia: defining and redefining communities on the Spartan-Arkadian frontier’, in W.C. Cavanagh, C. Gallou and M. Georgiadis (edd.), Sparta and Laconia from Prehistory to Pre-Modern (Athens, 2009), 205–11.
20 And they built it ‘where the most beautiful goat crouched’: Paus. 7.26.3 and 11. The people of Aegeira, former Hyperesians, collected all the goats they had in the country and tied torches to their horns, which they set alight during the night. Thanks to this trick, inspired by Agrotera, the Sicyonians went away.
21 Xen. Hell. 4.2.20 οὐκέτι δὲ στάδιον ἀπεχόντων, σφαγιασάμενοι οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι τῇ Ἀγροτέρᾳ, ὥσπερ νομίζεται, τὴν χίμαιραν, ἡγοῦντο ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐναντίους …
22 On the cults of Artemis as vehicle of memory, see the important reflections of I. Solima, ‘The perpetuation of memory in the myths and cults of Artemis in the Peloponnese’, in N. Cusumano, V. Gasparini, A. Mastrocinque and J. Rüpke (edd.), Memory and Religious Experience in the Graeco-Roman World (Stuttgart, 2013), 55–61.
23 Jost (n. 3), 232–3. For the excavations, see E.A. Gardner, W. Loring, G.C. Richards and W.J. Woodhouse, Excavations at Megalopolis, 1890–1891 (London, 1892), 120–1.
24 Paus. 8.35.3.
25 Paus. 3.20.8-3.21.3.
26 In fact, a further road started from Oresthasion, passing to the east of Megalopolis and going on towards Zone, where the traces stop. On this road, the Eurotas road from Sparta to north Laconia and Belemina through Pellana, and the Taygetus road from Sparta to Leuktron/Leondari (or Aigytis, Dentheliatis), cf. Y.A. Pikoulas, Τὸ ὁδικὸ δίκτυο τῆς Λακωνικῆς (Athens, 2012), 456–9 nn. 12, 18 and 19 with the map. Among the numerous publications of J. Christien on Spartan roads, the most relevant for the present discussion is ‘The Lacedaemonian state: fortifications, frontiers and historical problems’, in S. Hodkinson and A. Powell (edd.), Sparta & War (Swansea, 2006), 163–83.
27 Y.A. Pikoulas, ‘The road-network of Arkadia’, in T.H. Nielsen and J. Roy (edd.), Defining Ancient Arkadia (Copenhagen, 1999), 248–319, esp. 272 n. 21, with id., Ἡ νότια Μεγαλοπολιτικὴ χώρα ἀπὸ τὸν 8° π.Χ. ὣς τόν 4° μ.Χ. αἰώνα (Athens, 1988), 214–16 n. 5 and 39–41 (on borders).
28 Petronotis (n. 3), 243 n. 773 and fig. 7.