Herodotus and the Major Sanctuaries of the Greek World

7/28/2019 Herodotus and the Major Sanctuaries of the Greek World

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/herodotus-and-the-major-sanctuaries-of-the-greek-world 1/9

öffentlichung in : V.  Karagheorgis - J.  Taifacos  (Hrsgg.), The World of  Herodotus. Proceedings  of  an  International  Conference  

 at  the Foundation  Anastasios  G.  Leventis, Nicosia, September 18-21, 2003 and  organized  by  the Foundation  Anastasios  G.  Leventis 

 the Faculty of  Letters, University  of  Cyprus, Nicosia  2004, S.  159-167 

Herodotus and the Major Sanctuaries of the Greek  World1  

Peter Funke 

In 1981 ,  J o hn  Ferguson  pub l i shed an article entit led  'He rodo tus as a source   fo r the study 

of Greek  r e l i g i on ' . Th i s article was typ ica l o f a r enewed interest  in p r ob l ems connected  

with re l ig ion that was ev ident also among  class ic ists  in those years . Wi t h  the  mater ial he 

gathered, Ferguson  s howed  in an  impress i ve w a y th e r ichness  o f In format ion regarding  

the his tory  o f re l ig ion enc losed   in Herodo tus ' Histories. N o other l i terary work  f r om  the  

Archaic or Clas s i ca l age o f fers a comparab l y  broad spectrum   o f detai led ev idence ,  none opens such a w ide  perspect ive on th e divers i ty  not on l y o f Greek but a lso  o f al ien rel i -

gions.  In recent  t imes , Herodo tus ' ethnographic accounts o f the re l ig ions o f Egyp t i an s , 

Assyrians, Pers ians etc. have rece ived even more attention than  what he says about 

Greek re l ig ion - one on l y has to ment i on the  f undamenta l studies  o f Franco is  Hartog  

(1980), Fab i o  Mo r a   (1985 ) and Walter Burker t  (1990 ) . 

In spite  o f the  fact that Burker t  in h is essay on  'He rodo tus as a histor ian  o f al ien re l i

gions' c o m e s  to the co nc l us i o n that  ' the mo s t interesting quest ions. . . [ s eem] to  l ie o u t -

side the c losed  System   o f relat ions  o f G r e e k re l ig ion '  (c f . Burker t 1 9 9 0 , 3),2  in the  f o l -

lowing it   is  m y  intent ion to  f o cus  prec i se ly o n the  G r e e k re l ig ious System as d o c u m e n t -

ed  in H er o do tus ,  and po int espec ia l l y to o n e aspect that seems to m e not to h a v e rece ived  

enough attention  so far. I  intend  to ask  i f and to w hat extent th e m a n y G r e e k  sanctuar ies 

and  t emp l e s that w er e an accepted  c o m p o n e n t  o f H er o do tus ' w o r l d   f o r m e d parts  o f a 

coherent re l ig ious ne tw o r k .  W a s there anyth ing  l i ke a  'men ta l  m a p '  o f a sacred   l andscape 

of G r e e k sanctuar ies  in H er o do tus ' w o r l d ? It  w i l l not b e poss ib le  to g i v e a c o m p r e h e n -

sive answ er to this quest ion  in th e space   o f this paper , and I  a m  m y s e l f at the beg i nn i ng 

of this  inves t igat ion . T her e fo r e , w hat  f o l l o w s  is to be unders tood as a co l lec t ion  o f pr e -

liminary o bse r va t i o ns , sti l l very  general  in character. 

' I wou l d l ike  to thank   J . Nico ls  and  N . Luraghi fo r their patience  in  translating  my text into  Eng l i sh . For 

discussions o f th e topic I am  grateful to  K . Freitag , M . Haake , and  M . J ung . The  dissertation o f B ow d e n 

(1990) on  Herodotus  and  Greek  sanctuaries has never been published; bu t c f . nevertheless  B ow d e n 2003 . 2 O n Herodotus and  Greek religion in  general se e now  especial ly Gou l d  2001 and Mika l son 2002 . O n the  

religion  o f Herodotus c f . Harrison 2000 . 

159 

7/28/2019 Herodotus and the Major Sanctuaries of the Greek World

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/herodotus-and-the-major-sanctuaries-of-the-greek-world 2/9

PETER F U N K E

Addressing G r e e k r e l i g i o n m e a n s a d d r e s s in g polis r e l i g i o n : ' Th e polis p r o v i d e d th e

fundamental f r a m e w o r k i n w h i c h G r e e k r e l i g i o n o p e r a t e d ' . W i t h t hi s S t a te m e n t,

Christiane S o u r v i n o u - I n w o o d h a s a p tl y d e f i n e d th e m a i n c h a ra c t er o f G r e e k r e l i g i o n

(Sourvinou-Inwood 2 0 0 0 , 1 3 ) . G r e e k r el i g io n w a s p r i m a r i l y polis re l ig ion o r ethnos re l i

gion. Re l ig ion and cu l t re f lec ted d i rec t ly the po l i t i ca l wo r ld o f the Gr ee k polis a n d w e r e

characterized by it s sam e var ie ty and d ivers i ty . Wi th h i s ma ny ind ica t ion s and re fe r -

ences, He rodo tus o f fe rs us a par t icu lar ly goo d ins ight in the var iegated w or l d o f polis

religion, a n d a t t h e s a m e t i m e h e c o m m u n i c a t e s a c o m p r e h e n s i v e v i e w o f i ts g e o g r a p h -

ical e x t e n s i o n . H o w e v e r , a t f i rs t s i g ht t h is l o o k s m o r e l i k e a m e r e j u x t a p o s i t i o n o f d i s -

connected ent i t ie s than a coh es i ve and o rgan ized who le . 3

Al l th i s i s we l l kn ow n and requ i res no fur ther e labora t ion . In o rder to appro ach the

question o f the ex i s tence o f a sacred land scap e , i t i s necessary to turn awa y f r om co n -

sidering the polis the locu s o f re l ig ious ac t iv i ty par excellence, and concentra te our

attention o n t h e e m b e d d e d n e s s o f polis r e l i g i o n in a m u c h m o r e c o m p l e x S y st e m o f r e l a -

tions. O n th i s p o i n t , I r e f er a g a i n t o Ch r i s t i a n e S o u r v i n o u - I n w o o d : ' E a c h p o l i s wa s a re l i

gious s y s t e m w h i c h f o r m e d p a rt o f t h e m o r e c o m p l e x w o r l d - o f - t h e - p o fo S y s t e m , i n te r -

acting with the re l ig iou s Sys tems o f the o ther poleis and w i th the Panhe l len ic re l ig ious

dimension' ( S o u r v i n o u - I n w o o d 2 0 0 0 , 1 3 ). I n t h e f o l l o w i n g I i n t e nd t o s h o w th a t b y

including in our perspec t ive the m ech an ism s o f th i s in te rac t ion i t i s poss ib le to reach a t

least a ten ta t ive So lu t ion to the pro b le m w e are dea l in g w i t h . In so do ing , I w i l l con f in emy at ten t ion to the Pan he l le n ic re l ig iou s d im ens io n . 4

In the ar ti c le re fe r red to be fo re , W a l te r Burk er t ( 199 0 ) co r rec t ly under l ine d tha t

Herodotus appears to be essent ia l l y scep t ica l in theo log ica l mat ters . Typ ica l o f th i s a t t i-

tude i s a passage in B o o k 2 , wer e Herod o tus ex p l i c i t l y re fuses to narra te ' d iv ine th ing s ' :

TO d e t a TCptiYuaxa, x ä eyoo (peuvio udcAtcrTa &7rr)Y eea9a i (H dt . 2.6 5. 2) . In spit e o f his

eschewing theo lo g ica l specu la t ion and con f in ing h i s a t ten t ion pr im ar i l y to the concre te

manifestation o f re l ig iou s be l ie f s , bes ides a num ber o f re fe rences to cu l t p rac t ices o f S in

gle poleis a n d ethne, H e r o d o t u s a l s o p r o v i d e s h i n t s o f a P a n h e l l e n i c r e l i g i o u s d i m e n s i o n .The op i n io n on the o r ig in s o f the Gree k pantheon express ed in Bo o k 2 a l ready po in ts in

this d irec t ion . Th ere He rodo tus says tha t i t wa s H om er and He s io d w h o fir st ' taught the

3 Th is aspect f inds its expression in the great num ber o f religious festivals of the political com mu nities in

the Greek wo r ld ; see Cart ledge 1985 ,98 - 9 .4 A n instructive exam ple for the Panhellenic re lig ious System is exem plif ied in Xe nop hon 's Anabasis; c f.

on this point Price 1999 , 1-4.

160

7/28/2019 Herodotus and the Major Sanctuaries of the Greek World

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/herodotus-and-the-major-sanctuaries-of-the-greek-world 3/9

HERODOTUS A N D T H E M A J O R S A N C T U A R I E S O F TH E G R E E K W O R L D

Greeks the descent o f the god s, and gave the god s their nam es , and determ ined their

spheres and funct ion s , and described the ir outward fo rm s ' (2 .53 .2 ; c f . Th om as 20 00 ,

216-7).

For our purposes it is irrelevant i f and to what extent this Statement Covers Herodotus'

religious scept ic ism or his dou bt regarding a certain theog ony. I t is impo rtant to note that

in spite o f a l l d ivers i ty not o nly in the f ie ld o f po l i t ics but also in the f ie ld o f re l ig ion , we

can see in Herod otus the traces of a Panhe l lenic level o f percep t ion, wh ich wa s imp or

tant fo r Greek re l ig ious thought , independent o f Herod otus ' personal op in ion s . Such a

Panhellenic perspect ive became re levant espec ia l l y when ever the sense o f co m m on her -

itage and so l idar i ty am ong the Greek s had to be em pha s ized . There fore , Ar i s tagoras o f

Miletus cou ld inv oke the Seo i 'EXXnvio t (Hdt . 5 .49 .3 ) jus t as Soc les o f Cor inth (H dt .

5.92ri) and H ipp ias o f Athen s (Hdt . 5 .3 .1 ) . In 480 the Athen ians re jec ted the Pers ians '

offer o f peace 'out o f respect fo r Zeus He l le n ios ' (A ta "EXAnviov a iöeaSev Teg ) (9 .7a ) ;

and Hegesistratus o f Sam os at Delo s in 47 9 cal led the Gre eks to cont inu e the war against

the Pers ians in the name o f the ' com m on g ods ' - Beo\ K O I V O I (Hdt . 9 .90 .2 ) .

This Pan hel le nic perspect ive on the world o f the Greek god s was a necessary presu p-

position for the forma tion o f a sacred landscap e of a Panhe l lenic breadth, that over -

stepped the bord ers o f the Single poleis even tho ugh i ts found at ion s lay in a re l ig ious

world d o mi na ted b y polis re l ig ion . Th e Theoi Hellenioi were located in a wor ld of sanc-

tuaries wh ose coord inates were de f ined by a shared re l ig ious se l f -percep üon o f theGreeks I t was a spec i f ic re l ig ious wo rld that d id not consist s im ply in the sum total o f a

multitude of temp les and sanctuar ies , but was dist inguish ed by the existenc e o f som e

sanctuaries wh ose reach went we l l beyo nd a pure ly loca l d imen s ion , and that were

respected even b y the no n -G r eek s .

The special dem en t that granted cohesion to this system w as Panhe l lenic reco gm üo n

and - the other side o f the coin - Pan helle nic accessibil ity. Rega rdless o f the admin istra

tive com peten ce of particular poleis, ethne or am phik tyon ic bod ies, these sanctuar ies were

perceived by the Greeks as their com m on property. Th is percept ion co m es to the fore

already in the speech reported by H erodotus (H dt. 8 .144), b y w hic h the Athen ians in the

Winter of 48 0/7 9 ev ok ed the unity o f the Greek s in the face of the Persian threat .

Addressing the Spartan amb assadors w h o were then present in At he ns , they exp hcit ly stat-

ed that they were not going to be the trai tors to the co m m on Gre ek cau se, Tö 'EXXnvucov.

Then the Athen ians go on to def ine m ore precisely what Tö 'EXXnviKÖv is : besides co m

mon bloo d and a com m on language (öuatuöv rs Ka i öuö YXcoa aov) sanctuar ies and sacn -

161

7/28/2019 Herodotus and the Major Sanctuaries of the Greek World

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/herodotus-and-the-major-sanctuaries-of-the-greek-world 4/9

PETER F U N K E

f ices are especial ly s ingled out as something that identif ies the Greeks (»etöv tÖpuuaTd TE

KOtvä Kai »ucr ia t; Hdt . 8 .144; c f . Ko ns tan 2001 and Ha l l 20 02 ,18 9-2 04 ) .

The f irst c lause o f the Peac e o f Nic ias , in 4 2 1, i s prob ab ly to be referred to the same

sanctuaries. A c c or d i n g t o Th u c y d i d e s , i t s a id ( Th u c . 5 .18 . 2 ) : ' A s f a r a s t h e c om m on

sanctuaries are concern ed (Trepi uev TCöV tepwv T W V K O I VC ö V ) : there shal l be a free passa geby land an d by sea to a l l w h o w ish i t , to sacr i f ice , t rave l , consu l t , and ar tend the orac le

or g a m e s (Sueiv u a v xe u e a d a i detopetv) , acco rding to the ancestra l custom s (Karex TCC

Trdxpia)' ( c f . H o r n b l ow e r 1996 , 47 1 - 2 ad loc). E ve n thoug h th is ru l ing has to be seen

against the back grou nd o f contemp orary s trugg les be tween A then s and Spar ta for con -

trol ove r De lph i , the sentence Trepi uev T I ü V ieptöv T C ö V K O X V W V sugg ests that the claus e

referred to a wide r gro up o f sanctuar ies . Ob vi ou s l y th is c lause guaranteed a spec ia l pro

tection f or those sanc tuaries that were c om m on ly peree ived as be ing par ti cu lar ly imp or -

tant f or a l l the Gree ks .It i s notew orth y that here , just as in the speech o f the Athe nia ns reported by

Herodotus, no further deta il wa s necessary to ma ke c lear wh ich sanctuar ies wer e referred

to by the wo rdsTCC iepd TO KOivd, a l thou gh the c lause o f the treaty wo ul d hav e required

more prec i s ion o n th is po in t . O bv io us ly there wa s a genera l agreement on th is po in t , and

this consensu s was peree ived by the Greeks as uncontrovers ia l and b ind in g . Th i s po in t

can be further c lar i f ie d b y reference to a passa ge in the Dissoi Logoi, a n a n o n y m o u s

rhetorical treat ise fro m the ear ly fourth Century (on th is text c f . mo st recent ly Br ing m an n

2000). In a d iscu ss ion o f the p lund er o f temple s (Tö iepocxuAev) w e read: ' I leave as ide

the pro perty o f the Single po lei s (TCC Töia TWV roAewv). Bu t is it un jus t to take aw ay the

common proper ty o f the Greek s (TOC KOIVOC T Ö g 'EAAdÖog) f rom De lp h i and f rom

Olympia . .. and to use i t in war , whe n the barbar ian threatens Gr ee ce ? ' ( D K II 90.3 .8; c f .

also R o b i n s on 1979 , 118 - 9 , 183 ) .

This j u x t a p os i t i on o f TO Töia T W VTTÖAeoov an d T d K o i v d T a g 'EAA döog co n f i rm s in the

clearest w ay the pereept ion rooted in Gre ek men tal i ty of the ex is tenc e of a spec ia l grou p

of sanc tuar ies tha t were cons idered Pan he l l en ic and w ere very co nsc io us ly s ing led out

from the mult i tud e o f the polis cul ts . I hav e d iscus sed these passages in order to show

that the idea o f Td iepd Td KOtvd in Class ica l Gre ece w as not based s im ply on an unspe c-

ified emot ional sense , but on the contrary was connected very prec ise ly wi th spec i f ic

sanctuaries that form ed as a w ho le a sacred landscape an d were inscr ibe d as such o n a

mental m a p in th e G r e e k s ' m i n d s .

How can w e concrete ly ima gin e th is wor l d? It i s re lat ive ly easy to def in e the typ olo -

162

7/28/2019 Herodotus and the Major Sanctuaries of the Greek World

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/herodotus-and-the-major-sanctuaries-of-the-greek-world 5/9

HERODOTUS A N D T H E M A J O R S A N C T U A R I E S O F T H E G R E E K W O R L D

gy of these sanctuar ies . Be side s the places wh ere the great Pan hel len ic gam es took plac e,

we ha ve to do ma in ly w i th oracu lar sanctuar ies and hea l ing cu l t s . Ho we ve r , even m ys -

tery c u l t s s u c h a s t h o s e i n E l e u s i s a n d S a m o t h r a c e c o u l d b e l o n g t o t h e g r o u p .

Furthermore, we should a l so m ent ion sanctuaries that were no t pr imar i l y Pa nhe l len ic ,

but neverthe less represented a focus fo r integrat ion, a lso o f a pol i t ica l nature, that wen tbeyond the border o f the polis, such as for instance the amp hik tyo nic sanctuar ies or the

cult places o f the var ious Gre ek ethne. For reasons o f space I have to conf in e m ys e l f to

this general de f ini t ion , but i t w ou ld be very interest ing to discus s the relat ionsh ip, i f any ,

between the spec i f ic cul t ic funct io ns o f a sanctuary and its Panh el lenic character.

A concrete de f ini t ion of spe ci f ic sanctuar ies as parts o f a Panh el lenic sacred land-

scape i s mu ch m ore co m plex than th i s admi t ted ly very genera l typ o log y o f sanctuaries .

As w e m igh t exp ect , such a sacred lands cape is never descr ibed as a w ho le in the ancient

sources. I t m erely const i tutes, to borrow a conce pt fro m G erm an l iterary theory , the

'unstressed bac kgrou nd ' o f a narrat ive . There fore , a compre hens ive v iew , that w i l l o f

necessity a lwa ys be incom plete , can be extrapo lated on ly f ro m a comparat ive scrut iny o f

individual cases . Here Herod otus ' Histories take pr ide o f p lace . N o o ther Arch a ic o r

Classical author of fers such a r ieh corpus o f evide nce fo r the quest ion w e are deal ing

with. I intend to present so m e exam ple s of this , and f in al ly to concentrate more c lose ly

on H er o d o tus h i mse l f .

Independently o f i ts histor ic i ty , Hero dot us ' fa m ou s narrat ive of the consu ltat ion o f the

Greek orac les by Croesus k ing o f Lyd ia be fore h i s war against Cyru s o f Persia show s in

the best w ay that there c lear ly wa s a group o f Gree k oracles that were d efm itely m ore

prominent than al l other oracles - i f I m ay use this expre ssion , they pla yed in a div is io n

of t h e ir o w n ( H d t . 1 . 4 6 - 5 0 ) . I n C r o e s u s ' , o r H e r o d o t u s ' , t i m e s , th e s e w e r e , b e s i d e s

Delphi , A b a i i n P h o k i s , D o d o n a i n E p i r u s , t h e A m p h i a r a i o n a n d t h e T r o p h o n i o n i n

Boeotia, Bran chida i by Mi le tu s and the sanctuary o f Zeu s A m m o n in the oas i s o f S iw a

in the L ib ya n desert . In order to f ind out whic h one was mo st trustworthy , Cro esu s test -

ed them by hav ing the same quest ion asked o f a l l o f them , a quest ion wh ose answ er on lyhe kn ew . Th e fac t that De lph i came out as the w inn er under l ines the prom inence o f th is

sanctuary that em erges also in the rest o f the evid enc e.

At the same t im e, the l ist o f the oracles that Cro esus tested aeco rding to He rodo tus

shows the breadth of this network of sanctuar ies , that in spi te o f being in co m peti t io n

with on e another were also regarded as in som e sense belo ngin g together . Th is is ma de

clear also b y the Störy of the founda t ion o f the oracle o f Zeu s at Do d on a narrated by

163

7/28/2019 Herodotus and the Major Sanctuaries of the Greek World

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/herodotus-and-the-major-sanctuaries-of-the-greek-world 6/9

PETER F U N K E

Herodotus (Hdt . 2 .55 ; c f . Nesse lra th 1999 and B ich le r 200 1, 174-6 , and a l so Burker t

1985, 124 - 5 ) . T w o b l a c k d ov e s f l e w f r om Th e b e s i n Eg y p t , on e tow a r d s L i b y a a n d t he

other towards D od on a , and caused the founda t ion o f an orac le o f Zeu s in both p laces .

Thereby the tw o fa m ou s oracular sanctuar ies locate d at the far ther borders o f the Gree k

world were connec ted w i th each o ther . I t wo u ld have ha rd ly been poss ib le to take abroader geograph ica l span to underscore the sys temat i c connec t ion s be twe en these two

sanctuaries and at the sam e t ime to de l im it the extens io n o f the cul t ic lands cape o f the

Greek w o r l d .

Admittedly, w e do not h av e to regard the l is t o f the orac les interrogated by Cro esus

as a com ple te li s t of a ll pro mi nen t orac les of those t imes . Ho w ev er , i t i s s tr ik ing that for

instance the sanc tuary o f A p o l l o P to ios in Bo eo t ia , f am ou s for i ts r ieh Arc ha i c rema ins

(cf. Schachter 1981, 52 -73 ; Schachter 1994, 11 -21 ) , i s not men t ioned in the li s t . A l s o

absent i s the sanctuary of Z eu s at Ol ym p ia , that wa s an importan t oracular cul t at leastin the Arc ha ic per iod (Str . 8.3.3 0; c f . Sinn 1994 ) . On the other han d, oracular sanctuar

ies w ho se imp ortan ce in later t im es, as far as i t i s poss ib le to te i l based o n the evid en ce ,

seems to hav e been ra ther l im i ted , f ind a p lace in the li s t ( c f . Fun ke for t heo min g ) .

This l eads us to the pro b le m o f f i x ing He rodo tus ' perspec t ive in t ime . An d o f course ,

this pr ob lem re lates d irect ly to the pro ble m o f the truthful or f ic t iv e nature of h is report .

This last ques t ion is less re levan t for us , tho ug h, for eve n a f ic t ive narrat ive wo u ld hav e

to be em bed de d in a p lau s ib le co ntex t , that i s , in our case , in a real sacred landsca pe. I t

is mo re d i f f ic u l t to te i l wh ether H ero do tus ' l is t i s to be taken as representat ive of h is ow n

times or o f the mid - s i x th Century . D i s t ing u i sh in g 'narra t ive t im e ' f ro m 'h i s tor i ca l t im e '

in H e r o d o t u s is f a m o u s l y h a r d ( o n th i s t o p i c c f . t h e g e n e r a l re m a r k s b y D a r b o -

Peschanski 1993) . Lo cat in g in t ime a sacred landscape tha t form s the backgr oun d o f one

of h is nar ra ti ves i s o f ten po ss ib le on ly based on ex terna l ev ide nce . H ow ev er , th is co m -

plex o f prob lem s has to be le f t as ide here for reasons o f space.

If w e analyse the l i s t o f the orac les interrogated by Cro esu s against the bac kgr ou nd

of la te Class ic a l or eve n Hel le nis t ic cond i t io ns , we can at least obse rve that the pro m i -

nence of G reek oracu lar and hea l ing cu l t s cou ld change rad ica l l y in t ime and wa s a lway s

dependent on the ever -chan g ing s i tua t ions and even fash ions . Th e group o f the mo s t

prominent sanctuar ies was in no w ay unc han geab le : rather i t seems to have und ergon e

modifications dictated by the h is tor ica l contex t . Th is shou ld co m e as no surpr ise , s ince

success and fa i lure in th is f ie ld co uld be m easure d very ea s i ly , as C roe su s ' test show s (c f .

Funke f or th eom ing ) . Hea l in g cu l t s w i l l p robab ly hav e been exposed to the same m ech -

164

7/28/2019 Herodotus and the Major Sanctuaries of the Greek World

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/herodotus-and-the-major-sanctuaries-of-the-greek-world 7/9

HERODOTUS A N D T H E M A J O R S A N C T U A R I E S O F TH E G R E E K W O R L D

anisms, but they are m ore di f f ic ul t to loca l ize in He rod otu s ' sacred land scap e, s ince their

role in He rod otu s ' wo rk is not near ly as prom inen t as that o f the oracular cul ts . On e rea-

son for this migh t be that in his t imes he al ing and oracular cul ts were st i ll c losely co n

nected, and o nly w ith the exp an sion o f the cul t o f As cle piu s in the late f i f th Century cam e

to be more strongly di f ferent iated from each other (Aleshire 1991).It i s easier to grasp the ro le o f the sanctuar ies that hosted Pa nhe l lenic co m peti t io ns.

Since the late sixth Century at the latest, the so -ca lled perihodos had deve lo ped , that con

nected the Panh e l len ic gam es o f Oly m pi a , De lph i , Ne m ea and I s thmia (see Festus , p .

236 [L in dsa y] , s . v . per iho dos , on the mea ning o f the term perihodos and c f . on this topic

Funke fort hc om ing ). The se four sanctuar ies represented a stable and rema rkably co n-

stant d e m e n t of the sacred landscape of the Gre eks . I t is therefore noteworth y that

Herodotus m entio ns on ly three of the four , and never talks about Ne m ea. Just as

Herodotus, other contem pora ry sources seem to ignore Ne m ea , a fact that is very di f f i

cult to exp lain . Ho we ve r , it i s c lear that in the Panh el lenic sacred landscape there was

some sort o f rank ing, that in turn correspond ed to the higher or low er prom inen ce o f each

of the sanctuar ies , and in this ranking N em ea seem s to hav e occu pied on e of the last

positions ( c f . Funk e f o r thco m i ng ) .

It i s t ime to conc lu de . Th e few exa mp les I have d iscussed should have sho wn c lear ly

that H e r o d o t u s ' Histories ref lect a sacred landscape that existed as a menta l m ap in the

minds o f the Gree ks and or iented their thoughts and act ions. H ow ev er , Hero dotus of fers

us on ly a partial ins ight into a mu ch m ore co m ple x rel ig ious wor ld. A t the very least , he

gives us a typical sam ple o f this sacred landsc ape, wh ose structure cou ld be approached

in a comp rehe ns ive w ay by m ak in g use o f fur ther , espec ia l l y archaeo log ica l ev iden ce .

165

7/28/2019 Herodotus and the Major Sanctuaries of the Greek World

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/herodotus-and-the-major-sanctuaries-of-the-greek-world 8/9

PETER F U N K E

B I B L I OGRAPHY

Aleshire, SB. 1991 : Asklepios at Athens: Epigraphic and Prosopographic Essays on the

Athenian Healing Cults. A m s t e r d a m .

Bichler, R . 2 0 0 1 : Herodots Welt. Der Aufbau der His tor ie am Bild der fremden Länderund Völker, ihrer Zivilisation und ihrer Geschichte. B e r l i n .

Bowden, H . 1990 : Herodotus and Greek Sanctuaries, D . P h i l . O x f o r d .

- 200 3: 'Ora c les for Sa le ' , 25 6-7 4 , in : P . D er ow and R . Parker (eds ) , Herodotus andHis

World. Essays from a Conference in Memo ry of George Forrest. O x f o r d .

Bringmann, K . 2000 : ' R h e t o r i k , P h i l o s op h i e u n d P o l i t ik u m 4 00 v . Ch r . G or g i a s ,

Antiphon und d ie Dissoi Logoi', Chiron 3 0 , 4 8 9 - 5 0 3 .

Burkert, W . 1985: 'Hero dot über d ie Na m en der Göt te r : Po ly the i sm us a ls h is tor i sches

Problem', MusHelv. 42 , 121 - 32 .

— 1990: 'Her odo t a l s H is tor iker f remder Re l ig i on en ' , 1 -32 , in : G . Ne nc i and O .

Reverdin ( e d s ) , Herodote et les peuples non Grecs. G e n e v a .

Cartledge, P . 1985: 'Th e Greek Re l ig io us Fes t i v a l s ' , 98 -1 27 , in : P .E . Eas ter l ing and J .V .

Muir ( e d s ) , Greek Religion and Society. C a m b r i d g e .

Darbo-Peschanski, C . 1993 : 'Te m ps de l 'h i s to i re , t emps de l 'h i s tor ien ' , 57 -69 , in : M- F .

Baslez et al. ( e d s ) , L'invention de l'autobiographie d'Hesiode ä Saint Augustin.

Paris.

Ferguson, J . 1981: 'Hero dotu s as a Source for the Study o f Gree k Re l ig ion (Par t O ne ) ' ,

Museum Africum 7 , 1 - 22 .

Funke, P . f o r t h c om i n g : ' G l i om b e l i c h i d e l m on d o . R i f l e s s i on i s u ll a c a n o n i z z a z i on e d e i

santuari " p a n e l l e n i c i " ' , Geographia Antiqua 11 , 200 2 ( 2004 ) .

Gould, J . 2001 : 'H e r od o t u s a n d R e l i g i on ' , 35 9 - 7 7 , i n : J . G ou l d , Myth, Ritual, Mem ory,

and Exchange. Essays in G reek Literature and Culture. O x f o r d .

Hall, J . 2002 : Hellenicity. Between Ethnicity and C ulture. C h i c a g o .

Harrison, T . 2000 : Divinity and History. The Religion of H erodotus. O x f o r d .

Hartog, F. 1980: Le m iroir d'Herodote: essai sur la representation de l'autre. P a r i s .

Hornblower, S. 1996: A Com mentary on Thucydides II. O x f o r d .

Konstan, D . 200 1: 'Tb Hellenikon ethnos: Ethn ic i t y and the Cons t ruc t ion o f Anc ient

Greek Id e n t i t y ' , 39 - 50 , i n : I . M a l k i n ( e d . ) , Ancient Perceptions of Greek E thnicity.

Cambridge M a s s .

Mikalson, J . D . 2002 : ' R e l i g i on in H e r o d o t u s ' , 187 - 98 , in : Brill's Com panion to

166

7/28/2019 Herodotus and the Major Sanctuaries of the Greek World

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/herodotus-and-the-major-sanctuaries-of-the-greek-world 9/9

HERODOTUS A N D T H E M A J O R S A N C T U A R I E S O F T H E G R E E K W O R L D

Herodotus.

Mora, F. 1985: Religione e religioni nelle storie di E rodoto. M i l a n .

Nesselrath, H . - G . 1999: 'D od on a , S iw a und Herodo t - e in Tes t fa l l fü r den Vater der

Geschichte', MusJielv. 5 6 , 1 - 1 4 .

Price, S. 1999: Religions ofthe Ancient Greeks. C a m b r i d g e .Robinson, T . M . 1979 : Contrasting Argumen ts. An Edition of the D i s s o i L o g o i . N e w

York.

Schachter, A . 1981 : Cults ofBoiotia I . L o n d o n .

— 1994: Cults ofBoiotia I I I . L o n d o n .

Sinn, U . 1994 : ' D i e En t w i c k l u n g d es Z e u s k u lt e s v on O l y m p i a b e i S t r a bo ( V I I I 3 , 30 p .

353f.)', 145 - 66 , i n : A . M . B i r a s c h i ( e d . ), Strabone e la Grecia. N a p l e s .

Sourvinou-Inwood, C. 2000 : ' W h a t is Polis R e l i g i o n ? ' , 13 - 37 , i n : R . B u x t on ( e d . ),

Oxford Readings in Greek R eligion. O x f o r d .

Thomas , R . 2 0 0 0 : Herodotus in Context. Ethnography, Science and the Art of

Persuasion. C a m b r i d g e .

167