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The Votum of 477/6 B.C. and the Foundation Legend of Locri Epizephyrii1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

Christiane Sourvinou
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Extract

The story of the votum made by the inhabitants of Locri Epizephyrii in 477/6 is well known: they vowed to prostitute their virgin daughters at the festival of Aphrodite, if they were granted victory over the tyrant Leophron of Rhegion who was directing an attack against their city. The threat, which was very serious, was overcome thanks to Hieron of Syracuse, but the Locrians did not fulfil the votum; they were reminded of it more than a century later, but that is another story.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Classical Quarterly , Volume 24 , Issue 2 , December 1974 , pp. 186 - 198
Copyright
Copyright © The Classical Association 1974

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References

page 186 note 2 Dionysius II prompted the Locrians, who had not fulfilled the 477/6 votum, to put it into practice under his direction, in view of the bad luck they were having in fighting the Lucanians. The Locrians followed his instructions, but no prostitution took place, because the whole idea had simply been devised by Dionysius as an elaborate plan to seize forcibly the women's rich jewellery. He was perhaps exploiting a superstitious guilt deriving from the knowledge that a promise to the gods had not been fulfilled by the city.

page 186 note 3 Justin 21. 3.

page 186 note 4 Apud Athen. 12. 5I6A; Wehrli fr. 43a. On sacred prostitution cf. Herter, H., Jahrbuch für Antike and Christentum iii (1960Google Scholar), 70-II 1; C. Turano, Arch. Cl. iv (1952), 248–52; A. de Franciscis, Klearchos, xxxv-vi, 172 ff.; A. Reinach, Rev. Hut. Rel. lxix (1914), 12–53 passim; Ciaceri, Storia della Magna Grecia (1927–32), i. 210-I; Giannelli, G., Culti e miti della Magna Grecia (Florence, 59632), 197–204.Google Scholar

page 186 note 5 Pembroke, S., ‘Locres et Tarente: le role des femmes dans la fondation de deux colonies grecques’, Annales, Economies, Sociétés, Civilisations v (1970), 1269. Herter (op. cit. 73) believes that Klearchos' opinion is derived simply from the 477/6 votum and Dionysius' false attempt at having it fulfilled.Google Scholar

page 186 note 6 Op. cit. 1269–70.

page 187 note 1 Klearchos, xxxv-vi, 172–6; A. de Frano ciscis, Stato e society in Locri Epizefiri (Naples 1972), nos. 23, 30, 31, and pp. 152–5.

page 187 note 2 Pembroke, op. cit. 1269–70. Mr Pembroke has kindly informed me that there is a quite close parallel to the expression with reference to territory it I.G. ii.2 334 (Sokolowski, F., Lois sacrées de. cites grecques [Paris, 1969], 33). I have Mr D. M. Lewis's kind permission to mentior that he agrees with Pembroke's interpreta tion of the expression.Google Scholar

page 187 note 3 Justin's account of Dionysius' rum suggests that at least until the tyrant's rule—and certainly in the course of it—no ‘sacrec prostitution’ had taken place.

page 187 note 4 Perhaps a mention should be made her of Pind. Pyth. 2. 18–20:

I do not consider this passage to be reference to the votum, despite the fact that as is generally believed, it describes the relief of the Locrian virgins in 477/6, whe, Hieron managed to avert the danger fron their city. For according to the terms of th, votum, since the city was saved, the virgin ought to have been prostituted. They onl' avoided this fate because the Locrian decided not to fulfil the vow, but that had nothing to do with Hieron. If anything, if the Locrians had behaved properly, Hieron's intervention, which brought salvation to the city, should have been the direct cause, as it were, of the virgins' prostitution, not of their liberation from the obligation. I think that the Pindaric verses refer to the relief of the Locrians at having been saved from the Rhegian danger, and their gratitude to Hieron for this salvation, exemplified in the persons of the virgins of the city in a kind of pars pro toto. Nor is there any reason to believe that Pindar had heard of the votum, which may only have been known locally. His knowledge of Locri Epizephyrii (cf. 01. so and 11) is very general and rather vague; in fact he seems only to have known what any educated Greek would know about that rather obscure S. Italian city whose only claim to fame was her eunomia.

page 187 note 5 Klearchos, loc. cit. 174.

page 187 note 6 On the practice of the Locrian Maidens cf. F. Hauser, O.Jh. xv (1912), 168–73; Reinach, op. cit. (p. 186 n. 4); A. Momigliano, C.Q. xxxix (1945), 49–53 ( = Secondo Contributo alla Storia degli Studi Classici [Rome, 1960]Google Scholar, 446–53); Huxley, G. L., Ancient Society and Institutions, Studies presented to V. Ehrenberg (Oxford, 1966)Google Scholar, 147–64; Lerat, L., Les Locriens de l'ouest (Paris, 1952), 19–22; T. S. Brown, Timaeus of Tauromenion (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1958), 45; F. Mingazzini, Rend. Pont. Acc. Arch. xxxviii (1965–6), 69–77.Google Scholar

page 188 note 1 Op. cit. (cf. p. 186 n. 4).

page 188 note 2 Polyb. 12. 5–12, cf. Walbank, Commentary, ii. 330 ff.; cf. Schol. Dion. Per. 366. On the foundation and foundation legend of Locri cf. Bérard, J., La colonisation de l'Italie méridionale et de la Sicile dans l'antiguité, l'histoire et la legende (Paris, 1957)Google Scholar, 199–209; Dunbabin, T. J., The Western Greeks (Oxford, 1948)Google Scholar, 36–7; F. W. Walbank, J.R.S. lii (1962), 6–7; Lerat, Locriens, 22–4; 138–9; Brown, Timaeus, 44–9; Napoli, M., Civiltà della Magna Grecia (Rome, 1969), 207 ff.; Pembroke, op. cit. 1252–5.Google Scholar

page 189 note 1 On the Tarentine foundation legend cf. Pembroke, op. cit. 1241–9; Vidal-Naquet, P., ‘Esclavage et gynécocratie dans la tradition, le mythe, l'utopie’, Recherches sur les structures sociales dans l' antiquité classique (Paris, 1970)Google Scholar, 63–80, esp. 72–4; cf. also Wuilleumier, P., Tarente des origines à la conquête romaine (Paris, 1930), 39–47; Berard, op. cit. 162–9.Google Scholar

page 189 note 2 Bérard, op. cit. 205; Napoli, Civiltà, 206–7.

page 189 note 3 Paus. 3. 3. z.

page 189 note 4 Op, cit. 205.

page 189 note 5 Storia, 193.

page 189 note 6 Cf. Franciscis, A. de, Archaeology xi (1958)Google Scholar, 207. The Locrian pinakes, produced in the first half of the fifth century, show distinct stylistic affinities with the Tarentine terracottas (cf. Ashmole, B., Proceedings of the British Academy, xx [1934], 16).Google Scholar

page 189 note 7 Cf. Bérard, 205; Ciaceri, 248; Vallet, G., Rhé'gion et Zancle (Paris, 1958), 75 n. I.Google Scholar

page 190 note 1 Pseudo-Plut. De mus. g.

page 190 note 2 Cf. Vallet, Rhégion, 309–10.

page 190 note 3 Op. cit. 310-I.

page 190 note 4 Dunbabin, op. cit. 168–9.

page 190 note 5 Cf. Montuoro, P. Zancani, Atti Società Magna Grecia i (1954), 87–8.Google Scholar

page 190 note 6 Cf. Franciscis, A. de, Agalmata. Sculture antiche nel museo nazionale di Reggio Calabria (Naples, 1960)Google Scholar, 28–9 pls. xvi, xvii; Langlotz, E. and Hirmer, M., The Art of the Magna Graecia (London, 1965Google Scholar), nos. 122–4; Franciscis, A. de, Röm. Mit. lxvii (1960)Google Scholar, 1–28; Foti, G., Atti iv Convegno Magna Grecia (1964), 148–51.Google Scholar

The Marafioti temple, to which the terracotta group belongs, was first built towards the middle of the sixth century, possibly, as Dunbabin believed, not long after the battle of Sagra and (possibly) in honour of the Dioscuri. It was previously thought that it was dedicated to Zeus, but it now appears that it was the Marasa temple which belonged to Zeus (Foti, 148–9).

page 191 note 1 With reference to the story-telling imagination of the Greeks, Fenik remarks in a different context (Fenik, B., Typical battle. scenes in the Iliad [Wiesbaden, 1968], 238) ‘the Greeks were not at all loath to repeal similar stories with different names or tc give different persons similar careers and adventures’; that this is a general trend of Greek story-telling is apparent if, for example, the careers of Theseus and Heracles are considered.Google Scholar

page 191 note 2 Justin, 20. 2. 3; 4.18; cf. Napoli, 308–13.

page 191 note 3 Bérard, 191.

page 191 note 4 Napoli, 307–II.

page 191 note 5 Wuilleumier, Tarente, 52.

page 191 note 6 Civiltà, 313.

page 191 note 7 The fact that Taras is not reported to have sent help to the Locrians before the battle of Sagra need not mean that the two cities were not allies; if Taras had sent armed forces to Locri, she might have left herself exposed to a surprise attack from the other two members of the League, Metapontum and Sybaris.

page 192 note 1 Cf. Forrest, W. G., A History of Sparta(London, 1968), 6i.Google Scholar

page 192 note 2 Cf. Vidal-Naquet, op. cit. 64.

page 192 note 3 S. Pembroke, op. cit. (p. 186 n. 5); id. J.W.C.I. xxx (1967), 1–35; P. VidalNaquet, op. cit. (p. 189 n. 1).

page 193 note 1 Vidal-Naquet, op. cit. 74.

page 193 note 2 Op. cit. 64.

page 193 note 3 In j. W.C./. (p. 192 n. 3); id., journal of the Economic and social History of the Orient, viii (1965), 217–47.

page 193 note 4 Vidal-Naquet, 67.

page 193 note 5 Op. cit.

page 193 note 6 On the legend of Caulonia cf. Pembroke, Locres, 1268–3.

page 193 note 7 Cf. Vidal-Naquet, 68–70; Willetts, R. F., Hermes lxxxvii (1959), 495–506.Google Scholar

page 193 note 8 Hdt. 6.83.

page 193 note 9 It should be noted that, while the ‘slaves’ rule' aspect of the story may conceivably have been the result of hostile propaganda, the 'gynaecocracy' aspect, which occurs both in the stories about the events following the battle (cf. Plut. Mul. virt. 245C-F) and in the oracle quoted by Herodotus (6. 77), cannot be explained in the same way, but without doubt belongs strictly to the reversed world ideology discussed here.

page 194 note 1 Cf. Vernant, J.-P., Les origines de la pensée grecque (Paris, 1962), 96–114; cf. also Vidal-Naquet, op. cit. 78.Google Scholar

page 194 note 2 On another aspect of reversed world situations preceding, and leading to, order, cf Burkert, W., Homo pecans. Interpretationen altgrischischer Opferriten and Mythen (Berlin-N. York, 1972)Google Scholar, 206–7. On the theme of the reversed world in general cf. Kenner, H., Das Phänomen der verkehrten Welt in der griechisch-römischen Antike (Klagenfurt, 1970).Google Scholar

page 194 note 3 One of Timaeus' arguments against Aristotle's story about the servile descent of the Locrians was (Polyb. 52. I. 5) that the constitution and practices of Locri Epizephyrii were similar to those of Mainland Locris, and that the laws laid down such penalties against adulterers and runaway slaves as one could hardly expect to find in a community derived from such people (Polyb. 12. 9. 5). However, if the ‘disreputable origin’ motif is considered in terms of a reversal, it would be an automatic result of the creation of order, the foundation of the city, that the normal values and practices of a Greek polis should come in force. In fact, tradition ascribes to Locri Epizephyrii the first law-giver, the austere Zaleukos.

page 194 note 4 Cf. Athen. 14. 639a; Kenner, 88 1T.; Darenberg and Saglio s.v. Saturnalia; Ogilvie, R. M., The Romans and their gods in the age of Augustus (London, 1969), 98–9.Google Scholar

page 194 note 5 Kenner, 102–63.

page 194 note 6 Athen. 14. 639B.

page 194 note 7 Athen. 14. 639F-640A.

page 194 note 8 Cf. also Hdt. 7. 129.

page 195 note 1 Athen. 14. 639c; cf. also Kenner, 87–8.

page 195 note 2 Another example of a reversed world situation associated with the foundation of Locri may perhaps be found—in residual form-in the story of the ruse by which the Locrians deceived the indigenous Sikels and drove them away from the land they pre viously occupied (Polyb. 12.6. 2–5; Polyaen. 6. 22). What is described in the story as the apparently impossible conditions under which the pact could legitimately be broken, and which were artificially created through a trick, can, in fact, be considered as reversed world conditions.

page 196 note 1 Professor B. Ashmole has kindly suggested to me an alternative way in which the role reversal may have operated in the creation of the 477/6 votum; it is based on the hypothesis that a ‘sacred prostitution’ may have existed before the votum, but was restricted to slavegirls who acted as temple prostitutes; the new element introduced by the votum would be that free girls, virgin daughters of citizens, were now obliged to become sacred prostitutes, thus reversing their social and ethical role.

page 196 note 2 If the above remarks and interpretations are correct, they may provide the ‘ideological’ background for the well-known 'contrasted figures' represented on the two side-panels of the Ludovisi throne, which Ashmole has most convincingly associated with Locri Epizephyrii xlii [1922], 248–53): one of the panels shows a naked girl playing the flute, the other a heavily draped young woman burning incense in a thymiaterion. This contrast between the two female figures, identified as hetaira and bride or young wife, adorning the side-panels of a relief whose main part represents—almost certainly—the birth of Aphrodite, is usually interpreted in terms of a double connection of Aphrodite with matrimony and prostitution, either through reference to the two aspects of Aphrodite, Ourania, and Pandemos, or by attributing this double association to Aphrodite Ourania (cf. Simon, E., Die Geburt der Aphrodite [Berlin, 1959], 20–9). However, there is no evidence for such a double aspect of Aphrodite at Locri. Ash mole has suggested (Ant. K. xiv [1971], 160) that the ‘tradition of ritual prostitution … might well have some bearing on the interpretation of the side-panels of the Ludovisi throne’. In my opinion, it is rather tempting to interpret these two contrasting figures in terms of the role reversal envisaged in the votum of 477/6 but never in fact enacted.CrossRefGoogle Scholar