Conversing with Civilisations

Over the past month, I have been working on an essay for one of my modules: Introduction to the Greek World. The question was one that, over the course of my education thus far, I have faced many times. What did it mean to be Greek in the Archaic period? Naturally, given my affinity to the subject, I wrote about religion, with one of my points centring around temples and sanctuaries. Limited by the wordcount, I chose to expand on my thoughts here, as the first of many mini-essays and commentaries related to my degree.

The Archaic period of Greece (c.800 BC to 480 BC) saw an influx in the erection of temples and sanctuaries across both the mainland and the apoikia (the colonies), revealing the significance of religious havens for those who associate with Greek identity. This practice can be traced back to the Iliad, where Chryses ‘built a temple’ to gain Apollo’s favour. This literary reference not only informs historians of the importance of temples during Homer’s time at the start of the archaic period, but also sets a backdrop of the mythological past that archaic Greeks would have been inspired by. Historians have come to acknowledge the Greeks’ relationship with their gods as transactional, and the building of religious buildings encapsulates this: the mortals build temples in honour of their gods, and the gods, in turn, grant them what they ask for.

In 1952, archaeologists excavated the Poseidonion at Isthmia in Corinth, a Temple of Poseidon frequented by Athenians and Corinthians, and the site of the Isthmian Games from its foundation in c.580 BC. Bookidis traced the worship back to the Corinthian synoikismos in the early 8th century, though its origins could be pushed back to the early Geometric or Protogeometric period. Thus, the archaic period became a transformative time when worship was physically cemented through the building and usage of temples.

Further, the longevity of these temples and sanctuaries can be proven singularly by the extraurban sanctuary excavated by Verdelis at ancient Solygeia. This temple was dedicated to either Hera or Demeter when it originated in the 8th century, and the excavation of 1,000 vases and 50 figurines from a nearby Mycenaean chamber tomb reveal that the sanctuary was consistently active from the early Protocorinthian period to the early 5th century. This continuous use re-affirms the notion that, once built, the temples were a space of consistent attention and use.

Geography plays little part in Greek identity, so historians, in an effort to assess religious influence, sought for the presence of these same sacred spaces across the apoikia. As one of the earliest Greek settlements in Sicily, founded in the middle of the 8th century, Naxos housed a number of sacred sites, including the notable Portara of Naxos, which was a sanctuary believed to face Delos (a major cult centre) and associated with the story of Ariadne. This monumental, marble archway was constructed during the 6th century under the rule of the tyrant Lygdamis, with construction beginning c.530 BC and halting c.524 when he was overthrown. Templar construction, albeit a political tool, appears to have been a consistent focus throughout the archaic period and across the apoikia, as well as the mainland.

Similarly, in Cyrene, the extraurban sanctuaries of Demeter and Persephone, built around 630 BC, were complex structures spread over twenty miles and divided into three main areas: the lower, middle, and upper sanctuaries. These included temples and theatre complexes, and archaeological remains indicate continuous religious activity from around 600 BC to the mid-3rd century AD. Archaeologists also excavated votive gifts for the goddesses, including jewellery, figurines, pig bones, and inscriptions. The presence of theatre complexes is an interesting find as it reiterates how ‘there was no room in their mental world for religion because to them everything participates in divinity.’ (Cartledge)

In essence, religion was so ‘inextricably intermingled’ in the lives of the Greeks, yet the 300 or so years of the archaic period saw a particular emphasis placed on templar erection, and the consistent dedication to and reverence for the Hellenistic gods.

Bib.

• Homer, ‘The Iliad,’ 1. – translated by E.V. Rieu, Penguin Classics, 2003
• N. Bookidis, ‘The Sanctuaries of Corinth,’ Corinth, vol. 20, 2003, pp.248-250
• P. Cartledge, ‘The Greeks: A Portrait of Self and Others,’ (Oxford, 2002), pp.167-168
• S. Kane, ‘The Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone in Cyrene, Libya,’ Archaeology, vol. 32, no. 2, March/April 1979, pp.57-59

by Ellie Weaver