Comparison of Panhellenic Structures and Greek Sanctuaries

simile of Panhellenic Structures and classic SanctuariesIn What Ways Were Panhellenic Sanctuaries Distinctive in Comparison with Other Kinds of Greek Sanctuaries?This work is going to centre on the Panhellenic sanctuaries of capital of Washington and Delphi and what made them distinctive, nonwithstanding likewise the on a lower floorstandings why these distinctions occurred. To achieve this I am going to concentrate on the discussion on the origins of the sanctuaries in comparison to others that did non have Panhellenic status and excessively the types of activity that were established at these sanctuaries that were suitable to appeal to such(prenominal) a vast selection of citizenry.According to custom the Olympic games were first held in 776 BC, merely hysteria activity at capital of Washington had its origins some time before this as manifest by the presence of terracotta and bronze dedicated figurines, which suggest a age of at least the after-hours 10th century BC (Morgan 1990 57). During this period only(prenominal) the sanctuary was by no means Panhellenic and was mainly used by local groups. The site of the sanctuary of Zeus Olympios at capital of Washington was put in a fertile plain on the banks of the River Alpheios in the northwest Peloponnese, and was non controlled by all maven state, which, as we shall see, was a key requirement for it be flood tide Panhellenic. Metal evidence of bronze and now and again iron tripods points to settlements from the regions of Messenia and Arkadia as the main groups participating in the sanctuary in this earlier period and the reasons for this whitethorn have been to do with the remoteness of the site. It may have been, as Morgan suggests, a indifferent(p) meeting govern at which inter-regional relations were developed (Morgan 1990 30, 85, Hall 2007 272). It can be seen therefore that even during its earlier history, capital of Washington took on a role that fostered relations between d ifferent groups, in this case of the western Peloponnese or else than the larger Greek world.In the eighth century the number of communities using the sanctuary hugely increase as shown by a massive rise in the number of tripods being dedicated there. Tripods were seen as high status items and were an indictor of wealthiness, and were among the prizes given by Achilles at the funeral games of Patroclus in the IliadFor swift charioteers first he set forth goodly prizes, a woman to lead away, one skilled in goodly handiwork, and an dog-eared tripod of two and twenty measuresfor him that should be first.(Homer Iliad 23.264-265)It can be seen from this that in or so 700BC, the approximate date of the small-arm of the Iliad, tripods were given as prizes, but as Osborne notes, it is difficult to memorise whether this association existed earlier in the eighth century. Despite this he suggests that the rise in tripod dedication coincides with the traditional creation of the Olympic ga mes in 776 and argues that the reason for there being m all more tripods than the number of possible victors is that the range of type and manufacture points to people bringing their own tripods to dedicate whether victorious or not (Osborne 1996 96). It is the view of Hall however that this date of 776 was exaggerated through the calculations of Hippias of Elis to increase the standing of the games. He asserts that as the other great Panhellenic games were not established until the sixth century the Olympic games may in like manner have their origins in this century (Hall 2007 32, 272). Morgan on the other hand, believes there may be an element of truth in Pausanias account that the games were re-established in 776, and puts transport the idea that there may have been a small exceed local fiesta tradition in place prior to the 8th century. She argues that although a precedent may have been in place, wider interlocking in the games did not commence until c.725BC (Morgan 1990 4 8). It does seem odd however that the other Panhellenic games at Delphi, Nemea and Isthmia were not established until over a hundred years after those at Olympia, and yet these were apparently founded in spite of appearance quick succession (between c.582 and c.573). I am therefore in support of Halls position that perhaps the antiquity of the games was exaggerated, and it seems more plausibly that their origins lie in the late 7th or possibly even premature 6th century.If it were not games then, what drew people to the Olympic sanctuary to cause the sudden increase in the number of tripods dedicated? There is another explanation which shows a changing attitude in the ideas of man-to-man identity and the display of wealth. The dedications could reflect a new desire to display wealth for the viewing of a much wider audience. This would therefore have been a way of displaying social status but may in any case have provided opportunities for increasing your position within a soc ial hierarchy. The sheer numbers of tripods may also reflect the need to contest with others outside of your own community. Olympia was therefore the ideal place for these activities, determined on two major rivers and so providing ample status boosting attention and also on neutral territory in a remote fixing, the distance, and thus the added danger, increasing the prestige of the dedicator (De Polignac 1994 11, Osborne 1996 98). This seems to be a legitimate suggestion in explaining the influx of votive offerings. A fundamental change in attitude appears likely as an explanation for these new practices, as an increase in cultic practice was taking place end-to-end Greece. For example in the sanctuary of Pherai only two fibulae have so far been found date to the 9th and early 8th centuries compared to 1783 from the late 8th and early 7th. This can also be seen in a range of other objects at various different sanctuaries, and is not restricted to the future Panhellenic sites (Osborne 1996 93). Snodgrass suggests this represented a redirection of wealth to the dedication of the gods, and so it may be no coincidence that in this identical period there was also a change in custom in that the dead were no longer buried with the range or wealth of grave-goods that they once were (Snodgrass 1980 53-4, Osborne 1996 82). This would imply a change in belief from the display of power, of an individual or possibly even just a family group, in expiration through the inclusion of worldly willpowers, to an active display of wealth and social status in life. This may of course have been a factor prior to the 8th century but it is not as archaeologically visible as it becomes through tripod dedications. This is not to say that the games could not have been taking place at the same time, as neither activity is mutually exclusive however it highlights the practical impossibility of identifying the origins of the games through available archaeology.The sanctuary of Ap ollo Pythios at Delphi had quite different origins to Olympia and there is no evidence that it had any cult associations until around the start of the 8th century, when bronze tripods and figurines appear. It is Morgans view that the sanctuary began life as a local shrine for the village of Delphi, which was subsequently adopted by neighbouring states (Morgan 1990 106). During most of the 8th century dedications were relatively limited especially when compared to other sanctuaries such as Perakhora. These increased considerably in the last suck of the 8th century, but unlike Olympia where this apparently trailed off in the 7th, these dedications steadily continued coming from locations as diverse as the Peloponnese, Attica and Crete (Osborne 1996 202-203).Similarly to Olympia, Delphi was situated in quite a remote location on the slopes of Mount Parnassos, north of the Gulf of Corinth, in central Greece. This remoteness likewise allowed for its appeal to a wider audience, but it d id evolve as part of a community, unlike the much more isolated Olympia and there was also a strong Corinthian involvement. The key issue however is that it did not ignite directly within the territory of a developing powerful political centre.The aforementioned sanctuary of Hera at Perakhora for example became part of the territory of the urban center of Corinth and despite its correspondent origins and superior wealth in the 8th century at least to Delphi, it never achieved Panhellenic status. It would come under what Marinatos calls an extra-urban sanctuary, in that it fell under the direct administration of Corinth but was not within the urban space of the city. Urban sanctuaries, such as the Acropolis at Athens, were prominent features within the boundaries of a city and were used as an obvious display of the wealth and power of the respective city. Extra-urban sanctuaries on the other hand had a different political function to find the territory of the city administering i t, such as Corinth in the case of Perakhora. They also acted as small scale pan-Hellenic sanctuaries in as much as they united followers of a particular cult within a region and were not just for members of a specific polis. The Panhellenic sites of Delphi and Olympia light upon under the title of inter-urban sanctuaries (Marinatos 1993 229). This status largely depended on where the sanctuary was when cities became politicised, and the creation of, or claim for possession of a sanctuary probably indicated the beginnings of regional awareness (Morgan 1990 7). The position of a sanctuary therefore delimitate its function, thus also changing the types of votive objects dedicated. Morgan believes Perakhora came to reflect the personal concerns of the people in the region of Corinth, maculation the elite utilized Delphi for the display of their wealth this change in digest can be seen at Perakhora through dedications of items such as clay model koulouria and other feminine items lin ked to Hera (Morgan 1990 144). The major coronation in sanctuaries within polis territories however came in the form of monumental architecture which was constructed in these locations at least a century before that of any of the temples of the major Panhellenic sanctuaries (Hall 2007 271, De Polignac 1994 12). Prior to the construction of these temples the main focus of cult activity at all sanctuaries had been just an open air altar.The small temple of Hera at Perakhora built c.800 BC was one of the first to be constructed and was probably a one roomed building around 8 metres long and 5 metres wide. The initial temple of the Heraion at Samos was also constructed in this period though it was far more monumental in structure at just over 30 metres long, although even-tempered only 6 metres wide. The temple to first be built entirely of stone however was not erected until the 6th century, though perhaps it is not surprising that this was also at a polis sanctuary the temple of Ar temis at Kerkyra (Coldstream 1977 322, Coldstream 1985 70-3).It is raiseing then that these smaller, localised polis sanctuaries received this type of investment from communities long before the Panhellenic sanctuaries in the 7th and 6th centuries. Did this mean that urban and extra-urban sanctuaries were more important? Hall asserts that local sanctuaries essential have been of a higher priority and Morgan takes this further in saying that the reason for this is that the state had to be defined politically, spatially and socially before formal investment could take place outside of its borders (Hall 2007 271, Morgan 1993 19-20). Coldstream also agrees with this view, and it is his opinion that the construction of temples, among other signs, marked the arrival of the polis (Coldstream 1985 68). This would therefore seem to show that local temples such as that at Perakhora, were a key component of polis identity, and so it would seem only natural that city sanctuaries were invested in before competing against other poleis on the wider stage at the sanctuaries of Delphi and Olympia. As a result, it would seem slight an argument of which was the more important and therefore most deserving of communal investment, and more about which was the most fundamental to the establishment of a collective civic identity.This change in the notion of identity, away from the publicity of self interest of the individual and towards the collective identity of the polis, is also noticeable in the building of treasuries, specially at Delphi. At first these were constructed by elites in order to promote their own status, such as the treasury of Cypselus mentioned by HerodotosThese bowlsstand in the Corinthian treasury though to speak strictly it should not be called the public treasury of the Corinthians, but the treasury of Cypselus, son of Etion.(Herodotos Histories 1.14)As Hall notes however, by the 6th century these, despite still probably being financed by the most afflue nt, were constructed in the name of the polis, the treasury of Knidos being built in c.560-550 and the treasury of Siphnos in 525 for example (Hall 2007 272-3, Snodgrass 1980 141). Their function would have been the same, but the focus had shifted to the glorification of the polis rather than individuals. Only once a city state, and thus the communal identity that went with it, had in full formed could this be possible and allow for competition between states. Treasuries also existed in state sanctuaries, but all would have been financed by local inhabitants of the controlling city again differentiating from the Panhellenic appeal of Olympia and Delphi. The Heraion at Samos for instance has several possible treasuries, which were likely funded by local elites (Kyrieleis 1993 129, 133).As previously mentioned, the majority, if not all of the Panhellenic sanctuaries introduced games in the early 6th century and this is the period when they can truly be called Panhellenic, involving c ompetition between many poleis, rather than just elite individuals from neighbouring states. Individuals were still fted as heroes for victory, both(prenominal) by their polis and on a wider scale through winning they had increased their own status, but also the prestige of their home city. All athletic competitions were linked to religious festivals, and by 500BC there were around 50 sets of games in place throughout Greece (Sweet 1987 3). This wider recognition of ability of course, could not happen at these local games, such as those of the Panathenaia, and so added to the appeal of the Panhellenic games and must have been one of the main reasons for the assured interest of so many states. Again the reason that so many city-states could come together in one place to compete was because none of the Panhellenic sanctuaries were dominated by a powerful state. This meant that there was no reason to feel threatened as perhaps could happen at more urban sanctuaries, find within or cl ose to a dominant polis. This was one of the reasons why the Panathenaia, despite efforts from the Athenians to make it an inter-state festival to rival the Panhellenic games, was ultimately unsuccessful in attracting other poleis to compete (Finley 1985 xviii-xix).The Pythian games at Delphi and the Olympic games consisted of similar events, except that Delphi also offered musical competitionscontests for harpingfor flute-playing and for singing to the fluteThe competitions being the same as at Olympia, except the iv horse chariot, and the Delphians themselves added to the contest running races for boys, the long course and the double course.(Pausanias rendering of Greece 10.7.4-5)These contests clearly fixed the Panhellenic status of these sanctuaries, but could they have been classed as Panhellenic prior to the excogitation of athletic competition? This is harder to determine with Olympia, as the games were the main attraction of the sanctuary but also because the origins of t he games are so hard to determine. Delphi however was just as famous, if not more so, for its vaticinator. The Delphic oracle is believed to have been established in the late 8th century, although like the Olympic games this is disputed. Again the only material evidence is the rise in votive offerings at the end of the century, which as discussed above is present in many places and could be indicative of a number of practices. There is a mention of the oracle in the Odyssey howeverin sacred Pytho, when he passed over the threshold of stone to enquire of the oracle.(Homer Odyssey 8.79-82)If its provenance is to be believed, and if it was not a later accompaniment to the story, then this would seem to support an 8th century origin for the oracle. Whatever the actual date, it is Morgans belief that the introduction of the oracle may reflect early state domination of the sanctuary, in a similar room to the way treasuries began to reflect the polis rather than the individual (Morgan 1 990 184-5). Osborne advocates that the oracle was part of the wider appeal of Delphi, but Delphi was not the only sanctuary with an oracle, and this again brings us back to the question of when it first became Panhellenic and what determined this status the oracle or the Pythian games (Osborne 1996 204).No matter what the actual cause of panhellenism was, the activities in place at both Olympia and Delphi were available elsewhere at many other sanctuaries that never achieved the status Panhellenic. The apparent reason for this, as has been reiterated many times through this work, was the geographical location of the sanctuaries. The Delphic oracle would have been perceived as far less likely to give biased advice to protect its political allegiances, as its neutrality meant that it was not dependent on the ambitions of a controlling polis. Similarly, the Olympic and Pythian games would have provided impartial ground on which to compete for greater glory than was possible within the confines of a state or intra-regional festival. It can be seen therefore that the origins of both Panhellenic and civic sanctuaries were quite comparable, and it was only following the emergence of a richly defined state, with territorial awareness, that the varying roles of sanctuaries became distinct. Consequently, it is my belief that it was a combination of geographical location and the rise of the polis that provided the milieu for Panhellenic sanctuaries to be set apart, but that they had to have something to offer in order to appeal to a wider audience, whether it was an oracle or athletic competition. It is mainly through these factors that inter-urban sanctuaries differentiated from those directly under the control of a city-state.BibliographyHerodotos. Histories, translated by A. De Slincourt (Penguin Classics). capital of the United Kingdom Penguin Books. 2003.Homer. Iliad, translated by A. T. Murray. London Heinemann / Cambridge, Massachusetts Harvard University Press. 1924.Homer. Odyssey, translated by A. T. Murray. London Heinemann / Cambridge, Massachusetts Harvard University Press. 1919.Pausanias. Description of Greece, translated by W. H. S. Jones and H. A. Ormerod. London Heinemann /Cambridge, Massachusetts Harvard University Press. 1918.Coldstream, J. N. 1977. Geometric Greece. London Ernest Benn.Coldstream, J. N. 1985. Greek Temples Why and Where? In P. Easterling and J. Muir (eds), Greek trust and Society. Cambridge Cambridge University Press.De Polignac, F. 1994. Mediation, Competition, and Sovereignty The Evolution of Rural Sanctuaries in Geometric Greece. In S. Alcock and R. Osborne (eds), Placing the gods Sanctuaries and Sacred Space in past Greece. Oxford Clarendon Press.Finley, M. 1985. Foreword. In P. Easterling and J. Muir (eds), Greek Religion and Society. CambridgeCambridge University Press.Hall, J. M. 2007. A History of the Archaic Greek World ca. 1200-479 BC. Oxford Blackwell.Kyrieleis, H. 1993. The Heraion at Samos. In N. Marinatos and R. Hgg (eds), Greek Sanctuaries unused Approaches. London and New York Routledge.Marinatos, N. 1993. What were Greek Sanctuaries? A Synthesis. In N. Marinatos and R. Hgg (eds),Greek Sanctuaries New Approaches. London and New York Routledge.Morgan, C. 1990. Athletes and Oracles The Transformation of Olympia and Delphi in the Eight Century BC. Cambridge Cambridge University Press.Morgan, C. 1993. The Origins of Pan-Hellenism. In N. Marinatos and R. Hgg (eds), Greek SanctuariesNew Approaches. London and New York Routledge.Osborne, R. 1996. Greece in the Making 1200-479 BC. London and New York Routledge.Snodgrass, A. M. 1980. Archaic Greece The Age of Experiment. London J M Dent.Sweet, W. E. 1987. Sport and Recreation in Ancient Greece A Sourcebook with Translations. OxfordOxford University Press.