Pythios and Pythion

The Spread of a Cult Title

Bibliographic Data

ID7435571
AuthorsJ K Davies (University of Liverpool, corresponding author)
Year2013
Pages57-69
Publication date2013-09-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueGreek and Roman Networks in the Mediterranean (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.4324/9781315876580-4
OpenAlexW4244292133
ISBN9781315876580
LanguageEN
Citations received21
References cited23

The epithet Pythios/Pythion, unequivocally denoting the cult of Apollo of Delphi, came to have a very widespread distribution throughout the Greek world, comparable only to that of Zeus Olympios. Pre-Hellenistic attestations are summarily reported, showing concentrations (e.g., Attika, Argolis, Thessaly, Aegean islands, Krete), significant vacua (e.g., Boiotia, north-western Greece), and overlaps with the epithets Delphinios and Pythaieus. Likely periods and mechanisms of its spread are sketched, as are possible explanations (colonization, oracles, purification), though without overt preference for any one model of network-formation. Keywords: ApolloCultOraclePurificationDistribution Acknowledgements My warmest thanks for their assistance go to Dr Mili (n. 11 above), and to Professor Robert Parker, whose speed, kindness, precision and general helpfulness in reading a draft of this paper were palmary. She and he bear no responsibility for any remaining bêtises. My thanks also to the editors, and to the suggestions made by two anonymous referees, which I have gratefully incorporated. Notes [1] Iliad II 509 and IX 405; Od. VIII 80 and XI 581; Hes. Theog. 499; Hdt. 1.54.1. [2] Details in Davies Davies, John K. 1997. “The Moral Dimension of Pythian Apollo”. In What Is a God? Studies in the Nature of Greek Divinity, Edited by: Lloyd, Alan B. London: Duckworth with The Classical Press of Wales. [Google Scholar], ‘The Moral Dimension of Pythian Apollo’, 50–51. [3] The survey of A.P. by Vogel Vogel, Martin. 2003. Apollon Onos, Bonn: Orpheus Verlag GmbH, Verlag für systematische Musikwissenschaft GmbH. [Google Scholar], Apollon Onos, 89–122, adds little. [4] IG X 2,1, nos. 38, 178, and 214, with SEG L 638. [5] Myrina on Lesbos, and Apollonia (but which Apollonia is not clear) (Plut. De Pyth. Or. 16 = Mor. 402A); Metapontion (Strabo 6.1.15, 264C). The human ver sacrum dedications made by Eretrians and Magnesians and cited by Plutarch (ibid.), even if historical, should likewise be left on one side. [6] Thus at least F. Hiller v. Gaertringen, ‘’, RE III, 2 (1898): 2522. [7] Davies DaviesJohn K.‘Attestations of the Cult of Apollo Pythios.’ Forthcoming. [Google Scholar], ‘Attestations of the Cult of Apollo Pythios’. [8] Jacoby, Atthis, 40–41 and 272 n. 225; Parker, Miasma, 131; Parker Parker, Robert. 1983. Miasma. Pollution and Purification in Early Greek Religion, Oxford: Clarendon Press. [Google Scholar], Athenian Religion, 220 with n. 10. For the word pythochrestos see also IG XII 3, 329 (Thera, as epithet of the hero Anthister). [9] Boethius Boethius, Axel. 1918. Die Pythais. Studien zur Geschichte der Verbindungen zwischen Athen und Delphi, Uppsala: Almquist & Wiksells. [Google Scholar], Die Pythais, passim, with brief updates in Parker Parker, Robert. 1996. Athenian Religion: A History, Oxford: Clarendon Press. 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[27] Garland, Introducing New Gods, 47–63 and 116–35; Clinton Clinton, Kevin. 1994. “The Epidauria and the Arrival of Asclepius in Athens”. In Ancient Greek Cult Practice from the Epigraphical Evidence. Proc. 2nd int. Seminar on Ancient Greek Cult, Athens Nov. 1991, Edited by: Hägg, R. Stockholm: Svenska Institutet I Athen. [Google Scholar], ‘The Epidauria’. [28] See Burkert Burkert, Walter. 1996. “Greek Temple-Builders: Who, Where, and Why?”. In The Role of Religion in the Early Greek Polis. Proc. 3rd INT. SEMINAR on Ancient Greek Cult, Athens Oct. 1992, Edited by: Hägg, R. Stockholm: Svenska Institutet I Athen. [Google Scholar], ‘Greek Temple-Builders’, 27. [29] See the cults attested in the silver-mining region round Laureion (Lauffer Lauffer, Siegfried. 1979. Die Bergwerkssklaven von Laureion, 2nd ed, Wiesbaden: F. Steiner Verlag. [Google Scholar], Bergwerkssklaven, 277–85, or the examples cited by Chaniotis Chaniotis, Angelos. 1996. 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