Aitia , Astronomy and the Timing of the Arrhēphoria
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10965798 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Efrosyni Boutsikas (0000-0003-0226-7959, Canterbury Archaeological Trust, corresponding author), Hannah Robert (0000-0002-4243-1242, University of Otago), Robert Hannah |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 107 |
| Pages | 233-245 |
| Publication date | 2012-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Annual of the British School at Athens (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0068-2454 • E-ISSN: 2045-2403 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0068245411000141 |
| OpenAlex | W1989135307 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 28 |
This paper deals with the cult and myths of the daughters of the mythical king of Athens, Erechtheus, who lived on the Acropolis. The myth, preserved in Euripides’ tragedy Erechtheus , establishes the deceased daughters as goddesses who are owed cult by the Athenians. It further equates them with the Hyades, a prominent star cluster in the constellation of Taurus, which they form after their deaths. We examine here the possibility that this myth not only narrates the placement of the girls after their death in the sky in the form of the Hyades, but also may have bound the constellation to certain festivals held on the Acropolis, which through their aetiological myths were connected to the daughters of Erechtheus and in which the participation of young girls ( arrhēphoroi ) was important. To explicate this cult, we explore its context on the Acropolis as fully as possible, through the visual arts, the literary myth, the festival calendar, and the natural landscape and night sky, so as to determine whether the movement of the Hyades was indeed visible from the Acropolis during the time when the young maiden cult rites were performed on the hill. This study investigates for the first time the role of the night sky and astronomical observations in the performance of the nocturnal festival of the Arrhēphoria
Acropolis · Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Astronomy · Constellation · Context (archaeology · Cult · Literature · Mythology · Physics · Ancient Egypt and Archaeology · Classical Antiquity Studies · Historical and Architectural Studies · History
Homo necans
Polytheism and Society at Athens
Excavations on the North Slope of the Acropolis in Athens, 1933-1934
Excavations on the North Slope of the Acropolis in Athens, 1931-1932
Eros and Aphrodite on the North Slope of the Acropolis in Athens
A Mycenaean Fountain on the Athenian Acropolis
The True Aglaurion
The Panathenaic Frieze
Imaging the Cosmos
The Athenian Calendar of Sacrifices
The Athenian Acropolis
The Sacred and Civil Calendar of the Athenian Year
Athenian Officials on the Parthenon Frieze
Parthenon and Parthenoi
Astronomical Evidence for the Timing of the Panathenaia
Temples, Stars, and Ritual Landscapes
The Parthenon Frieze and the Apadana Reliefs at Persepolis
The Heroes of Attica
Athens in the Late Bronze Age
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,14 |
| Citation span | 2019 - 2019 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |